Potassium iodide influence on iodine-leaf concentration and growth of amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus L.).

Low iodine content in soils is a common feature in lowland and in mountainous regions far from oceans. The diets of the people living in these regions are often deficient in dietary iodine, resulting in chronic iodine deficiency syndrome, goiter, hearing loss and other debilitating diseases. A field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Ilorin, Nigeria during the 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons, to evaluate the response of amaranths to iodine enrichment using an agronomic approach. The trial consisted of potassium iodide (KI) applied as foliar spray at 0, 3.5, 7, 10.5, 14 kg ha-1 and soil applied at the rates of 4, 8, 12 and 16 kg ha-1. These treatments were in four replicates laid out in a randomized complete block design. Data were collected on plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, crop growth rate, yield and iodine-leaf concentration. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by mean separation using Duncan`s Multiple range test p 0.05. The results indicated that the use of KI improved the growth of amaranthus at the low level of application, but foliar application at 10.5 and 14 kg ha-1 yielded the highest iodine leaf concentration. Although application of iodine in amaranthus improved iodine leaf concentration, there was a colour change at higher rates of application which may affect the acceptability of the vegetable by consumers

Influence of sawdust biochar application on the growth, morphological characters and yield of four varieties of sesame ( Sesamum indicum L.)

Purpose Sawdust, an organic residue abounds in many parts of Nigeria; they often block drainage channels, sometimes burnt to further aggravate the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. However, it can be harnessed as soil amendment.Method A field experiment was carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Ilorin, Nigeria during the 2018 and 2019 wet seasons to evaluate the performance of four sesame varieties using sawdust biochar. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design, replicated four times. The main plots consisted of four varieties of Sesame (E-8, Ex-Sudan, NCRI-Ben001M, and NCRI-Ben002M), the subplots were sawdust biochar (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 Mgha-1). Data were collected on water holding capacity, plant height, and number of leaves, leaf area index, and yield per hectare. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were separated using new Duncan Multiple Range test at 5% level of probability.Results Results showed significant (Ƿ ˂0.05) effects of variety, and sawdust biochar rates on plant height, number of leaves, leaf area index, crop growth rate and yield per hectare. Variety NCRI-Ben001M gave a yield of 670 kgha-1 at the application rate of 15 tha-1 sawdust biochar (676 kgha-1) compared to the average yield of sesame in Nigeria.Conclusion Farmers are therefore encouraged to cultivate NCRI-Ben001M variety and use saw dust biochar at the rate of 15 Mg ha-1 for optimum yield