Effects of different organic fertilizer formulations on common bean production

Abstract

Common beans are the most commonly grown pulse in East Africa and specifically Uganda second to maize, the production of common beans suffers production constraints such as low fertility of the soils. Tropical soils are low in organic matter due to high mineralization rates and affects crop productivity since it is a main source of nutrients (Adhiaba, M. S, 2017) and application of organic inputs could potentially increase crop productivity (Aulakh, et al. 2022). There are commercially available organic based inputs (fertilizer) that could be widely used to increase crop productivity. However, there is need to evaluate the potential of these fertilizer formulations for better recommendations and this study was designed to cover this gap. The field experiment was conducted in MUARIK in Wakiso District to investigate the yield response of common beans to rates of organic fertilizer formulations. There were eight treatments which included; Evergrow organic fertilizer 1th-1, Evergrow Organic fertilizer 2 th-1, Evergrow organic fertilizer 4 th-1, Unifert Milanogroso organic inorganic fertilizer 1th-1, Unifert Milanogroso organic inorganic fertilizer 2 th-1, Unifert Milanogroso organic inorganic fertilizer 4 th-1, Inorganic fertilizer NPK 17:17:17 at 50kgN/ha and control. The experiment was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) composed of three replications. Data on plant height, plant biomass and bean grain yield were taken and recorded and data analysis was done using GenStat 14th edition to determine the level of significance of the yields using ANOVA. The results showed that there was a significant difference in bean grain yield among the treatments and there was no significant difference in the plant height and biomass accumulation (growth rate) among the different treatments. The application rate of 1 th-1 of Evergrow Organic Fertilizer Resulted in the highest yield while the control gave the lowest yield. Based on the results, I recommend Evergrow organic fertilizer at the rate of 1th-1 to be used. Further research is suggested to evaluate fertilizer effectiveness in different agro-ecological zones