The adaptability of cassava to low fertile and marginal soils facilitates its production in subsistent agriculture. As a result, smallholder farmers rarely apply fertilizers. The current yield gap is therefore very large, calling for application of fertilizers and soil amendments to improve its productivity. Field experiments were carried out to assess the potential of partially substituting Phosphorus (P) fertilizers by in vitro -produced arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) inoculants in cassava production in two agro-ecologies of Nigeria: Northern Guinea Savanna (Samaru) and Sudan Savanna (Minjibir). The experiments were laid out in a split plot design with P levels (0, 17.5, 35 and 52.5 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 ) as main plot and AMF inoculants (Control, Glomygel, Glomygel carrier, Mycodrip, Mycodrip carrier) as subplots. The results in Samaru showed that there was significant interaction between AMF and P in root fresh weight, total biomass and root to shoot ratio. The root fresh weights of the inoculated cassava increased proportionally with application of P. However, highest root fresh weight of cassava inoculated with Glomygel was observed at 35 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 recording 25% yield increase compared to 52.5 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 application. Interestingly, Cassava inoculated with Glomygel at 17.5 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 gave root fresh yield statistically similar to where 35 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 was applied. This represented a 50% reduction in P fertilizer use. Also, cassava inoculated with Glomygel increased leaf nutrient concentrations, which strongly correlated with the root fresh yield. However, no effects of inoculant carriers were observed in yield and nutrient concentrations. Contrarily, there was no significant treatment effect in Minjibir for nearly all the measured parameters. Cassava yield was however, higher in Minjibir than Samaru probably due to soil fertility and structural differences, which resulted in few observable effects of AMF and P treatments at Minjibir. We conclude that under low P conditions inoculation with in vitro produced AMF inoculants could be employed to reduce P fertilizer requirements for cassava and improve yields, but the variability of the responses as a result of soil heterogeneity and the identity of the fungal strain in the inoculant require further investigations before recommending the practice.
Greenhouse and Field experiments were conducted at the Institute for Agricultural Research and Samaru College of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The objectives of the experiments were to evaluate the combine effects of cow dung subjected to different management practices and Urea fertilizer on some Maize growth parameters and to observe the residual effects of the cow dung in the second year. The experiment was a factorial experiment, 3 management practices, 4 duration of storage, and 2 nitrogen levels, laid out in a Randomized complete block design and replicated three times. The Greenhouse study revealed that, combining cow dung subjected to different management practices (pit covered May and surface heaped uncovered June) and Urea at 45 kg N ha -1 gave significantly (P < 0.05) higher dry matter yield and surface heaped covered April treatment gave taller plants, which were statistically at par with NPK treatment (120 kg N ha -1 ). The results of the field studies for the two years were consistent on the dry matter yield and plant height. The field studies showed that, the direct effect, N amended surface heaped covered April gave the highest Maize Stover yield for the two seasons, while on the residual effect, N amended, the surface heaped uncovered March treatments gave the highest stove yields. On plant height, the direct effect N amended surface heaped uncovered May treatments gave significantly taller plants than all other treatments in the two seasons. While on the residual effect, the surface heaped covered April treatment was the one that gave taller plants in the two seasons.
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