On-farm assessment of cassava root yield response to tillage, plant density, weed control and fertilizer application in southwestern Nigeria

Abstract Cassava is growing in importance in Nigeria as a food and industrial crop. Current yields are low due to poor soil fertility and because farmers do not use improved germplasm, clean planting material, or improved crop management in Nigeria. To provide feasible agronomic recommendations targeting increased root yield, the effects of tillage intensity, fertilizer application, plant density and weed control were tested in 230 farmers’ fields in southwestern Nigeria over two years. In 2016, tillage treatments were zero, single and double passage with a disc plough, followed by ridging (soil shaping) versus leaving the soil flat. Fertilizer application at 75:20:90 kg ha−1 NPK was tested against a control and two plant densities (10,000 versus 12,500 ha−1) were compared. In 2017, plant density at 10,000 ha−1 and double plough were excluded, while pre- and post-emergence herbicide application versus farmer’s choice of weed control (i.e. manual weeding using hand hoe) was introduced. Cassava was harvested at 12 months after planting, and yields were recorded as fresh root mass. In 2016, double plough (15.9 Mg ha−1) had a minor advantage over single plough (14.3 Mg ha−1), while zero plough produced 12.9 Mg ha−1 (P

[1]  D. L. Heanes.  Determination of total organic‐C in soils by an improved chromic acid digestion and spectrophotometric procedure , 1984 .

[2]  J. Bodunde,et al.  Soil temperature and moisture content changes with growth and yield of cassava/vegetable intercrops , 2015 .

[3]  R. Booth,et al.  Influence of variety and planting density on starch accumulation in cassava roots , 1979 .

[4]  R. Lal,et al.  Tillage effects on soil properties at different levels of fertilizer application in Punjab, Pakistan , 2002 .

[5]  K. Borin,et al.  Effects of Legumes-Cassava Intercropping on Cassava Forage and Biomass Production , 2005 .

[6]  R. McLaughlin,et al.  Effects of tillage and compost amendment on infiltration in compacted soils , 2016, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.

[7]  S. Wright,et al.  Conservation Tillage and Weed Management , 2006 .

[8]  C. Asadu,et al.  Soil properties and intensification of traditional farming systems in sub Saharan Africa (SSA). , 2008 .

[9]  C. Wortmann,et al.  Cassava Yield and Economic Response to Fertilizer in Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana , 2018, Agronomy Journal.

[10]  T. Agbede.  Effect of tillage on soil properties and yam yield on an Alfisol in southwestern Nigeria , 2006 .

[11]  R Core Team,et al.  R: A language and environment for statistical computing. , 2014 .

[12]  M. Yomeni,et al.  Cassava yield loss in farmer fields was mainly caused by low soil fertility and suboptimal management practices in two provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo , 2017 .

[13]  O. T. Ayoola,et al.  Fertilizer Treatment Effects on Performance of Cassava under Two Planting Patterns in a Cassava-based Cropping System in South West Nigeria , 2007 .

[14]  H. Ezumah,et al.  Tillage effects on cassava (Manihot esculenta) production and some soil properties , 1990 .

[15]  R. H. Bray,et al.  DETERMINATION OF TOTAL, ORGANIC, AND AVAILABLE FORMS OF PHOSPHORUS IN SOILS , 1945 .

[16]  Martin Fregene,et al.  Phenotypic approaches to drought in cassava: review , 2012, Front. Physiol..

[17]  B. Salami.  Soil Fertility Status of Cassava Fields in South Western Nigeria , 2013 .

[18]  S. Zingore,et al.  Understanding variability in crop response to fertilizer and amendments in sub-Saharan Africa , 2016, Agriculture, ecosystems & environment.

[19]  S. Ojeniyi.  Effect of zero-tillage and disc ploughing on soil water, soil temperature and growth and yield of maize (Zea mays L.) , 1986 .

[20]  N. Hulugalle.  Effect of tied ridges on soil water content, evapotranspiration, root growth and yield of cowpeas in the Sudan Savanna of Burkina Faso , 1987 .

[21]  A. Munodawafa.  The Effect of Rainfall Characteristics and Tillage on Sheet Erosion and Maize Grain Yield in Semiarid Conditions and Granitic Sandy Soils of Zimbabwe , 2012 .

[22]  Á. Kertész,et al.  Infiltration and Soil Loss Changes during the Growing Season under Ploughing and Conservation Tillage , 2017 .

[23]  Antonio Lopez-Montes,et al.  Spatial Multivariate Cluster Analysis for Defining Target Population of Environments in West Africa for Yam Breeding , 2019, Int. J. Appl. Geospat. Res..

[24]  G. Byju,et al.  Modeling the Response of Cassava to Fertilizers: A Site-Specific Nutrient Management Approach for Greater Tuberous Root Yield , 2012 .

[25]  F. Vinther,et al.  Effects of ridging on crop performance and symbiotic N2 fixation of fababean (Vicia faba L.) , 2005 .

[26]  R. Howeler.  Agronomic practices for sustainable cassava production in Asia , 2007 .

[27]  A. Mehlich.  Mehlich 3 soil test extractant: A modification of Mehlich 2 extractant , 1984 .

[28]  T. S. Silva,et al.  Densidade de plantio e rendimento de raízes de mandioca , 2013 .

[29]  J. M. Reichert,et al.  Conservation tillage for cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) production in the tropics , 2011 .

[30]  B. Okigbo,et al.  Cassava planting systems in Africa. , 1980 .

[31]  F. Ekeleme,et al.  Weed control in cassava cropping systems , 2017 .

[32]  Reinhardt H. Howeler,et al.  Cassava agronomy research and adoption of improved practices in Thailand: Major achievements during the past 35 years , 2001 .

[33]  T. Aye,et al.  Sustainable management of cassava in Asia: from research to practice , 2014 .

[34]  M. Anikwe,et al.  Ecophysiology and Production Principles of Cassava (Manihot species) in Southeastern Nigeria , 2018 .

[35]  A. Eneji,et al.  An assessment of some fertilizer recommendations under different cropping systems in a humid tropical environment , 2001 .

[36]  F. Ekeleme,et al.  Weed management in cassava in Africa: challenges and opportunities , 2016 .