Poultry Manure Application Rates Effect on Growth and Yield of Celosia argentea Linn. in Ejigbo, Osun State Nigeria.

Abstract

Yield of Celosia argentea can increase if adequate manure is added to soil. This study was carried out to determine the appropriate quantity of manure from poultry waste for maximum yield.
The experiment was carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm of the College of Agriculture, Osun State University, Ejigbo, Nigeria. The treatments levels were 25 ton ha-1, 20 ton ha-1, 15 ton ha-1, 10 ton ha-1, 5 ton ha-1 and 0 ton ha-1(control). Poultry Manure (PM) was applied to the vegetable plots two weeks before transplanting. The treatments were laid in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replicates. Planting distance was 21 cm x 25cm on a plot of 130 cm x 150 cm. Data were recorded on number of leaves, number of nodes, plant height (cm) and stem girth (mm).
At 5 Weeks After Planting (WAP), the fresh shoot was cut at 10cm above the soil surface for initial growth yield. Plants were left to re-grow for another four weeks and cut for regrowth yield. Weeds and pests were controlled appropriately. The result showed highly significant treatment variance for all characters implying that the rates of PM increased the yield and growth differently. Application of 25ton ha-1 PM produced the highest vegetable yield while regrowth yield (7.72 t ha-1) was higher than initial growth yield (3.43 ton ha-1).
In conclusion, application of 25ton ha-1 of PM is capable of maximizing the yield of Celosia argentea, while the yield at four weeks after the first cut (9WAP) was higher than the initial yield.