Influence of poultry manure level compared to nutrient-rich organic fertilizer on growth and yield of mung bean (Vigna radiate L.)

Abstract

Mung Bean is an important crop in Afghanistan, serving as a staple food for its people. However, due to low soil fertility, farmers in Afghanistan are experiencing decreased incomes. As a result, they have resorted to high usage of chemical fertilizers, causing pollution to the environment and underground water. This study aimed to determine the optimal level of Poultry Manure compared to nutrient-rich organic fertilizer for the growth and yield of Mung Bean (Vigna radiata L.), as an alternative to reducing chemical fertilizer usage. The research was conducted at the research farm of Kabul University during the summer season of 2022, using two separate experiments. In these experiments, different combinations of two types of poultry manure, NROF (Nutrient Rich Organic Fertilizer) and OF (Organic Fertilizer), were compared. The study included treatments such as Control, T1 (no poultry manure), T2 (poultry manure @ 700 kg NROF/ha), T3 (poultry manure @ 1000 kg OF/ha), and T4 (poultry manure @ 1500 kg OF/ha). Data collected from the experiments were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and adjusted for mean differences using the Least Significance Difference (LSD) test at 5% and 1% probability levels. The results indicated that the different combinations of NROF and OF significantly influenced the growth and yield parameters of Mung Bean at harvest. The treatment with no poultry manure (No) yielded the lowest results for these parameters, while the highest values were recorded in T4 (poultry manure @ 1500 kg OF/ha), which showed statistical similarity to T2 (poultry manure @ 700 kg NROF/ha) in most cases, followed by T3 (poultry manure @ 1000 kg OF/ha). T4 (1500 kg OF/ha) produced the tallest plants (44.17 cm), the maximum number of leaves per plant (45.17), the highest number of branches per plant (26.11), the greatest number of pods per plant (23.50), the highest number of seeds per pod (14.08), the highest 1000-seed weight (51.17 g), and the highest seed yield (1213.33 kg/ha) among the combinations in the two experiments conducted in 2022. These results were statistically similar to T2 (700 kg NROF/ha) in most parameters, while the Control treatment (T1) with no poultry manure yielded the minimum grain yield. There were significant differences between T4 and T1, but no significant differences between T2 and T3.