Topic

An investigation in the effect of using different spacing of the

recommended 900mm * 300mm, the minimum 900mm* 200mm and the
maximum 900mm*400mm in maize variety SC403 production with
refence to germination percentage, growth rate of the stem and grain
yield over a period of___________ months from mid October 2014 to
_________at Plumtree School garden in Mangwe district in Matebeland
South.

Objectives : By the end of the research the researcher had;

1) Evaluated the germination percentage from the bed with the

recommended spacing of 900mm*300mm, minimum
900mm*200mm and maximum 900mm*400mm by cuonting the
number of seeds which germinated over the total number of seeds
planted by one hundred, one week after germination as illustrated
by formulae

Number of seed germinated * 100

Number of seeds planted 1

2) Assessed the growth rate of the stem by stem by measuring the

height of the stem from the tip of the highest growth point
groundlevel four weeks after germinated at the three week
intervals using a measuring tape for three times.

3) Compared the yields produced from each of the beds with the
optimum 900mm* 300mm spacing, the minimum 900mm*200mm
and the maximum 900mm * 400mm by weighing in grains using
spring balance from the beds with different spacing at harvesting.
 Aims

To find out the effect of using different spacing of 900mm * 300mm,

maximum 900mm* 400mm and the minimum 900mm * 200mm on
maize production with reference to germination percentage, growth rate
of the stem and yields harvested.
Introduction/ Background

The local community used the broadcasting method to sow the seed for
the maize crop. This led the farmers to harvest low yields thus affecting
food availability. The community suffers from food shortages yet the
community is able to sustain itself if they used the correct spacing.
Therefore the researcher carried out this research at Plumtree Scholl
garden in-order to simulate the random spacing most of the farmers
use when they are planting. I had nine beds, three of the total beds l
planted using the 900mm * 400mm maximum spacing, the other three
beds the spacing was the minimum of 900mm*200mm and in the last
three, there was the recommended spacing of 900mm* 300mm. In these
nine beds, I compared the germination percentage, growth rate and
yields.
Limitations

The researcher had the challenge of getting adequate amount of water

during the dry spells in the season. The researcher encountered problem
of getting the appropriate tools such as the spade to work using. There
was a problem of lack of water to supplement the areas low rainfall.
Justification

In my community Plumtree in Mangwe district, small scale farmer grow

the maize crop on wide spacing and some farmers crowd their maize
crops due to lack of knowledge on the importance of using the correct
spacing. In the end, the farmers realise low and poor harvests and the
community is not adequately supplied of the maize crop. There fore this
research intends to better inform the local farmers of Plumtree on the
best planting spacing to use to achieve maximum yields.
Delimitations

The research was carried out at Plumtree School in the the Plumtree
town where rainfall is about 450mm 600mm per annum. The
temperatures are generally high fluctuating around 30C in the cropping
season. The Plumtree town lies in natural farming region four where
there are clay loam soils which are weel drained.
Methodology

The beds were laid out using the design of 3 by 3. The

researcher used the randomisation method when constructing
the beds. The beds were randomly laid out and were replicated.
The beds on the minimum spacing of 900mm*200mm totalled
three from A1, A2 and A3 whilst the beds on maximum spacing
of 900mm*300mm also adding to three were three from B1, B2
and B3 and the recommended 900mm*300mm were named C1,
C2 and C3.
 Experimental Design

A1 B1
. C1 . . .
900mm
. .
. . . . . .

. .
. 200mm . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .
Materials and Methods

Objective 1

The researcher evaluated the germination percentage from the beds with
the recommended spacing of minimum 900m*200m, maximum
900mm*400mm and optimum 900mm*300mm by counting the number
of seeds which germinated over the total number of seeds planted by
100, one week after germination using percentages as basic units.

Objective 2
The researcher assessed the growth rate of the stem by measuring the
height of the stem from the tip of the highest growth point to the
ground level four weeks after germination at three week intervals using a
measuring tape for 3 times using centimetres as the measuring unit. I
mneasured the length of all the crops grown.

Objective 3

The researcher compared yields produced from each of the beds with
optimum 900mm*300mm, the minimum 900mm*200mm and maximum
900mm*400mm by weighing the grains produced from the beds with
different spacing at harvesting using the balance scale to find the mass
in kilograms.

Data collection

Objective 1 : Germination Percentage

The researcher physcically counted the number of seeds that emerged

over the total number of seeds planted then multiplied by hundred to
evaluate the germination percentage from beds with recommended
900mm*300mm spacing, minimum 900mm*200mm and maximum
900mm*400mm one week after planting as illustrated below

Objective 2 : Growth rate

The researcher measured the length of the maize crop from the tip of
the growth point to the grounglevelfouyr weeks after germination at 3
weeks intervals for 3 times on each of the bads with different spacing by
randomly selecting crops from beds with different spacing and
measuring their length in centimetre. Length odf crops is recorded and
data collected is shown in the table below

L e n g t h i n c e n t i m e t r e s

D a t e Bed with minimum spacing Bed with optimum spacing Bed with maximum spacing

Total
Average

Objective 3: Yields
 The researcher weighed the grains from each of the beds with the
optimum 900mm*300mm spacing, the minimum 900mm*200mm
spacing and the maximum 900mm*400mm spacing using a
balance scale and recorded the masses in kilogrammes at
harvesting. Data collected is shown in the table below.

M a s s i n K G s
D a t e Bed with minimum spacing Bed with optimum spacing Bed with maximum spacing

Total
Average

Data analysis
Objective 1 : Germination Percentage

The researcher used a pie chart to analyse the germination percentage of

maize crops with the spacing of 900mm*300mm, minimum
900mm*200mm and the maximum 900mm*400mm.

Objective 2 : Growth Rate

The researcher used a bar graph to analyse the growth rate of maize
crop on beds with minimum 900mm*200mm spacing, 900mm*300mm
optimum spacing and the maximum of 900mm*400mm by measuring
height of the cropo from the ground level to the tip of the growth point
at 3 week intervals thrice.

Objective 3 : Yields

The researcher used a bar graph to analyse the yields of maize crop on
beds with minimum spacing of 900mm*200mm, optimum
900mm*300mm and maximum spacing 900mm*400mm.
Results

Objective 1: Germination Percentage

The researcher counted the number of seeds that germinated on all beds
with minimum 900mm*200mm, recommended 900mm* 300mm and
maximum 900mm*400mm. I then divided the number of seeds that
germinated by the number of seeds that germinated by the number of
seeds that were planted then multiplied by a hundred as shown

Number of seeds that germinated 100

Number of seeds planted 1

A1 = 5 100 A2= 3 100 A3= 3 100

6 6 6

= 83,3% = 50% = 50%

Average germination percentage = 83,3 + 50 + 50

3

= 61,1%

B1 = 4 100
6