Effect of Gibberellic Acid 4 and 7 and 6-Benzyl Adenine on Growth, Yield and Quality of Sugarcane in Kakamega County, Kenya

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dc.contributor.authorAchola, Andrew Adodi
dc.date.accessioned2021-02-17T07:48:59Z
dc.date.available2021-02-17T07:48:59Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.descriptionA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Science (Agronomy) in the School of Agriculture and Enterprise Development of Kenyatta Universityen_US
dc.description.abstractDeclining sugarcane productivity in Kenya has attracted a plethora of interventions such as optimal fertilizer regimes, improved seedcane quality and use of plant growth regulators (PGRs). Although application of PGRs in leading sugarcane producing countries like China and India has registered success, sugarcane farmers in Kenya are yet to exploit this technology. Globalization and liberation of world sugar industry now subjects the local millers and farmers to stiff competition. The local sugar millers have responded by seeking to adopt payment model based on yield and sucrose content. To address this problem, a study was conducted to determine the effect of different levels of gibberellic acid 4 and 7 and 6-benzyl adenine on growth, yield and sucrose content of five selected sugarcane varieties (CO 421, KEN 83-737, D8484, CO 945 and EAK 73- 335). The study was carried out at the Butali Sugar Company Research and Demonstration farm in Chegulo, Kakamega County-Kenya. The trial was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design in 5 by 5 factorial arrangement. The treatments consisted of gibberellic acid 4 and 7 and 6-benzyl adenine at 0 1, 2, 3 and 4 litres per hectare and the five sugarcane varieties. All treatments were replicated three times. Data on germination, tillering, height, girth, length of internodes and leaf number was collected monthly for six months for two seasons. Data on yield was collected by harvesting all the sugarcane from each plot at the 12th month after planting and recording the stalk biomass. Pol% was was generated by extracting juice from 10 randomly selected stalks per plot to obtain a homogenized, composite sample before adding lead sub-acetate clarifier and measuring the filtrate using a polarimeter before multiplying the recorded value by the corresponding pol factor. All the data was subjected to ANOVA using SAS 9.1 software; and means separated using Tukey’s test (P≤0.05). Finally, cost-benefit analysis was computed for all varieties under study. It was observed that use of gibberellic acid 4 and 7 and 6-benzyl adenine led to significant and or linear increasing growth, yield and quality (sucrose content) of sugarcane. It was also observed that the varieties differed in their response to application of the gibberellic acid 4 and 7 and 6-benzyl adenine. In yield, D8484 grown with GA4+7 and 6-BA at 4 litres per hectare recorded the best performance at 75.35 and 75.23 tons/ha in Seasons 1 and 2 respectively. EAK 73-335 recorded superiority in sucrose accumulation with pol% of 14.70% and 14.69 % in seasons 1 and 2 respectively when treated with GA 4+7 and 6-BA at 4 litres per hectare. There was no significant difference at 4 litres per hectare in all parameters under study. Application of gibberellic acid 4 and 7 and 6-benzyl adenine increased growth, yield and quality of the sugarcane varieties with D8484 recording the best overall performance and the highest net positive benefit-cost ratio at 3.7. Gibberellic acid 4 and 7 and 6-benzyl adenine increased yield by 11-22% and sucrose content by 3-6%. Therefore, it is recommended that variety D8484 and EAK 73-335 be grown and gibberellic acid 4 and 7 and 6-benzyl adenine at 3 litres per hectare be incorporated in the production of sugarcane in Kakamega County and areas with similar agro ecological conditions. In addition, there is need for evaluation of response of more cane varieties and in other agro ecologies. Further study is recommended on performance of ratoon crop previously applied with gibberrellic acid 4 and 7 and 6-benzyl adenine.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/21502
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.subjectGibberellic Acid 4en_US
dc.subject6-Benzyl Adenineen_US
dc.subjectQuality of Sugarcaneen_US
dc.subjectKakamegaen_US
dc.subjectKenyaen_US
dc.subjectsugarcane productivityen_US
dc.subjectplant growth regulators (PGRs)en_US
dc.titleEffect of Gibberellic Acid 4 and 7 and 6-Benzyl Adenine on Growth, Yield and Quality of Sugarcane in Kakamega County, Kenyaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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