EFFECTS OF SOURCES AND RATES OF ORGANIC MANURE AND NPK ON FRUIT YIELD OF TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.) AND SOIL MICROBIAL BIOMASS CARBON.

Field experiments were carried out during the 2008/09 and 2009/2010 dry seasons at the Irrigation Research Station, Kadawa in the Sudan Savanna Zone of Nigeria to study effect of different sources and rates of organic manure and NPK on fruit yield of tomato and soil microbial biomass carbon. There were thirty six treatments made up of factorial combinations of three  sources of organic manure; urban waste, neem based and poultry manure each at three  levels (50, 100 and 150 kg N ha -1 equivalent) and four  levels of in organic compound  fertilizer NPK (0, 150, 300 and 450 kg ha -1 ).  The treatments were laid out in a split plot design replicated three times.  The combination of manure sources and manure rates were assigned to the main plots while inorganic fertilizer rates were assigned to the sub plots.  Results revealed that application of poultry manure resulted in the highest total fruit yield and microbial biomass carbon than the other manure sources.  Tomato fruit yield and microbial biomass carbon were significantly higher for manure rate of 150 kg N ha -1 equivalent. Application of   450 kg ha -1 NPK rates out yielded other rates in total fruit yield of tomato.