The Comparative Effects Of Organic Manure On The Vegetative Growth Of Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia Occidentalis): Implication For School Farm Management

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The study was to investigate the comparative effects of organic manure on the vegetative growth of Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) and it’s implication for School Farm Management. The treatments used for the study were 70 kg of poultry droppings, cow dung, goat dropping, pig dung respectively and zero application manure (control). The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Block Design replicated three times. The parameters measured were plant height, number of leaves, numbers of vines, stem girth, and leaf area. Mean (x) scores were used to analyse research questions. ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses formulated for the study. Fisher’s least significant difference (F-LSD) test was used to compare the means ( `X ) at 0.05 level of significance. Application of poultry droppings (PD) had the highest significant (P < 0.05) effects of plant height on fluted pumpkin when compared with other treatments of Cattle dung, Goat droppings and Pig dung from 4 – 12 WAP. Application of poultry droppings and cattle dung significantly (P < 0.05) produced highest number of vines in most stages of the experiment (4 – 12 WAP) when compared to other treatments such as pig dung and zero application. Significantly (P < 0.05), application PD produced higher number of leaves when compared to other organic manure treatments at 4 and 5 WAP. However, PD and CD (cattle dung) significantly (P < 0.05) had the same effect on number of leaves of fluted pumpkin but significantly higher when compared with other organic treatments at 11 and 12 WAP. Application of PD and CD consistently produced significant (P > 0.05) higher stem girth on fluted pumpkin when compared with other organic treatments used for the study especially from 6 – 12 WAP. Poultry manure produced highest leaf area in all the stages of vegetative growth (4 – 12 WAP). However, application of PD, CD and GD at 12 WAP produced significantly (P > 0.05) the same leaf area but significantly higher than the production of pig manure and zero application of manure. The study recommended that Poultry and cow manure should be used for Telfairia occidentalis production in the tropical rainforest especially in growth and herbage improvements. The use of poultry or cow manure as source of nutrients to the soil will ensure quick returns when used to cultivate fluted pumpkin in school farms