EFFECTS OF NPK (15:15:15) AND INTRA ROW SPACING ON THE GROWTH COMPONENTS AND GRAIN YIELD OF LABLAB (Lablab purpureus) VARIETIES IN THE SUDAN SAVANNA, NIGERIA

Abstract

Field studies were conducted to examine the effects of NPK (15:15:15) fertilizer and intra row spacing on the growth components and grain yield of lablab (Lablab purpureus) varieties during 2021 rainy season at Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic farm Hadejia, Jigawa State (latitude 120 22′ N and longitude 70 46′ E), and Zakirai, Gabasawa Local Government, Kano State (12° 60" N, 8° 53' 0" E; 409m. Both sites are located in the Sudan savanna agro-ecological zone of Nigeria. The treatments consisted of three levels of NPK (0, 20 and 40kg haˉ¹), three intra row spacings (20, 30 and 40cm) using two varieties of lablab (Highworth and Rongai). The treatment was laid out using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. The result showed that application of NPK significantly increased plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of pod per plant, and grain yield at both locations and increased number of leaves at Zakirai only. Grain yield was higher at 40kg NPK haˉ¹ at Zakirai while at Hadejia 20kg NPK haˉ¹ gave satisfactory grain yield. Intra row spacing had significantly affected number of leaves, number of pods, 100 grain weight and grain yield at both locations and 40cm intra row spacing prove to be superior to other spacings. The result also indicated that Highworth out yielded Rongai and recorded superior number of leaves, leaf area, number of pods, 100 grain weight and grain yield at both locations.