EFFECTS OF VARIETY, INOCULANT AND PHOSPHORUS ON NODULATION AND YIELD OF GROUNDNUT (Arachis hypogaea L.) IN THE GUINEA SAVANNAH ZONE OF GHANA

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at Gurumanchaenyili and Zangbalun Fandu in the Tolon and Kumbungu districts, respectively in the Northern region of Ghana to assess the effect of variety, phosphorus fertilizer and inoculant on the nodulation and yield of groundnut, to solve the problem of low productivity in the production of the crop, in 2017 cropping season. Three farmers’ fields were used and each farm represented a replicate. The experiment was a 2×3×3 factorial study laid out in randomized complete block design. Data collected included: soil chemical properties (soil pH, organic carbon, available P, exchangeable K, and total N), crop growth parameters (canopy spread, haulm weight, biomass, plant height, nodule number per plant at flowering, effective nodules, ineffective nodules, number of branches N,P,K content in plants) and yield parameters (pod number, pod weight and harvest index). The findings showed that the interaction of variety, phosphorus fertilizer and inoculant increased (p < 0.05) pod yield of groundnut (4200 kg/ha) over the control. Haulm weight, canopy spread at 8 WAP, plant height at 4 and 8 WAP were significantly affected by variety and inoculant interaction. Plant height at 4 WAP and pod weight was significantly increased by phosphorus fertilizer and inoculant interaction. Phosphorus fertilizer and inoculant significantly affected biomass, effective nodules and harvest index. For efficient pod yield and total biomass production, phosphorus fertilizer should be combined with rhizobium inoculant at a rate of 60 kg/ha P2O5 + 6 g/kg inoculant by farmers in the Northern zone of Ghana.