
	International Journal of Agricultural Research
	Year: 2012 \| Volume: 7 \| Issue: 9 \| Page No.: 439-448 DOI: 10.3923/ijar.2012.439.448

Response of Maize to Organic Foliar Fertilizer and its Economic Implications to Farmers in Ghana

H. Asumadu, H.K. Adu-Dapaah and S. Obosu-Ekyem

Abstract: Field trials were conducted on-station at Kwadaso and Ejura in the forest and forest-savannah transition zones of Ghana, respectively in 2009 and 2010. The foliar fertilizer “Natural Asontem” was tested on maize in the major and minor seasons of the bimodal rainfall regime in the two agro-ecologies. The objectives of the trials were to (1) determine the appropriate dosages for application of the Foliar Fertilizer (FF) on maize for optimum growth and yield performance and (2) assess the economic feasibility of the product. Soil analyses was done for all locations which indicated low percentages of Organic Matter (OM), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), potassium and low pH levels. In the first year different rates and frequency of application of the foliar fertilizer produced significantly (p<0.05) lower yields as compared to the recommended inorganic fertilizer rate. In the second year NPK (15-15-15) was applied as starter and followed by two split applications of the different foliar fertilizer rates. The organic foliar fertilizer improved yield slightly only when in combination with inorganic NPK fertilizer. The recommended chemical fertilizer rate for maize of 90:38:38 kg ha^-1 (NPK) significantly (p<0.05) out-yielded even the combination of NPK (38:38:38 kg ha^-1) plus a high dose of 1.8 kg ha^-1 of Natural Asontem (NA) foliar fertilizer. The foliar fertilizer NA contained only 6.4% soluble nitrogen and no indication of the presence of potassium, phosphorus and the micronutrients. This may have contributed to the relatively poor performance of the FF as compared to the inorganic fertilizer treatment. The economic analysis of the treatments also showed that application of Inorganic Fertilizer (IF) alone was more economical than sole foliar fertilizer or in combination with lower dosage of IF. In order to exploit the full potential benefit of foliar sprays there is the need for scientists to know more about how to reduce leaf scorching even at relatively low concentrations of nitrogen and also prevent losses of nitrogen from the foliage.

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How to cite this article:

H. Asumadu, H.K. Adu-Dapaah and S. Obosu-Ekyem, 2012. Response of Maize to Organic Foliar Fertilizer and its Economic Implications to Farmers in Ghana. International Journal of Agricultural Research, 7: 439-448.

DOI: 10.3923/ijar.2012.439.448

URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ijar.2012.439.448

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