EFFECTS OF UREA ON THE GROWTH OF MAIZE

By

Gontse Otukile

(BW821/0392)

Moshupa Senior Secondary School

May -July 2024

 EFFECTS OF UREA ON THE GROWTH OF MAIZE

By

Gontse Otukile

(BW821/0392)

An agricultural Project Report submitted in partial fulfilment

Of Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education
Examination of Moshupa Senior Secondary School.

Candidate Sign:_______________ Date:______________

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ii

INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1
Statement of the problem
Literature review
Importance
Objective
MATERIALS AND METHODS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

Description of site
Design of the experiment
Procedure
METHODS OF OBSERVATION, DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS------------------------------------8
RESULTS----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9
DISCUSSION------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
CONCLUSION----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11
RECOMMENDATIONS-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12
REFERENCES-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13
APPENDICES----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14
INTRODUCTION

Statement of the problem

The farmers of Moshupa observed that maize crops have poor or slow growth. This might be
lack of nitrogen in the soil. In this study UREA will be added to find out if it will increase the
maize terminal height.
 1

Literature review
(Sakira )
(1981)
Relevant major findings (In cereals nitrogen increases the size of grains and their protein
content)
Stated that urea promotes good growth and colour of plant.
 2

Importance
To find out if UERA will increase the terminal height of maize stalk.
 3

Objective
Will adding of urea increase the height of maize stalk.
 4

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Description of site
The Moshupa Senior Secondary School Garden is located on the school near the
basketball court. The size of the garden is 1.77 hectares. It was used by farmer students to
grow maize crops for agriculture project, and it is surrounded by trees. The fertilizer added
was UREA.
 5

Design of experiment
I was allocated a plot of 6m by 1m and I divided it into four subplots two units treatment
where N.P.K was added ,the other two where control units ,randomisation using a hat
method ,I took a piece of paper and wrote T1,T2,C1 and C2 and then divided the paper into
four pieces and fold each paper into and put them into the hat I then mix the folded papers
by shaking the hat , and then asked one of my colleague to randomly pick each piece of
folded paper without looking for each subplot and place them on four subplots. Now I
unfold the papers to reveal which subplot is T1.T2, C1 and C2.

1.5m 1.5m 1.5m 1.5m

C1 T2 T1 C2 1m

6m
Procedure
I was allocated a land of 6m by 1m and clearing was done using a spade to remove unwanted
vegetation after that I cultivated the soil using a digging fork to increase the soil drainage and
introduce air to the soil. Levelling was done to flatten the soil and make ridges using a rake and then
rows were made and inter rows which was 60 cm so that every seedling has enough space for
emergence using a ruler. Now I made planting holes on the plot to put maize seeds inside. Watering
was done to soften the seed coat of seeds for seedlings introduce emergence using a watering can
for 7 days. Maize seedlings emerged after 7 days after planting and the fertilizer was added which is
UREA and the quantity was 100g per treatment unit using the top dressing method of fertilizer
application watering was done to get the same amount of water. Again watering was done to
dissolve the fertilizer into the soil everyday. Now I started pruning maize plants after 3 weeks after
adding fertilizer.

7
METHODS OF OBSERVATION, DATA COLLECTION
AND ANALYSIS

RESULTS
THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY ON EFFECTS OF UREA ON TERMINAL HEIGHT OF MAIZE IN
TREATMENT UNITS (UREA ADDED) AND CONTROL UNITS (UREA NOT ADDED) AT 90 DAYS
AFTER SEEDLING EMERGENCE.
THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS AVERAGE

Experimental trial Average maize terminal height(m)

Treatment units (addition of urea) 1.23

Control units (urea not added) 0.85

8
DISCUSSION

The results on effects of urea on treatment of maize shows that average maize terminal in
treatment unit is 1.23m. Average maize terminal height in control is 0.83m.Urea has
increased maize terminal height by 0.38m

CONCLUSSION
Addition of Urea has increased maize terminal height.

10

RECCOMENDATION
Moshupa senior secondary school agricultural students must
adopt the application of urea when planting because it has
increased maize growth. Repeat the same study in a large
area to verify the results.

11

REFERENCES
Watson, M. (1986). Modern Agriculture. Macmillan Botswana (PTY)LTD Broamfotein.

Beinempaka, A.B., Kato, H. Mulera, D.B. and obwel-Ametto, T. (1989) Macmillan Education,
Ltd ,London.
Sakira ,W.A.(1981). ‘O’Level. Principle and practice, Oxford University press

12

APPENDICES
The table shows terminal height of maize measured 45 days after seedling emergence in 24
of April 2024 in treatment 1 and 2 where urea was added. The terminal height of maize was
measured once.
Treatment 1

Maize crop Maize terminal height (m)

1 1.20
2 2.25
3 2.1
4 2.7

Treatment 2

Maize crop Maize terminal height (m)

1 2.87
2 2.28
3 2.45
4 2.48

Average maize terminal height (cm)

= sum of maize terminal height (cm)
Number of maize plants
=(1.20 +2.25+2.1+2.7) + (2.87+1.28+2.45+2.48) =1.03125
8

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