Preliminary Investigation of Growth and Yield of Four Sesame Varieties (<i>sesamum indicum</i>) using Cured Poultry Manure in Owerri, Nigeria

To ascertain the response of Sesame to poultry manure (PM) in Owerri, rainforest agroecology of Nigeria, this research was carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria between March and July 2020. Poultry manure at 0, 5, 10 and 15 tons/ha were applied on four (NCRIBen04E, NCRIBen05E, NCRIBenE8 and Yandev-55) varieties of sesame. The treatment combinations were replicated three times and laid out as a 4 x 4 factorial in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD. Growth and yield data were collected. It was generally observed that growth parameters were favoured by amendment with PM. Variety when considered singly indicate that NCRIBen04E gave seed yield of 580.1 kg/ha which is significantly higher than 252.6 kg/ha and 365.5 kg/ha recorded for NCRIBenE8 and NCRIBen05E. 10 tons/ha poultry manure had significantly highest seed yield of 740.3 kg/ha and this is higher when compared with 401.50 and 448.10 tons/ha recorded for 5 tons/ha and 15 ton/ha by 45.76% and 39.47% respectively. For the interaction, NCRIBen04E variety amended with 10 tons/ha PM gave highest seed yield of 855.0 kg/ha and is hereby recommended for further trials in Owerri agro-ecology.