APPLICATION OF BANANA PEEL. ORANGE PEEL AND CATTLE MANURE AS COMPOSTED MATERIAL ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF OKRA (Abelmoschus esculentus) IN SANDY-LOAM SOIL

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of composted materials for the growth and yield of okra. This study was designed using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) having six treatments replicated five times. The treatments were control (no application), composted banana peel, composted orange peel, composted banana peel with cow manure, composted orange peel with cow manure and complete fertilizer (14-14-14). The treatments were applied on the day of planting and 30 days after planting. The data gathered were plant height, pod length, flowering period, weight of all marketable and non-marketable pods of okra per plant. The different composts applied on okra plants had no significant effect on the pod length of okra but showed a highly significant effect on flowering period, weight of marketable and non-marketable pods of okra per plant. In this study, composted banana and orange peels with cow manure treatment showed comparable effect to complete fertilizer, specifically on the flowering period, plant height and weights of marketable and non-marketable pods. While the composted materials had shown effects comparable with inorganic fertilizer, it is recommended to verify the effects of these materials on other crops.