TITLE:
Response of Sweet Wormwood (Artemisia annua L.) to Different Rates of Inorganic Nitrogen Fertilizer in Semi-Arid Zimbabwe
AUTHORS:
John Nyoni, Tendai Madanzi, Joanah Midzi, Tavagwisa Muziri, Arnold Kapenzi
KEYWORDS:
Artemisia annua, Artemisinin, Nitrogen Fertilizer, Yield, Semi-Arid
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.11 No.4,
April
8,
2020
ABSTRACT: Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua L.) is a highly
valued crop, native to China, whose active ingredient “artemisinin” and its
derivatives: artemether and artesunate, are used to prepare anti-malaria drugs.
In Zimbabwe, very little has been done on improving agronomic practices that
can enhance the yield of this crop. As a result, herbal gardens in Zimbabwe
producing this sweet aromatic herb are realizing low leaf biomass. The
objective of this study was to determine the effects of varying nitrogen
fertilizer levels on growth and yield of Artemisia
annua. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used and replicated
four times. The fertilizer treatments consisted of 0, 40 kg N/ha, 80 kg N/ha,
120 kg N/ha, 160 kg N/ha and were applied as a top dress four weeks after
planting. Applying 80 kg N/ha, 120 kg N/ha or 160 kg N/ha resulted in the best
performance of Artemisia annua with
respect to the plant height, root dry weight, stem dry weight and leaf biomass.
Low N level (40 kg N/ha) recorded significantly low means in plant height, root
weight, stem weight and leaf biomass. The results suggest that 80 kg N/ha
should be recommended for use by Artemisia
annua farmers, since there was no significant different among the three
higher fertilizer levels. However there is need for further research to determine
different fertilizer use efficient to come up with accurate agronomic data
package for Zimbabwean farmers.