Description

The goal of plant breeding is to increase crop yield in a variety of growing conditions or within a particular macro-environment. At every stage of plant breeding, it is essential to have an understanding of the desirable traits and yield characteristics of various crop genotypes. This can also be used to set breeding goals, find high-quality desirable traits, find yield stability over time and make suggestions for where cultivar adaptation and improvement are best. The nature, genetic variability and character associations that have an impact on crop yield generally determine the success of any crop improvement program. Therefore, this research is necessary to investigate the desirable characteristics and yield characteristics of kenaf genotypes in Nigeria's Southern agro-ecological zone. Rivers State has a tropical rainforest climate with two seasons-wet and dry. With a total annual rainfall of approximately 5922 millimeters and an average temperature of 28.5 degrees celsius, there are two rainfall maxima in June and September. From late November to late February, there is a season known as the dry season, but it isn't very well defined and often very short.

Plant Breeding

To determine the average number of capsules per plant, the number of capsules on each stalk was counted. Measurement tape was used to measure the height of the mature capsules to determine their length and the average was recorded. We counted and recorded the number of seeds in each capsule of harvested kenaf plants from various genotypes and their replicates. Plant breeders have long used morpho-physiological traits to study the proportions and correlations of genetic variation in plant populations. These strategies include an extensive overview of plant development that is expensive, work serious and helpless against natural circumstances, yet because of their significance, these are as yet thought to be as the most important phase in any harvest improvement program. Phenotypic expressions are also influenced by management practices and human interpretation. Over the course of two years, 16 kenaf genotypes' yield and related characteristics were evaluated in this study. In most of the traits studied, the combined. The chemical properties of the soil at the experimental site that was used in both 2015 and 2014 are to blame for the distinction between the two years. They inferred that the low fertility of the soil caused by continuous kenaf cropping would have an effect on yield. The positive correlation between seed weight and capsule number suggests that the increased number of capsules in 2014 may have contributed to the higher seed weight in 2014. It had been demonstrated that there was a positive correlation between the number of seeds or capsules and their weight. As a result, the higher seed yield in kenaf indicates that the seed weight plays a significant role in determining the final seed yield.

Inorganic Fertilizers

Leguminous green manures' release patterns and soil availability of nutrients was the subject of experiments. Mesh bags were used to bury the mucuna and greengram materials 10 centimeters below the surface. Replicated bags are taken out each week for analysis to determine the rates of decomposition and the amounts of nutrients released into the soil. Between the third and twelve weeks of incubation, mucuna decomposed more quickly than greengram. This suggests that greengram has materials that are more resistant to decomposition than mucuna does. Sixth and seventh weeks after applying green manures had the greatest impact on soil nutrient content. Poor soil nutrient replenishment affects agriculture in many African nations, resulting in soil degradation and low productivity. However, integrated soil fertility management has been proposed because the use of inorganic fertilizers alone cannot be a long-term solution for poor African farmers' soil fertility management. A major obstacle exists in matching the crops' needs and uptake with a sufficient supply of plant-available nutrients like phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and nitrogen (N). Be that as it may, the utilization of leguminous plants as green compost can be a decent option for renewing soil fruitfulness and expand ranch efficiency in concentrated creation since vegetables by and large are supplement rich. After that, the mixture could remain for thirty minutes on asbestos plates. After 10 milliliters of orthophosphoric acid and 10 drops of diphenylamine indicator, approximately 100 milliliters of water were added. To find the amount of organic carbon in the solution, FeSO4 was used to titrate it.

The moisture content of the sample was used to calculate the microbial count. In order to separate microbial cells from soil particles in the suspension, ten grams of the sample were placed in 90 milliliters of water and vigorously shaken into a uniform suspension. The suspension was diluted to a dilution of 107 by adding one milliliter to nine milliliters of water. The 103 to 107 dilutions were then evenly distributed in petri dishes coated with nutrient agar. After being incubated at 21°C for four days, plates containing 30-300 colonies were chosen for microbial population counting and population estimation. The somewhat low C: The exact reason why these substrates are referred to as "green manure" is their N ratio. A low grade: According to N ratios, organic material degradation will not result in net immobilization but will be able to net release inorganic nitrogen into the soil matrix, which will be beneficial to crop growth. The current condition’s rapid decomposition contrasts with the relatively low mineralization rates found in northern Europe.

The trend of decomposition in both plant materials was similar, with a somewhat constant rate throughout. The gains of magnesium in the soil were what differentiated the two kinds of green manures, with mucuna soil gaining more magnesium than greengram soil. According to other studies, soil Mg typically accumulated, increased primarily in the top soil and decreased with depth. The two green manures capacity to decompose and release cations and bases like Ca and Mg was primarily responsible for the improvement in CEC. This investigation demonstrates the suitability of mucuna and green manures as suitable in the overall scenario of integrated soil fertility management strategy to enhance soil nutrient dynamics and plant nutrition in these tropical soil conditions. Additionally, it provides justifiable insights for improving soil fertility.