Response of sesame (<i>Sesamum indicum</i> L.) to moisture regime and nitrogen fertilizer in Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

A potted experiment was conducted at the Faculty of Agriculture screen house, University of Ilorin, Nigeria in 2018 and 2019 planting seasons to evaluate the performance of sesame to different moisture regimes and nitrogen fertilizer application. The experiment was a factorial fitted into a randomized complete block design and replicated four times. The treatments consisted of four nitrogen levels (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg N/ha) and four moisture regimes (every day, every five days, every ten days, and fifteen days). Data were collected on growth parameters (plant height, number of leaves per plant as well as yield component (seed yield per plant) Data were analyzed by the analysis of variance, using the GenStat 17th edition and significant means were separated by the least significant difference at 5% probability level. The result of the study revealed that increasing nitrogen levels from 0 to 90kgN/ha and moisture regimes from 15 days to every day resulted in a significant (p<0.05) increase in plant height, number of leaves and yield per plant and farmers are therefore encouraged to cultivate sesame crop using these rates for maximum yield. From the result of the study, using Nitrogen fertilizer at the rate 60 kgha^-1 increased the growth and yield attribute of sesame and therefore should be encourage among farmers.