Effect of poultry manure and irrigation depth on the growth of fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis hook. F) during the dry season in the Niger delta region of Nigeria

Abstract

Farmers in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria only practice rainfed agriculture, partly because of the misconception that the area has abundant rainfall even though the region has distinct wet and dry seasons. This, coupled with the low soil fertility always results in crops being produced at the subsistence level. This experiment was therefore conducted during the dry season to investigate the growth response of fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook. F) to different combinations of poultry manure and depths of irrigation in a loamy sand soil. It was a randomized complete block design experiment involving three levels each of poultry manure and irrigation with three replications. The treatments comprised random combinations of 10, 20 and 30 t/ha poultry manure with 3, 4 and 5 mm depths of irrigation, including control treatment that had neither manure nor irrigation. Results indicated that the application of poultry manure and irrigation produced significantly higher values of all the growth parameters than the control. Although the combination of 30 t/ha manure and 4 mm depth of irrigation produced the maximum leaf area, the best result in terms of vine length, number of leaves, vine fresh weight and total shoot yield was obtained by combining 30 t/ha manure with 3 mm irrigation depth. This study therefore recommends the application of 30 t/ha poultry manure and 3 mm depth of irrigation for the cultivation of fluted pumpkin during the dry season in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2013.