EFFECT OF INTEGRATED PLANT NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF TARO [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] IN UMUDIKE, NIGERIA

A field research was conducted in 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons to investigate the effect of integrated plant nutrient management and its residues on the growth and yield of taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Eastern Research Station, Okwuta in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State. The experiment was laid out in a 3 x 3 factorial fitted into randomized complete block design (RCBD) in which factor A comprised three levels of NPK 20: 10: 10 fertilizer (0, 300, 600 kg ha-1 while factor B consisted of three levels of poultry manure (0, 5, 10 t ha-1 ). There were a total of nine treatment combinations with three replicates. Cormels of equal sizes were planted in June in each of the three years and harvested in February of the following year. The results showed that integrated plant nutrient management and its residual effects did not differ significantly (P≥0.05) on plant height and stem girth but, significantly influenced (P≤0.05) the number of leaves/plant at 14 and 16 weeks after planting (WAP) in 2017 by application of NPK fertilizer rates. Also, main effect of NPK fertilizer rates and their interactions with poultry manure rates significantly increased (P≤0.05) the number of suckers/plant at 16 WAP. The main effects of NPK fertilizer rates of 300 and 600 kg ha-1 applications differed significantly (P≤0.05) on the corm girth, corm yield, cormels yield, average cormels yield and total yield in 2017.Therefore, this study recommends the application of 600 kg ha-1 NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer or a combination of 600 kg and 5 t ha-1 poultry manure for production of taro in sandy loam soil of Umudike