THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF PECHAY (Brassica rapa L.) USING DIFFERENT LEVELS OF VERMICOMPOST AS FERTILIZER

Vermicompost is one of the most rich and most nutritious fertilizers for plants proven to be a highly nutritive organic fertilizer and a powerful growth promoter over conventional or other types of composts. Thus, this experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth and development of Pechay (brassica rapa L.) as affected by different levels of vermicompost as a planting medium. The experiment was carried out using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six treatments and four replications. The treatments were as follows: T1 - Control (no application); T2 - 5 t/ha vermicompost; T3 - 10 t/ha vermicompost; T4 - 15 t/ha vermicompost; T5 - 20 t/ha vermicompost; and T6 - Recommended rate of inorganic fertilizer (90-60-60). The results showed that there were significant effects of the treatments on the plant height, length of leaves, and plant weight of pechay. Based on plant weight, the optimum level of vermicompost was found to be at 20 t/ha. Other treatments exhibited a statistically similar yield pattern with the control with no fertilizer application. It is suggested to verify further the use of the same treatments in other locations at varying agro climatic conditions.