Responses of Cucumber to Poultry Manure And Npk Fertilizer in Owerri, Southern Eastern, Nigeria

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ABSTRACT  

A field experiment was carried out at the Federal University of Technology Teaching and Research Farm, Owerri, to ascertain the responses of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) to poultry manure and NPK fertilizers during the 2013 cropping season. The experiment was laid out as a 3x3 factorial in Randomized Complete Block Design replicated three times. The treatments were: poultry manure rates of 0, 5 and 10 ton/ha while N.P.K. rates were 0,200 and 400 kg/ha. Data on various growth and yield parameters for cucumber were measured and subjected to analysis of variance using genstat 2007 model. Mean separation was done using the least significant difference at 5% level of probability. A combination of poultry manure and NPK fertilizer at highest application rates poultry manure (10 ton/ha) and (400 kg/ha) NPK produced highest number of very broad leaves (15.80cm), longest vine length (154.83cm), number of flowers (male/female), widest fruits (19.56cm), longest fruit (20.77cm), and highest fruit yield (6.40cm). Although days to 50% plant emergence was uniform, percentage emergence was very low (48.62cm). Manured cucumber effectively suppressed weed and developed good number of branches. This was followed by application rates which significantly differed from control. Based on the results obtained, combined rates of 10 ton/ha poultry manure and 400 kg/ha NPK fertilizer simply enhanced the production of Cucumber. 

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