Abstract:
Organic liquid fertilizer not only increases the growth medium ofcrops, but also accelerates the maturation and nutrient quality of the crops. Thus, the present study was aimed at producingorganic liquid fertilizer from banana peels and groundnut husks through aerobic fermentation in open containers. The design of the experment was complete randomized design (CRD) in two replications.Theresults indicated that pH,7.05,EC,0.8,Carbon(C),49.5%,Nitrogen(N),3.62%,C:N,13.71,Phosphorus(P),1.32%,Potassium(K),3.92%, Calcium(Ca),3.24%, Magnesium(Mg),454% and Sodium(Na),1.74% in organic liquid fertilizer and a pH,10.65, EC,0.65,C,17.87%,N,2.61%,C:N,6.86, P,0.81%,K,2.17%, Ca,1.27%, Mg,3.29% and Na,1.25% in compost tea (used as a control) solutions. The result indicated that there were significant differences in pH, C, N, K, Ca, Mg, Na.Beetwen liquid organic fertilizer and compost However, there were no significant differences with respect to Electrical conductivity(EC) and phosphorus (P) contents of the solutions. Comparison of mineral composition of organic liquid fertilizer and compost tea solutions with the standard for major macronutrients requirement of plants indicated that the composition of both fertilizer solutions in the present study satisfies the standard with organic liquid fertilizer being higher in mean values for most of the studied mineral plant nutrients. The organic liquid fertilizer produced was evaluated by growing lettuce in pots in two replications. It was indicated that the performance of lettuce irrigated with organic fertilizer solution was better than that grow in compost tea solution. It can be concluded from the present study that organic liquid fertilizer can be produced from locally available substrates like groundnuthuskand banana peels. Smallholder farmers can get economic relief by using this technology and, minimize the use of chemical fertilizer, which is being expensive and not environmentally frien
