Potato (solanum tuberosum l.) growth and yield as influenced by bioslurry and inorganic fertilizer in Taita Taveta County, Kenya

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dc.contributor.advisorHarun Gitarien_US
dc.contributor.advisorEsther Muindien_US
dc.contributor.authorMwakidoshi, Emmanuel Randy
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-22T06:36:37Z
dc.date.available2023-09-22T06:36:37Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.descriptionA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of master of science (integrated soil fertility management) in the school of agriculture and environmental sciences, kenyatta university , February 2023en_US
dc.description.abstractBiogas slurry procured from livestock refuse after bio digestion has a great potential of mitigating climate change by reducing methane gas emission from manure use and nitrous oxide from inorganic fertilizer use thus, improving crop growth, yield, and soil productivity. A field study was conducted on farmer’s fields at Werugha and Wusi-Kishamba wards in Taita Taveta County, Kenya to investigate the effect of inorganic fertilizer and bioslurry on potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) growth and yield. Four treatments: bioslurry + DAP (Di-ammonium phosphate); sole bioslurry, sole fertilizer (DAP), and control (without amendment) were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with five replications. 100% DAP [18:46:0] fertilizer was used at a rate of (5g/hill) and 100% Bioslurry was applied at rates of (400mls/hill) at planting. In addition, a survey questionnaire was developed and administered to 120 smallscale farmers within the two wards. Biophysical data was collected on plant growth (plant height, leaf length, and the number of leaves per plant), and yield (marketable and unmarketable tubers, and the number of tubers plant−1). The survey and biophysical data obtained from the study were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and GenStat statistical software, respectively at a 5% probability threshold. Results showed that the use of bioslurry had not been well adopted by farmers from the two wards as only 18% responded to using bioslurry on their farms whereas 78% relied on chemical fertilizers and other forms of manures such as farmyard manure. However, even those using slurry had since been reported to have challenges with the use and application of the slurry. The 36% of farmers who applied bioslurry alone did so due to its availability considering the high cost of inorganic fertilizers while those who combined it with inorganic fertilizers had faith in chemical fertilizers and that they aimed at achieving high crop yields. The major challenges farmers faced while using slurry on their farms were reported to be on lack of knowledge on the exact quantity to be applied per unit area and on the storage of excess slurry from biodigesters. This implied that even though slurry was available, it was still not useful to the farmers due to under/over application and poor storage. The field experiment reviewed that the application of combined bioslurry and DAP fertilizer significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved potato growth and yield. The results indicated the superiority of combined bioslurry + DAP fertilizer use over the sole application of either of the two amendments. For instance, the plants that received these inputs in combination were taller (80 cm) than either those treated with sole slurry (61 cm) or sole fertilizer (66 cm). Subsequently, this resulted in a higher (23.3 t ha−1) total yield in bioslurry + DAP treatment compared to respective intermediate values of 16.8 and 18.7 t ha−1 for sole slurry and sole fertilizer and the least record of 14.2 t ha−1 in control. The study, therefore, recommends the synergistic application of bioslurry and inorganic fertilizer (DAP) to potato crops for optimal crop growth and productionen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/26972
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.subjectPotatoen_US
dc.subjectbioslurryen_US
dc.subjectinorganicen_US
dc.subjectfertilizeren_US
dc.subjectTaita Taveta Countyen_US
dc.subjectKenyaen_US
dc.titlePotato (solanum tuberosum l.) growth and yield as influenced by bioslurry and inorganic fertilizer in Taita Taveta County, Kenyaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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