An Investigation on the Effects of Poultry Manure as a Topdressing Material on Perfomance Of Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato).
- Author
- Maningi, Andy
- Title
- An Investigation on the Effects of Poultry Manure as a Topdressing Material on Perfomance Of Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato).
- Abstract
-
The research was carried out to assess the effects of poultry manure as a top-dressing type in tomato production. The field experiment was done in a school garden at Tabudirira high school in Bikita district which is under Masvingo Province. It was done in a randomized completely block design with slope as a blocking factor. The trial had four treatments which were replicated three times and therefore twelve plots were constructed and were three meters long and one meter wide. Land preparation was done using an ox-drawn plough and a fine tilth was made using a hoe. The tomato variety used was the Rio Grande. The spacing of the planting stations was 45cm in-row and 90cm inter-row to give a population of 24 691 plants per hectare. The Agronomic practises which were done include weeding, irrigation, fertilizer application , pruning, disease and pest control amongst the others. The researcher found that a top-dressing treatment of 12g of Ammonium Nitrate (50% increment of standard fertilizer) had the highest number of leaves, number of fruits, number of branches, stem diameter, fruit diameter and the final yield. This was followed by the standard fertilizer (6g of Ammonium Nitrate) and poultry manure respectively. The control had the least values in all parameters (table 4.1 up to table 4.5). The researcher concluded that poultry manure had an effect to the performance of tomatoes but it was outcompeted by the treatments with 50% increment from standard Ammonium fertilizer (12g per plan). Farmers were recommended to use 12g of Ammonium
Nitrate as a top-dressing material applied at 4 WAP and 6 WAP for them to maximize yields.
- Date
- JUNE 2024
- Publisher
- BUSE
- Keywords
- Poultry Manure, Topdressing, Solanum Lycopersicum
- Supervisor
- Professor Mandumbu
- Item sets
- Department of Crop Sciences
