Author
Listed:
- Mavis Akom
- Charles Oti-Boateng
- Emmanuel Otoo
- Evans Dawoe
Abstract
Yam production is characterized by low fertilizer input and annual shifting in search for fertile lands. This practice usually leads to reduction in the yield potential of the crop and destruction of the environment. Biochar additions through its ability to improve soil fertility and increase crop yields could be used to solve these problems. This study therefore investigated the effect of biochar and inorganic fertilizer application on yam production in a forest agro ecological zone in Ghana. A 4×3 factorial experiment in a randomised complete block design with three replications was used. The treatments consisted of four application rates of wood shaving biochar (0 t ha-1 , 5 t ha-1 , 10 t ha-1 and 15 t ha-1) and three inorganic fertilizer rates ( 0-0-0 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1, 30-30-30 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1 and 60-60-60 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1). No significant differences in soil parameters in response to the treatment were observed, with the exception of total N, where a decline was observed for all the treatments compared to the controls after harvest. Vegetative growth parameters of yam were not significantly influenced by biochar and inorganic fertilizer application. The number of seed yams per hectare was the only yield parameter that was significantly (p = 0.05) decreased by biochar application. Dry matter, production was also significantly (p = 0.05) increased by fertilizer application at 24 weeks after planting and at harvest. It is suggested that aged and higher rates of biochar would efficiently support yam production.
Suggested Citation
Mavis Akom & Charles Oti-Boateng & Emmanuel Otoo & Evans Dawoe, 2015.
"Effect of Biochar and Inorganic Fertilizer in Yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir) Production in a Forest Agroecological Zone,"
Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 7(3), pages 211-211, February.
Handle:
RePEc:ibn:jasjnl:v:7:y:2015:i:3:p:211
Download full text from publisher
More about this item
JEL classification:
- R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
- Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General
Statistics
Access and download statistics
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:jasjnl:v:7:y:2015:i:3:p:211. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.