Effect of Different Rates of Organic Manure (Cow Dung) on the Growth of Solanum Lycopersicum L.

Ekwealor K U,Obika I E,Egboka T P,Anukwuorji C A

doi:10.13189/ujps.2020.080203

Abstract

The application of different rates of organic manure (cow dung) on the growth of Solanum lycopersicum L. grown for six weeks in polyethene bags was carried out in this study. The treatments were done in triplicates which include 30kg of soil uniformly mixed with 5kg, 10kg, 15kg, and 20kg of cow dung manure and control without (cow dung) manure. Each treatment was replicated three times. The data collected were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance and mean separation by Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT). Solanum lycopersicum with the rate of 20kg/ha increased the percentage germination (2.66±2.8), height of plant from (7.66±1.040) in week 1 to (63.26±7.166) in week 6, leaf area from (2.14±1.540) in week 1 to (71.04±7.005) in week 6, stem girth from (1.60±0.264) in week 1 to (4.23±0.251) in week 6 and the number of branches from (3.00±1.000) in week 1 to (14.33±4.041) in week 6 respectively. The control (0kg/ha) gave the lowest in percentage germination (0.60±0.100%), in height, from (5.06±0.702) in week 1 to (14.50±3.968) in week 6, leaf area from (0.87±0.280) in week 1 to (7.18±4.447) in week 6, in stem girth from (0.50±0.100) in week 1 to (2.43±0.251) in week 6 and lowest in number of branches from (0.00±0.00) in week 1 to (6.00±1.000) in week 6 respectively. Thus, this study alluded that cow dung can be used to enhance the growth, productivity and yield of tomato in low nutrient soil in the rate of 20kg/ha which showed a significant increase in growth and yield of tomato.

Highlights

Solanum lycopersicum commonly referred to as tomato, belongs to family Solanaceae or nightshade, in the order Solanales and the class Magnoliospida
The influence of the different rates of organic manure on Solanum lycopersicum were shown in tables 1-4
There was a significant difference in the percentage germination of Solanum lycopersicum between the different rates of cow dung manure (c0.05) (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Solanum lycopersicum commonly referred to as tomato, belongs to family Solanaceae or nightshade, in the order Solanales and the class Magnoliospida It is a herbaceous dicotyledonous short-lived perennial plant, growing 1-3m tall with a weakly woody stem that sprawls (Heleys and Pek, 2006), cultivated in tropics and subtropics of the world, and can be cultivated in kitchens, gardens, commercial fields, green house and poly house conditions grown as an annual plant. Tomato is the third most consumed vegetable in the world after sweet potato and potato (Sadaf et al, 2012), grown and consumed in diverse ways around the world with various economic values. It is a good source of vitamin C and contain high amount of lycopene (Tindall,1983). The aim of this study is to determine the effects of different rates of cow dung manure and the appropriate manure rates for a maximum growth and possibly yield of Solanum lycopersicum

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