Abstract
The present study was conducted to determine growth and yield responses of green pepper to varying manure rates under field and high tunnel conditions. Experiment 1 was a pot experiment to evaluate three rates (0.5 and 10 t/ha) of poultry manure (PM) on green pepper production under high tunnel and open field conditions. Experiment 2 was to determine the performance of green pepper as influenced by different manure rates (0, 5 and 10 t/ha of PM, 300 kg/ha of NPK, 5 t/ha of PM + 200 kg of NPK and 10 t/ha of PM + 100 kg of NPK) on the field. High tunnel produced about 3.1 fruits/plant that weighted 102.8 g, which was significantly higher than open field experiment in which 1.7 fruits/plant, with a medium weight of 32.3 g were noted. High tunnel enhanced successful production of green pepper during rainy season, whereas the open field production during the same season was near failure. Application of 10 t/ha of PM produced significantly larger fruits in the pot experiment. Good fertilizer effects on growth and yield components were recorded for the field study. Plant height, number of leaves and branches, number and weight of harvested fruit followed similar trend in 5 and 10 t/ha of PM which gave statistically similar results, and provided the best performance during the experiment. Application of 5 t/ha of PM produced the highest total fruits yield.
Highlights
Green peppers (Capsicum annum L.) are warm season crops grown mainly for their fruits and contain three to six times as much vitamin C as orange (Bosland and Votava, 2007)
Experiment 1 was conducted between April and August 2014 to test the effect of manure rates on the production of green pepper under high tunnel and open field conditions
High tunnel produced the tallest plant at 5, 7, 9 and 11 weeks after transplanting (WAT) with an average plant height of 28.6 cm compared to open field that produced 16.3 cm at 11 Weeks after transplanting (WAT)
Summary
Green peppers (Capsicum annum L.) are warm season crops grown mainly for their fruits and contain three to six times as much vitamin C as orange (Bosland and Votava, 2007). Green pepper contributes nutritiously with nutrients that may be lacking in other food supplies improve food intake (Grubben, 1997). It is among the most commonly grown crops throughout Africa because of its utilization in soup, stews and salads (Harlen, 1995; Heiser, 1995). High tunnels are a greenhouse-like structure whereby plants are grown utilizing the soil (Well and Loy, 1993). They are considered to be a less expensive alternative to a true greenhouse and yet can provide some control of the environmental factors that affect plant growth, development and yield. The objectives of the hereby study were to evaluate the growth and yield responses of green pepper to different manure rates and to determine the effect of high tunnel on growth and yield of green pepper
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