Growth-Enhancing Potential of Chicken Feather Waste Hydrolyzed by Serratiamarcescens and Klebsiellapneumoniaefor Cultivation of Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) andCowpea (Vignaunguiculata) obtained from Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The fermentation of chicken feather wastes into valuable products, such as organic liquid fertilizer by Serratia marcescens and Klebsiellia pneumoniae could serve as a great advantage for sustainable agricultural practices. Hence, the objective of this paper was to assess the growth-enhancing potential ofchicken feather waste hydrolyzed bySerratia marcescens and Klebsiella pneumoniae for cultivation of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)and cowpeas (Vigna  unguiculata)obtained from Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria using appropriate standard techniques.The proximate compositions of the chicken feather waste showed 77% crude protein content.The chicken feather waste has a mineral composition of 4.20% Nitrogen, 4.06% Phosphorus, and 0.32% Magnesium, the lowest. 76% and 72% of chicken feather waste were degraded by Serratia marcescens BKM-2 and Klebsiella pneumoniae BKM-3 respectively. The results showed that 30 ml of KlebsiellapneumoniaeBKM-3 feather waste hydrolysate, has its best growth performance observed forPhaseolus vulgaris and Vigna unguiculata cultivars with 20.74 cm plant height, 4.56 cm leaf length, and 5.00 number of leaves and 24.37 cm plant height, 3.74 cm leaf length with 5.00 number of leaves at 15 days respectively compared to 15 ml and 45 ml.