DEPARTMENT OF SOIL SCIENCE
COURSE TITLE: CROP PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
ABSTRACT
The fundamental aim of these practical is to known the effect of inorganic fertilizer at different levels of application .
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication
Tale
of content
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Climate
of the area
Topography
CHAPTER TWO
Materials
/methods
Materials/
equipment used
Method
Land preparation
Clearing
Experimental
design
Tillage
operation
Planting
operation
Crop
management
Irrigation
Mulching
operation
Weeding
operation
Insect and control
Pesticide application
Harvesting
and handling operation storageCHAPTER THREE
1.
Results and
analysis
2.
Data
collection results
3.
Vegetative
parameter index fo water melon
4.
Date collected
for number of branches
5.
Analysis of
number of branches using
6.
Data collected
for vein length
7.
Analysis of vein
length
8.
Data collected
for mature pods
9.
Analysis of
matured pod used
10. Data collected for immature pod
11. Data collected for
total number of pads
12. Analysis for total number of pod
CHAPTER FOUR
1.
Results
/discussion
2.
Parameter
germination of water melon
3.
Number of leaves
4.
Number of
branches
5.
Vein length
6.
Total yield
7.
Total yield
(number of fruits )
8.
Fruits total
weight
9.
Days of maturity
10. Days of fruits female flowering
Conclusion
References
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Actually water melon (citrullus lanatus) a native of
southern America. It originated from a
dry area in tropical and subtropical
Africa south of the equator. It was first grown by Egyptian, it belong to
vegetable crops and it was introduce in Europe by Moorish
invader. It have a scientific classification as follows.
Kingdom-
plantae
Omisoon
– magnoliophyta
Class
– magnoliopsida
Order
– cucurbital
Family
- cucurbitaceae
Genus – citrullus
Species
- citrullus lunatus
SOIL REQUIREMENT
Water
melon requires a well drained soil wether clayed or sandy soil, the
best soil are sandy soil.
The soil is
typically made of parent
materials, with unconsolidated parent
material within 50cm of the soil
surface, poor soils can be improved for water melon
production by organic and
inorganic fertilizer. Soil PH
affects the present of nutrient for plant growth. A slight acid soil
with PH of 5.5 is
ideal for water melon, the land space of
the area is sloppy in nature and some
part of the soil can retain water for long time
and also accumulate nutrients
for plant growth.
CLIMATE OF THE AREA
One of the factors
that affects agricultural
production is climate and these
include humidity temperature, rainfall,
light, wind and all these concept affect the growth of the plant. Nigerian lies on the tropical belt and the temperature
is always high. Average monthly temperature varies between 21-35oc . If water supply is
sufficient, high temperature is favourable for plant growth and it germinate at soil temperature of
68-750 for plant to growth the requires sunlight.
TOPOGRAPHY
Soil formation is affected by altitude and
degree of exposure to the
elements. The topography of the land is slightly feather and aerated whereby we possibility of erosion is negligible.
MATERIALS/ METHOD USED CHAPTER NO
a.
The equipment
used are as follows: cutlass/matchet: it is used to clear the vegetation
b.
Pick axe: it is
used to in disintegrating the heavy soil
c.
Pegs/ropes: It
is used to differentiate one bed from another . the
traid are tied around the
bed.
d.
Rake: it is
used for disintegrating and breaking
clod of soil after hoeing and for gathering dug-up weeds, cut stem and
roots.
e.
Paint: it is used
to highlight or indicate sign post were you
wrote our registration number
for proper identification.
f.
Weighing balance:
It is used to measure the quantity of inorganic fertilizer to applied and Wight of
the pods after harvesting.
g.
Measuring tape:
it is used to measure the land area and also to know the length and width of
the farm land
h.
Board - it
identifies the registration number and also serve as scare
crow to frighten prey e.g bird
i.
Watering can – it
is used in watering the plant.
j.
Hoe: It is used to
cultivate and to breakdown the soil into
smaller particles for easy planting
MATERIALS USED
a.
Inorganic and
organic fertilizer : It is used to
maximize the fertility of the soil so as to boost the growth yield.
b.
Water: It serves as food to the soil and also
catalyse the growth and yield of
the plant.
c.
Zap chemical:
It is an insecticide used in killing
insecticide that affect the water
melon
d.
Seeds: They are materials used for planting.
e.
Straw: It is used for mulching.
CHAPTER
TWO
METHODOLOGY
The farm work started
on 25th February 2012 which includes site allocation, land
clearing, experimental design tillage,
panting to aeration, suitable
environment of its potential advantage.
FIELD PREPARATION/ CULTURAL PRACTICES
It
involve the following:
Land preparations
Land
preparation involves pulverizing of the soil
a.
To makes the
soil more suitable for seeding and transplanting establishment
b.
To improve
productivity by providing the best soil structure for subservient root
growth and development.
c.
To help in controlling some of the disease
problem
CLEARING
The vegetation was cleared with cutlass,
the land was properly cleared
packed and burnt
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
The
farmland was mapped out using measuring
tape.
The experimental where laid out in
randomized complete block design (RCBD)
with 3 replication and 10m pathway between one
replication and the other
making total bed of 32 beds
and each bed have 9 stands
TILLAGE OPERATION
The
bed were made manually with hand tools like hoe, pickaxe, etc. the
bed were raised at height of
2-30 above the ground level
and it is feat. The bed measures
3 x3 and 0.5 in between rows.
The furrows or in between
rows permit water to sink
and also
allow measurement during
cultural the slope to reduce
erosion if there is rainfall.
PLANTING OPERATION
On 23rd
February 2012 the
water melon is spread in room temperature of 300c
SELECTION OF SEEDS FOR PLANTING
Two verities of water melon are used for
planting and they are sphere and
round shape seed of water melon and the
varieties are planted according the
variety allocated to the
replications.
PLANTING
The method used
in planting is dibbling method
which involves using a stock to make a
hole before sowing the seed and seed is
planted tow seed per hole. The distance between the stand 1m apart.
Planting was carried out using the experimental design
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
TABLE 1 GENERAL ANOVA TABLE
ANALYSIS OF
VARIANCE (ANOVA)TABLE
|
Source of
variance
|
d.f
|
s.s
|
m.s
|
f.tab
|
f. Tab
|
|
Block
|
r-I
|
å1 x2- x2
R
rt
|
B(S.S)
B(d.f)
|
B(sm)
å(d.f)
|
B(d.f)
å(d.f)
|
|
Treatment
|
t-I
|
å1 x2- x2
R
rt
|
T(SS)
T(d.f)
|
T(sm)
å(m.s)
|
T(d.f)
å(d.f)
|
|
Error
|
(r-i)(t-I)
|
Total
SS-BSS
= TSS
|
å (ss)
å(d.f)
|
-
|
-
|
|
Total
|
Tr-I
|
åX1
X2
Rt
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
SPECIFIC ANOVA TABLE
FOR 6 X 3 FACTORIA EXPERIMENT IN RCBD
|
Source of
variance
|
d.f
|
|
Block
|
r-I
s-I=4
|
|
Treatment
|
T-I
12-1=11
|
|
Factor A
(fertilizer)
|
a-1
3-1=2
|
|
Factor B
(variety)
|
b-1
2-1=1
|
|
Error
|
(r-1)(t-1)
4(11)=44
|
|
Total
|
Tr-1
(12x3-1)=36
|
|
Bed
|
Rep 1
|
Rep 2
|
Rep 3
|
|
1
|
0V1
|
0V1
|
0V1
|
|
2
|
30V2
|
30V2
|
30V2
|
|
3
|
60V1
|
60V1
|
60V1
|
|
4
|
90V2
|
90V2
|
90V2
|
|
5
|
120v1
|
120v1
|
120v1
|
|
6
|
150V2
|
150V2
|
150V2
|
|
7
|
0VI
|
0VI
|
0VI
|
|
8
|
30V2
|
30V2
|
30V2
|
|
9
|
60V1
|
60V1
|
60V1
|
|
10
|
90V2
|
90V2
|
90V2
|
|
11
|
120V1
|
120V1
|
120V1
|
|
12
|
150V2
|
150V2
|
150V2
|
CROP MANAGEMENT
Water
(irrigation was applied both in the
morning and evening until water drips
through the container drawn holds, uniformly
most surface soil ensure good
germination water is applied only when the
surface of the soil is dry to the touch.
As plant grows larger their water
need increases
MULCHING OPERATION
The
mulching materials used area straw which was applied on the surface of the soil
The reasons while we mulch include
1.
To regulate soil
temperature
2.
To add organic
matter to the soil
3.
To prevent
erosion
4.
To maintain
moisture content of the soil and reduce
rate of evaporation of water
from the soil
5.
To protect growth
of weeds
6.
To protect
the soil from overheating
WEEDING OPERATION
Weeding involves the eradication of unwanted plant
predominately weed impose big problem to watermelon production. The beds were
cleared of used 2 weeks after
planting . When the seedling are still
young and again 4-5
weeks before flowering to avoid damaging
of water melon stem that are ready to fruit.
PESTICIDE APPLICATION
Insecticide should be made only when
necessary or determined suing result of
field surveys for control of
diseases, fungicides are most effective
when applied before disease begin to increase insecticide and fungicides should be selected based on proven
effectiveness inorganic fertilize used
NPK 15:15:15
HARVESTING AND HANDLING OPERATION
Water melon
reaches harvest maturity 5-6 weeks after
pollination –depending upon variety and season
Indication
of maturity in water melon.
A
change of tendrils nearest the fruits from green to brown .
WATER
HOW WATER MELON IS HARVESTED
Water melon should be cut from the vine rather than pulled twisted or broken off to
reduce charged of stem decay
OBSERVATION
I
observed that the temperature of Ebonyi State is high due to the depletion of the ozone layer
which leads to rapid drying of water
after watering
Secondly the size of a seed is a good indication of its optimum sowing depth.
When seed is sown too deep, most of the reserves in the
endosperm will be used for germination and radical growth, leaving very little for further development.
Discussion
Water
melon is farmiliar to all, since this can be very helpful for numerous adverse
instances of our wellness for
which people suffer in such instances,
water melon is really efficient and so, everybody likes this fruit to possess a positive result by consuming it.
Water
melon features a big amount of water . this can be the reason why it is
truly known as water melon the
water percentage in the fruit is about
92%.