1.
INTRODUCTION
Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) is a tuber crop belonging to the family cyperaceae. It produces edible tubers that are between
0.3-1.9 cm in diameter. The tuber is rich in dietary fiber, carbohydrate [1]
and protein [2];[3].
Like any other sedges, the plant is most frequently
found inhabiting wet marshes and edges of streams and ponds where it
grows in coarse turfs [4]. Tiger nut or yellow nutsedge
(Cyperus esculentus
(L). has many names in English, it is called tiger nut, yellow nut sedge, earth
almond, ground almond, and yellow nutgrass [5].
It is also named Habelaziz in Arabic, Chufa in
Spanish, and Ayaya and Zulu nuts in Africa [6].
Tiger nut, (Cyperus esculentus L.)
is considered underutilized due to lack of information on their
nutritional potential [7]. It is
considered a mere weed in many areas.
In Nigeria, tiger nut is well grown in the middle belt
and northern region [8], where it is sold locally and consumed
uncooked. The tuber grows freely and is consumed widely in Nigeria and other
parts of West Africa, East Africa, parts of Europe particularly Spain as well
as in the Arabian Peninsula [9].
Nutritionally, the tubers are the economical parts of the
plant since they contain about 50% digestible carbohydrates, 4-8% proteins and
9% crude fibers, and about 20-36% oil. In addition, many products can be
obtained from it like tiger nut oil, flour and milk [10]. He also reported that
the oil of the tiger nut tuber contains 18% saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic) and 82% unsaturated fatty acids
(mainly olieic and linoleic acids) and therefore, has
excellent nutritional qualities with a fat composition similar to olives and
can be used as food oil as well as for industrial and medicinal purposes [11].
The plant was
reported to help in preventing heart diseases, thrombosis and activates blood
circulation, responsible for preventing and treating urinary tract and
bacterial infection, assists in reducing the risk of colon cancer [12]. They
are thought to be beneficial to
diabetic patients and those seeking to reduce cholesterol or lose weight, the
very high fiber contents combined with a delicious taste make them ideal for
healthy eating [13]
Tiger nut is considered underutilized, due to certain
factors but exploiting the potentials of such underutilized food crops will
become more and more cardinal to achieving food security especially in the developing
countries and ensuring ecological stability in the face of ever increasing
human population and climate change. According to [7] tiger nut has attracted
very little scientific and technological attention in the recent past.
Constraints identified to be restricting the cultivation of tiger nut include;
the label of the crop as a mere weed in many areas, difficulties in harvesting
the tubers, problems of pest like red ants, termites and rodents, lack of
adequate knowledge on the type of fertilizer to be used to enhance its yield [14]
Information regarding tiger nut fertilizer is little in
published literature and fertilizer requirement of tiger nut were variable
[15], [16]. Due to intensive farming, Nigeria is a heavy consumer of chemical
fertilizer. The application of farmyard manure is recommended in order to
improve the biological, physical and chemical properties of soil
In recent times, attention has been directed towards
organic manure because of the rising cost of inorganic fertilizers coupled with
their inability to give the soil the desired sound health. Poultry manure,
sometimes called chicken manure, is an excellent soil amendment that provides
nutrients for growing crops and also improves soil quality when applied wisely,
because it has high organic matter content combined with available nutrients
for plant growth [17]. Poultry manure has been reported to contain more plant
nutrients than all other organic manures [18].
Poultry manure contains high percentage of nitrogen and
phosphorus for the healthy growth of plants [19]. Nitrogen is equally said to
be the motor of plant growth [20]. Organic matter is the ultimate determinant
of the soil fertility in most tropical soils and this account for its use to
raise seedling in tropical areas, the fertility of the soil could be sustained
with the addition of poultry manure. [21]
The use of
inorganic fertilizer to enhance yield of crop has been found to be effective
only within few years, demanding consistent use on long-term basis [12]. The
hazardous environmental consequences and high cost of inorganic fertilizers
make them not only undesirable but also uneconomical and out of reach of the
poor farmers who still dominate the Nigerian agricultural sector. This has led
to increased use of organic manure, a readily available alternative, which
proves more environmentally friendly. It
is on this background that this research is aimed at evaluating the response of
tiger nut to NPK, cattle dung and poultry droppings with the objective of
selecting the best fertilizer combinations that can help enhance the yield of
tiger nut in Nigeria.
5) Cultural practices
Weeds were
controlled manually using hand wherever they emerged. Strict agronomic
practices were followed to allow for full expression of the plant characters.
6) Data Collection and analyses
Data were collected
on 10 randomly selected plants from each treatment on
the following characters: Plant height, number of leaves, Days to 50%
flowering, Days to 90% maturity, number of tuber per plant, hundred tuber
weight, tuber yield per plot, tuber
yield in kgha-1.
The data collected was subjected to analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using MINITAB 14 statistical
package (MINITAB Inc., U.S.A). Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) was used to
identify significant differences among means (P ≤ 0.05). Simple Pearson
correlation was also conducted to show the relationship
between some of the observed character to yield.
3. RESULTS
1) Effect of
fertilizer combination on plant height
The
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed significant different at P≤0.01 for
plant height at 4 and 8 weeks after sowing (WAS). The tiger nut raised in the
soil containing the mixture of 100kgha-1NPK+140kgha-1PD+240kgha-1CD produces the highest plant height of
42.37cm at 4WAS, 85.40cm at 8WAS and 85.37 cm at 12WAS. While the control recorded
the shortest plant height of 26.0cm 4WAS, 46.69cm at 8WAS and 68.45 cm at 12WAS
(Table 1).
2) Effect of
Fertilizer combination on Number of Leaves
The
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed significant difference at P<0.05 for
number of leaves at 8 and 12 WAS. With tiger nuts raised in the soil treated where
the combination of 177.5kgha-1NPK + 62.5kgha-1 PD
produced the highest mean number of
leaves of 8.5 at 4WAS 7.7 at 8WAS and
9.5 at 12WAS while the control plants produced fewer number of leaves 3.47 at 4WAS 6.50 at 8WAS
and 9.07 at 12 WAS (Table 2).
3) Effect of
Fertilizer combination on Days to 50% flowering, days to 90% maturity and
hundred tuber weight
Analysis
of Variance (ANOVA) showed significant difference at P≤ 0.05 for days to
50% flowering among the different treatments, with the plants raised in the
soil containing the combination with 240kgha-1NPK only. flowered earlier at 69.33 days, the control flowered late at
75.33days. Hundred tuber weight varies widely among the various treatments, the
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed significant difference in hundred tuber
weight. Between the treatments at
P<0.01 with the 100kgha-1 NPK + 140 kgha-1 PD+ 240 kg ha-1 CD
produced the heaviest hundred seed weight of 70.50g followed by the ones raised
in the mixture of NPK +PD 53.77g. While the control performed poorly with 38.53
g. (Table 4)
4) Effect of
Fertilizer combination on Number of tuber per plant (NTPP), Tuber yield per plot (TYPP) and tuber yield (TY)
Kg/ha.
The
analysis of variance revealed significant difference for the number of tuber
per plant (NTPP) at P≤0.05 with
the plant raised in 100kgha-1
NPK + 140kgha-1(PD)+240kgha-1CD produced the
highest number of tuber per plant of about 3.93 while the control produced the
least number of tuber per plant of 2.57 (Table 4). Tuber yield per plot varies significantly among the treatments at
P≤0.01, with plant raised in the soil with the combination of 100kgha-1 NPK+ 140kgha-1(PD)+240kgha-1CD produced the highest
tuber yield per plant of about 196.6g, followed by the soil combination of
177.5kgha-1 NPK + 302.5kgha-1 CD with 146.93g , and the
least yield per plot was produced by the control 122.00g (Table 4). The yield of tiger nut in
Kg/ha varies widely among the various treatments. The Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) showed significant variability among the various treatment combinations
at P≤0.01, with plants raised in the soil containing the mixture of 100kgha-1NPK+ 140kgha-1(PD)+240kgha-1CD produced the highest
yield of 492.20kg/ha followed by those
raised in the soil mixture of 177.5kgha-1 NPK + 302.5kgha-1
CD with 367.30 kg/ha, while the control performed poorly with 307.5 kg/ha
(Table 5)
5) Matrix for
correlation coefficient of some growth and yield parameters of tiger nut
Significantly
positive correlations were found between tuber yield (kg/ha) and plant height
at four weeks(r=0.76**), plant height at eight weeks(r=0.62*), plant height at
twelve weeks (r=0.65*), number of leaves
at twelve weeks(r=0.77**), one hundred tuber weight (r=0.93**), number of tuber
per plant (r=0.96**) and tuber yield per
plot (r=1.00**) Table 5.
4. DISCUSSION
The
significant difference observed for plant height among the fertilizer
treatments suggests that fertilizer contributed significantly to the growth of
tiger nut, tallest plant was noticed in the plot treated with the combination
of 100kgha-1NPK+140kgha-1PD + 240kgha-1CD. It
may be due to accumulation of dry matter as a result of more vigorous
vegetative growth with the application of fertilizer. These results therefore
indicated that, to enhance vegetative growth in tiger nut, a combination of
100kgha-1NPK + 140kgha-1PD + 240kgha-1CD is
suggested. The result agrees with the findings of [22] who reported that, NPK
fertilizer; poultry litter and cow dung application significantly influenced
the growth of the NH-Ae 47-4 variety of okra, these
results agree with those obtained by [23] on tiger nut and [24] on groundnut
plants.
Significant
difference observed for number of leaves across the different fertilizer
combinations suggest that fertilizer has influenced the number of leaves
produced by the plant as noticed in the combination of 100kgha-1NPK+140kgha-1PD
+ 240kgha-1CD which produced the highest number of leaves compared with the other treatments and the
control. The importance of leaves to plants cannot be overemphasized, it is the
photosynthetic organ of the plant, which enable the plant to manufacture its
food, therefore the greater the photosynthetic area the higher the yield, this
is further validated by the positive correlation between number of leaves with
number of tuber per plant, tuber yield per plant and tuber yield (kg/ha).
Variation in the days to 50% flowering across the
different treatments indicated that fertilizer
has affected the days at which
the tiger nut began flowering, with plant raised in NPK fertilizer at the rate
of 240kgha-1 flowered earlier compared with the other treatments.
This suggests that early flowering can
be initiated in tiger nut at a certain level of NPK fertilizer application,
even though days to 50% flowering varies significantly across the treatments,
days to maturity does not differ across the treatments. This suggests that even
though fertilizer treatments has affected vegetative growth in tiger nut, it
has no effect on the days it took the plant to attain maturity. These clearly
indicated that maturity in tiger nut is mostly controlled by genes and not the
environment, and therefore the character can be improved through
selection. Our results agree with the earlier report by [25] on cowpea who reported
high heritability for days to first pod maturity.
The
significant difference observed in the number of tuber per plant and tuber
yield per plant across the different treatments suggest that those characters
were influenced by the different fertilizer treatments, where the combination
of 100kgha-1NPK+140kgha-1PD +240kgha-1CD
produces the highest tuber per plant and tuber yield per plot. The least number
of tubers per plant and tuber yield per plot was recorded in the control. This
indicated that to enhance the tuber yield of tiger nut, the combination of
100kgha-1NPK+140kgha-1PD +240kgha-1CD is
suggested. The result is in agreement with the findings
of [26] who reported that addition of suitable organic manure in the
soil improves the soil structure and hence encourage the plant good root and
lead to higher yields. This could be attributed to the fact that the nutrients
in the organic manure are released gradually through the process of mineralization
[27] aiming optimal soil levels over prolonged periods of time
Tuber
yield in kgha-1 varies widely across the different treatments with
the tiger nut raised in the soil containing the combination of 100kgha-1NPK+140kgha-1PD
+240kgha-1CD producing
the highest tuber yield in kgha-1 and the lowest yield was produced
by the control. These suggest that all the fertilizer combinations have
contributed significantly to increase yield of tiger nut compared with the
control. Therefore to enhance tiger nut productivity, the combination of
100kgha-1NPK+140kgha-1PD + 240kgha-1CD is suggested. The results was
supported by the findings of [4] who
reported that, Cassava, maize and melon performed best in terms of growth and
yield under poultry manure + NPK fertilizer treatments. This is also in
agreement with the findings of [28] who reported that the most satisfactory
method of increasing maize yield was by judicious combination of organic wastes
and inorganic fertilizers. It has been observed that addition of manure
increases soil water holding capacity and this means that nutrient would be
made available to crops where manure has been added to the soil [29]. [30] also reported that nutrients from mineral fertilizers
enhance the establishment of crops while those from mineralization of organic
manure promoted yield when both fertilizers were combined. [31] observed that nutrient use efficiency might be increased
through the combination of manure and mineral fertilizer.
Significant correlation between tuber yield in Kg/ha and
plant height (PLH), number of leaves (NL), one hundred tuber weight (100TW),
number of tuber per plant (NTPP) and
tuber yield per plot (TYPP) suggest that positive change in any of this
characters will enhance tuber yield in tiger nut. Therefore these characters
are very important characters to consider when planning breeding program aimed
at improving the tuber yield of tiger nut.
5. CONCLUSION
The
mixture of 100kgha-1NPK+140kgha-1PD +240kgha-1CD
recorded the fastest growth, yielded the highest number of leaves, produced the heaviest tuber weight, highest
number of tuber per plant, tuber yield per plot and tuber yield in Kgha-1 compared
with the other treatments. We can therefore conclude that, the above fertilizer
mixture and rate is the
best combination that will enhance the growth and yield of tiger nut.
Characters like one hundred tuber weight (100TW), number of tuber per plant
(NTPP), tuber yield per plot (TYPP) and one hundred tuber weight recorded
significant correlation with tuber yield, and are therefore important
characters to be considered when planning breeding programs aimed at improving
the yield of tiger nut.
RECOMMENDATIONS
(i)
I therefore
recommend for further research with different fertilizer rate and type for
optimum yield in tiger nut.
(ii)
The research
needs to be replicated over locations and seasons to further confirm our
results.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The
authors want to acknowledge the department of Crop science, Adamawa state
university Mubi, for providing the enabling environment for this research.
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