Effects of Two Compound Fertilizer Types on the Growth and Yield Performance of Three Cassava Varieties (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in Humid Tropics Niger Delta, Nigeria

The study objectives were; (a) assess the high yielding variety amongst the three cassava varieties (TMS 95/0289, TMS 96/0523 and TME 419). (b). evaluate the impact of the compound fertilizers (N-P-K- 20:10-10and N-P-K 15—15-15) on the growth performance of the three cassava varieties in terms of growth and yield. (c) determine the effect of interaction between the N.P.K. fertilizers and the three cassava verities. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a perennial crop of the family Euphorbiaceae domesticated in Nigeria. It is a root crop that is propagated vegetatively from stem cuttings for commercial purposes, but can also be propagated by seed. Cassava is however, not usually planted sole under the traditional cropping system so as to maximize the farmer’s income generation and also to produce diverse crops on the limited available land area. Thus, an experiment on the growth and yield responses of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) using two compound fertilizer types was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm, Rivers State University Port Harcourt between March 2021 and February 2022. Three cassava varieties (TME 419, TMS 95/0289, and TMS 96/0523), two types of compound fertilizer (NPK 20-10-10 and NPK 15-15-15), and a control with no fertilizer application were combined in the treatments. The treatments were set up as a split plot with the cassava varieties going in the main plot and the fertilizer types going in the subplots, in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated three times. Parameters evaluated were plant height and leaf number at four weekly interval starting at ten weeks after planting, also tuber number and tuber weight. Results show that cassava variety TME 419 interacting with NPK 15-1515 produced the highest plant height (288.3cm) while TMS96/0523 without fertilizer application produced the lowest plant height(199cm) at harvest. Significantly more leaves, tubers, and plant height were produced using NPK 15-15-15. Comparing the fertilized plots to the unfertilized plot (control), the fertilized plots produced considerably more fresh tubers and heavier tubers. Since the variety and compound fertilizer generated the maximum tuber number and tuber weight, TMS 95/0289 and NPK 15-15-15 should be suggested to subsistence farmers in order to boost cassava output.