Determination of the optimal dose and date of application of mineral manure on sesame (sesamum indicum L.) in Burkina Faso

Abstract

The decrease in soil fertility is the main cause of low crops yields in Burkina Faso. It is therefore necessary to make a supply of fertilizers to increase yields. This is the reason why during the 2015 rainy season from July to October, a study was conducted on sesame fertilization in Souri located in the Province du Mouhoun. The goal of our study is to fertilize plants with increasing doses of mineral fertilizers at different application dates on sesame. The objective is to determine the optimum dose and date of fertilizer application to increase the yields. For this purpose four NPK (14-23-14) fertilizer treatments have been experimented with following doses NPK0 (0kg.ha-1), NPK50 (50 kg.ha-1) NPK100 (100kg.ha-1) NPK150 (150 kg.ha-1) with three application dates (sowing, 15 DAS, 30 DAS) in Fisher’s completely randomized blocks with four replications in split-plot. The results showed that NPK doses had an effect on sesame throughout morphological development (height, number of ramifications, number of capsules) and yield performance. Yields have increased according to the doses applied in the following order: NPK0 (226 kg.ha-1) < NPK50 (348 kg.ha-1)