International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No. 29, 262-274
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2.3 Sourcing for raw materials
Raw materials were the branded organic fertilizer (Sunshine Organic Fertilizer of N: 3.5%; P: 1%; K: 1.2%),
Organomineral fertilizer (N: 3.5%, P
2
O
5:
2.5% and K
2
O: 1.5%) from Ondo state raw material recyclation centre,
urea fertilizer from Agricultural development programme office. The preplanting soil samples were collected from
the site and analysed. Nutrient element status of the organic fertilizer was also verified through laboratory
chemical analysis. The seeds were obtained from Pioneer seed Kano and Nihort, Ibadan.
2.4 Pre-soil sample analysis
Soil samples at a depth of 0-75 cm were taken randomly on the experimental site, bulked, air-dried and sieved
using 0.5 mm for physical and chemical analysis. The physical analysis includes Bulk density, Field capacity and
Permanent wilting point, Porosity between Bulk density and Particle density and Particle size analysis. Chemical
analysis include Total N, organic carbon (%), (NH4 - Nppm) P (kgHa-1), K (kgHa-1), pH (a soil/water of 2:1)
Exchangeable acidity, Cation exchangeable capacity and available microelements (Fe, Cu, Zn & Mn),The
chemical analyses followed the analysis procedures as suggested by the soil and plant Test Laboratory manual
(IITA, 2000). The analysis of the soil sample is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 The Soil Physical and Chemical Properties of the Experiment Site at Soil Depth of 0-30 cm
Parameters
Values
% Sand
47.7
% Clay
27.6
% Silt
23.7
Organic Carbon (g/kg)
1.31
Organic matter (g/kg)
2.25
pH
6.22
Nitrogen (g/kg)
0.13
Phosphorus (mg/kg)
5.69
Potassium (cmol/kg)
0.65
Calcium (cmol/kg)
2.80
Magnesium (cmol/kg)
0.50
Iron (mg/kg)
17.94
Copper (mg/kg)
6.18
Manganese (mg/kg)
0.31
Zinc (mg/kg)
8.17
Silicon (mg/kg)
2.74
chloride (mg/kg)
2.81
Boron (mg/kg)
0.65
Bulk Density (g/cm
3
)
1.29
2.5 Weather data
Weather data was obtained from the Meteorology Weather Station situated at the meteorological station in the
Department of meteorology, FUTA. The variables collected include daily records of solar radiation/ sunshine
duration, maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall amount /volume, relative humidity. These data was
collected on daily basis over the period of the field experiments. The weather data is as shown in Figure 1.
Experiment 1: Establishment of green pepper varieties in the nursery:
Four planting dates within the best period for planting variety of Pepper to capture the variability that may be due
to weather conditions in both seasons of sowing were chosen, and the seeds were planted in the nursery with a
rich organic soil on 2-April; 12-April; 22-April; 2-May for rainfed planting and 22Sept.; 01-Oct.; 11-Oct.; 23-Oct.
for late season planting in 2014. The seedlings were transplanted into the experimental field after five weeks at a
planting space of 30 cm by 90 cm (Agele et al., 2003) to give a planting population of 370370 plants/ha. Cultural
practices carried out include weeding, disease and pest control, application of fertilizer (mineral fertilizer) at a
recommended rate of 45kgN, 45kg P
2
O and 45K
2
O per ha (Vietnam 1998) as NPK 15-15-15 at transplanting and
60kg N ha-1 split applied at 3 and 6 WAT as top dressing using Urea as Nitrogen sources (Maynard et al., 2003).
