POULTRY MANURE AND ITS EFFECTS ON SOME NUTRIENT CONTENTS OF Telfairia occidentalis H
CHAPTER ONE
- Introduction
Mineral nutrients are essential chemical elements absorbed from the soil in the form of inorganic ions. More than 50 chemical elements have been identified in plants among the inorganic substances present in plants, although it is unlikely that all these elements are essential. Roots can absorb minerals selectively, thus enabling the plant to accumulate essential elements that may be present in the soil in very minute quantities. To a certain extent, however, the minerals in a plant reflect the composition of the soil in which the plant is growing. For example, plants growing on mine tailings may contain gold or silver.
Mineral may be broadly classified as macro (major) or micro (trace) elements. The third category is the ultra trace elements. The macro-minerals include calcium, phosphorus, sodium potassium, magnesium and chloride, while the micro-elements include iron, copper, cobalt, iodine, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, fluoride, chromium, selenium and sulfur (Eruvbetine, 2003). The macro-minerals are required in amounts greater than 100 mg/dl (Murray et al., 2000). The ultra trace elements include boron, silicon, arsenic and nickel.
Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook F. Family: (curcubitaceae) probably originated from the south eastern Nigerian, and is widely distributed among the Igbo speaking people, particularly around Imo State, Nigeria (Esiaba, 1982; Burkill, 1985. Akoroda, 1990), where it has the widest diversity (variation anthocyanin content to leaves and petioles or shoots, leaf si ze and their succulence, dioecious or monoeious plants) (Chewya and Eyzagairre, 1999; Chihande et al., 1997) leaves are spirally arranged with 3 – 5.5 cm long while female flowers are solitary in leaf axils, they are 5 merous and cream coloured; fruit is dropping, ellipsoid beery 40 – 95 cm, by 20 – 50 and weighs about 10 kg; seeds are compressed ovoid about 4.5 cm long, black or brown – red (Grubben and Denton, 2004; Pursglove, 1991). It is a herb climbing by coiled, often branched tendrils to a height of 20 m. The root system rantify the top surface of the soil, stem is angular glabious and fibrous when old. There are two main varieties in Nigeria: Ugu-ala (Succulent, broad leaves, mall black seeds about 12 g, a thick vine and slow growth); Ugu-elu (high growth rate, large brown coloured seeds of 20 g or more, fast emergence, thin stems and small leaves) (Omidiji, 1997; Odiaka, 2001). A third cultivar, Nsukka local was selected from local land races and is tolerant to root knot nematodes. It is widely cultivated in West and Central Africa (Benin Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, Sierra Leone to Angola, and up to Uganda in East Africa). It is called ‘Ugu’ by the Igbos, “Ugwu” by Yorubas and ‘ekobon’ by the Cameroonians (Schippers, 2002). It has a close relative, Telfairia pedata (Sims) Hook which used to be cultivated in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambigue, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganada and Zanzibar (Chihande et al., 1997; Schippers, 2002).
- Botanical Classification of Telfairia occidentalis
