Browsing by Author "Yakubu, Z."

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    EFFECTS OF NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZERS ON THE GROWTH AND FRUIT YIELD OF WATERMELON (Citrullus lanatus LINN.) IN SOUTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA, NIGERIA
    (Faculty of Agriculture, University of Abuja, 2021-05-31) Yakubu, Z.; Afe, A. I; Gudugi, I.A.S; Ibrahim H.M; Ibrahim,R.O
    The effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers on the performance water melon (Citrullus lanatus Linn.) were determined during the 2018 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, and Gwagwalada (Kutunku),Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The experiment was a 4 x 4 factorial laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD).). Four levels of N and P fertilizer at 0, 30, 60, and 90kg/ha and 0, 10, 20, and 30 kg/ha were combined into a total of 16 treatments combinations. The variety used was sugar baby early maturing (70 to 75 days after planting). The different levels of fertilizer were applied at three weeks after planting. Soil characterization was also done on the study areas. Data were collected on growth and yield parameters. The results show that vine length and number of lateral branches were signicantly inuenced by N and P application in the study area. More numbers of marketable fruits were obtained from plots treated with higher N and P as compared with those treated with lower N and P from both sites. At higher N and P application, the seed yield in Federal University of Technology, Minna farm and Gwagwalada (Kutunku) were all better than the control. Application of 90kg N/ha and 30kg/ha P gave the highest yield of seed of 0.9 and 0.8 tons at Federal University of Technology, Minna farm and Gwagwalada (Kutunku) respectively. Application of fertilizers had signicant elongation of vine, produces more lateral branches, signicantly higher marketable fruits and increased seed yield and general performance of watermelon.The signicant edge in performance of Gwagwalada over Minna in growth parameter could be attributed to the rainfall distribution in 2018 cropping season