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Journal of Agricultural Science and Applications (J. Agric. Sci. Appl.)

Effects of fertilization and watering regimes on early growth and leaf biomass production for two food tree species in the Sahel: Moringa oleifera Lam. and Adansonia digitata L. M. Larwanou*1,M. M. Adamou2, T. Abasse 3 1) African Forest Forum (AFF). C/o World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF). United Nations Avenue. P.O.Box 30677 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya 2) Faculté d’Agronomie, Université Abdou Moumouni, B.P. 10960 Niamey, Niger. 3) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger. BP 429, Niamey, Niger. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Abstract: A trial was conducted on station to investigate the effects of fertilization and watering regimes on early growth and leaf biomass production for two food tree species (Moringa oleifera Lam. and Adansonia digitata L.) in Niger, West Africa. The trial was a two factors experiment comprising of watering regimes and types of fertilizers in a split plot design conducted within the premises of the National Institute for Agricultural Research of Niger in Niamey. The main objective of the study was to separately investigate the effects of fertilization and watering regime on growth and leaf biomass production for M. oleifera and A. digitata in an arid environment.The plot size was for M. oleifera:3 m x 3 m = 9 m² and for A. digitata, 1.5 m x 1.5 m = 2.25 m². Data were collected periodically. The results showed that watering regimes are highly correlated to growth and development parameters (height, diameter and dry biomasses) for the 2 tree species. However, there is low correlation between growth and development parameters and different fertilizers for moringa and relatively very low correlation in baobab.These results informed that for leaf biomass production at early stage of development for the 2 species, water is a key element and needs to be coupled with fertilization for some parameters. Further investigations need to be carried out for a longer period on the 2 species in order to advise development on the use of the results for large scale leaf biomass production for human and animal consumption. Keywords:Adansonia digitata; early growth; Fertilizers; leaf biomass; Moringa oleifera; watering regime.

1

Introduction

Food tree species are important in the feeding regimes in Africa in general and Sahelian countries in particular. Among these species, leaves of African baobab (Adansonia digitata, Bombacaceae) and drumstrick tree (Moringa oleifera, Moringaceae) are consumed in Africa either in sauces or as vegetables. In Niger for instance, these species are produced for sale and consumed in most of households (Larwanou et al., 2003, Larwanou et al., 2006). A. digitata is indigenous in the semi-arid part of the subSaharan Africa. Its distribution throughout the dry parts of Africa is mainly due to humans. Usually, baobab trees are found near human settlements or in the houses and in the farms where they are cultivated by the owners. Most of the trees in West Africa were planted, and natural regeneration is rare (Gijsbers et al., 1994; Kyndt et al., 2009). Planting has been reported in Senegal (Giffard, 1974), Mali (Sidibé et al., 2996) and Niger (Larwanou et al., 2005). The baobab tree is restricted to hot, dry woodland, well drained soils, in frost-free areas that receive low rainfall (Esterhuyse et al., 2001). The leaves are rich in vitamin C, sugars, potassium tartrate, and calcium (Bosch et al., 2004). They are cooked fresh as a vegetable or dried and crushed for later use by local people (Venter and Venter, 1985). The sprout of

young trees can be eaten like asparagus. The root of very young trees is reputed to be edible as well as the seeds which can be roasted for use as a coffee substitute (Bosch et al., 2004). Moringa oleifera Lam (synonym: Moringa pterygosperma Gaertner) belongs to a monogeneric family of shrubs and trees. It is considered that Moringaceae spread from Agra and Oudh areas, northwestern India and south of the Himalayan Mountains (Odee, 1998). Moringa is one of the most useful tropical trees. The relative ease of sexual and asexual propagation and its low demand for soil nutrients and water makes its production and management easy. Its cultivation is beneficial for both the owner of the farm and the surrounding ecosystem because of its importance as food and in environmental protection (Foild et al., 2001). It is a fast growing, perennial tree which can reach a maximum height of 7-12 m and a diameter of 20-40 cm at breast height. The young leaves are edible and are commonly cooked and eaten or used to make soups, porridges and salads. They are an exceptionally good source of provitamin A, vitamins B, and C, minerals (in particular iron), and the sulphur-containing amino acids methionine and cysteine (Bosch et al., 2004). The composition of the amino acids in the leaf protein is well balanced (Makkar and Becker, 1997). Available data (Becker, 1983; Yazzie, 1994;

J. Agric. Sci. Appl. Volume 3, Issue 4 Dec. 2014 PP. 82-88 DOI: 10.14511/jasa.2014.030401 © American V-King Scientific Publishing 82

Journal of Agricultural Science and Applications (J. Agric. Sci. Appl.)

and Nordeide et al., 1996) show that leaves contain 13-15% protein, 60-70% carbohydrate, 4-10% fat and around 11% fiber and 16% ash and the energy value varies from 1180 – 1900 kJ/100 g of which 80% is metabolisable energy. With all these various uses and the importance of these two species in the wellbeing of local African people, the production systems are still not yet been improved. For instance (Larwanou et al., 2003) noted that moringa production in Niger is still traditional and farmers meet problems in terms of fertilization and watering regime in order to optimize growth. Goss (2012) noted that, for leaf production of moringa, new cultivation techniques like high density planting to be used as well as other sylvicultural treatments. For baobab, the traditional production system is to rear the tree in the farm or garden and the leaves are collected during the rainy season and kept throughout the year. A study attempting to compare the capacity of moringa to develop from seeds and cuttings from Madagascar, Niger, Senegal and Togo was conducted in Togo (Kouami et al., 2001). For A. digitata, information on these aspects is rare and scanty. There is no much available information on fertilization and watering regime for the production of leaves for the two species at early stage of their development. The present paper presents the result of a 24 weeks trial which main objective was to investigate on the effect of fertilization and watering regime on growth and leaf biomass production for M. oleifera and A. digitata in an arid environment in order to provide guidance for the cultivation of these species.

1 1.1

Material and methods Experimental design

The experimental design was a split-plot with 3 replications; each block is composed of 7 treatments: T1: (NH4)2HPO4: DAP; T2: animal manure (AM); T3: NPK; T4: Triple super phosphate (TSP); T5: Tahoua Natural Phosphate (TNP); T6: Urea (N). T7: no fertilizer. Each treatment is subdivided into 4 sub-treatments or subplots indicating the water regimes: WR1: 1 time every day; WR2: 2 times every day WR3: 1 time every 2 days and WR4: 1 time every 4 days. Block sizes were 3 m × 3 m (9 plants per plot) × 7 (63 m²) for moringa and 1.5 m × 1.5 m × 7 (15.75 m²) for baobab. The plot sizes are 3 m × 3 m and subplots: 1.5 m × 1.5 m (moringa) and 1.5 m x 1.5 m (baobab). Subplots were 0.75 m × 0.75 m.

1.2

Experimental site, plant material, fertilizers used and watering regimes

The trial was conducted within the premises of the National Institute for Agricultural Research of Niger in Niamey, approximately at coordinates 13° 29' 09’’ N –2° 07' 53’’ E and 193 m above sea level. The terrain is flat with sandy soil. The climatic conditions are harsh depending on the season.

Plant materials used are seeds of M. oleifera (Moringaceae) and A. digitata (Bombacaceae) obtained from the field through the annual seed collection by the Department of Forestry of the National Agricultural Research Institute of Niger. The chemical and organic fertilizers used are: Urea: 46% N; triple super phosphate (TSP): 46% P2O5; natural phosphate of Tahoua (PNT): 23% P2O5; NPK: 15-15-15 and phosphate diammoniaque (DAP): 18-46-0. The organic fertilizer is animal manure collected in a cattle raising house. The different fertilizers were applied once by broadcasting for both species The watering regimes were: WR1: 1 time a day; WR2: 2 times a day; WR3: 1 time every 2 days; WR4: 1 time every 4 day. The content of a watering can was used to water the plots following the given frequency.

1.3

Soil preparation and other cultural operations

The plots were demarcated and ploughed before sowing. The seeds of baobab were pre-treated in hot water because they are very hard. The seeds were sown in June with 2 seeds by pit for the 2 species with spacing of 1 m × 1 m for moringa and 0.2 m × 0.2 m for baobab. Weeding and ploughing were carried out when and where necessary. Insect and larvae attacks were observed in moringa plants and were treated with Dursban 5% PP and Décis 12.EC respectively.

1.4

Fertilization and irrigation

Animal manure, NPK, PNT and SPT were applied when preparing the soil followed by a preliminary watering during 4 days before sowing. Urea and DAP were used at 50% germination for moringa and 30% for baobab. The quantity of fertilizers applied is shown in Table 1. While irrigating, the same water quantity was applied for each species. For moringa, 48 liters by frequency and treatment, and 24 liters for baobab were applied. The difference in water quantity applied between species is due to the plot size difference.

1.5

Data collection and analysis

Germination was assessed daily between 3 and 15 days after sowing for moringa and 8 and 23 days after sowing for baobab. For both species, growth parameters (total height and stem diameter at 0.2 m above ground) were assessed 30 days after sowing and measurements were done every 14 days. Fresh leaf biomass production was also assessed every 20 days after the first 30 days after sowing for moringa. For baobab, the fresh leaf biomass was measured monthly after 60 days of sowing. The experiment continued during 24 weeks. For each species, both growth parameters and fresh leave biomass were assessed per subplot. Fresh leaves were systematically collected by hand per plant and weighed immediately.

J. Agric. Sci. Appl. Volume 3, Issue 4 Dec. 2014 PP. 82-88 DOI: 10.14511/jasa.2014.030401 © American V-King Scientific Publishing 83

Journal of Agricultural Science and Applications (J. Agric. Sci. Appl.)

Table 1. Dose and quantity of fertilizers by treatment and plot. Fertilizer

Fertilizer rate (g/m²)

DAP (18-46-0) Animal manure NPK (15-15-15) PNT (23% P205) SPT (46% P205) Urea (46% N) Control

Total amount of fertilizer (g) M. oleifera A. digitata 45 11.25 5400 1350 1080 270 900 225 225 56.25 22.5 5.63 0 0

5 600 120 100 25 2.5 0

Table 2. Mean dry biomass (g) and growth parameters (height and diameter, cm) for the two studied species under different treatments. SE: standard error. Species Moringa

Baobab

Parameter Dry biomass Mean height Mean diameter Dry biomass Mean height Mean diameter

Animal manure 80.4 56.22 0.722 15.22 31.72 0.6049

Control 116.7 69.02 0.907 7.51 24.95 0.4767

DAP 157.5 75.51 1.020 18.06 31.57 0.5674

NPK 130.2 67.86 0.905 18.51 32.85 0.6527

PNT +Urea 151.9 80.49 1.067 17.1 34.06 0.5259

SPT+Urea 146.2 84.04 1.061 14.04 29.33 0.4949

Urea 103.8 65.02 0.849 12.24 25.97 0.52

SE 24.36 8.44 0.124 7.19 5.043 0.0883

Table 3. Mean dry biomass (g) and growth parameters (height and diameter, cm) for the two studied species under different watering regimes. SE: standard error. Species Moringa

Baobab

Watering regime Dry biomass (g) Mean height (cm) Mean diameter (cm) Watering regime Dry biomass (g) Mean height (cm) Mean diameter (cm)

WR1 145.3 78.94 1.0551 WR1 15.22 29.43 0.55

5% of the fresh biomass of both species was taken to the laboratory. Samples were first air-dried for 7 days and then oven-dried for 72 hours to obtain dry constant weight. The constant weight is then extrapolated to obtain the correct dry weight in grams (g). Data were analyzed using Genstat (GenStat for Windows 14th Edition, 2011) in order to check differences among treatments within a given species as well as correlation between growth parameters, water regimes and fertilizers. The effect of fertilizers and watering regimes on growth parameters and dry biomass yield was analyzed using regression model option of the ANOVA.

2 2.1 2.1.1

Results Growth parameters and dry biomass production for M. oleifera and A. digitata Moringa

There is no significant difference (P