Effects of basal fertilizers type and variery on yield and quality of flue cured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum.)

Abstract

The cost of producing flue-cured Virginia tobacco in Zimbabwe has risen sharply, with basal fertilizer accounting for a significant proportion of total production expenditure. The study evaluated the effects of basal fertilizer type and variety on the growth, yield and quality of flue-cured Virginia tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) under rain-fed conditions in Dotito, Zimbabwe. The experiment was conducted using a factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Two tobacco varieties (KRK26 and KRK76) and three fertilizer treatments namely Compound B (10:24:20), Compound C (5:15:12) and an unfertilized control were evaluated. Data collected included plant height, leaf area, number of leaves remaining after harvesting stages, dry leaf mass, cured leaf quality and yield. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using GenStat Version 18 and treatment means were separated using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at a 5% level of significance. Results showed that there were no significant interactions between fertilizer type and variety for all measured parameters (p>0.05). Variety had no significant effect on growth, quality or yield of tobacco. Fertilizer type significantly influenced plant height, leaf area, number of leaves, dry leaf mass, cured leaf quality and yield. Both Compound B and Compound C significantly outperformed the unfertilized control in all measured variables. Compound C produced the greatest plant height (84.39 cm), while Compound B recorded the highest leaf area (1928 cm²) and highest yield (1.739 kg). However, no significant differences were observed between Compound B and Compound C for any measured parameter. The control treatment consistently produced the lowest growth, quality and yield values. The study concludes that both Compound B and Compound C effectively improved tobacco growth, yield and quality compared to no fertilizer application. Since Compound C achieved comparable performance to Compound B despite its lower cost, it offers a more economically viable basal fertilizer option for smallholder tobacco farmers.