Comparative evaluation of organic manure from some invasive plants, poultry manure and NPK on the growth of Corchorus olitorius L

Abstract

This study compares the effect of organic manure prepared using green leaf of five Invasive plants with poultry manure and NPK on the growth of Corchorous olitorius. The plants employed were Tithonia diversifolia (T1), Eichhornia crassipes (T2), Chromolaena odorata (T3), Euphobia graminea (T4), Alternanthera brasiliana (T5). The experiment was conducted by applying 3g/kg each of T1, T2 T3, T4, T5, dried poultry manure (T6) and 2g/kg of NPK (15:15:15) (T7) to 5 kg of soil. Seeds of C. olitorius were applied and seedlings thinned to three per pot. Plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, stem girth, days to flowering and fresh biomass were measured between three to nine weeks after planting. Highest mean parameters occurred in T6 in the first six weeks for plant height and leaf area, first three weeks for number of leaves and the sixth week for stem girth. At harvest, highest plant height, leaf area, number of leaves stem girth, fresh biomass and days to flowering occurred in T1 (71.80±3.79), T5 (64.90±5.96), T7 (21.48±2.41) T5 (56.38±4.59) T5 (1.60±0.04) and T4 (69.25±0.48) respectively, whereas, lowest mean parameters occurred in the control (T8). Among treated soils, C. odorata and E. graminea recorded least mean values from week five. Data analysis by one-way ANOVA and Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) revealed significant differences (P≥0.05) in all parameters except days to first flowering. This is probably a first report on the use of Alternanthera brasiliana and Euphorbia graminea as green manure.

Keywords: Invasive plants, Green leaf manure, Corchorous olitorius, NPK