Effect of Inorganic and Organic Fertilizers on the Performance and Profitability of Grain Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus L.) in Western Kenya

Abstract

Protein malnutrition is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries where the cost and availability of animal protein remain prohibitive. Grain amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus L) has the potential to substitute expensive animal protein. Its production and consumption is however low in Kenya. Nitrogen is a key limiting element in grain amaranth production. This study investigated the effects of different rates of inorganic nitrogen and cattle manure on the growth and yield of grain amaranth over a period of two years. Inorganic fertilizer at the rate of 100 kg N/ha significantly delayed flowering. Grain yield showed a linear response to inorganic and organic N application. Regression analysis projected the optimum inorganic fertilizer and manure application rates of 87.5 kg N/ha and 9 t/ha respectively with yield of 1.84 t/ha. The highest profitability was achieved at the optimum manure and fertilizer rates. The projected manure and inorganic fertilize rates may however not be affordable by the small-scale farmers. Thus a follow-up study to test the combined effect of inorganic and organic fertilizers is recommended.

Effect of NPK and Poultry Manure on Growth, Yield, and Proximate Composition of Three Amaranths

“…The higher performance of crops in NPK over PM is indicative of the ease of dissolution of nutrients in the inorganic fertilizer being in a more soluble form. Poultry manure also contains useful soil nutrients that are needed for the growth of plants [18], but their composition is in the crude form that is released slowly to the soil [19]. This possibly accounted for slower growth of plants in PMtreated soil to those of NPK and its higher performance than the control.…”

Development of halophytes as energy feedstock by applying genetic manipulations

“…Individuals of halophytes have been collected from nature for hundreds of years. Sometimes they are pickled or cooked, or their leaves are regularly eaten as raw vegetables and salad, or sold in local markets (Nyankanga et al 2012). The conventional use as sustenance of these species will make them all the more effectively worthy by the overall population, with the goal that they are fitting possibility to be tamed and changed into verdant vegetable products for saline agribusiness.…”

Kinetic Modelling and Half-Life Study on Enhanced Soil Bioremediation of Bonny Light Crude Oil Amended with Crop and Animal-Derived Organic Wastes

“…However, few workers have investigated the potential use of these crop residue organic wastes such as corn residues and sugarcane bagasse [20], banana skin [36], spent brewery grain [36], rice husk and coconut shell [37]and animal wastes like cow dung [38], pig dung [39,40], poultry manure [40,41] and goat dung [40] as biostimulating agents in the cleanup of soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons and were found to show positive influence on petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation in a polluted environment. Nevertheless, the search for cost effective and environmentally friendly methods of petroleum hydrocarbon removal from contaminated sites still needs to be further investigated, since in developing countries, inorganic chemical fertilizers are costly [42,43] as well as not sufficient for agriculture, let alone for cleaning oil spills. According to Alexandratos [44] and OECD [45], Western Europe uses more chemical fertilizer than almost any other nation in the world due to heavy subsidies from the government and that they uses livestock manure and crop residues to provide almost half of all external nutrient inputs [46] as well as to improve the soil physicochemical properties.…”