Effects of Phosphorus Fertilization and Plant Spacing on Herbage Yield of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

A field trial was conducted at Bauchi State university teaching and research farm Gadau during 2018 and 2019 rainy seasons, to study the effects of phosphorus fertilization and plant spacing on herbage yield of groundnut. The treatments consisted of four levels of phosphorus fertilizer (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg P₂O₅/ha) and three spacing (20 × 60 cm, 25 × 60 cm and 30 × 60 cm), factorially combined to give 12 treatments and laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated three times. The results of the experiment showed a significant (P < 0.01) difference among the treatments used throughout the study period. The result also revealed that, application of 60 and 90 kg P₂O₅/ha were observed to be statistically similar but significantly (P ≤ 0.05) recorded the highest number of branches, canopy spread, biomass, stover and pod yield than the other treatments used. However, all treatments were better than the control. In terms of spacing however, widest spacing (30 × 60 cm) significantly (P ≤ 0.05) gave the highest number of branches and canopy spread than the other spacing used. The result further indicated that, closest spacing (20 × 60 cm) recorded the highest biomass and stover yields throughout the study period. Years of study on the other hand, 2019 was proved to be significantly better than 2018 in all the characters observed. Based on the result of this findings, it can be concluded that, application of 60 to 90 kg/ha P₂O₅ and closest spacing (20 × 60 cm) gave the highest biomass and stover yields and is recommended to farmers for groundnut herbage production in the study area.