Sunflower yield as affected by organic and inorganic fertilizer application

Field experiment was conducted in June 2008 cropping season at the experimental research field of the National Horticultural Research Institute (7 25N and 3 52E), Ibadan,Nigeria , to determine the growth and flower yield of sunflower using different rate and sources of organic and inorganic amendments. Seven treatments namely, control ,poultry manure at 10 and 20 ton ha, cow dung at 10 and 20 tons ha and NPK 15:15:15 at 20 and 60kg ha respectively. Cow dung and poultry manure were applied and ploughed 2 weeks before planting while NPK was applied 3 weeks after planting. Agronomic data was collected from 4WAP, the experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates and plot size of 9m. sunflower seeds were directly seeded 75cm apart. Results showed a significant increase in growth and yield parameters with the application of both organic and inorganic amendments compared with the control. Poutry manure at 10 tons ha recorded a significantly (p<0.05) higher plant height of 129.42cm, number of leaves 51.25,stem girth of 2.57 cm and leaf area of 316.50cm. number of buds, total seed weight and hundred seed weight increased significantly (p<0.05) with the use of soil amendments, while flower diameter was not significantly affected by the application of all amendments. Poultry manure at 10 tons ha produced a superior result compared to cow dung and NPK.