The Effect of Inorganic Fertilizer Micro Dosing on the Growth of Irrigated Pearl Millet (Penissetum glaucum (L.)R.Br) in Yola, Adamawa State Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the effect of inorganic fertilizer on the growth of irrigated pearl millet. Pot experiment was conducted from March to May 2016 on teaching and research farm, ModibboAdama University of Technology, Yola Adamawa State Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to investigate the effect of different levels of inorganic fertilizer micro dose on growth of Pearl Millet and also to determine the optimum level of NPK fertilizer on the growth of Pearl Millet. The parameters that were measured are the plant height, leaf length, leaf breadth, stem diameter, and number of leaves. The result obtained from the experiment indicates that there was a significant effect of the application on the height of pearl millet at 3 Weeks after sowing, while the tallest height of 76.67cm was recorded due to the application of half of the recommended rate of NPK (30:15:15) kg/ha), Significant effect of the application was also recorded in relation number of leaves at 6 weeks after sowing while the largest leaf number of 9.67cm was recorded due to the application of ¼ of recommended rate (15:7.5:7.5) kg/ha of NPK. For the stem diameter significant effect was recorded at 9 weeks after sowing with 3.8cm due to the application of the full recommended rate (60:30:30) kg/ha, while the largest stem diameter was recorded at 9 WAS due to the application of NPK full recommended rate. For the leaf length, there was a significant effect of the application at 9 weeks after sowing with 63.00cm due to the application of half of the recommended rate (30:15:15 kg/ha) of NPK. Where the highest length of 76.67cm was recorded due to the application of ½ recommended rate (30:15:15) the result indicates that the highest pearl millet height and large number of leaves were recorded due to the application of ½ recommended rate of NPK,(30:15:15 kg/ha). Based on the result of the experiment NPK seems to have a major impact on the growth of pearl millet on the sandy soils of Adamawa State, further experiments could be recommended so as to ascertain the effect of inorganic materials application on the growth of pearl millet in the same study area.