Comparative effect of organic fertilizers on growth and yield of long cayenne pepper in two agro-ecological zones of Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of this study was to improve the growth and yield of long cayenne pepper using 10 organic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers including tithonia compost (TC), poultry manure from a battery cage (PMB), poultry manure from dip-litter (PMD), pacesetter organic fertilizer (POF), sunshine organic fertilizer (SOF), ayeye organic fertilizer (AOF), brewery waste (BW), cow dung (CD), oil palm bunch ash (OPBA), cocoa pod husk (CPH) were collected at some specific locations in Oyo, Osun and Ondo States of Nigeria. The experiment was a 2?11 factorial experiment fitted into a randomized complete block design consisting of 10 organic fertilizers and the control at two locations (Ibadan and Ogbomoso) in 2008. The dosage of 130 kg N ha-1 of each of organic fertilizer was applied one week before transplanting. Six-week-old pepper seedlings were transplanted into a plot of 3m?2m (6m2) with one seedling per hill. Growth and yield data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the least significant difference (LSD) at p<0.05 was used to compare the means. The results of the experiment reveal that the overall macronutrient content of the ten evaluated organic fertilizer sources was presented in the following order: SOF>OPBA=CPH>AOF>TC>POF>PMB=CD>BW>PMD. All the organic fertilizers more significantly enhanced the growth and yield of pepper than the control. The best three organic fertilizers at both locations in terms of fruit length were TC=SOF=PM. Fruit size at Ogbomoso was relatively bigger than that of Ibadan. The total fruit yield was highest under TC, SOF, PM and PMD at both locations. In conclusion, variations existed in the nutrient composition of the organic fertilizer. Meanwhile, TC, PMB, PMD and SOF were significantly similar in their ability to improve pepper yield. Moreover, PMB, TC and SOF significantly enhanced the vegetative growth of pepper.