Comparative effects of jatropha seedcake, chicken and kraal manures on selected soil properties, growth and yield of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)

Abstract

A field trial was conducted to evaluate the comparative effects of jatropha seedcake, chicken and kraal manures on selected soil properties, growth and yield of tomato in Zambia during the cropping season of 2012-13. A Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates and six treatments, namely- jatropha seedcake (5.0 t ha-1), chicken manure (5.0 t ha-1), kraal manure (5.0 t ha-1), jatropha seedcake (2.5 t ha-1) + chicken manure (2.5 t ha-1), jatropha seedcake (2.5 t ha-1) + kraal manure (2.5 t ha-1) and control (0.0 t ha-1) was used. Soil total N, P, K, Ca, Mg, SOM, soil pH, bulk density, plant height, number of branches, number of fruits plant-1, and mean fruit weight effects were subsequently monitored. Organic manures significantly increased total N, available P, exchangeable K, Ca, Mg, SOM, soil pH, plant height, number of branches, number of fruits, mean fruit weight and yield of tomato compared to the control. Organic manures also significantly reduced soil bulk density compared to the control. Among the organic amendments treated alone, jatropha seedcake gave the highest yield of 28.62 t ha-1 compared to chicken manure (28.20 t ha-1) and kraal manure (27.50 t ha-1). Maximum yield benefits came from a mixture of jatropha seedcake + chicken manure (29.60 t ha-1)and jatropha seedcake + kraal manure (29.00 t ha- 1) which could have been due to balanced proportions of major nutrients required for tomato growth. Jatropha seedcake mostly performed favourably the same or better than chicken and kraal manures in many aspects.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 8 (1): 1-6, June, 2018

<i>Jatropha Curcas</i> as Marginal Land Development Crop in the Sultanate of Oman for Producing Biodiesel, Biogas, Biobriquettes, Animal Feed, and Organic Fertilizer

“…When used alone as an organic fertilizer for tomatoes, Jatropha cake outperformed chicken manure and livestock manure, in terms of the yield for a given land area. Best yield was observed when a mix of the cake and the chicken manure was used (Mambo et al, 2018). While the cake or kernel meal, as byproducts of the Jatropha oil extraction process, are not usable as animal feed because of toxicity (have significant amount of phorbol esters), detoxification makes them valuable sources of animal feed (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2020b).…”