CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
1.1 Background of study
Fluted pumpkin (telfaira occidentals) is among the major vegetable crops grown in West Africa. In West Africa, fluted pumpkinis intensively produced in Senegal, Niger, Nigeria, Ghana and Burkina Faso. Fluted pumpkin is grown on a large scale in the southern and upper regions of Nigeria especially in Cross river, Imo and Abia (Norman, 1992). Fluted pumpkin highly valued for its flavour and nutritional value.
In order to reduce the level of imports, farmers have to increase the scale of fluted pumpkin production in the country. The sustainability of increased production is only feasible when adequate plant nutrient is supplied to the growing plants. This is imperative due to the practice of continuous cropping by farmers resulting in the depletion of the fertility of most agricultural lands in the country. Another challenge hindering the increased production of fluted pumpkins in the country is the fact that most farmers in the fluted pumpkin industry do not have sufficient knowledge and credible information on the application rates and benefits of organic manure such as poultry manure.
Fluted pumpkins respond to both soils which are rich in nutrients and drought; such soils should probably contain well-decomposed organic matter which could come from compost, poultry manure or cow dung (Norman, 1992). According to Sinnadurai (1992), soils ear-marked for the production of FLUTED PUMPKINs should be fertile and highly rich in humus. The incorporation of organic matter into the soil is able to improve the moisture retention of the soil and also make the soil loose enough for stem expansion during its formation. Since FLUTED PUMPKINs do well in soils rich in nutrients, the application of inorganic and organic fertilizers to the soil is essential to the realization of sustainable high yields. The use of inorganic fertilizers comes with its own challenges, long term application of inorganic fertilizers leads to the reduction or increase in soil pH when the application is improperly done. That notwithstanding, the high cost of chemical fertilizers in recent times is pushing away farmers, especially the smallholder farmers, from using them (Vissoh et al., 1998 and Svotwa, et al., 2009). As a result of the high cost of chemical fertilizers and their negative long term effect on soil, attention is being directed towards the use of organic manure (Negassa et al., 2001; Norman, 2004 and Tirol-Padre et al., 2007).
According to Aisha et al. (2007), the use of chemical fertilizers alone could generate several deleterious effects to the environment and human health and more so since it must be added at every crop growing season, because the synthetic
N, P and K fertilizer is rapidly lost by either evaporation or leaching. On the contrary, organic fertilizers have the advantage of enhancing the soil organic matter, structure, chemical properties and microbial activity. They again maintain the productivity of the soil (Norman, 2004; Chandra, 2005; Tirol-Padre et al., 2007; Bhattacharyya et al., 2010 and Lasmini et al.,2015).Organic fertilizers such as poultry manures can serve as a good substitute to the use of inorganic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers are a cheaper means of improving soil fertility and can be available in large quantities locally. They also play a significant role in enriching the soil microbial activity, improving the moisture holding capacity of the soil and finally the soil structure (Russel and Marsah, 1997). The national poultry numbers in the country stood at 47,752,000 birds as at 2010 and this could generate millions of tonnage of poultry manure per annum (FAO, 2014). It is suggested by Dapaah et al. (2014), that an integrated soil management approach in relation to the application of soil amendments is imperative to deriving the benefits of organic and inorganic fertilizers.
1.2 Statement of problem
Poultry manure is used by most fluted pumpkin farmers due to the benefits associated with the use of organic manure. The concern however, is that, these farmers do not have a specific rate of application. They only apply whatever is available to them without taking into consideration the effect it would have on the growth and yield of the fluted pumpkinplant. Previous research have shown that, the growth and yield of fluted pumpkins is significantly influenced by the different rates of poultry manure applied (Dapaah et al., 2014; Gwari et al., 2014 and Yoldas et al., 2011).
Even though studies have been carried out on the effect of different soil amendments on fluted pumpkin production (Al-Fraihat, 2016; Gwari et al., 2014; Dapaah et al., 2014 and Yoldas et al., 2011), much work has not been done on the effect of poultry manure, urea and the combination of the two on the growth, yield and mineral composition of fluted pumpkin variety grown in acid soil. Thisresearch was undertaken to determine the effect of the different rates of poultry manure application only and in combination with Urea on the performance of the crop and acidity of the soil. The determination and eventual adoption of the best fertilization regime will result in increased yield which translates into increased income for farmers and subsequent reduction in the importation of fluted pumpkins into the country.
