Soil Preparation and Fertilizer Management on Growth, Yield and Economic Return of Cassava Variety Kasetsart 50 Production

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate soil preparation and fertilizer management on growth and yield of cassava variety Kasetsart 50. The experimental design was a 2X2 factorial in a randomized completed block. There were 4 treatments, including 2 types of soil tillage and 2 types of fertilizer management, and 3 replications namely 1) ridge tillage +chemical fertilizer formula 15-15-15 at the rate of 50 kg/rai, 2) ridge tillage +chemical fertilizer formula 15-15-15 at the rate of 50 kg/rai and cattle manure (cow manure) 1,000 kg/rai, 3) non-ridge tillage +chemical fertilizer formula 15-15-15 at the rate of 50 kg/rai, and 4) non-ridge tillage +chemical fertilizer formula 15-15-15 at the rate of 50 kg/rai and cattle manure 1,000 kg/rai. The study was carried out at the beginning of May 2015 in sandy loam upland soil in the Sao Lao sub-district, Nong Kung Si district, Kalasin province. The results showed that the growth components of cassava in all treatments (i.e. plant height, branches/stem, above ground dry weight) were not significantly different. When considering the yield components, the ridge tillage +chemical fertilizer formula 15-15-15 at the rate of 50 kg/rai and cattle manure 1,000 kg/rai treatment showed a trend in higher fresh tuber yield (12,098 kg/rai) and economic return over fertilizer cost (22,184 THB/rai) than all
other treatments used in the study.