MATERIAL AND
METHODS
Experimental
Site
This
study will be conducted in Eguji Sylvanus’s farm at Imeabali Umuigboke Oriuzor,
Ezza-North East Development Centre in Ebonyi State. The piece of land to be
used has not been cultivated for over 6 (six) years, yet the vegetative phase
of crops growing therein indicated that the soil is very poor and soil
fertility very low. The area lies at latitude 060 15.139'
N and longitude 0080 03.670' E, in the derived Savannah Southeastern
agro-ecological zone of Nigeria.
Planting
Materials
Twenty (20) improved
varieties and four (4) landraces (checks) were used in the study, giving a
total number of twenty four (24) cultivars of Dioscorea rotundata. These include TDr 89/02665, TDr 99/01108, TDr
96/02665, TDr 03/00196, TDr 00/00539, TDr 87/02475, TDr 00/00403, TDr 96/00604,
TDr 07/00873, TDr 01/00405, TDr 97/00840, TDr 02/00515, TDr 97/02672, TDr
00/00362, TDr 03/0058, TDr Ahumalo and TDr Amula selected by Nigeria Root Crops
Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike. Others were landraces and include Obioturugo,,Obele-ocha,
Okpebe-akpu, Ozibo and Ogbaghara-ogbee.
Note: Cross
check the varieties! Ebonyi was used to identify varieties for Ebonyi location.
It is not part of the name of all the varieties
Field
Preparation
An
area of land that measured 30 m x 10 m will be mapped out for each replicate
for this experiment. (What is the total area of land used?) The field will be cleared manually with
cutlass and plant debris will be removed. The local hoe will be used to elaborately
pulverize the soil into mounds. Tape, pegs, and twins (rope) will be used to
demarcate the area into three (3) replicates. Each replicate consisted of four
(4) plots and 6 rows per plot for the row planting of the 24 cultivars. Each plot
(6 m x 5 m) comprised of 30 plant stands.
Sett Treatment
and Planting
The
sets will be prepared by cutting whole tubers into sets weighing ……. and
treated with Z-force Mancozeb 8 % WP (Dust) and ACT-force Gold (liquid) before
planting. The sets will be soaked in a mixture containing one cup of milk per
10 liters of water and 70 ml per 10 liters of water (liquid) respectively and
air-dried for 24 hours in order to protect the setts against insects,
nematodes, bacteria and fungi attack, respectively in the soil,. The yam varieties
will be planted at a spacing of 1m between plants and 2m between replicates
(blocks), one sett will be planted per mound in rows with a planting depth of
10cm.
Cultural
Practices
Weed Control: Regular manual
weeding will be carried out in the field to reduce competition for available
plant nutrients between the yams and weeds.
Fertilizer
application: There
will be no treatment in this experiment. The aim is to determine the effect of
soil fertility on growth and yield of Dioscorea rotundata varieties.
Staking: Staking will
be done 6 weeks after plant with strong bamboo sticks, to ensure adequate
exposure of the leaf surface to sunlight and consequently increase yield.
Training of
Vine:
This is will be regularly done after staking to ensure even spreading and
neatness of the vines to receive sunlight.
Earthen
Up: This will be done 8 weeks after planting to reduce the bulk density of the
soil for easy penetration of water into the soil.
Data
Collection
Agronomic data will be collected and recorded,
including
a.
Establishment
of the plant at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks after planting, respectively.
b.
Crop
vigor: This will be determined by the length of vine, number of leaves, number
of branches and leaf area index at 8 and 12 weeks after planting, respectively.
c.
Morphological
characteristics of the different varieties
d.
Yield
attributes: number of stands at harvest
(NSH), number of ware tubers harvested per plot (NWTHP), tuber shape (TS),
tuber surface texture (TST), yield of ware tuber (YWTP, kg per plot), yield of
seed yams, below 1kg (YSTP kg per plot),
number of rotten tuber per plot (NRTP),
total fresh tuber yield (kg per plot)
e.
Disease
records in a per plot basis
Data Analysis
All
data collected will be analyzed using analysis of variance procedure (ANOVA)
for randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications. Separation of
treatment means for significant effect will be done by the use of Fisher’s
least significant difference (F-LSD) as described by Obi (1986).
Table 1.The ANOVA format for RCRD,
showing sources of variation and degrees of freedom, only
Source
of variation
|
General
|
Specific
|
D.F
|
D.F
|
|
Block
|
r-1
|
3-1 = 2
|
Treatment
|
t-1
|
24-1 =23
|
Experimental error
|
(r-1)(t-1)
|
(3-1)(24-1)= 2 x 23 =46
|
Total
|
RT-1
|
3 x 24 -1 = 3 x 23 = 69
|
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