The efficacy of the flower, leaf, stem and root of Tithonia diversifolia as organic fertilizer was comparatively studied with NPK fertilizer in improving the performance of sweet pepper （Capsicum annum） in the green...The efficacy of the flower, leaf, stem and root of Tithonia diversifolia as organic fertilizer was comparatively studied with NPK fertilizer in improving the performance of sweet pepper （Capsicum annum） in the green house of the Department of Plant Science of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. The different parts of Tithonia diversifolia were harvested, separately air dried and pulverized. 100 g each of the Tithonia parts and 10 g of NPK were respectively buried into each pot containing the pepper seedlings at two weeks after transplanting using the side dressing method. The study results showed that the leaf biomass of T. diversifolia was not significantly different from NPK fertilizer in improving the growth and yield of Capsicum annum. The stem and root biomass gave comparative growth and yield figures but higher than those recorded from the flower biomass. The control pots resulted to the lowest performance of capsicum annum. It is indicative in this study that Tithonia diversifolia plants ploughed into the soil at the tender stage before flowering will be useful in soil improvement for pepper production. It also revealed that the leave biomass contains nutrients in the required quantity that compared favourably with NPK for pepper production in the study area.展开更多
文摘The efficacy of the flower, leaf, stem and root of Tithonia diversifolia as organic fertilizer was comparatively studied with NPK fertilizer in improving the performance of sweet pepper （Capsicum annum） in the green house of the Department of Plant Science of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. The different parts of Tithonia diversifolia were harvested, separately air dried and pulverized. 100 g each of the Tithonia parts and 10 g of NPK were respectively buried into each pot containing the pepper seedlings at two weeks after transplanting using the side dressing method. The study results showed that the leaf biomass of T. diversifolia was not significantly different from NPK fertilizer in improving the growth and yield of Capsicum annum. The stem and root biomass gave comparative growth and yield figures but higher than those recorded from the flower biomass. The control pots resulted to the lowest performance of capsicum annum. It is indicative in this study that Tithonia diversifolia plants ploughed into the soil at the tender stage before flowering will be useful in soil improvement for pepper production. It also revealed that the leave biomass contains nutrients in the required quantity that compared favourably with NPK for pepper production in the study area.
