ABSTRACT
Ginger, Zingiber officinale is an important spice horticultural crop with variety of nutritional and medicinal uses and its emergence can be slow, surpassing two months. Inclusion of cattle dung in topsoil potting medium may improve the nutrient base on the potting medium and improved the productivity of ginger. The experiment was conducted between September and December 2024 at the screen house of the Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State Nigeria to evaluate the effect of topsoil with cattle dung potting mixture on the growth of Ginger (Zingiber officinale). The experiment involved five potting mediums (Cattle dung (CD) 3kg, Top soil (TP) 3kg, TS + CD 1kg :1kg, TS + CD 2kg :1kg and TS + CD 1kg:2kg), laid out in a Completely randomized design (CRD) in three replications. Data were collected on days of emergence, number of leaves, stem girth, plant height at 4,8,12 and 16 weeks after planting (WAP). The results shown that the inclusion of cattledung to top soil improved physical and chemical properties of the potting mediums. Plant heights were higher on TS only, TS+CD 1:1, TS+CD 2:1 and TS+CD 1:2 mediums than on cattle dung medium alone. TS+CD 1:1, TS+CD 2:1, TS+CD 1:2 had similar stem girth values which were higher than those of top soil and cattle dung alone. Number of leaves were higher in TS and TS+CD 1:1 than cattle dung alone. TS + CD 2:1 medium is thereby suggested for urban ginger growers.
