Potential of Dual-Purpose Organic Amendment for Enhancing Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum M.) Performance and Mitigating Seedling Damage by Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa africana spp.)
Christopher Ngosong *
Department of Agronomic and Applied Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, P.O.Box 63, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
Clovis B. Tanyi
Department of Agronomic and Applied Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, P.O.Box 63, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
Cyril A. Njume
Department of Agronomic and Applied Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, P.O.Box 63, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
Priscilla M. Mfombep
Department of Agriculture, Higher Technical Teachers' Training College Kumba, University of Buea, P.O.Box 249, Kumba, South West Region, Cameroon.
Justin N. Okolle
Institute of Agricultural Research for Development – IRAD Ekona, P.O.Box 25, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
Thomas E. Njock
Department of Agronomic and Applied Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, P.O.Box 63, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
Raymond N. Nkongho
Department of Agronomic and Applied Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, P.O.Box 63, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
Aaron S. Tening
Department of Agronomic and Applied Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, P.O.Box 63, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aim: Efficacy of locally produced dual-purpose organic amendment for improving tomato protection and yield was compared with synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
Methodology: The experiment was setup as randomized complete block with three treatments (control, inorganic and organic) each replicated four times.
Results: Treatment was negatively correlated with tomato seedling damage by mole cricket (r = −0.86), with 100% efficacy in the organic treatment compared to 90% in the inorganic treatment and 80% in the control (P = .05). Treatment was negatively correlated with tomato blight (r = −0.57), with 100% blight infestation in the control compared to 8% in the inorganic treatment and 25% in the organic treatment (P = .05). No tomato plant was damaged in the organic treatment, compared to 12.5% in the inorganic treatment and 29.1% in the control (P = .001). The total plant damage was negatively correlated with treatment (r = −0.97) and positively correlated with seedling damage (r = 0.90), blight (r = 0.57) and wilt (r = 0.97). The highest tomato yield occurred in the inorganic treatment with 43.9 t ha-1 and organic treatment with 38.1 t ha-1, which differed (P = .05) significantly from the control with 1.5 t ha-1. Tomato yield correlated positively with the number of leaves per plant (r = 0.66), but was negatively correlated with blight (r = −0.70) and wilt (r = −0.60). The highest number of leaves per plant was recorded in inorganic treatment with 30 and organic treatment with 28, compared to 15 in the control (P = .05). Treatment was positively correlated with number leaves per plant (r = 0.63), while the number of leaves was negatively correlated with blight incidence (r = −0.92).
Conclusion: The dual-purpose organic amendment is an effective sustainable alternative for improving tomato protection and yield compared to inorganic inputs.
Keywords: Blight, mole cricket, mucuna, piper, tithonia