Effect of Different Nutrient Sources and Moisture Stress on Nutrient Uptake and Dry Matter Accumulation of Indian Spinach (Basella alba L.)

Abstract

Most tropical soils are deficient in major plant nutrients. This is exacerbated by moisture stress which makes the meagre nutrients unavailable for plant uptake. This study was conducted at the screen house of Federal University of Technology Minna to determine the effect of nutrient sources and moisture stress on the performance of Indian spinach. The treatments were 4 nutrient sources (control, NPK 20-10-10, poultry manure, sapropel) and 4 moisture stress levels (daily, 2, 4, 6 days watering intervals) arranged in Completely Randomized Design. Results revealed that poultry manure significantly increased the dry matter of Indian spinach by 87% over the control while sapropel did not. Application of poultry manure significantly increased phosphorus uptake by 244% over the control which was similar to NPK fertilizer while sapropel increased the uptake by 85%. Plants fertilized with NPK had significantly (p<0.05) highest nitrogen, potassium, calcium and magnesium uptake followed by poultry manure. The least was obtained in the control plants which was statistically similar to the sapropel treated plants. Significantly highest dry matter was obtained in daily watered plants which were similar to 2 days watering interval. Similar trend was observed for all the nutrient uptake. Moisture stress imposed from 4 days watering interval significantly reduced the dry matter, N, P, K and Mg uptake in the plants. This result suggests that poultry manure will be a better alternative to chemical fertilizer in the production of Indian spinach than sapropel. Furthermore, watering at 2 days interval is adequate for the crop's optimum performance