EffectofCattl emanureongrowthandyieldperformanceoftomato (Lycopersiconescul entumMill)atWolkiteUniversi ty,GurageZon

Abstract

TomatoisoneofthemostimportantvegetablesinEthiopia.Itsproductionandproductivityaremainlyafctedbybioticandabioticfactors.Amongtheabioticfactors,thelackofsoilfertilityisacriticalissue.Thisstudyaimedtoevaluatetheeffectofcattlemanurerateontomatogrowthperformanceinthestudyarea.AfieldexperimentwasconductedatWolkiteUniversity,DepartmentofHorticulturefieldsiteduring2024.ThisresearchconducttotheexperimentwasbelaidoutinRCBDwiththreereplicationandseventreatmentssevendifferentlevelofmanure(0,5,10,15,20,25and30ton/ha)wasappliedtoeahsetasplottreatments.ThedatawerecollectedandanalyzedusingSAS9.4software.Thegrowthperformanceoftomatowashighlyaffected(P<0.05)bythecattlemanure.Theapplicationsofcattlemanureat30t/hagavethehighestgrowthperformanceoftomatointhestudyarea.Thehighestplantheight(33.73cm),leafnumber(46.4cm),numberofbranch(18.93cm),andnumberofflower(28.4cm)wereobtainedfromtheapplicationof30t/ha,whereaslowestplantheight(17.46cm),leafnumber(6.53cm),numberofbranch(cm)andnumberofflower(2.2cm)wererecordedfromcontroltreatments.Theresultsshowedthathigherapplicationofcattlemanureincreasedthegrowthperformanceoftomato.Therefore,basedontheresultsobtained,growersusecattlemanureatthelevelsof30t/hafortomatoproductionandouldbeVIIrecommendedtogatemaximumgrowthperformanceoftomato.