GROWTH, YIELD AND OIL YIELD OF CASTOR (Ricinus communis L.) AS INFLUENCED BY VARIETY, NUTRIENT SOURCES AND AGRO-ECOLOGY IN BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at both Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University teaching and research farm, Bauchi located in the Northern Guinea Savannah and also at Bulkachuwa village of Katagum LGA located in Sudan Savannah both in Bauchi state, during the wet seasons of 2016, 2017 and 2018 to study the growth, yield and oil content of castor (Ricinus communis L.) as influenced by variety, nutrient sources and agro-ecology. The treatments consisted of a factorial combination of five nutrient sources (poultry manure, cow dung, chicken feather, municipal waste, mineral fertilizer) and a control and two varieties of castor (Ex-India 1 and 2), these gave 12 treatment combinations and laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Data were collected on plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, seed yield and oil content. All data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and Duncan’s Multiple Range Test was adopted in separating the means. Results of the experiment revealed a significant (P≤0.05) difference among the treatments used throughout the study period. The result further shows that, application of poultry manure, chicken feather and mineral NPK fertilizer produced statistically (P≤0.05) similar results in most of the characters measured but significantly (P≤0.05) better than cowdung and municipal waste especially on plant height, number of leaves, leaf area and seed yield. The control consistently had the lower values for the parameters measured. The results further revealed that, variety Ex-India 2 recorded superior performance over Ex-India 1 on growth, yield and seed oil content throughout the study period. The performance of castor was generally better at Bauchi than Bulkachuwa location throughout the study period. The crop grown in 2018 wet season performed statistically (P≤0.05) better than those of 2016 and 2017 wet seasons on most of the characters studied. Based on the results of this investigation however, application of poultry manure or chicken feather at the rate of 2t/ha or mineral NPK fertilizer (at the rate of 100:50:50 kg/ha) to Ex-India 2 can be recommended for castor seed production and increased oil content in the study areas.