Browsing by Author "Owido, Seth F.O."

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Evaluation of plant growth on expanded black cotton soil.
(Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2018-02) Nyakach, Samwel; Owido, Seth F.O.; Onyando, Japheth O.
In aggregate hydroponics, the suitability of a particular medium is often guided by its physical properties. However these may not provide adequate evaluation. By growing a crop, the growth characteristics can also be used to guide medium preparation and selection. Tomatoes (Anna F1variety) were grown in containers under a greenhouse and provided with equal amount of nutrient solution. The expanded black cotton soil was prepared by mixing with rice husk at a ratio of 90:10, fired at 750oC for 30 minutes and size reduced to various textures.The crops planted in the expanded clay aggregates performed betterthan the black cotton soil bothin terms of stem elongation and enlargement due to improved drainage, nutrient flow and aeration conditions. The root length density was 25654 m m-3in black cotton soil, being the highest and lowest in the coarse aggregates which had 9433m m-3.
Performance of apical rooted cuttings of potato grown in Mollic Andosols under different nitrogen fertilization and irrigation regimes
(Elsevier, 2021-09-13) Satognon, Felix; Lelei, Joyce J.; Owido, Seth F.O.
Potato productivity (Solanum tuberosum L) is generally influenced by several factors, including water and nitrogen (N), and potato requirement for these factors varies depending on the soil type and potato variety. This research aimed to determine the performance of apical rooted cuttings of potato grown in Mollic Andosols under different nitrogen fertilization and irrigation regimes. The treatments comprised 4 irrigation regimes of 100%, 85%, 75% and 50% of the crop evapotranspiration (ETC), where ETC100% was irrigated based on water depletion in the root zone two days after full irrigation, and 4 nitrogen rates of 0 (N0), 60 (N1), 90 (N2) and 130 kg.ha 1 (N3) applied in splits at 10 (40%), 30 (40%) and 50 (20%) days after planting. The results revealed that the water demand for apical rooted cuttings of potato (ETa) was on average 201.4, 302.1, 342.4 and 402.8 mm under ETC50%, ETC75%, ETC85% and ETC100%, respectively. It was observed that plant height and number of branches significantly (P < 0.001) varied under different N rates with the highest plant height (92.67 cm) and number of branches per potato plant (17) achieved when applying N3. Potato grown under full irrigation (ETC100%) with N3 produced the highest total potato tuber yield (58.28 t.ha 1) and marketable tuber yield (54.21 t.ha 1). The number of tubers per plant statistically reduced as the N deficit increased, with the maximum tuber number, 23, achieved under N3. It was observed that a significant Pearson correlation (r ¼ 0.7***) existed between tuber number and total tuber yield. The maximum harvest index (HI), 57.12 %, was obtained under ETC50% with N3, while the highest tuber dry matter, 30 %, was observed under N3. To achieve a high tuber yield from apical rooted cuttings of potato in Mollic Andosols, this study recommends an irrigation regime of ETC100% and a nitrogen rate of 130 kg.ha 1.