Research Article

Assessment of Seven Taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] Cultivars for Growth under Poultry Manure Fertilization in Anyigba, Kogi State Nigeria

Abstract

A research was carried out at the Prince Abubakar Audu University Research Farm, Anyigba during the 2021 Cropping Season to assess the growth of seven taro cultivars under poultry manure fertilization. Treatments consist of 7 cultivars (6 improved and 1 local) and two poultry manure levels (0 and 6 t/ha) factorially combined to obtain a total of 14 treatments. The experiment was laid in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three (3) replicates Results obtained indicated that cultivars differed significantly (P<0.05) in growth. NxS 003 and Akirimgbawa performed best amongst others in terms of Establishment count, Plant height, Leaf Area, Leaf Length, Number of Suckers, Die Back leaves at all sampling stages except for number of leaves. NxS 001 cultivar though has the highest number of leaves at 12WAP but was significantly indifferent with Akirimgbawa and others. Cultivars under investigation performed best under 6 t/ha of poultry manure fertilizer than the control plots at all sampling stage except for number of leaves which was not significant at 16WAP. Overall interaction results showed that NCe 002 cultivars responded best to PM fertilization in most of the characters measured; plant height, leaf area, leaf length, number of suckers and die back leaves. similarly, no response was observed with emergence. NxS 001 & NxS 002 performed best on number of leaves at 8 and 12WAP respectively. This research therefore concludes that NxS 003 and Akirimgbawa cultivars are best for optimum growth in Anyigba environment. Further study on these best performing cultivars should be experimented for yield assessment at different fertilization levels.