Abstract:
A number of organic vegetable farmers in Central Luzon, Philippines grow organic vegetables
year round. However, most of these farmers usually apply the required amount of organic
fertilizer only once during planting. Hence, nutrient requirement of vegetables during vegetative
or reproductive stages are no longer available. This condition seriously affects the growth and
development of vegetables and subsequently affecting the yield performance that may result to
low yield. In order to reduce the potential effect of nutrient deficiency on organic vegetable
production particularly ladies finger, the research aims to a) establish frequency of organic
fertilizer application on ladies finger employing split application and b) determine the yield
performance of ladies finger and net return based on the different treatments used. The research
was conducted for two consecutive dry seasons (2014 and 2015) under full organic operation
system. Results of the study showed that two split application of the recommended rate of
organic fertilizer (T2) to ladies finger gave higher yield during the first and second trial (9.87 and
12.40t/ha, respectively) which is significantly higher by 11.40% and 14.76% from the yield
obtained in plants applied with the recommended rate of organic fertilizer during planting (T1)
and 14.76% and 3.22% higher to the yield obtained from the plants applied with the
recommended rate of organic fertilizer split into three application (T3). Cost and return analysis
showed that single application of organic fertilizer obtained the highest ROE of 33.45% and
49.45%, respectively during the first and second trial of the experiment. The result could be
mainly attributed to the less labor incurred in T1 compared to the T2 and T3. In terms of yield,
T2 Performed better compared to T1 and T3. |
