Effects of NPK and Farm Yard Manure on the Growth of Two Varieties of Pepper (<i>Capsicum annuum</i> and <i>Capsicum frutescens</i> L.)

Abstract

This study investigated the comparative effects of NPK and farm yard manure (FYM) on the growth and development of two varieties of pepper (Capsicum annuum L. and Capsicum frutescens L.). The treatments used were 55 kg NPK/Ha (1 g NPK/Plant), 110 kg NPK/Ha (2 g NPK/Plant) and 165 kg NPK/Ha (3 g NPK/Plant) and 25 % FYM, 50 % FYM and 100 % FYM. The control treatment was top soil with neither NPK nor farm yard manure. The application of NPK showed no significant increase in plant height, shoot and root weight and other vegetative and reproductive characters. The 50 % FYM treatments showed significant (P<0.05) increase in both vegetative (27.37 ± 1.60 cm for shoot height in C. annuum and 30.93 ± 2.42 cm for C. frutescens) and reproductive trait (12.30 ± 9.95 g for fruit weight in C. annuum and 4.60 ± 1.92 g for fruit weight in C. frutescens). Generally, the 50 % FYM (FYML2) treatment had the highest growth and yield performance throughout the experiment.

Key words: Farm yard manure, Pepper, NPK, Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens.