| dc.description.abstract | Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is a bulb vegetable that is gaining prominence among
small-scale and commercial farmers in Eastern Kenya due to its reported high returns
and the readily available market. It is used as food and for medicinal purposes. Most
of farmers growing garlic in Kenya, apply chemical fertilizers alone during the
growth of this crop. Overutilization of chemical fertilizers has caused several adverse
effects to the environment and human health, besides being costly hence limiting
optimization of garlic production. Moreover, there is increase in the number of
customers preferring organically produced agricultural products. This study aimed to
determine the effects of different rates of goat manure-based vermicompost on soil
chemical properties, growth and yield of garlic. The study was conducted in PCEA
Nkio secondary school farm and KALRO Embu horticultural field in 2018 to 2019.
The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design and replicated
three times. The treatments consisted of goat manure-based vermicompost which was
applied at five levels (Control treatment (0), 5, 10, 20 and 30 t ha-1), inorganic
fertilizer (NPK 17-17-17) at the recommended rate of 200 Kg ha-1 and goat manure
(30 t ha-1). Data collected included soil pH, total nitrogen, available phosphorous,
exchangeable potassium, plant height, number of leaves, stem diameter, leaf length,
leaf width, bulb fresh weight, bulb diameter, bulb length, bulb dry weight, number of
cloves per bulb and bulb yield per hectare. The data obtained were subjected to
ANOVA using SAS and significantly different means were separated using least
significance difference at α = 0.05. Application of 30 t ha-1 goat manure-based
vermicompost showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher soil pH, total N, available P and
exchangeable K compared to control treatment at Chuka and Embu. Application of 30
t ha-1 goat manure-based vermicompost showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher plant
height, number of leaves, stem diameter, leaf length and leaf width than control
treatment at Chuka and Embu. Application of 30 t ha-1 goat manure-based
vermicompost showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher bulb fresh weight, bulb
diameter, bulb length, number of cloves per bulb, bulb dry weight and bulb yield per
hectare than control treatment at Chuka. A similar trend was observed in Embu where
goat manure-based vermicompost gave significantly (p < 0.05) higher bulb fresh
weight, bulb diameter, bulb length, number of cloves per bulb, bulb dry weight and
bulb yield per hectare compared to control treatment. Hence the most appropriate
recommended rate of application is 30 t ha-1 of goat manure-based vermicompost in
the organic production of garlic. This study, therefore, provides valuable information
on the utilization of goat manure-based vermicompost in organic production of garlic. | en_US |
