Effects of sheep kraal manure on growth, dry matter yield and

leaf nutrient composition of a local amaranthus accession in

the central region of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa#

S Mhlontlo, P Muchaonyerwa and PNS Mnkeni*

Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, University of Fort Hare, Private Bag X314, Alice 5700, South Africa

Abstract

Indigenous vegetables that supply abundant amounts of protein, vitamins, calories and minerals could alleviate problems
of malnutrition, in developing countries. Amaranthus is one such vegetable that could be domesticated and cultivated but
information on its fertility requirements is scanty. A dry-land field experiment was therefore conducted to study the effects
of sheep kraal manure application rates on growth, fresh and dry matter yields, nutrient uptake and grain yield of one of the
Amaranthus accessions that grow in the wild in the Eastern Cape. The treatments were sheep kraal manure rates ranging
from 0 to 10 t/ha and an NPK {2:3:4(30) + 0.5% Zn} fertiliser as a positive control at 150 kg/ha. Low manure rates (≤2.5 t/ha)
resulted in plant heights and fresh matter yields which were comparable to those in the unfertilised control, whereas higher
rates (5 and 10 t/ha) and NPK fertiliser gave greater plant heights and higher yields at both 30 and 60 days after transplant
(DAT) (p<0.05). At 30 DAT, manure application rates of ≥2.5 t/ha and the NPK fertiliser treatment, produced greater shoot
dry-matter yields (≥29.35 g/plant) than the unfertilised control (17.11 g/plant). Uptake of N and P in the leaves increased with
increase in manure application rate with N uptake reaching a maximum of 308 mg N /plant at a manure rate of 2.5 t/ha which
corresponded with the maximum dry matter yield of 45.97 g/plant. There was no effect of manure rate or fertiliser on residual
soil N and Ca, whereas P, K, Mg and Zn were increased (p<0.005). The findings suggested that ≥2.5 t/ha sheep kraal manure
could result in growth, nutrient uptake and yield comparable to 150 kg/ha NPK fertiliser for the Amaranthus accession used
in this work.

Keywords: Amaranthus accession, sheep manure, dry matter yield, nutrient composition, residual nutrients

Introduction on its fertilisation requirements is limited (Elbehri et al., 1993).

Moreover chemical fertilisers are expensive for the resource-
Hunger and malnutrition are mostly experienced in developing poor farmers who often utilise those vegetables (Jansen Van
countries where they affect growth and development of children Rensburg et al., 2004). Hence there is need to investigate
(Aphane et al., 2003). Foods of animal origin, which are major cheaper sources of nutrients such as animal manures. According
sources of vitamins and proteins, are often too expensive for poor to Schippers (2000), the crop gives good yield when high levels
households (Aphane et al., 2003; Wehmeyer and Rose, 1983). of nitrogen are applied and it responds well to organic matter.
Vegetables that supply abundant amounts of protein, vitamins, Farmers in the Eastern Cape use kraal manure in their
calories and minerals, needed in a diet, could alleviate prob- maize-based cropping systems to address problems of declining
lems associated with malnutrition (Wehmeyer and Rose, 1983). soil fertility (Van Averbeke and De Lange, 1995). While guide-
However, the production of exotic vegetables is made difficult lines exist on the use of kraal manure for crops such as maize
by harsh climatic and resource-poor conditions encountered in (Van Averbeke and Yoganathan, 1997), no information could be
most rural areas, where problems of malnutrition occur. found on the use of kraal manure on Amaranthus in the East-
More than 100 different indigenous species, including Ama- ern Cape. This article reports on effects of sheep kraal manure
ranthus sp., Corchorus genera, Cleome gynandra, grow well application rates on growth, fresh and dry matter yields, nutrient
in such areas (Jansen van Rensburg et al., 2004; Aphane et al., uptake and grain yield of a local Amaranthus accession in the
2003). They are popular in communities such as in the former central region of the Eastern Cape.
Transkei, South Africa, where their leaves are gathered from
plants growing in the wild, chopped and mixed with maize meal Experimental
to prepare a traditional meal known as ‘imifino’ or ‘isigwampa’
(Wehmeyer and Rose, 1983). Amaranthus could be cultivated The experiment was conducted between November 2002 and
in areas of Southern Africa where there is inadequate or unreli- May 2003 in Gqumahashe village (32o 45’ S; 26o 52’ E), five
able rainfall (Jansen Van Rensburg et al., 2004) but information km north of Alice town. The soil contained 0.026% K, 0.35%
Ca, 0.044% Mg, 2.5 mg P/ℓ and 1.4 mg Zn/ℓ, with pH 5.3 (in
KCl). Sheep kraal manure used in this study was collected
#
Revised version. Originally presented at the International Sympo- from kraals in the village and contained 1.8% N, 3.7% Ca,
sium on the Nutritional Value and Water Use of Indigenous Crops 1.4% Mg, 0.37% P, 16 000 mg/kg Fe and 872 mg/kg Zn. It was
for Improved Livelihoods held on 19 and 20 September 2006 at the applied to the soil at different rates (0, 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, 2.5, 5.0 and
University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa
10 t/ha). Inorganic NPK fertiliser {2:3:4(30) + 0.5% Zn} was
* To whom all correspondence should be addressed.
 +2740 602 2139; fax: +2740 653 1730; applied at a rate of 150 kg/ha, the rate recommended for spin-
e-mail: pmnkeni@ufh.ac.za ach by Makus (1984), as a positive control. The experiment

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ISSN 1816-7950 = Water SA (on-line)
was arranged in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) 10 t/ha) and the NPK fertiliser treatments produced larger num-
with four replications. Sheep kraal manure was broadcast in the bers of leaves both at 30 and 60 DAT. These responses could be
designated plots after land preparation and incorporated into ascribed to increased uptake of nutrients as a result of the avail-
the soil, using a rotavator, two weeks before transplanting. Inor- ability of larger amounts of nutrients in the soil as the amount of
ganic fertiliser was also applied by broadcasting and incorpo- manure increased.
rated a day before planting. Manure application resulted in larger stem girth when
One-month-old seedlings of an unclassified Amaranthus compared to the unfertilised control but there was no addi-
accession that grows in the wild in the Eastern Cape were tional response to increased application from 0.3 to 10 t/ha,
transplanted on 17 December 2002, in 6 m rows (6 rows /plot) giving values similar to that obtained with the NPK fertiliser.
with an inter-row spacing of 1 m and intra-row spacing of These results appear to indicate that addition of manure at
30 cm. The seedlings were then irrigated for the first week to 0.3 t/ha provided sufficient nutrients for maximum stem girth
aid establishment, whereafter they solely depended on rain. at growth stages up to 60 DAT and the rest of the nutrients
Other management practices, like weeding, were the same were partitioned towards stem elongation and leaf produc-
across the treatments. No pesticides were applied. Data col- tion.
lection and sampling for growth, fresh and dry matter yields,
were done at 30 and 60 d after transplanting (DAT). Two Sheep manure application effects on fresh yield of
plants were randomly selected from the two middle rows in Amaranthus
each plot and uprooted. Stem girth, plant height, number of
leaves and fresh mass (stems and leaves) were determined, Fresh matter yield (leaf, stem and shoot) increased significantly
before dry matter (leaves and stems) was determined after (p<0.05) with an increase in sheep kraal manure application
drying in an oven at 60oC to constant mass. All oven-dried rate (Table 2). Where low rates of kraal manure (≤2.5 t/ha) were
leaf samples were ground, digested and analysed for total N, applied, leaf stem and shoot fresh matter yields were compara-
P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe and Zn as described by Okalebo et al. (2002). ble to unfertilised control both at 30 and 60 DAT. Higher rates
Nutrient uptake (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe and Zn) was then cal- of sheep kraal manure (5 and 10 t/ha) produced higher fresh
culated from the leaf dry matter and the composition of the matter yields than the unfertilised control, giving values simi-
nutrients in the leaves. Grain mass and residual soil nutrient lar to that obtained with the NPK fertiliser. At the higher sheep
composition were determined at 90 DAT. Analysis of vari- kraal manure application rates, the results compared well with
ance (ANOVA) was done using the MStat C statistical soft- those reported by Makus (1984) for different accessions of
ware and least significant differences (LSD) at 5% significant Amaranthus, fertilised with mineral fertiliser at recommended
level were used to separate the means. rates for spinach. The values obtained in the present study were
lower than those reported by Allemann et al. (1996) for differ-
Results and discussion ent varieties of Amaranthus at ARC-Roodeplaat, the research
station of the Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Institute, near
Effects of sheep manure application rate on growth Pretoria. This is logical, since in the latter experiment the crop
of Amaranthus was grown under irrigation, while in the present study it was
grown under rain-fed conditions in an abnormally dry season.
Plant height, number of leaves and stem girth, increased sig- In the irrigated experiment of Allemann et al. (1996) fertiliser
nificantly (p<0.05) with an increase in sheep kraal manure applications were also much higher than in the present experi-
application rate (Table 1). At low manure rates (≤2.5 t/ha), the ment, as is normal for irrigated conditions. In the present study
plants had comparable height to those in the unfertilised control, the highest leaf fresh matter yield at 30 DAT was obtained
whereas higher rates (5 and 10 t/ha) and NPK fertiliser resulted with an application of 5 t/ha sheep kraal manure, while at 60
in greater plant heights both at 30 and 60 DAT. Similar results DAT it was obtained with the inorganic NPK fertiliser treat-
were observed by Elbehri et al. (1993), who reported increased ment. These results indicate that a sheep kraal manure applica-
Amaranthus plant height at higher nitrogen application rate. At tion rate of at least 5 t/ha is critical to maximise Amaranthus
low manure rates (≤1.3 t/ha) the number of leaves were com- fresh matter yield if the crop is to be cultivated and used as a
parable to the unfertilised control, whereas higher rates (2.5 to vegetable.

TABLE 1
Effects of sheep kraal manure application on growth of Amaranthus
Manure rates Plant height (cm) Stem girth (cm) Number of leaves
(t/ha) 30 DAT* 60 DAT 30 DAT 60 DAT 30 DAT 60 DAT
0 30.50c** 37.00d 0.75c 1.40b 67b 92c
0.3 34.00bc 42.25cd 1.00bc 1.68ab 86ab 111bc
0.6 33.75bc 41.50d 1.10ab 1.70ab 86ab 112bc
1.3 38.75abc 48.25bcd 1.18ab 1.73a 99ab 122bc
2.5 40.50abc 47.75bcd 1.25ab 1.90a 117a 140abc
5.0 45.00ab 54.25abc 1.35a 1.95a 118a 150ab
10.0 47.25a 61.00a 1.30a 2.03a 126a 153ab
NPK fertiliser 46.50a 57.50ab 1.23ab 2.03a 114ab 181a
CV (%) 21 17 17 16 32 27
* DAT = Days after transplanting
**Means in each column followed by the same letter or none at all are not significantly different at p < 0.05.

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 TABLE 2
Effects of sheep kraal manure application on fresh matter yield of Amaranthus
Manure rate Leaves Stems Shoots
(t/ha) (g/plant) (g/plant) (g/plant)
30 DAT 60 DAT 30 DAT 60 DAT 30 DAT 60 DAT
0 18.88d* 28.50c 21.73d 45.76d 45.66c 97.16d
0.3 25.85cd 51.82bc 31.39cd 66.08cd 67.47bc 132.66cd
0.6 31.08abcd 56.05bc 43.33bcd 66.43cd 96.14abc 143.53cd
1.3 28.48bcd 54.06bc 43.93bcd 96.90bcd 103.27abc 154.70bcd
2.5 38.90abcd 68.21abc 51.55abcd 113.15abcd 106.54abc 194.85abc
5.0 50.45a 77.25ab 78.00ab 129.40abc 149.17a 239.05ab
10.0 48.88ab 78.73ab 90.28a 156.60ab 149.72a 262.45a
NPK fertiliser 41.95abc 104.10a 70.28abc 181.38a 127.94ab 258.80a
CV (%) 39 46 53 49 50 35
* Means in each column followed by the same letter or none at all are not significantly different at p < 0.05.

TABLE 3
Effects of sheep kraal manure application rates on dry matter yield of Amaranthus
Manure rate Leaves Stems Shoots Grain
(t/ha) (g/plant) (g/plant) (g/plant) yield
30 DAT 60 DAT 30 DAT 60 DAT 30 DAT 60 DAT (g/plot)
0 6.17c* 10.26f 4.11d 5.69d 17.11c 19.35c 362
0.3 8.44bc 14.62ef 6.15cd 10.09cd 21.88bc 28.74b 402
0.6 9.79abc 16.63de 7.55bcd 12.65bcd 26.67abc 31.27b 405
1.3 9.75abc 18.32cde 7.71bcd 15.49bcd 27.03abc 36.69b 412
2.5 11.84ab 21.96bcd 9.30abc 18.28abc 29.35ab 45.97a 428
5.0 12.49ab 23.52abc 9.86abc 22.28ab 30.74ab 46.97a 443
10.0 13.44a 24.68ab 14.03a 25.35a 37.68a 49.77a 488
NPK fertiliser 12.16ab 27.72a 12.07ab 26.49a 38.09a 52.78a 532
CV (%) 30 19 38 39 27 16 33
* Means in each column followed by the same letter or none at all are not significantly different at p < 0.05

Effects of sheep manure rate on dry matter and grain moderate sheep kraal manure applications gave better results
yield of Amaranthus than inorganic NPK fertilisers. Grain yield did not respond to
sheep kraal manure or fertiliser application when compared to
Dry matter (leaf, stem and shoot) yields increased with increas- the control (Table 3).
ing manure application rate (Table 3). At 30 DAT, manure
application rates of ≥2.5 t/ha and the NPK fertilised treatment, Sheep manure effects on nutrient concentrations and
produced greater shoot dry-matter yields than the unfertilised amounts in Amaranthus leaves
control. The yields obtained in the present study were lower
than those reported for the irrigated experiment by Allemann The concentrations of Ca, Mg, P, N and K in the Amaranthus
et al. (1996), which is logical. The unfertilised control produced leaves agreed very well with those reported for different acces-
yields which were comparable to those from manure rates rang- sions of the crop by Makus (1984) while Fe and Zn were much
ing from 0.3 to 1.27 t/ha. Elbehri et al. (1993) reported improved lower. There were no effects of rate of manure application on N,
forage yield of Amaranthus as a result of nitrogen addition. The P, K, Ca, Mg, and Zn concentrations in Amaranthus leaves at 30
findings suggested that 2.5 t/ha of sheep kraal manure would DAT (Table 4). These results agree with those of Ore-Oluwa et
supply sufficient nutrients (compared to the recommended fer- al. (1981) who reported no effects of nitrogen on accumulation of
tiliser application) for dried vegetable Amaranthus, especially Ca, K, Na, Cu and Zn in Amaranthus leaves. However, uptake of
when the leaves are to be harvested at a young age (30 DAT). N and P in the leaves increased with increase in manure applica-
This is recommended and is practised in the Eastern Cape tion rate, with N uptake reaching a maximum at a manure rate
(Wehmeyer and Rose, 1983; Bhat and Rubuluza, 2002). This of 2.5 t/ha, which corresponded with maximum dry matter yield
critical manure rate is lower than the one based on fresh matter (Table 5). Due to the close relation between N and protein, the
yield. This could be a result of differences in water uptake by same trend was observed for crude protein. Crude protein con-
the plants at the time of sampling. From the differences in fresh tents compared favourably with other indigenous vegetables
and dry matter responses to the two different kraal manure used in the Eastern Cape, and thus could supplement the maize-
rates, the results indicated that the plants in the 5 t/ha manure based diets with protein (Wehmeyer and Rose, 1983). The find-
treatment took up more water than in the 2.5 t/ha treatment. ings indicate that 2.5 t/ha or higher rates of sheep kraal manure
Since fresh material is normally consumed, a kraal manure supplied adequate amounts of nutrients (especially N and P) for
application of 5 t/ha would seem the more logical rate at which optimum yields.
to apply it. It is important to note that at the young growth stage Leaf Fe concentration results agreed with those reported
at which the leaves are normally harvested (30 DAT) fairly by Jansen Van Rensburg et al. (2004). It varied with different

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 TABLE 4
Effects of sheep kraal manure application on nutrient concentrations in
Amaranthus leaves at 30 DAT
Manure rate Nutrient concentrations in Amaranthus leaves
(t/ha) N P K Mg Ca Fe Zn
(%) (mg/kg)
0 2.17* 0.09 3.3 1.4 3.9 60.0bc 2.9
0.3 2.19 0.12 3.5 1.4 3.9 46.9c 3.2
0.6 2.57 0.09 3.8 1.3 3.6 132.3a 2.4
1.3 2.34 0.12 3.4 1.3 3.8 90.9abc 2.2
2.5 2.53 0.12 3.6 1.5 3.7 100.6abc 2.3
5.0 2.13 0.11 3.7 1.3 3.5 81.1abc 2.5
10.0 2.25 0.13 4.3 1.5 3.7 97.8abc 3.8
NPK fertiliser 2.47 0.14 4.7 1.3 3.7 116.5ab 2.3
CV (%) 17 14 16 13 12 43 49
*Means in each column followed by the same letter or none at all are not significantly different at p < 0.05.

TABLE 5
Effects of sheep kraal manure rate on nutrient amounts in Amaranthus
leaves at 30 DAT
Manure rate Nutrient uptake (mg/plant) Crude
(t/ha) N P K Mg Ca protein
(g/plant)
0 134c 6.03d 207 82 240 0.84c
0.3 178bc 9.05cd 288 116 324 1.11bc
0.6 264ab 9.88bcd 360 138 352 1.65ab
1.3 262ab 11.88abcd 310 130 369 1.64ab
2.5 308a 13.10abc 482 176 436 1.93a
5.0 273ab 13.38abc 506 158 443 1.71ab
10.0 267ab 17.83a 520 182 503 1.67ab
NPK fertiliser 315a 16.80ab 565 154 452 1.97a
CV (%) 35 35 34 34 34 21
*Means in each column followed by the same letter or none at all are not significantly different at p < 0.05.

manure and fertiliser applications, though no specific trend was substantial, which agrees with the findings of Eghball and
observed (Table 4). Rates of manure application greater than Power (1999), who reported an accumulation of soil P as a
0.6 t/ha, however, generally resulted in levels of Fe that were result of manure application. This could probably benefit the
higher than in the control treatment. Since Fe is an important next crop grown on this soil but could over several seasons
element in human nutrition, these results suggest that in addi- of application of high manure rates lead to the build-up of
tion to improving yields, fertilisation of Amaranthus with sheep excessive soil P levels. This could eventually result in P/
manure will have the added benefit of improving its nutritional Zn imbalance, which could result in reduced Zn uptake if
value, including Fe. manure is applied at high levels over long periods (Brady
and Weil, 1999).
Effects of sheep manure application rates on residual Residual soil K from plots fertilised with NPK fertiliser,
soil nutrient composition and low manure rates (0.3 to 1.3 t/ha), did not differ statis-
tically significantly from that in the unfertilised control. At
Post cropping soil pH increased from 5.4 to 5.8 in response to higher kraal manure rates (2.5 to 10 t/ha) sharp increases in
increasing manure rate from 0 to 10 t/ha, whereas the NPK fer- soil K levels were observed. Soil K levels in all the treatments,
tiliser depressed it (Table 6). Manure rates <2.5 t/ha had post- even the unfertilised control, exceeded 200 mg K/kg. This is
cropping pH values which were comparable to the unfertilised above the critical level of 80 to 120 mg K/kh (Bornman et al.,
control, whereas higher rates had significantly higher pH values 1989), which explains the lack of K uptake response to manure
(p<0.05). The liming effect of manure could be of great signifi- or fertiliser application. The results are in agreement with
cance in the Eastern Cape where manure is readily available and Laker (1976), who reported that, in general, South African
pH of most of the soils has been reported to be critically low soils do not have K deficiency problems. Although the uptake
(Mandiringana et al., 2005). of Mg did not respond to manure and fertiliser application,
There was no effect of manure rate or fertiliser on resid- its residual levels increased at manure rates of 5 and 10 t/ha
ual soil N, suggesting that the crop had exhausted the soil (Table 6). Calcium ranged between 3 914 and 4 690 mg Ca/kg.
N from manure or fertiliser. Lower manure rates (≤1.3 t/ha) The manure rate of 10 t/ha gave a significantly higher calcium
resulted in lower residual soil P than the higher rates (2.5-10 level than all the other treatments (Table 6). Low manure rates
t/ha). Although the latter gave lower plant-available soil P (0.3 to 1.3 t/ha) did not increase residual Zn levels significantly
levels than the NPK fertiliser (Table 6), the increases were above the unfertilised control, while higher manure applica-

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 TABLE 6
Effects of sheep kraal manure application rates on residual soil nutrient composition
Manure rate pH (KCl) Total N OC (%) Selected nutrients (mg/kg)
(t/ha) (%) P K Mg Ca Zn
0 5.40c 0.07 1.70b 4.00d 212.00d 309.70c 3914b 1.61e
0.3 5.50c 0.09 1.93a 4.50d 203.28d 325.63bc 3943b 2.13cde
0.6 5.45c 0.09 1.74ab 4.87d 237.55d 344.83bc 3900b 1.88de
1.3 5.50c 0.10 1.88ab 6.21d 268.75d 359.75bc 3822b 2.02cde
2.5 5.55bc 0.10 1.89ab 15.28c 351.75c 350.50bc 4038 b 2.28bcd
5.0 5.70ab 0.09 1.92a 19.50c 433.61b 376.00b 4019 b 2.43bc
10.0 5.80a 0.09 1.87ab 28.00b 533.75a 456.50a 4690a 2.78b
NPK fertiliser 5.20d 0.09 1.78ab 36.23a 267.25d 362.63bc 3968b 6.04a
CV (%) 2.02 17.50 7.01 29.21 14.36 10.71 9.32 13.12
*Means in each column followed by the same letter or none at all are not significantly different at p < 0.05.

tions (≥2.5 t/ha) significantly increased soil Zn levels. This References

indicates that the application of sheep manure can increase the
zinc fertility of Zn deficient soils. In the present study, however, ALLEMANN J, VAN DEN HEEVER E and VILJOEN J (1996) Evalu-
Zn was not a problem as levels in all treatments, including the ation of Amaranthus as a possible vegetable crop. Appl. Plant Sci.
control were within or above the critical range of 1.5 to 2 mg 10 1-4.
Zn/kg (Bornman et al., 1989). The inorganic NPK {2:3:4(30) APHANE J, CHADHA ML and OLUOCH MO (2003) Increasing the
consumption of micronutrient-rich foods through production of
+ 0.5% Zn} fertiliser treatment gave the highest level of
indigenous foods. In: Proc. FAO-AVRDC International Workshop.
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JANSEN VAN RENSBURG WS, VENTER SL, NETSHILUVHI TR,
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SCHIPPERS RR (2000) African Indigenous Vegetables: An Overview
NRF-GUN 2050687, the Eastern Cape Department of Agricul- of the Cultivated Species. Chatham, UK: Natural Resource Insti-
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samples. Cape Province. Working paper 24 EC 2., LAPC, Johannesburg.
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368 Available on website http://www.wrc.org.za

ISSN 0378-4738 = Water SA Vol. 33 No. 3 (Special Edition) 2007
ISSN 1816-7950 = Water SA (on-line)