Effect of poultry manure and urea-n on flowering occurrence and leaf Productivity of amaranthus cruentus

A field experiment was conducted during the dry season (December – March) in 2005 and 2006. To test the effect of poultry manure (PM) and urea - N on flower initiation and leaf yield of Amaranthus cruentus. Plants fertilized with sole poultry manure at 15 tonnes/ha were significantly (p = 0.05) tallest (90.6cm), while application of a mixture of 30 kg urea-N/ha and 15 tones/ha of poultry manure produced the higher number of leaves per plant (81.7), the largest leaf area (203.0 cm²), highest number of branches per plant (16.0), longest vegetative life span (70 days after planting), highest fresh leaf mass (1.88 kg/plot), highest fresh stem mass (2.25 kg/plot) and highest fresh lead yield (12.20 tonnes/ha). This is an indication that combined application of 15 tonnes of poultry manure per hectare and 30 kg Urea-N/ha could prolong the vegetative phase thus, enhancing the leaf productivity of Amaranthus cruentus.