Abstract
Eggplant is a very important vegetable and economic resource crop for populations in urban areas of developing countries. Its cultivation, on acidic coastal soils of Côte d’Ivoire, presents several edaphic constraints. This study aims to assess the effects of organic fertilizers and an organo-mineral fertilizer, as compared to mineral fertilizers, on the growth and eggplant yield on an acid soil. The experiment was carried out in a randomized Fisher block, with 4 treatments and a control repeated 3 times. Treatments consisted of organic and organo-mineral fertilizers, a liquid organic fertilizer and a mineral fertilizer application. Application rates of organic and organo-mineral fertilizers were 17.5 t ha-1. The liquid organic fertilizer rate was 1 L per 200 L ha-1 of water. As for the mineral fertilizer, the formula 0-23-19 and urea (46-0-0) were used, bringing rates of 138 kg ha-1 (N), 65.35 kg ha-1 (P2O5) and 54 kg ha-1 (K2O). The organo-mineral fertilizer used produced the best effects. Very highly significant (p < 0.001) growth, such as plant height and collar diameter, were 52.69 and 1.49 cm, respectively, 90 days after transplanting. Concerning yield, statistical analysis showed highly significant differences (p < 0.01) between treatments. The highest fruit yield (20.87 t ha-1) was recorded in mineral fertilizer plot, but not significantly different from those of plots with organo-mineral (17.55 t ha-1) and organic (16.66 t ha-1) fertilizers. Organo-mineral fertilizers, based on highly enriching organic materials, are capable to contribute to a lasting improvement in the practice of this crop.
Highlights
Eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum) is a tropical plant that is among the ten most consumed vegetables in the world
The soils are classed as Ferralsols, Acrisols and Gleysols in the World Reference Base for soil resources (WRB)
The plots that received liquid organic fertilizer and the control resulted in a slight growth during the 90 days (Figure 2)
Summary
Eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum) is a tropical plant that is among the ten most consumed vegetables in the world. It plays an important role in Africa, mostly in the subtropical regions. From 60 000 t in 2004, its production reached 130 000 t in 2020 (Fondio et al, 2016). Despite this increase, local production need is insufficient because of soil degradation that causes low yield. Soils fertility decreases over the years due to overexploitation which does not leave room for fallow (Fondio et al, 2013; Chikere-Njoku, 2019). Soil restoration, using both organic (Mahmoud and Soliman, 2017; Koffi et al, 2018; Popoola et al, 2018) and mineral fertilizers (Abou-Sreea et al, 2017; Nath et al, 2018), is a must
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