EXPLORATORY STUDY OF FERTILIZER EFFECT ON GROWTH, YIELD ATTRIBUTES AND YIELD RESPONSE OF LOCAL AND IMPROVED BAMBARA GROUNDNUT VARIETIES ON FERRIC LIXISOL, BURKINA FASO

Bambara groundnut is the third most cultivated legume in Burkina Faso. Despite its nutritional and agronomic importance, it remains under studied. Women are the major producers and it often been associated with subsistence farming and small-scale grown on poor soilswith very poor yields.To deal with this, producers are increasingly using chemical fertilizers. Reducing of the amount of chemical fertilizers substituted by organic inputs and using improved varieties could lead to increase yields and ensure sustainability of agricultural productivity. In this study, two Bambara groundnut varieties were assessed under different fertilizer treatments in order to determine the inputs that will improve Bambara groundnut productivity. Experiments were laid out as Split-Plot design during the rainy season with three replications at Tenkodogo University Centre during the rainy season 2022. The experiments consisted of two factors, including the varieties (KVS 235 and Var_Loc) and four levels of fertilization (NPK75 Bc3000 Bc5000 and NPK37.5 + Bc2500). Growth and yield parameters were recorded according the Bambara groundnut descriptors and subjected to analysis of variance at 95% threshold. The results showed that KVS235 exhibited short cycle for first flowering (32 days) and 50% flowering (35 days) and weight of pods per plant (16.45 g) and best performance of weight of seed per plant (10.32 g). The treatment NKP75 showed maximum weight of pods per plant (18.95 g) and weight of seeds per plant (11.53 g). Yield increased with NPK75 (1199.31 kg ha^-1), followed by Bc3000 (1095.14 kg ha^-1) and Bc5000 (993.75 kg ha^-1).