EVALUATION OF FRESH BIOMASS YIELD, NUTRIENTS CONTENT AND THE GREEN MANURE POTENTIAL OF SOME FORAGE LEGUME SPECIES FOR ADOPTION INTO THE FARMING SYSTEMS IN BORNO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Fresh biomass from forage legume species does offer immense benefits in farming systems if used in livestock feeding or as green manure. A pot experiment was conducted in 2013 at the screen house, faculty of Agriculture, University of Maiduguri, to evaluate the fresh biomass yield and the green manure potentials of some leguminous forage species. The experiment consisted of eight plants namely:- Mucuna pruriens black (T1), Stylosanthesis guinensis (T4), Cajanus cajan ICPL 332 (T6), Centrosema pubescens (T10) Mucuna pruriens white (T13), Sesbania rostrata kirenowa (T14), Sesbania rostrata Jere (T16) and Sesbania rostrata Loskuri (T17). The plants were grown in plastic pots of 3 kg topsoil and at six weeks after sowing, these were harvested, the fresh weights and NPK content were measured. The result showed that Mucuna pruriens black (T1) and Mucuna pruriens white (T13) produced the highest biomass weights of 26.33 and 20.5 grammes/pot respectively. Followed by Sesbania rostrata Jere (T16) 15.8 and Sesbania rostrata Loskuri (T17) 13.1 g/pot. Others produced lower biomass yields with 6.53, 5.7, 4.67 and 3.7 g/pot for Centrosema pubescens (T10), Sesbania rostrata kirenowa (T14), Cajanus cajan red (T6) and Stylosanthesis guinensis (T4) respectively. The best four biomass yielders were T1 (26.33), T13 (20.5), T16 (15.80) and T17 (13.1). Based on their biomass yields, these four plants were recommended for use as livestock feed and as green manure in the farming systems of Borno State.