Effect of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on Yield and Economic Return of Acha (Digitaria Spp) Varieties in Lafia, Nigeria (Published)
These studies were conducted at the Teaching and Research farm, College of Agriculture, Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria during the wet seasons of 2013 and 2014. To determine the effect of poultry manure and NPK fertilizer on growth and grain yield of Acha varieties and profit margin for using these inputs in Lafia, Nasarawa state, Nigeria. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design, replicated three times. The results showed that application of poultry and NPK fertilizer rates significantly enhance growth parameters in both two seasons. 10/ha of poultry manure and 120kg/ha of NPK produced plants with highest number of tillers (12.93 and 13.24); whil D. eburua variety produced the tallest plant (14.78 and 16.24) in both years. Application of 10t/ha of poultry manure produced the highest grain weight of 0.98t/ha and 1.27t/ha; while NPK fertilizer rate at 120kg/ha also produced the highest grain weight of 1t/ha and 1.21t/ha in both years. All these grain weight are statistically at par with application of 5t/ha of poultry manure and 60kg/ha of NPK fertilizer, but lower than the control in both years. Varieties also had a significant effect on the grain yield of Acha. Digitaria exilis proved its superiority agains D. eburua by producing the highest grain weight of 1.31t/ha and 1.52t/ha in both years. Interaction between poultry manure and NPK did not produce ant significant effect on the grain weight of acha in both years. The total revenue (TR) under organic manure was N54,775.00 and N54,950.00 under inorganic (NPK) fertilizer. The gross margin (GM) was estimated to be N27,575 and N25,900.00 under organic manure and inorganic fertilizer respectively. Various ratios calculated gave a positive value which shows that Acha production in the area is viable and profitable.
Keywords: Acha, Economic return, Fertilizer, NPK, Poultry manure