EFFECTS OF CRUDE OIL POLLUTED SOIL ON THE SPROUTING AND GROWTH OF SWEET POTATO (IPOMOEA BATATA L.)

The study examined the effect of crude oil on the morphological features of sweet potato. Forty (40) plastics buckets were polluted with varying concentration of crude oil and mature stems of sweet potato were planted and watered every 3 days to the end of the experiment. Data were collected based on the following parameters: Days to sprouting, number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width and plant height. The result shows that the crude oil did not have any significant (p>0.05) effect on all the parameters examined. This thus, indicates that the plant is tolerant to crude oil pollution.