Scientific African (Nov 2020)
Productivity of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam) as influenced by fertilizer application in different agro-ecologies in Ghana
Abstract
Changes in soil nutrition caused by appropriate fertilization lead to an overall improvement in crop productivity. It is unknown whether different soil amendments could increase growth and yield of improved sweet potato varieties released by CSIR-Crops Research Institute in different agro-ecological environments in Ghana. The aim of the study was to assess the performance of four varieties of sweetpotato under different soil amendments in two different agroecological zones. Field experiments were conducted at CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) research fields at Fumesua and Ejura located in the deciduous forest zone and forest-savanna transition zone of Ghana respectively. The experiment design was 4 × 4 factorial in RCBD with three replications. The treatments were four varieties of sweet potato (Ligri, Bohye, Dadanyuie and Apomuden) and four fertilizer treatments (T1:200 kg NP2O5K2O/ha 15-15-15, T2: 200 kg NP2O5K2O /ha 15-15-15 + 50 kg K2O/ha, T3:200 kg NP2O5K2O /ha 15-15-15 + 100 kg K2O/ha and T4: Control). Fertilizer rates applied did not have any significant influence on growth and yield parameters evaluated. There were significant variety × location interactions (P < 0.05) effect of chlorophyll content, vine and petiole length in most cases. The significant interaction between variety and location for most growth parameters suggests that location can affect the performance of the varieties. On average, Apomuden variety increased chlorophyll content by 19.7 % and 26.3 % compared with Bohye and Dadanyuie respectively. This translated into improved yield and yield components. There were significant interactions (P < 0.05) between variety and location in root yield and harvest index. Apomuden in Ejura had significantly (P < 0.05) increased root yield by 95.2 %, 179.3% and 20.0% relative to Bohye, Dadanyuie and Ligri respectively. Based on these results, Apomuden planted in Ejura appears to have a potential for improve yield.
