Effect of Different Rates of Briquette and Granule Fertilizer Application on Growth, Yield and Profitability of Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) Production.

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted at Kyiremfaso – Mampong (Ashanti region) and Wamfie (Bono region) both located in forest savannah transition agro-ecological zone of Ghana from April to September, 2022 to evaluate the effect of different rates of briquette and granule fertilizer application on growth, yield and profitability of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) production. The experiment was laid out as a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in four replications with seven treatments viz: (i) Control (No fertilizer), (ii) Granule-recommended (15-30-30 kg/ha NPK), (iii) Granule High (24-48-48 kg/ha NPK), (iv) Briquette-recommended (15-29-29 kg/ha NPK), (v) Briquette High (22-44-44 kg/ha NPK), (vi) Briquette+ Soil S (44-22-22+6.6 kg/ha NPK+S), and (vii) Briquette+ Soil Zn (18-44-25+0.6 kg/ha NPK+Zn). Soybean variety Favour was used in the trials during the major cropping seasons. Analysis of variance showed significant site and treatment effects on soybean 50% days to flowering, plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, 1000 seed weight indicating that treatment effects were site specific. Control (no fertilizer) treatment had significantly lower values in most of the studied parameters than the other treatment. Overall, significantly higher values were noted in Briquettes + Soil S (44-22-22+6.6 kg/ha NPK+S), Granules High (24-48-48 kg/ha NPK) and Briquettes + Soil Zn (18-44-25+0.6 kg/ha NPK+Zn) than the other treatments in most parameters. Wamfie site recorded significantly higher values in yield and yield components than Kyiremfaso sites except number of pods per plant, haulm and biomass yield. The highest seed yield across the two locations ranging from 2.72-3.10 t/ha were produced by Briquette+ Soil S (44-22-22+6.6 kg/ha NPK+S), Granules High (24-48-48 kg/ha NPK) and Briquette+ Soil Zn (18-44-25+0.6 kg/ha NPK+Zn) which were 11.5% - 27.1% higher than the control (no fertilizer) treatment and 6.7% - 21.2% higher than the Granule recommended (15-3030kg/haNPK). The results of the partial budget analysis indicate that briquette + soil S (44-22-22+6.6 kg/ha NPK+S) and Granules High (24-48-48 kg/ha NPK) had the highest net benefit of Ghc 25,824 and Ghc 23,931 and marginal rate of return of 946.50% and 93.76% respectively compared to the other treatments. Moreover, briquette + soil Zn (18-44-25+0.6 kg/ha NPK+Zn) were found to be more economically profitable at Wamfie, which gave net benefit (Ghc 25,512) and marginal rate of return (420%). Therefore, briquette+Soil S (44-22-22+6.6 kg/ha NPK+S) and Granules High (24-48-48 kg/ha NPK) should bconsidered for possible adoption by farmers for both locations in the agroecological zones studies.