Determination of Optimum Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates for Aloe Vera Growth, Yield and Nutrient Composition

Aloe vera (L) Burm. f. is an important medicinal plant with little information on agronomic requirements for its enhanced growth and nutrient composition. Two years field trial was conducted during the 2010 and 2011 planting seasons at the experimental field of the Teaching and Research Farm, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Ogbomoso, Oyo State. The field trials comprised six levels of nitrogen (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, and 125 kg N/ha) applied as urea a month after transplanting and arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replicates and monitored for two consecutive years. Data were obtained on the growth, yield, nutrient uptake and proximate composition of the plant. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a 5% probability level while the differences between the means were separated using LSD. The results showed that growth, yield and proximate values varied with quantities of Kg N applied. Leaf volume (14 cm3 ) and the number of suckers (4.5) were significantly enhanced at 75 kg N/ha compared with the control (11.8 and 1.8 respectively) at the first year. The highest values were observed in the second year for the number of suckers (9.7), leaves (11.3), protein (5.8%) and fat (2.9%) at125 kg N /ha. The optimum Kg N/ha fertilizer for Aloe vera established and recommended is between 75 and 125 kg N/ha for high growth, yield and proximate composition.