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Discoveries in Agriculture and Food Sciences - Vol. 11, No. 2
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
DOI:10.14738/dafs.112.14491.
Madina, P., Iyough, D. D., Michael, O. A., & Ayoola, K. (2023). The Effect of Organic Manure and Days of Incorporation on the
Growth and Yield of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Grown in Jos Plateau State. Nigeria. Discoveries in Agriculture and Food Sciences,
11(2). 38-49.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
The Effect of Organic Manure and Days of Incorporation on the
Growth and Yield of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Grown in Jos
Plateau State. Nigeria
Madina, P.
Department of Crop Production, College of Agronomy,
Joseph Sarwun Tarka, University Makurdi, Nigeria
Iyough, D. D.
Department of Crop Production, College of Agronomy,
Joseph Sarwun Tarka, University Makurdi, Nigeria
Michael, O. A.
Department of Crop Production, College of Agronomy,
Joseph Sarwun Tarka, University Makurdi, Nigeria
Ayoola, K.
Department of Crop Production, College of Agronomy,
Joseph Sarwun Tarka, University Makurdi, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The experiment aimed to evaluate effect of organic manure on the growth and yield
of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown in Jos Plateau State, Nigeria. The treatments
used are organic manure source (Poultry dropping, Cow dung, goat manure, dung
site and control) and time of inclusion (5, 10 and 15 days before transplanting) was
adopted for the experiment. The experiment is laid in a randomized complete block
design with three replications, with 12 plots in a block and 45 plots for the whole
experiment. Data were collected from the following parameters, plant height, plant
diameter, number of leaves, leaf area (LA), net assimilation rate (NAR), crop growth
rate (CGR), fresh weight, and dry weight. All the study parameters of lettuce were
significantly different (P<0.05) on both organic manure, days of inclusion and
season. Poultry droppings produce plant height (25.73), plant diameter (8.42),
number of leaves (32.02), leaf area index (16.75), net assimilation rate (4.67), crop
growth rate (3.20), fresh weight (6.65 ha-1), and dry weight (4.23 ha-1) when
compared with other sources of nutrient. Similarly maximum plant height (23.32),
plant diameter (6.66), number of leaves (31.86), leaf area (15.19), net assimilation
rate (3.32), crop growth rate (3.54), fresh weight (5.79 ha-1), and dry weight (4.00
ha-1) was recorded in lettuce plant treated with organic manure of 5 days of
inclusion. On seasons, higher plant height (25.83), plant diameter (8.23), number of
leaves (31.34), leaf area (15.32), net assimilation rate (4.00), crop growth rate
(3.61), fresh weight (7.01 ha-1), and dry weight (5.99 ha-1) was obtained in 2021 as
against 2020 season. Based on the results obtained, it can be recommended to
lettuce farmers in the locality the use of poultry manure and 5 days of inclusion for
optimum growth and yield of lettuce.
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Madina, P., Iyough, D. D., Michael, O. A., & Ayoola, K. (2023). The Effect of Organic Manure and Days of Incorporation on the Growth and Yield of
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Grown in Jos Plateau State. Nigeria. Discoveries in Agriculture and Food Sciences, 11(2). 38-49.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/dafs.112.14491
Keywords: Lettuce, Days of inclusion, Organic manure
INTRODUCTION
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is an annual plant belongs to the family Compositeae one of the
important vegetables in salad crop. It is the most well-liked salad crops in the world. It is a
native of Europe, asia and northern Africa and has been cultivated for many decays. The term
lettuce also is used to refer to the edible, succulent leaves which commonly are eaten raw as
salads, but also may be eaten cooked (Katz and Weaver, 2003). It is popular for its delicate,
crispy, texture slightly bitter taste as fresh condition. Lettuce is a rich source of antioxidants,
Vitamin A and C and phytochemicals which are anti-carcinogenic. It also provides some dietary
fibre, carbohydrates, protein, copper, vitamins and minerals largely found in the leaf. Lettuce is
usually consumed as a salad or shredded in a salad mix of onion, tomato, cheese and basil. It is
usually used as salad with tomato, carrot, cucumber or other salad vegetable (Masarirambi et
al., 2010). Organic manure can serve as alternative practice to inorganic fertilizers. Excessive
application of chemical fertilizers may affect soil health and sustainable productivity
(VirgineTenshia and Singram, 2005; Ali et al., 2011a 2011b; Arif et al., 2012 and Munsif et al.,
2011; Ali et al., 2012). Emerging contaminants; Agro-chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides) were
reported to be presence in the food we produce, water bodies and soil. In the last decade, Agro- chemicals and fertilizer production have increased due to wide acceptance of modern
agriculture. These have raised increasing worries about the potential risks to human health,
soil and ecosystems. Hence, it is important to control these contaminants from the point source
(by using organic source of nutrient in cultivating our crops). If point source is treated, it is
obvious that the use of organic manure not only benefits the environment and human health,
but also greatly improves microbial activities, financial condition of the farming family and
decreases the cost of production. Vegetable cultivated through organic farming/ nutrient
source is gaining acceptance in developing countries like Nigeria (Ngakou et al.,2008).
Consumers prefer crop cultivated mostly from organic source of nutrient as compared to
inorganic nutrient which enhances the quality of produce and not harmful to consumers.
Organic source of nutrient on the other hand has some advantage over the chemical sources of
nutrient as such; organic source due to its availability and the benefits it gives to soil unlike the
chemical fertilizer which is expensive and poses danger to the soil and humans who consume
crop grown from them over time (Walingo 2005). Early application of organic manure to the
soil plays an important role in the chemical, physical and biological properties of the soil, it’s
also decreasing the bulk density of the soil while it increases the moisture content of the soil,
water holding capacity of the soil, permeability (infiltration rate), soil structure and soil
porosity (Madina et al., 2021). The chemical properties of the soil like hydrogen-ions,
exchangeable cat-ions, total organic carbon, total phosphorus and total potassium can be
increased by the type and level of the application of organic manure to the soil. The biological
properties of the soil can be improved by early application of organic manure during land
preparation or basal application increases microbial activity, leading to release of nutrients for
plant adsorption (Yusuf and Paul 2018). Therefore, in this work, removal of emerging
contaminant which is chemical fertilizer is the main aim of the work with the following
objective. To determine the organic source for lettuce production, to determine the appropriate
day of inclusion of such organic nutrient, to determine the interaction between nutrients
sources and days of inclusion.
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Discoveries in Agriculture and Food Sciences (DAFS) Vol 11, Issue 2, April- 2023
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
MATERIAL AND METHOD
The experiment was carried out in Jos at (9o 50`N 11o 09`E). The experiment aimed to evaluate
effect of organic manure and days of inclusion on the growth and yield of lettuce (Lactuca sativa
L.) grown in Jos, Plateau State Nigeria, during the 2020 and 2021 rainy season. Organic source
(Poultry dropping, goat manure, Cow dung, dung site and control) was used. Poultry dropping
applied at the rate of 20 tones/ha and poultry dropping (95% Dry Matter, Organic Material
52%, Total Nitrogen 7.2%, Total Phosphorus 3.10% and Total Potassium 2.22%), Goat manure
(Dry matter 50%, Organic Material 40%, Total Nitrogen 3.5%, Total Phosphorus 2.0% and Total
Potassium 2.1%), Cow dung (Dry matter 20%, Organic Material 22%, Total Nitrogen 10.0%,
Total Phosphorus 0.5% and Total Potassium 0.5%) and dung site (Dry matter 30%, Organic
Material 22%, Total Nitrogen 15.0%, Total Phosphorus 0.7% and Total Potassium 1.0%) All
the organic manure are collected from animal kept under intensive care and was allowed to
undergo partial decomposition for three months following the recommendation of Bello (2015)
before it was used for the experiment, The seeds were raised in a nursery before transplanting
to the field, the size of nursery bed was 2m x 2m and was treated for pathogen by covering it
with polythene tightly and kept for 10 days, irrigated twice a day (morning and evening) to
ensure good germination and establishment, the seeds germinated in 5-8 days after sowing
days after sowing (DAS). The seedlings were transplanted in the main field after 20-25 days
after sawing (DAS), the nursery establishment is important because directly sowing of seeds
may not germinate well. Experiment was laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD)
with three replicate, a 4m2 plot was laid out with 1m between plots and 1m between blocks.
There were 4 plots each within a block which gave the total number of 12 plots for the study, a
spacing of 15 by 75cm was adopted for the research, Agronomic practice such as weeding was
done manually at 2 and 4 weeks after planting to ensure weed free plots, all the data were
collected within the net plot of 4m2 where a total of 5 plants were tagged for data collection
within each net plot. During the investigation, some physiological variables, such as growth,
plant height (as taken with the aid of measuring tape from the base of the plant to the tip), the
number of leaves (were counted). Other characters like plant diameter (were measured with a
venier caliper), leaf area index (using a formula below), crop growth rate (using a formula
below), net assimilation rate (using a formula below) fresh weight (weight with digital
weighing scale) and dry weight (weight with digital weighing scale) were also recorded. All
data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA), while least significant difference
(LSD) at 5% level of probability was used in separating the means.
Formula for leaf area index
LAI= total leaf area
Unit land area
Formula for Crop growth rate is given as
CGR=W2-W1/P(t2-t1)
Where, P = Ground area, W1 = Dry weight of plant/m2 recorded at time t1, W2 = Dry weight of
plant/m2 recorded at time t2, t1 and t2 were the interval of time, respectively and it is
expressed in g/m2/day.