Effects Of Inter – Row and Intra – Row Spacing of Three Tephrosia Species and their Influence on Soil Fertility.

A study was carried out to compare three space planting methods viz 0.5m x 0.25m, 1.00m x 0.5m and 1.00m x 0.25m on establishment, DM yield and management of three Tephrosia species Seeds were tested and treated for percentage germination. The species studied were Tephrosia candida (Roxb) DC, Tephrosia purpurea (L) Pers and Tephrosia vogelii (Hemsley) A. Gray.  It was a 3 x 3 factorial experiment in a split plot design with species in the main plot and space planting in the sub plot. The soil status of the soil was tested before and after the study to see the effect of Tephrosia on soil fertility. Germination was lowest (58 %) for T. candida and highest (93 %) for T. purpurea with T. vogelii registering 90 % germination. The highest forage DM yield of T. candida (398.10 kg/ha) was obtained when it was planted at a spacing of 1m x 0.5m while those of T. purpurea (505.37 kg/ha) and T. vogelii (571.59 kg/ha) were obtained at a spacing of 0.5 m x 0.25 m.  Only the DM yield of T. candida was significantly influenced by plant spacing. Averaged over species, DM yields after 12 weeks regrowth were 446 kg/ha at a spacing of 0.50 x 0.25 m, 427 kg/ha at 1.00 m x 0.50 m and 348 kg/ha at 1.00 x 0.25 m. The high percentage of germination indicates that direct seeding would therefore be an appropriate way of establishing these species for forage utilization. The wider spacing of 1.00 x 0.5 m can be adopted to reduce amount and therefore cost of seeds required for planting. Also when biomass is harvested, the material should not be discarded outside the plot but left inside to act as litter fall and affects soil fertility status.