Influence of poultry manure on the agronomic performances of okra and tomato under different cropping systems.

Abstract

Field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farms of the Federal University Technology Minna, Gidan Kwanu campus to determine the agronomic performances of okra and tomato under different cropping systems as influenced by poultry manure. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The treatments were four different cropping patterns: sole cropping with poultry manure, sole cropping without poultry manure, okra intercropped with tomato in ratio 2:1 with poultry manure application and okra intercropped with tomato in ratio 2:1 without application of poultry  manure. There were significant(p<0.05) differences in the plant height among sole and intercropped systems. Intercropped okra and tomato plots that were treated with poultry manure had significantly highest plant height, number of fruits and fruit weight than other treatments. In terms of land use efficiency, intercropped okra and tomato plots had highest land equivalent ratio (LER).The result showed  that,the application of poultry manure produced the highest yield of okra and tomato under intercropping system when compared with sole cropping and could be recommended for farmers in guinea savannah agro-ecological zones of Nigeria.