Twelve percent (12%) of Ghanaians are food insecure, and climate-smart crops like sweet potatoes are required to help end poverty. Small-scale farmers in Ghana who produce low-technology, subsistence crops, such as sw...Twelve percent (12%) of Ghanaians are food insecure, and climate-smart crops like sweet potatoes are required to help end poverty. Small-scale farmers in Ghana who produce low-technology, subsistence crops, such as sweet potatoes, are more food secure than those who do not. This study was initiated to investigate the effect of chicken manure, compost, and cow dung on the growth and yield of “apomuden”, “SARI-Nyoriberigu”, “SARI-Nan” and “kufour” sweet potato under the Guinea Savannah agroecological zone of Ghana. Organic fertilizer increased leaf chlorophyll content and leaf area index. The application of cow dung, chicken manure and compost in 2015 significantly increased total storage root yield by 38%, 55% and 98%, 62%, 45% and 37%, 52%, 61% and 44%, and 33%, 36% and 28% for SARI-Nyoriberigu, Kufour, SARI-Nan and Apomuden, respectively, when compared to the untreated check. In 2016, and in comparison with the untreated check, the application of cow dung, chicken manure and compost increased total storage root yield by 42%, 61% and 93%, 69%, 49% and 41%, 57%, 67% and 48%, and 36%, 39% and 30% for SARI-Nyoriberigu, Kufour, SARI-Nan and Apomuden, respectively. Hence, the application of organic fertilizers will increase sweet potato yield, give higher returns to resource-poor smallholder farmers and contribute to enhancing food and nutrition security.展开更多
A multi-locational field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing rates of nitrogen and phosphorus on sweetpotato growth and yield at Bawku and Nyankpala. Shoot yield increased by 31%, 63%, 94% a...A multi-locational field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing rates of nitrogen and phosphorus on sweetpotato growth and yield at Bawku and Nyankpala. Shoot yield increased by 31%, 63%, 94% and 125% in Bawku and 49%, 98%, 148% and 197% in Nyankpala, when nitrogen was applied at 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg∙ha−1, respectively. When nitrogen was applied at 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg∙ha−1, storage root yield increased by 30, 46, 48, and 37% in Bawku and by 13, 17, 14 and 3% in Nyankpala, respectively. The optimum nitrogen required to maximize storage root yield were 80 and 62.5 kg∙ha−1 for Bawku and Nyankpala, respectively, in a split application at 2 and 6 weeks after planting. Storage root yield increased by 4%, 5%, 2% and −4% in Nyankpala and by 54%, 81%, 82%, 56% in Bawku, when 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg P were applied. Optimum phosphorus required to produce the highest storage root yield in this study are 67.5 and 101.3 t∙ha−1 for Nyankpala and Bawku, respectively. The maximum net return to investment occurred when 60 kg N∙ha−1 and 40 kg P∙ha−1 were applied at Bawku and Nyankpala, respectively.展开更多
文摘Twelve percent (12%) of Ghanaians are food insecure, and climate-smart crops like sweet potatoes are required to help end poverty. Small-scale farmers in Ghana who produce low-technology, subsistence crops, such as sweet potatoes, are more food secure than those who do not. This study was initiated to investigate the effect of chicken manure, compost, and cow dung on the growth and yield of “apomuden”, “SARI-Nyoriberigu”, “SARI-Nan” and “kufour” sweet potato under the Guinea Savannah agroecological zone of Ghana. Organic fertilizer increased leaf chlorophyll content and leaf area index. The application of cow dung, chicken manure and compost in 2015 significantly increased total storage root yield by 38%, 55% and 98%, 62%, 45% and 37%, 52%, 61% and 44%, and 33%, 36% and 28% for SARI-Nyoriberigu, Kufour, SARI-Nan and Apomuden, respectively, when compared to the untreated check. In 2016, and in comparison with the untreated check, the application of cow dung, chicken manure and compost increased total storage root yield by 42%, 61% and 93%, 69%, 49% and 41%, 57%, 67% and 48%, and 36%, 39% and 30% for SARI-Nyoriberigu, Kufour, SARI-Nan and Apomuden, respectively. Hence, the application of organic fertilizers will increase sweet potato yield, give higher returns to resource-poor smallholder farmers and contribute to enhancing food and nutrition security.
文摘A multi-locational field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing rates of nitrogen and phosphorus on sweetpotato growth and yield at Bawku and Nyankpala. Shoot yield increased by 31%, 63%, 94% and 125% in Bawku and 49%, 98%, 148% and 197% in Nyankpala, when nitrogen was applied at 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg∙ha−1, respectively. When nitrogen was applied at 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg∙ha−1, storage root yield increased by 30, 46, 48, and 37% in Bawku and by 13, 17, 14 and 3% in Nyankpala, respectively. The optimum nitrogen required to maximize storage root yield were 80 and 62.5 kg∙ha−1 for Bawku and Nyankpala, respectively, in a split application at 2 and 6 weeks after planting. Storage root yield increased by 4%, 5%, 2% and −4% in Nyankpala and by 54%, 81%, 82%, 56% in Bawku, when 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg P were applied. Optimum phosphorus required to produce the highest storage root yield in this study are 67.5 and 101.3 t∙ha−1 for Nyankpala and Bawku, respectively. The maximum net return to investment occurred when 60 kg N∙ha−1 and 40 kg P∙ha−1 were applied at Bawku and Nyankpala, respectively.