Determining the Effects of Selected Organic Fertilizer on Growth and Yields of Tomato (<i>Lycopersicon esculentum</i>: Var. Rio Grande Tomatoes) in Mundri West County, Western Equatoria State, South Sudan

Abstract

Worldwide, the demand for agro-organic foods that are healthy, nutritious, and environmentally friendly is increasing dramatically across all nations among consumers. Tomatoes being one of the dietary requirements in almost every meal is not exceptional and its availability in the market all year round is very important to farmers as well as consumers because it is highly demanded as a vegetable par excellence; which is either eaten raw in salads, cooked or processed into liquid ingredients. This study investigates the impact of chicken, goat, and cow manure treatments on tomato plant growth response to height, leaf length, and width, as well as fruit yield. The experimental field trials were conducted over two planting seasons in Mundri West County. It followed a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) approach, consisting of four blocks. Each block contained three treatments replicated four times and a control group. The data of measured parameters from all 16 plots were subjected to one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using the Gen Stat 14th Edition software. The findings indicate significant differences (P < 0.05) among all the different organic manure applications on tomato plant growth parameters compared to the control group. Chicken manure resulted in the tallest tomato plants (30.1 and 37.9 cm), longest leaves (9.9 and 10.4 cm), and widest leaves (2.1 and 2.5 cm) in both seasons respectively. The study showed plots treated with chicken manure had a highly significant impact (P < 0.05) on the prevalence of aphids (1.0) and white flies (1.4) with the lowest value compared to those with cow and goat manure applied.

Sunflower Growth and Grain Yield under Different Tillage Systems and Sources of Organic Manure on Contrasting Soil Types in Limpopo Province of South Africa

“…Usman [62] observed a significant increase by poultry manure (20 t ha −1 ) on tomato plant height at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks after transplanting as compared to cattle and goat manure. Similar results were also reported by Mayele and Abu [63].…”

“…The high sunflower yield means recorded in the second cropping season over the first season could be attributed to the cumulative effect of the addition of animal manure in the second cropping season [31] and the amount of rainfall received in the second cropping season which was higher than the rainfall received in the first cropping season (Table 3). These results are in agreement with many findings of several researchers who revealed that organic manure at various growing stages increases crop growth and yield [28,33,63]. Akparobi [31] recorded the highest plant height (123 cm) and dry matter (0.99 kg plant −1 ) of amaranthus cruentus (red amaranth) under 35 t ha −1 of poultry manure as compared to 0, 15 and 25 t ha −1 .…”

“…During one cropping season field experiment, Tesfuhuney et al [12] reported that higher plant heights of maize were observed under the IRWH compared to CON during the six growing stages (28,38,50,63, 70 and 85 days after emergence) at both Morago and Paradys villages of Thaba Nchu in the Free State province of South Africa with soils of high clay content. These results agree with Ibraimo [53] who reported taller maize plant height under IRWH than CON and tied ridges throughout the growing seasons on sandy clay loam soils at Hatfield Experimental Farm in Pretoria (South Africa).…”