Growth response of cashew seedlings to applied organic fertilizers of animal and plant origin on a degraded soil in Ibadan, South-West, Nigeria

A greenhouse experiment was conducted at Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Ibadan to compare the response of cashew seedlings to organic fertilizers of both animal and plant origin for six months. The treatments which consisted of control (CTRL) and four organic fertilizers materials namely cocoa pod husk ash (CPHA); kola pod husk ash (KPHA); poultry dung manure (PDM) and cow dung manure (CDM) were applied to supply 10kgN/ha respectively and laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) in three replications. Result indicated that all the fertilizer materials irrespective of sources consistently and significantly (p> 0.05) increased all the growth parameters considered. Fresh and dry matter yield of the cashew plants were also improved significantly relative to control. The total dry matter yield (TDMY) of cashew seedlings as increased by PDM, CPHA, CDM, and KPHA were 62.07; 56.21; 44.1 and 38.08% respectively. Similarly, the percentage increases in plant height ranged between 5.99 – 36.66%. It could therefore be concluded that optimal and sustainable growth performance of cashew seedlings can be attained by the use of organic fertilizer materials especially those of PDM and CPHA rather than total dependence on costly and scarce chemical fertilizers.