Effect of Poultry Manure and Different Combinations of Inorganic Fertilizers on Growth and Yield of Four Tomato Varieties in Ghana

Abstract

The agronomic response of four tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) varieties to fertilizer application was examined at the CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kwadaso-Kumasi in the Forest agro-ecological zone of Ghana during the 2013 growing season. The four tomato varieties Shasta, Heinz, CRI POO and CRI 034 were evaluated on five different fertilizer types using a split plot arrangements in randomized complete block design with three replications. The Tomato varieties were the main plots, with the fertilizer treatments as the subplots. The CSIR-CRI breeding lines (CRI P00 and CRI P034) were able to yield higher than the exotic varieties. Using Winner fertilizer (6 g/plant at two weeks after transplanting (WAT) ) and Sulfan (3 g/plant at 4 WAT) CRI P00 produced the highest yield (26.4 t/ha) followed by chicken manure (250 g/plant at 2 and 4 WAT) (23.1 t/ha). CRI P00 with Winner + Sulfan fertilizer application also produced significantly (p≤0.05) higher fruit yield (26.4 t/ha). Fertilizer application however did not have any significant effect on the days to flowering over the control.Fertilizer application however, increased the number of branching for the tomato plants with Unik15 + Urea having significantly more branches compared to the control. Results from this study showed that tomato yields in the Forest zones in Ghana can be increased using improved varieties and recommended fertilizer rates.