Abstract:
Soils of the savannah zones
of Nigeria are low in plant nutrients and
peasant farmers; therefore, rely on external
inputs in the form of organic and inorganic
manure for sustainable yield. They also sow
their seeds at suboptimal plant population
density, thereby providing opportunity for
weeds to thrive. Moreover, farmers use
saved seeds from the previous cropping
season for planting, which often results in
low yield. A study was conducted to assess
the growth and yield of two maize cultivars
under the influence of organic fertilizer and
plant population density. Treatments used
were factorial combinations of three levels
of poultry manure (0, 2.5, 5.0 t/ha), two
population densities (95,556 and 53,333
plants/ha) and two maize varieties (DMRESR-
Y and Suwan-1-SR). Data were
collected on number of leaves, plant height,
leaf area, stem girth, root and shoot dry
weight, total dry weight, days to tasseling,
days to silk appearance, grain yield per
hectare, number of seeds per cob, seed rows
per cob, weight of 100 seeds and shelling
percentage. The results revealed significant
improvement (p≤ 0.05) in all parameters
examined, when 5 t/ha poultry manure was
applied to Suwan-1-SR at density 53,333
plants/ha. However, there was marginal
difference between 5 and 2.5 t/ha in grain
production. Therefore, application of 2.5
t/ha poultry manure for production of
Suwan-1-SR maize variety at plant density
53,333 plants/ha could be used for getting
optimum yield, that can feed the growing
population of maize consumers coupled
with better straw production for animal
feed.
