Evaluation of different fertilizer sources for the management of aflatoxin contamination in groundnut (arachis hypogaea l.) in the southern guinea savannah agro-ecological zone of Nigeria

Field experiments were conducted during 2016 and 2017 croppingseasons at the Teaching and Research Farms, Federal University ofAgriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. The experiments evaluated variouscombinations of Farmyard Manure (FYM), Gypsum, Singlesuperphosphate (SSP) and NPK fertilizers applied at recommendedrates. A total of eleven treatments were evaluated and included; FYM,Gypsum, SSP, NPK, FYM+Gypsum, FYM+SSP, FYM+NPK,Gypsum+SSP, Gypsum+NPK, SSP+NPK and Control. Theexperiments were laid-out in Randomized Complete Block Design(RCBD) with four replications. Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay(ELISA) method was used to detect and quantify aflatoxin loads. Datacollected included Plant Height and Number of Branches at 4, 8 and 12weeks after planting, Number of Days to 50 % Flowering and Yield(Fresh Pod, Dry Pod, and Haulms) and 100 Seed weight/plot. Datawere subjected to Analysis of Variance and statistically significantdifferences were reported at p < 0.05 using Fisher?s Least SignificantDifference. Findings from the study showed that the level of AfB1contamination of groundnut by AfB1 was higher in 2017 compared to2016. In both years however, plants grown in plots treated with FYMhad the highest concentration of AfB1 (21.2 ppb and 30.3 ppb)representing 28.4% and 32.1% increase over the untreated plots in 2016and 2017, respectively. When FYM was combined with SSP, NPK andgypsum, AfB1 concentration was reduced by 18.4%, 26.5% and 50.3%,respectively in 2017. These same trends were obtained in 2016.Application of only gypsum consistently reduced concentration levelsof AfB1 the most. Contamination in groundnut grown on plots treatedwith only gypsum was reduced from 15.17 ppb and 20.57 ppb in theuntreated plots in 2016 and 2017 respectively, to 3.76 ppb and 5.7 ppbrepresenting over 70% reduction in both years. Although the use ofFYM+NPK resulted in taller plants and higher haulm yield, SSP +NPK resulted in the highest pod yield in both years and wereaccompanied by higher levels of AfB1 concentrations in groundnutsamples. The study concluded that the use of FYM should bediscouraged in the cultivation of groundnut. Rather Gypsum + SSP orGypsum + NPK should be promoted since their use was associatedwith reduced levels of aflatoxin contamination and better pod andhaulm yields

C O Eche et al., 'Evaluation of different fertilizer sources for the management of aflatoxin contamination in groundnut (arachis hypogaea l.) in the southern guinea savannah agro-ecological zone of Nigeria', International Journal of Advanced Research, vol. 5(11), pp.967-976, 2017