Effect of organic and inorganic fertilizer on the growth and yield of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) in Bauchi state, Nigeria

The field experiment was conducted at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi teaching and research farm during the rainy season of 2016. Bauchi state belongs to savannah agro-ecological zone and geographically located between latitude 10°74’ E and 9°47’ E and 690.3 m above the sea level. The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of organic and inorganic fertilizer on the growth and yield of sorghum. The design used for the experiment was randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated three times. The treatment consisted of three levels of cow manure (0, 1 and 2 ton/ha) and four levels of NPK 15:15:15 (0, 15, 30 and 45 kg/ha), these were factorially combined to give 12 treatment combinations. The result of the experiment indicated that, there is a significant ((P<0.05) difference among the treatment used. It was further revealed that, application of NPK fertilizer at the rate of 45 kg/ha and 2 ton/ha cow manure was found to be significantly (P<0.05) better than other treatments and all the treatment were better than control. It was observed that the combination of 45 kg NPK/ha and 2 ton cow manure/ha was found to be significantly better than other treatment. Based on the finding of this study, it can be recommended that the application of 45 kg NPK/ha in combination with 2 ton cow manure/ha should be adopted by farmers in the study area for sustainable sorghum production.