Influence of Different Rates of Application of Poultry Dropping on the Growth and yield of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L.) cultivars

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Crop Production Department, Federal University of Technology Minna, to determine the influence of different rates of application of organic manure (poultry dropping) on the growth and yield of two tomato cultivars(Roma VF and UC-82B). The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two replicates. The treatments consisted of three levels of poultry dropping (0t/ha, 2t/ha and 4t/ha). Application of poultry dropping (2t/ha and 4t/ha) resulted in the highest number of branches in Roma VF while lowest was observed in UC-82B. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in the number of leaves (3, 6, and 9 WAT) between Roma VF and UC-82B when 4t/ha of poultry dropping was applied. However, significant (p<0.05) difference was observed in the number of leaves between Roma VF and UC-82B (3, 6 and 9 WAT) when 2t/ha was applied. Application of poultry dropping (4t/ha) resulted in highest number of flowers in Roma VF (6 and 9 WAT) while lowest was obtained in UC-82B. It was observed from the results recorded that Roma VF performed better than UC-82B.