Effects of Goat Manure-Based Vermicompost on Growth and Yield of Garlic (Allium sativum L.)

Abstract

Garlic, a bulb vegetable used as food and for medicinal purposes, has gained prominence among farmers and consumers in Kenya. Most of consumers increasingly prefer organic agricultural products. But, the farmers are still overutilising chemical fertilizers, which cause adverse effects on the environment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of goat manure-based vermicompost on growth and yield of garlic. The study was conducted at PCEA Nkio secondary school farm and KALRO Embu horticultural field in 2018 to 2019. The experiments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design, replicated 21 times and blocked into three. The treatments consisted of goat manure-based vermicompost at five levels (0, 5, 10, 20 and 30 t ha-1), inorganic fertilizer (NPK 17-17-17) at the rate of 200 kg ha-1 and goat manure (30 t ha-1). Data were collected on plant height, stem diameter, leaf length, bulb fresh weight, bulb diameter, number of cloves per bulb and bulb yield. The data obtained were subjected to ANOVA and significantly different means were separated using least significance difference at α = 0.05. The results showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) effect of application of goat manure-based vermicompost on growth and yield of garlic. Application of goat manure-based vermicompost showed higher performance for plant height, stem diameter and leaf length throughout the growth period, compared to inorganic fertilizer and goat manure. Goat manure-based vermicompost also showed higher performance for bulb fresh weight, bulb diameter, number of cloves per bulb and bulb yield compared to inorganic fertilizer and goat manure. The results of this study demonstrate that application of goat manure-based vermicompost enhanced plant growth and improved garlic yield. Application of goat manure-based vermicompost proved significant for garlic production and its application need to be popularized for sustainable organic garlic production in the area of study. However, there is need to study the long term effect of its application to soil characteristics.