ABSTRACT
An experiment was conducted to determine the yield and nutrient quality of Cucumis sativus L grown on organic and inorganic amended soils during the period of April to July, 2020 at the Crop Science Teaching and Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Nigeria. Field preparation was done with each plots having three rows/ridges .The organic fertilizers were applied at 20t/ha with a reference treatment NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer applied at 150kg/ha and a control treatment (no fertilizer nor manure).The treatments involved five levels (Cow manure, Poultry manure, Rabbit manure, NPK 15-15-15 and Control) replicated four times and were arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD).
The data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis and Fisher's least significant difference (LSD) at 5% level of probability. Selected fruits (samples) were sent to the Analytical Laboratory of the University of Benin for nutrient content determination at harvest. Parameters studied include: days to 50% flowering, number of branches, biomass production, number of fruits and fruit yield. There were significant differences among treatments based on number of branches, biomass production, number of fruits and fruit yield. There were no significant differences among treatments in relation to days to 50% flowering. Poultry manure treatment gave the highest yield (1525.1), followed by rabbit manure (1384.4), cow manure (1024.2), Control (632.4) and NPK 15:15:15(460.3).
