Farmyard manure as alternative nutrient source in production of cold tolerant sorghum in the dry highlands of Kenya

Abstract

An experiment was conducted over three seasons to determine the effects of different rates of application of Farmyard manure and inorganic fertilizer on growth and yield of cold tolerant sorghum variety E1291. The trial was conducted on a sandy loam soil at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute-Lanet, Kenya. Farmyard manure obtained from the centre cattle shed was incorporated into the soil at the time of sowing at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 Mg ha-1 in a Randomized Complete Block Design replicated three times. Standard inorganic fertilizer was included as a control at the rate of 60 kg N ha-1 and 30 kg P2O5 ha-1. The highest grain yield was produced where 5 Mg ha-1 of farm yard manure was applied during the first year while 40 Mg ha-1 produced lowest yield among manure treatments. During the second year significantly (p<0.05) higher grain yields were achieved from treatments of 30 and 40 Mg ha-1. In the third year, no significant differences (p<0.05) were observed among the manure treatments but 30 and 40 Mg ha-1 farm yard manure produced highest yields. Manures produced higher yields in all years than the recommended inorganic fertilizer. After three seasons of evaluation, 10 Mg ha-1 of farm yard manure produced similar grain yields to the standard control while 30 and 40 Mg ha-1 farm yard manure consistently produced highest yields. These yield differences were not significantly different from treatments with 15 Mg ha-1 of farm yard manure. © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information.