EFFECTS OF UREA FERTILIZER RATES AND IRRIGATION INTERVALS ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF Panicum maximum cv. Mombasa (GUINEA GRASS)

A field experiment was conducted to determine the effects of urea fertilizer rates and irrigation intervals on growth, yield and quality of Panicum maximum cv Mombasa. The experiment was conducted at Zaria-Northern guinea savanna and laid out in 3 × 3 factorial arrangements in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications. The factors were three levels of Urea fertilizer (0, 50, 100 kg N/ha) and three irrigation intervals (2, 4, and 6 days). Data on leaf length (cm), leaf width (cm), leaf area index, tiller number, plant height (cm) and leaf number per plant were measured at 12 weeks after sowing (WAS) using five (5) randomly selected and tagged plants/plot while Forage yield was determined the same period using cut and weigh method and subjected to General Linear Model Procedure of SAS (2005) while means were separated using the Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT). All the growth parameters were statistically significant (p < 0.05) at varied urea fertilizer rates and irrigation intervals and the interaction. Total dry matter (TDM) increased significantly (P < 0.05) from 2.64t/ha in the 0 kg N/ha to 6.87t/ha in 100 kg N/ha and Total fresh weight (TFW) also increased significantly (P < 0.05) with decrease in irrigation intervals, from 19.52t/ha at 6 days to 23.84t/ha at 2 days irrigation intervals. Crude protein content of the forage increased significantly (P < 0.05) from 7.81% in the 0 kg N/ha to 11.39% in treatment in 100 kg N/ha. Crude fiber content increased with 2 days interval from 34.83% to 37.08% at 6 days irrigation intervals. It can be concluded that 100 kg N/ha of urea gave the highest growth across all the growth indices, yield and quality accompanied with 2 days irrigation intervals.