Studies on growth and yield of Capsicum annuum L. as affected by different ratios of Albert’s solution and fish tonic biofertilizer.

Abstract

It is now crucial to include ecologically friendly fertilizers in the sustainable agricultural aim to address the environmental problems associated with conventional approaches. It offers a way to save expenses and the environmental effect while offering a plan to promote plant development when paired with biofertilizers and Albert's Solution. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the impact of different ratios of Albert’s solution and fish tonic biofertilizer on the growth and yield of curry chili (Capsicum annuum) under controlled conditions. The experiment was carried out in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Matara from August to October 2023. Uniform and vigorous curry chili plants were transplanted on open-top grow bags filled with coconut coir dust media. Fish tonic biofertilizer was prepared by mixing fish waste and brown sugar into 2:1 ratio and fermented for 28 days. Thereafter, the mixture was diluted up to 1:30 before application to the plants. There were five treatments in the study as follows: T1-100% Albert’s solution, T2-80% Albert’s solution+20% fish tonic biofertilizer, T3-60% Albert’s solution+40% fish tonic biofertilizer, T4-40% Albert’s solution+60% fish tonic biofertilizer and T5-20% Albert’s solution+80% fish tonic biofertilizer. And arranged as a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with five replicates. Plant height, internode length and number of leaves/plants were recorded at 50% flowering stage and number of pods/plant, pod weight and pod length were measured at harvesting. Collected data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) from SAS 9.1.3 version. Subsequently, differences between treatment means were compared by Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test at the 5% level of probability. According to the results, significantly taller plants and greater internodal length were recorded from T1, T2 and T4 compared to other treatments. There was no significant effect of treatments on the number of leaves per plant. A significantly higher number of pods/plants was obtained from T3, T4 and T5 treatments. Further, weight of the pods and length of the pods were significantly higher in T4. Therefore, the study suggests that different ratios of Albert’s solution and fish tonic biofertilizer improve the growth and yield of curry chili under controlled environmental conditions.