Abstract

Studies were conducted at Ekona in the humid forest agro-ecological zone of Cameroon to evaluate the effects of cassava peel-based manures on the growth and yield of African Nightshade. The first experiment consisted of evaluating the composted cassava peel and poultry manure applied at the rates of 0, 5, 10 and 20 t/ha and 150 kg/ha NPK (20:10:10) fertilizer. In the second experiment, a dried and grind mixture of cassava peel and poultry manure were applied at rates of 0, 5, 10 and 20 t/ha and 150 kg/ha NPK (20:10:10) fertilizer. Treatments were laid out in a randomized complete design and replicated three times. Growth and yield data were collected and subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). Significant treatments means were separated using students T test at p≤0.05. The different manures prepared were rich in macro nutrients particularly N (1-1.6%), P (0.7-1.4%) and K (1-1.7%). The experimental results showed that the applications of cassava peel-based manures significantly (p<0.05) influenced number of leaves, branches and biomass yield of African Nightshade. The use of cassava peel-based organic manure was very comparable to the use of inorganic fertilizer (NPK). Thus, cassava peel-based manure is promising for the enhancement of African Nightshade production, which could reduce the cost of fertilizer use and limit environmental pollution in Cameroon.

Key words: Biomass yield, cassava peel, African Nightshade production, poultry manure.