International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No. 29, 262-274
266
minimum temperature was between 21
°
C – 23
°
C with the mean at 22
°
C, there is slight variation in the temperature
range throughout the seasons of cropping. The rainfall gradually rise from February with a value of 71 mm to its
peak in July at a value of 180.2 mm, a drop occurs in august to give the august break and the second peak by
September to early November with a mean annual rainfall volume were 119.4 mm-256.2 mm. This marks the
beginning of dry season. The study area is characterized by 3-4 months of dryness usually from December to early
march .the raining month are characterized with high relative humidity >70%. The solar radiation evenly
distributed through the year expect for late July to August when the rainfall ceases, “August Break”, at the peak of
dry season the atmosphere is clear thus the radiation too is high and at the least when the rainfall is at the peak
value.
The growth response of green pepper cultivation to fertilizer and Planting dates under rainfed and irrigation
conditions as measured by leaf weight, plant height and branch number at 2-12 weeks after transplanting were
summarized in Table 2, Table 3 and Table 4. Mean plant height as shown in Table 2 for both cropping seasons
reveals that California wonder performed better than Tattasi Dan-Garko and the performance was more
pronounced under rainfed condition. There were slight variation in value but it was significant (P < 0.05)
California wonder produced the maximum plant height (74.61 cm) than Tattasi Dan-Garko (71.68 cm).
The result in Table 3 shows that the highest number of leaves of green pepper was recorded at 12WAT under
rainfed cropping season and at 10WAT for irrigation. There was significant difference in the number of leaves for
both cultivars at the weeks of measurement. The number of branches increases with the weeks of evaluation
(Table 4).
The superior performance of the green pepper (California wonder, Tattasi Dan-Garko) in rainfed cropping can be
attributed to the environmental as well as climate conditions. The production of more leaves, increase in height
and well developed structure were in line with the findings of Agele (2010) and Oladitan et al. (2014) that
reported that good climatic conditions favour maximum growth parameter under adequate moisture and nutrient
supply. There were little variation in their growth because of similar genetic composition and their ability to adapt
to the environment. Availability of moisture enhances better nutrient utilization which might have induced a
significant higher growth parameter than irrigation cropping. This result coincided with finding of Saidu and
William (2015).
Mean data on plant height of green pepper cultivars were presented in Table 2, which indicated a progressive
increase in plant height across the evaluation period. The application of OGM fertilizer in both seasons produced
the tallest plant heights and was consistent for the weeks of evaluation. Rainfed cropping produced higher plant
height value than irrigation cropping (68.53 cm) (71.53 cm), however, there was an irregulaties at 12WAT under
irrigation. At 6, 8, and 10 WAT for rainfed cropping, the application of ORF exhibit a significant different to urea
while the control recorded the least plant heights i.e. 41.06 cm and 61.06 cm respectively, for the two varieties .
The application of OGM fertilizer gave the best response with respect to the plant height and was slightly
significantly (P < 0.05) different to application of ORF. This was however significantly different from the Urea
fertilizer application, an indication that green pepper responses better to organic fertilizers. The shortest plant
heights were observed in the control treatment in both cropping seasons. The better crop performance as regard to
plant height could be as a result of the presence of growth promoting factors in the combination of organic and
inorganic fertilizers as reported by Abdel-El-Moez et al. (2001) and Arancon et al. (2005).
The summary of growth parameters in Table 2, Table 3 and Table 4 show that different planting dates exhibit
significant (at 5% level significant) effects on the growth characteristics of green pepper cultivars in both cropping
seasons. 23-Oct. planting date produced the maximum height (66.33 cm), closely followed by that of 11-Oct.
planting date. This was significantly (P < 0.05) different to 22-Sept. planting date that produced the least plant
height (61.13 cm). Green pepper planted under rainfed cropping had a superior performance to irrigation
