Title : Growth and yield of peper (Capsicum Chinese JACQ) as affected by almond leaves with poultry manure compost in Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract:
In order to study the effects of Almond leaves with poultry manure compost (AP) on the growth and yield of pepper, an experiment was conducted in the screenhouse located behind the Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan in 2010. Ratio 1:1 Almond leaves (A) + Poultry manure (P) was composted using a static pile method. Effect of five treatments: control (without fertilizer), AP (9.7, 12.1, 14.5 t/ha) and NPK 15-15-15 at 0.25 t/ha on the growth and yield of Capsicum chinense were investigated and the residual effect of the treatments were also evaluated. Treatments were each mixed with 5 kg soil in pots and the experiment arranged in a completely randomized design with four replications. Samples were collected from the compost and analysed for nutrient contents. Data were also taken on Plant height (PH), Stem Girth (SG), Number of Branches (NB), Number of Leaves (NL), Number of Fruits (NF) and Fruit Yield (FY) of pepper. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at 
0.05. The AP composed of 12.1%, C, 0.6% N, 0.3% P, 0.4% K, 1.4% Ca, 0.4% Mg and 20.2 C/N. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed among the treatments for PH, SG, NL, NB, NF and FY of pepper in the main and residual experiment, respectively. However, PH (34.9±0.2 and 29.2±0.9 cm), SG (2.1±0.6 and 1.4±0.8 cm) and NB (7.8±1.1 and 6.5±1.3) recorded in the main and residual experiment respectively, under AP at 14.5 t/ha were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than other treatments. The FY ranged from 44.5±1.7 (control) to 60.2±3.1 (NPK, 0.25 t/ha) and 35.8±2.5 (control) to 50.6±3.1 (AP, 14.5 t/ha) g/pot in the main and residual experiments, respectively. Relative to the control; 9.7, 12.1, 14.5 t/ha AP and NPK (0.25 t/ha) significantly increased FY of pepper by 16.2, 20.4, 28.1 and 35.3% in the main and 14.2, 20.7, 41.3 and 14.5% on residual, respectively. Application of almond leaves with poultry manure compost had higher residual effects on growth and yield of pepper than the NPK fertilizer. However, the best performance was recorded under AP at 14.5 t/ha and therefore recommended for pepper production in Ibadan.
Keywords: Poultry manure, Terminalia catappa leaves, compost, Pepper
Explain how the audience will be able to use what they learn?
1. Pepper: It is widely consumed and one of the important vegetable ingredient in Nigeria. It requires a lot of nutrients to produce well in Ibadan, Nigeria. Therefore, there is need to improve the fertility of the soil in Ibadan which is generally low in N, P and K
2. Terminalia catappa leaves: The fallen leaves which is very high in C:N ratio cannot be speedily decomposed by the micro-organisms. Hence, the need to compost the fallen leaves with the Poultry Manure.
3. Poultry Manure: Has a very low C: N ratio
What can be learned: There is potential nutrients in the dropped leaves of the almond tree that cannot be easily directly available for plant use when applied to the soil.
The reason is that it is highly lignified because of its high carbon content, however very low in Nitrogen and Phosphorus which very essential for pepper development in tropical soil. This explained why the leaves were composted with poultry manure which is very high in N and P compared to the almond leaves. As this will speed up its rate of decomposition and enhanced its mineralization in the soil and consequently boost the nutrient composition of the compost.
The significance of this experiment is that the dropped leaves of the almond trees have been constituting a lot of environmental problems on the campus of the University of Ibadan and as a result, this experiment was designed to remove its waste from the environment instead of being burnt to constitute environmental problems.
This experiment can be subjected to further research.
