Most Savannah soils are inherently low in fertility, especially with low organic matter (OM) contents. This results in poor crop productivity. The jute crop removes large quantities of plant nutrients from the soil and therefore responds well to organic manures as well as other agronomic practices such as plant spacing for sustainable crop yields. It is high in protein and eaten as a vegetable. The fibre is strong and durable and used to manufacture packaging materials like sacks, bags, ropes, home textiles etc. Hence, it holds great economic potential. It is against this backdrop, that this study examined the effect of different intra-row spacings and organic manures on the growth, yield and fibre colour of jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius). The field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm, Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria. Two intra-row spacings, three manures (poultry, goat, cow dung) and control were laid in a 2 x 4 factorial experiment in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Data was collected on growth, yield, and jute quality parameters and subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and where means of treatments were significant at (p≤ 0.05) level of probability, they were separated using the Turkey-HSD. Results showed that at 4WAT, the survival rate (70 - 79%) of the plants in all treatments showed no significant difference. Meanwhile, the highest leaf fresh weight plant-1, highest stem girth, fiber yield at harvest, plant height, stem fresh weight plant-1, leaf area (LA), fiber length and width at harvest (10 WAT) were recorded from the jute crop sown at 20cm intra-row spacing. Conversely, at 10WAT, higher plant heights, LA and fibre length at harvest were recorded using cow dung; while goat manure recorded the highest leaf fresh weight plant-1 at 10WAT, stem fresh weight plant-1 at 6WAT coupled with stem girth and fiber width at harvest. Poultry manure produced the highest stem fresh weight plant-1 at 10WAT and fiber weight at harvest. Generally, the control plots significantly recorded the lowest growth, yield and jute fibre colour indices. It is concluded that the intra-row spacings used in this study and the addition of organic manure enhanced the growth, yield and fibre colour of jute mallow. The golden color fibre, adjudged best, was obtained with the application of poultry manure at 5t ha-1 and the closest (10cm) intra-row spacing. The jute fibre is now accepted as an environmentally friendly and cost-effective material than reinforced plastic due to its biodegradable qualities and is replacing forest wood in the pulp and paper industry. Thus, it is considered the potential fiber of the future.
Author
(s) Details
Sambo, B. E.
Department of Crop Production and Protection, Federal University Wukari,
Taraba State, Nigeria.
Egbeadumah, M. O
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Federal University
Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria.
Amos, E.
Department of Crop Production and Protection, Federal University Wukari,
Taraba State, Nigeria.
Iyue, I. S.
Department of Crop Production and Protection, Federal University Wukari,
Taraba State, Nigeria.
Ochugudu, G.
Department of Crop Production and Protection, Federal University Wukari,
Taraba State, Nigeria.
Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/asti/v1/3992
