Comparative Efficacy of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on the Morphological Characteristics of Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.)

Abstract

The effects of different rates of application of organic (cow dung, poultry manure) and inorganic (NPK, Urea) fertilizers were examined on the morphological traits of Spinacia oleracea L. on a field experiment at Federal University Dutse field, Nigeria. The experiment aimed to investigate the effect of various nutrient sources on the most important growth parameters and to identify the best application rates for each fertilizer source. The different treatments were 5g, 3g, 2g and 0g (control) rate of each fertilizer, and morphological parameters like days to germination, no of leaves, plant height, no of branches, area of leaves, fresh shoot weight and dry shoot weight were measured. The outcomes showed that inorganic fertilizers had the highest effect at the dose of 3g while the organic fertilizers had the best effect at the higher dose 5g. In particular, the plants irrigated with 3g of NPK, 3g of Urea, 5g of cow dung and 5g of poultry manure had the highest values of number of leaves, leaf area, number of branches, plant height, fresh shoot weight and dry shoot weight. The results generated indicate a significant difference between the two fertilizers in the rate of nutrient release and the nutrient levels. The study also points to the potentials of using both organic and inorganic fertilizers in order to improve spinach productivity in the semi-arid northern Nigerian environment and the importance of location-specific nutrient management strategies to achieve a balance between yield, cost and longer term soil health.