Donnish Journal of Agricultural Research

September 2015 Vol. 2(6), pp. 048-054

Copyright © 2015 Donnish Journals

Original Research Article

Evaluation of the Responses of Solanum melongena to Different Soil Types and Levels of NPK Fertilizer

Kareem, I. A*. and Akindele, O.

Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Western Nigeria.

Corresponding Author E-mail: driakareem@yahoo.com

Accepted 24th July, 2015.

Abstract

---

Hitherto, production of Solanum melongena Lin. (garden egg) on large scale has been very unpopular despite its high level of consumption in Western Nigeria based on the premise that it cannot thrive well, single superphosphate fertilizer (SSP) and urea are very scarce or difficult to procure and that there has been no information on the response of this crop to different levels of NPK fertilizer with regard to its yield. Thus, this study was carried out to assess the growth and yield of this garden egg under different soil types and NPK fertilizer levels. Matured fruits, four soil types (river sand, sandy/clayey/loamy soils), polythene pots and NPK fertilizer were procured, seeds of the garden egg were extracted, dried at room temperature, planted (to raise its seedlings for transplanting) and pre experimental soil analysis was done. It was a 4x4 factorial experiment in completely randomized design comprising 16 treatment combinations replicated 3 times (making 48 treatment combinations). Seedlings were transplanted 2 weeks after sowing and fertilizer application commenced 2 weeks after transplanting (at 0, 111, 222 and 333 Kg/ha) and all cultural operations (watering, weeding, insect control) were ensured. Apparent growth parameters (plant height, number of leaves, collar girth, number of branches) and yield indices (number of fruits and fruit weight) were evaluated. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences among the growth and yield parameters with a3b3 (garden plants planted in loamy soil at 333Kg NPK/ha) emerging as the best treatment combination (11.91t/ha). This was followed by a1b3 (garden egg plants planted in sandy soil at 333Kg NPK/ha) which had 4.69t/ha and the least was the control (aobo: garden egg plants planted in river sand at 0Kg NPK/ha) which yielded 0.17t/ha. Thus, garden egg can be productively cultivated in this area with NPK fertilizer and in soil types ranging from sand, clay to loam.

Keywords: Garden egg, Soil types, Fertilizer, Growth and yield.

Read: [Full Text - PDF]

Cite This Article:

Kareem, I. A. and Akindele, O. Evaluation of the Responses of Solanum melongena to Different Soil Types and Levels of NPK Fertilizer. Donnish Journal of Agricultural Research 2(6) 2015 pp. 048-054.