Evaluation of Five Sesame (Sesamum Indicum L.) Varieties Under Varying Fertilizer Rates and Establishment Methods for Growth and Yield in Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria
Authors: Yusuf M. , Musa U. T. 
Published: September 2024

Global sesame seed market is projected to have USD 7.24 billion in consumption value by 2024. However, its supply has not been able to match the demand due to several constraints to its production. This study was conducted at the Prince Abubakar Audu University Research and Demonstration Farm, during the 2023 cropping season to evaluate five sesame varieties for growth and yield under varying fertilizer rates and establishment methods. Treatment consisted of five sesame varieties, two establishment methods, and three fertilizer levels respectively combined factorially to obtain a total of thirty factorial treatment combinations and laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates. Results showed that varieties differed significantly (P < 0.05) in growth, yield and yield characters. YANDEV55 produced the widest leaf area at 9WAS, NCRIBEN-02M produced the highest number of leaves per plant (36) at 12WAS. The same variety (NCRIBEN-02M) consistently produced the tallest stems (42.48, 56.10, 80.48 & 93.46 cm) at 3, 6, 9 & 12WAS. YANDEV55 produced 73.6 % germination which was highest amongst others. E8 produced the highest number of capsule/plant (23.3) and number of seeds/plant (1428.94). NCRIBEN-05E performed optimally in yield characters such as total plant biomass yield (2908.0g/plot) and final seed yield (887.9kgha-1). NCRIBEN-02M had the highest haulm yield (33.0g/plot) while NCRIBEN-01M had the longest days (54.16) to 50% anthesis. Seed/capsule and Harvest index were not significantly affected by varieties. Broadcast method produced significantly widest leaf areas of 53.9 and 40.5 cm2 at 6 and 12 WAS respectively, higher number of leaves (18.0) at 3WAS. Drilling method of crop establishment produced the highest biomass yield (2894.6g/plot) and final seed yield (879.2 kgha-1). Similarly, fertilizer rates affect growth and yield characters; 100 kg NPKha-1 produced the widest leaf area, tallest plants and highest number of leaves/plant at all stages of sampling. These were at par with values obtained when plots were treated with 150kg NPKha-1. Alternatively, highest number of capsules/plant (22.4), seeds/capsule (62.46), seeds/plant (1502.73), total plant biomass yield (2879.7g/plot), haulm yield (33.0g/plot), final seed yield (870.7kgha-1) and longest number of days to 50% anthesis (53.6) were all obtained when plots were treated with 150 kgha-1 but was at par with 100kg NPKha-1. Fertilizer rates did not affect the establishment count and harvest index. The best variety with respect to yield/ha is NCRIBEN-02M, Application of 100 kg NPK/ha appears maximum for optimum yield of the crop, drilling appears to produce higher yield than broadcast for some varieties with an overall marginal increase of 8.4 % over broadcast and thus recommended for Anyigba environment. An economic study of the cost implication for both operations (drilling and broadcast) could be embarked upon to ascertain the veracity of this assertion, more so that broadcast requires higher seed rate than drilling. Significant interaction of varieties x establishment method was also an indication that very high yielding varieties (NCRIBEN-02M and NCRIBEN-01M) do better when drilled compared to broadcast. Significant positive relationship between some growth, yield and yield characters is an indication that effective crop improvement through selection can be carried out by selecting for those characters that correlated positively with yield.