INFLUENCE OF ZINC AND SULFUR MICRONUTRIENTS ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF RICE (ORYZA SATIVA L.) ON CONTINUOUSLY CROPPED AND FALLOWED LANDS IN THE GUINEA SAVANNAH ZONE OF GHANA

Abstract

Even though zinc and sulfur have been long postulated as plant nutrients that can boost the yield of rice, their application has been given little attention in efforts made to increase rice productivity in Northern Ghana. In this research, fertilizers were applied to rice crop on fallowed and continuously cropped rice fields in Northern Ghana in the 2019 cropping season. Soil samples were collected from fallowed and continuously cropped rice fields at Wungu and Kokubila in the Walewale District of the North East region of Northern Ghana for soil Physico-chemical properties. Pot experiment was conducted at the technology park of the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute at Nyankpala, near Tamale-during the 2019 cropping season. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of zinc and sulfur on growth and yield of rice on these two land use types. It was a 2 x 4 x 4 factorial experiment laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Sulfur was applied as Sodium Sulfate (Na2SO4) at 0, 10, 20, 30 kg S/ha, two days after transplanting. Whilst zinc was applied as Zinc oxide (ZnO) at 0, 4, 8, 12 kg Zn/ha before transplanting. Initial Physico-chemical analysis indicated that the soils were sandy loam in texture and low in zinc but moderately high in sulfur. The fallowed soil was high in all other measured soil nutrients except nitrogen compared to the cropped soil. Results showed grain and straw yields were maximized by the combined application of 12 kg Zn/ha and 30 kg S/ha for both soils. Tiller number at 12 weeks after transplanting were significantly enhanced by the application of 30 kg S/ha for the fallowed and cropped land use types. Panicle count, number of filled grains, total number of spikelets and percent filled grains were promoted with the application of at least 8 kg Zn/ha for both soils. Grain yield of rice positively and highly correlated with 1000 seed weight (r = 0.71***).