Efficacy of African organic manure on growth and yield of common beans under field conditions

Abstract

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), is an important legume staple crop in Uganda yet its yield has been decreasing with average production of 0.25 tons (250kg) per acre despite its potential yield of 700 to1500kg/ acre. This is attributed to climate change, drought, pests, diseases and declining soil fertility. The inorganic fertilizers have been used to manage the declining soil fertility, however this inorganic fertilizer are not readily available and are expensive for small resourced farmers. The use of foliar fertilizers has increasingly become important in addressing low nutrient supply and enhancement of productivity of vegetables. African organic manure could be one of the solution to increase yield of beans. However little scientific information is known on the effect of African organic manure on growth and yield of beans. This study aimed to investigate the effects of African organic manure and DAP applied at planting on the growth and yield of beans. A randomized complete block design was used with four replicates and five treatments including T1- Farmers practice- DAP alone, T2- Check (nothing applied at all), T3- 50mls/20 liters of water +DAP, T4- 75mls/20litres of water +DAP and T5-100mls/20litres of water +DAP. The results demonstrated significant positive effects of African organic manure on the growth and yield of beans. Plants treated with the organic manure exhibited increased plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, and reduced days of 50% flowering compared to the control group. Moreover, the application of African organic manure positively influenced the yield of beans that’s number of pods,number of seeds and seed weight. All the treatments of the organic manure demonstrated superior bean yield compared to the control. This study highlights the potential of African organic manure as a beneficial resource for bean cultivation. Its nutrient composition, specifically nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium, likely contributed to the growth and yield of beans. Integrating African organic manure into agricultural practices can lead to increased bean production, improved soil fertility, and reduced reliance on synthetic fertilizers. From the observation of the study, I recommend 100mls of AOM should be adopted by farmers for bean production because it gave the highest yield of bean followed by 75mls of AOM.Further research is recommended to explore optimal application rates on different crops.