Growth and flowering of Rose periwinkle

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GROWTH AND FLOWERING OF ROSE PERIWINKLE (Catharanthus roseus L.) IN RESPONSE TO POULTRY MANURE

FAJINMI, A. O1_{., AIYELAAGBE, I. O. O.}1_{, ADEJUYIGBE, C.O.}2_, OLUBODE, O. O.1_{and OJO O.O.}1

1. Department of Horticulture, Federal University of Agriculture PMB 2240 Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

2. Department of Soil Science and Land Management, Federal University of Agriculture PMB 2240 Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Corresponding Author: omoniyifaj@yahoo.com Phone number: 08115387443

ABSTRACT

Rose periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus L.) is an ornamental herb valued as bedding or potted plant as well as for its pharmaceutical properties. The response of Rose periwinkle to poultry manure application was investigated at the Organic Agriculture Skills and Demonstration Plot of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria between October 2012 and January 2013. The aim of the study was to determine the growth and flowering of Rose Periwinkle in response to poultry manure applied at the rate of 10, 20, and 40t/ha compared with nonapplication (control). The poultry manure was applied three weeks before transplanting following a Randomised Complete Block Design with four replications. Application of poultry manure significantly (p ≤ 0.05) enhanced number of branches, leaf area, number of flowers, total flower surface area and flower retention per plant. Manure application at 10, 20 and 40t /ha elicited similar effects. Consequently, 10t/ha of poultry manure applied three weeks before transplanting is recommended for Rose Periwinkle grown for its ornamental value.

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Rose periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus L.) is an herbaceous perennial plant which belongs to the Apocynaceae family. It is a native of Madagascar but is now being cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions for garden landscaping and also an important medicinal use (Moreno et al., 1995;

Levy et al., 1983). The alkaloid present in rose periwinkle; vinblastine and vincristine are used in combination with other anticancer agents for the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma and hodgkin’s

diseases (Filippini et al., 2003). Application of organic materials as fertilizers provides growth regulating substances and improves the physical, chemical and microbial properties of the

soil (Belay et al., 2001). Amongst all animal manures, poultry manure has been used extensively for crop production and has been considered according to Omisore et al. (2009)

to be the most valuable of all manures produced by livestock. In spite of all the numerous benefits of poultry manure to both soil and crop, information on its use to improve rose periwinkle production is scanty. Therefore this study was aimed at establishing the optimum

rate of application of poultry manure for the growth and flowering of rose periwinkle.

Materials and Methods

Two trials were conducted at the Skills Demonstration Plot of Organic Agriculture, Federal

University of Agriculture, Abeokuta on a degraded rainforest vegetation zone in Nigeria, (30

25’E and 70_{25’) between October, 2012 to July, 2013. Land preparation such as, clearing and}

stumping were done manually. Raised beds of dimension 2 m x 1 m with 1 m buffer between

plots were made before transplanting. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete

block design with four replications. Poultry manure was applied at the rate of 0, 10, 20 and 40

t/ha three weeks before transplanting. Twelve weeks old seedlings were transplanted at

spacing 0.5 m x 0.25 m corresponding to a total population of 80,000 plants per hectare.

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Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance using Genstat discovery and means were separated using least significant difference at 5 % level of significance.

Result and Discussion

The physiochemical characteristics of soil taken revealed that the textural class was sandy loam with a pH value 7.21, organic carbon 0.92 %, available P = 19.85 mg/kg, and total nitrogen was found to be 0.07 % (Table 1). Branch production was significantly enhanced by

the application of manure in both seasons (Figure 2). Branching was mostly enhanced by the application of 40 t/ha followed by 10 t/ha, no significant difference observed in the catharanthus treated with the application of 10, 20 and 40 t/ha. Similar trend was also

observed in the leaf area of the catharanthus in both trials (Figure 3). The significant increases in growth parameters obtained as growth stage advanced shows that poultry manure

has the potential to sustain the growth of plant for a long period of time. Several studies have

confirmed that increasing the rate of application of organic manure significantly increased the

performance of crops (Omisore et al., 2009; Schippers, 2000; John et al., 2011; Akande et al.,

2012). During the dry season at 12 WAT, widest leaves were recorded. This wasn’t so in the

wet season where leaves were increasing their surface area for photosynthesis at an

increasing rate. This might be due to the period (dry season) when first trial was conducted

whereby there is need for plant to adjust to the change in the environment and one of it is

reduction in leaf area to reduce moisture loss. Production of flowers was prominent at 6 WAT

(Figure 4). Significant difference in the production of flowers as affected by poultry manure

began to show at 6 and 8 WAT in first and second trials respectively till 16 WAT. Flower

surface area was influenced by poultry manure application (Figure 5). All the three

application rates produced significantly wider flower surface than control. The same trend

was also observed in the flower retention (Figure 6) whereby plant that received poultry

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vegetative growth and flowering observed with the application of poultry manure could be

attributed to the essential nutrient elements contained in the poultry manure that are

associated with increased photosynthetic efficiency (Dauda et al., 2008).

Conclusion

From the result, application of poultry manure supports the growth and flowering of rose periwinkle. Poultry manure at 10 t/ha is optimum for the production of rose periwinkle.

References

Akande, M. O., E. A. Makinde, I. M. Tijani, C. O. Kayode and J. A. Adediran (2012). Effects of rate of organic fertilizer on the growth and dry matter yield of Jatropha curcas. Nigerian Journal of Soil Science, Vol. 22 (2):142-148.

Belay, A., A. S. Classens, F. C. Wehner and J. D. Beer (2001). Influence of residual manure on selected nutrient elements and microbial composition of soil under long-term crop rotation. S. Afric. J. Plt. Soil, 18:1-6.

Dauda, S. N, Ajayi F. A. and Dor, E. N. (2008). Growth and yield of watermelon (Citrullus lunatus) as affected by poultry manure application, Journal of Agriculture and Social Science. 4 (3), 121-124.

John, N. M., T. O. Ibia, G. S. Effiong, U. E. Etokeren and O. B. Iren (2011). Response of maize (Zea mays l.) to different levels of decomposed refuse in Uyo Municipality, Nigeria. World Journal of Applied Science and Technology (WOJAST), Vol.3. No.1, 7-12.

Lata, B. (2007). Cultivation, mineral nutrition and seed production of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don in the temprate climate zone. Phytochemistry Revision. 6: 403-411.

Levy, A., Milo, J, Arhri, A. and Palevitch, D. (1983). Heterosis and correlation analysis of the vegetative components and ajmalicine content in the roots of the medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don. Euphytica, 32: 557-564

Moreno, P. R. H, R Ver der Heijden, R. and Verpoorte, R. (1995). Cell and tissue cultures of Catharanthus roseus. A literature survey. II. Updating from 1988 to 1993. Plant Cell Tissue Organ culture 42: 1-25.

Omisore, J. K., M. Y. Kasail and U. C. Chukwu (2009). Determination of optimum poultry manure rate for maize production. Proceedings of the 43rd_{Annual Conference of the} Agricultural Society of Nigeria, Abuja, 260-263.

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Table 1: Analysis of soil and poultry manure used in the experiment

Parameter Soil Poultry Manure

pH 7.21 6.71

Organic Carbon % 0.92 2.45

Total N % 0.07 0.74%

Available P (mg/kg) 19.85 1.78%

Exchangeable bases Cmol/kg %

K 0.06 0.23%

Ca 6.44 4.63%

Mg 2.35 0.58%

Na 0.21 0.17%

Al + H 0.05 _

ECEC (C mol) +/kg 9.11 _

Mn (mg/kg) 161 450

Fe (mg/kg) 21.1 465

Cu (mg/kg) 3.6 32

Zn (mg/kg) 3.4 277

C/N _ 3.31

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2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

CONTROL PM 10t/ha

PM 20t/ha PM 40t/ha

pm 80t/ha

Weeks after transplanting

N

PM 20t/ha PM 40t/ha

L

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2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

PM 20t/ha PM 40t/ha

N

F

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0 10 20 40

Poultry manure (t/ha)

F

poultry manure t/ha