DefinePK

Abstract

Background and Objective Sawdust is infrequently used as a mulch material because of its undesirable effects on crops like yield reduction. Combined use of sawdust mulch and inorganic fertilizer may help to overcome this problem. This study evaluated the growth and yield responses of pepper to sawdust mulch and NPK 151515 fertilizer rates 0, 150, 300 and 450 kg ha1501 applied sole and in combination with sawdust. Materials and Methods About 3 weeks old pepper seedlings were transplanted into poly pots containing 10 kg of soil. The NPK fertilizer was applied to the potted plants 14 days after transplanting DAT while sawdust mulch was placed around the seedlings at 28 DAT in layers of 5 cm thickness. The experiment was laid in completely randomized design with 6 replications. Data collected were analyzed using ANOVA at 5 probability level. Results Combined use of sawdust mulch and NPK fertilizer increased significantly growth and yield of pepper compared to when either the mulch or the fertilizer was applied sole. Increasing the fertilizer above 300 kg ha1501 in both sole and in combination with mulch caused significant decrease in yield. Pepper yields were 21.4, 37.8, 44.4-70.1, 80.9-111.0 gplant in the control, mulched, NPK and mulched plus NPK, respectively. Conclusion The results obtained in this study showed that maximum pepper production can be achieved by combined use of sawdust mulch plus 300 kg ha1501 NPK 151515 fertilizer.