Effect of Organic Fertilizers on Growth and Yield of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) in Obio Akpa, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

The study was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Akwa Ibom State University, Obio Akpa Campus, in May, 2022 to February, 2023 cropping seasons to examine the effect of organic fertilizers namely: Decomposed Fluted Pumpkin pod (DFPP), oil palm Bunch Ash (OPBA) and poultry Manure (PM) on the growth and yield performance of Garlic. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized complete Block Design with four treatments replicated three times.

The growth and yield Parameters were number of leaves, length of leaves, plant height, number of Cloves, weight of fresh bulb, bulb diameter and bulb length. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance. The results showed that the four treatment differed slightly in number of leaves across the growth period and their mean differences were not significant (p<0.05). DFPP produced the longest leaves (62.76cm) at 6 WAP, followed by OPBA (59.07cm), while control had the least value (57.97cm) and their differences was significant (p<0.05). The mean height of Garlic plant obtained from the Four treatments differed significantly (p<0.05) from the initial growth period with DEPP producing the tallest plant (58.27cm) at 4 WAP, while OPBA had the least (53.81cm). The yield parameters obtained, PM had the highest fresh weight of Garlic (19.94g) followed by DFPP (13.62g) and OPBA (13.32g), while the control had the least (8.28g) and their difference was significant. DFPP recorded the highest bulb diameter (3.14cm) significantly different (p<0.05) from PM, OPBA and control with 3.02cm, 2.76cm and 2.74cm respectively. PM recorded the highest number of cloves (5.33), while DFPP, OPBA and control recorded 5.00 and their difference were not significant (p<0.05). PM, also had the highest bulb length (3.88cm), while control had the least (3.51cm). Therefore, combined application of DFPP and PM is highly recommended to maintain high yield of crop in the study area.