EFFECTS OF SEED RATE AND IRRIGATION FREQUENCY ON GROWTH AND FORAGE YIELD OF CENTRO (Centrosema pascuorum Mart. ex Benth)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of seed rate and irrigation frequency on growth attribute and forage yield of Centrosema pascourum. The experimental design was a split-plot replicated 3 times. The treatments consisted of three levels of seed rate (8kg/ha, 10 kg/ha and 12 kg/ha) and three irrigation frequencies (2. 4 and 6 days intervals), respectively. Results indicated that growth of Centrosema pascourum was significantly affected (P<0.05) by seeding rate. There was 31% increase in plant height at seed rates of 10 and 12 kg/ha at 8 weeks after sowing, respectively. Irrigation frequency of 6 days significantly (P<0.05) increased plant height by 45% at 8 weeks after sowing. The highest (P<0.05) forage yield (9.99t/ha) was produced at seed rate of 10 kg/ha at 8 weeks after sowing. Also, 2 days irrigation interval produced 18% higher forage yield at 8 weeks after sowing compared with 2 weeks after sowing. There were significant (P<0.05) interactions between the factors investigated at all levels. It was therefore concluded that seed rate of 10 kg/ha and irrigation frequency of 2 days are important factors to consider by farmers before establishing Centrosema pascourum in northern guinea savanna. However, this cannot be achieved without the full knowledge of the size of farm land to be cultivated for better performance and yield.