Chicken Manure: An Alternative in Increasing Production of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas)

Abstract

Chicken manure is accessible to family farmers, is produced in large volumes, and has a low cost. Therefore, it can be an alternative to increase the productivity of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), which is a culture of socioeconomic importance. The objective of the study was to evaluate the productivity of sweet potatoes under different doses of chicken manure, with and without liming, comparing to the use of chemical fertilizer NPK, in very clayey soil, from the perspective of economic efficiency. The experiment was conducted in the field from September 2019 to March 2020 in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with four replications, in a split-plot scheme 2 × 5 + 1 (presence or absence of liming; five doses of chicken manure; and NPK, respectively. The evaluated parameters were: total and commercial productivity; number of total and commercial tuberous roots; harvest index; individual fresh mass, length, and diameter of tuberous roots. The effect of chicken manure was not influenced by the liming and there are no differences in agronomic values related to NPK. The dose of chicken manure that results in maximum production of the queen sweet potato variety is approximately 13 t ha-1, producing 25.2 t ha-1, while the resulting dose in maximum profit is approximately 12 t ha-1 with a production of the 25.1 t ha-1. The selling production directly to the final consumer increased profit by approximately 57.3%. Purchasing the input directly from the manufacturer reduced costs by approximately 74.5%. The use of chicken manure has a greater economic advantage compared to NPK in very clayey soil.

Mycorrhizal inoculation and application of chicken manure to increase sweet potato production in acidic soil

“…Sweet potato plants treated with 42 tons of chicken manure per hectare on acid soils significantly increased the yield index, namely 0.24. The results of [5,12] also showed that the application of manure increased the sweet potato harvest index. The application of manure can increase the uptake of nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, provide biodegradable organic matter that can increase soil aggregation thereby improving soil physic-chemical conditions such as soil water holding capacity, creating a conducive environment for root development to increase yields.…”

“…Table 2 shows the treatment data of 42 tons of chicken manure per hectare, which increased the number of tubers by 36.05% compared to the production of sweet potato plants that were not given chicken manure. The results of the study by Ferreira et al [12] stated that the results of their research showed that the highest sweet potato production was obtained from plants fed chicken manure at a dose of 15 tons per hectare. namely 2.25 tubers/plant.…”

“…Chicken manure which is a mixture of solid manure (faeces) and urine plus food waste is one of the organic fertilizers that can be used by farmers. Sweet potato production increases with the application of chicken manure or when combined with the application of inorganic fertilizers [12].…”

Morphological Characteristics of Varieties of Sweet Potato, Cenoura, Margarita, Rainha and Roxa, Cultivated in Amazonas, Brazil

“…The branches were planted with a spacing of 0.90 m between windrows and 0.30 m between plants. The area was fertilized with chicken manure at a dose of 12 t ha -1 (Ferreira et al, 2020;Filgueira, 2008, Rós, 2017.…”