Effect of placement depth of planting fertilizer on above and below ground growth characteristics of centrosema pubescens
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Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST)
Abstract
Livestock production in Tanzania is limited by poor
availability of high nutritional forage species from natural
grazing land. The leguminous fodder seems to be the best
options for livestock feeding due to their high nutritive
values especially protein contents, but their productivity is
limited by unpredictable rainfall and poor soil fertility
particularly in semi-arid regions. Although application of
phosphate fertilizers is recommended for increasing
productivity of Centrosema pubescens, yet poor agronomic
practices especially the optimal fertilizer placement depth
constraints its growth performance during establishment.
This study tested the influence of Diammonium phosphate
(DAP) fertilizer placement depth on above and below
ground growth characteristics of Centrosema pubescens
during establishment at Magadu Dairy Farm located at
Sokoine University of Agriculture. The five fertilizer
placement depths i.e. 0 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm, 15 cm, and 20 cm,
were compared in terms of growth characteristics of both
roots and shoots as well as above ground biomass yield. It was found that the above ground biomass production,
shoots growth and root growth characteristics increases
with increasing levels of planting placement depth. The
optimal depth recommended for maximum yield was at 15
cm. It was suggested that farmers should adhere to
recommended fertilizer placement depth for good
establishment of Centrosema pubescens.
Description
Healthy Rangelands for Sustainable Grazing Land Productivity
Keywords
Fertilizer, Placement depth, Above ground biomass, Growth characteristics