Agricultural and Biological Research

Soil fertility amendment using cocoa pod husk and plantain peels powders for Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus, kirikou variety) production in Dschang (Cameroon Western Highlands)

Primus Azinwi Tamfuh*, Scholarstica Taku Agbor-Ambang, Dieudonné Bitondo, Georges Martial Ndzana, Adeline Ambe Singwa, Lizette Wirba Ngonjang, Jude Thaddeus Nji and Emile Temgoua

Okra is a popular crop in Cameroon but average yields remain low due to its cultivation as a minor crop, limited availability of improved varieties, poor soil fertility and high cost of chemical fertilizers. The main aim of this work was to evaluate the potential of cheap and locally available cocoa pod husk and plantain peels to improve soil fertility and okra production in western Cameroon. The experimental design in the field was a Completely Randomized Block Design (CRBD) with six treatments and three repetitions, namely: control or natural soil (T₀), plantain peels powder at 3 tons ha^-1 (T₁), cocoa pod husk powder at 8 tons ha-1 (T₂), NPK 12-14-19 at 250 kg/ha (T₃), plantain peels powder+NPK 12-14-19(T₄) and cocoa pod husk powder+NPK 12-14-19 (T₅). The soil was analysed before and after treatment using standard laboratory procedures. The data were then subjected to statistical analysis. The main results reaveled that the control soil was moderately acidic (pH 5.4) but treatments raised the pH to 6.3, 6.2, 6.1, and 5.8 for T₂, T₅, T₄ and T₁, respectively. The C/N ratio dropped from 15.23 (T₀) to 8.4 (T₄) and 10.8 (T₅) probably portraying a higher microbial activity in those treatments. T₄ plants showed the best growth performance meanwhile T₀ plants showed the least performance. The highest fresh yield of Okra was recorded for T₅ plants. Apart from T₃, all treatments showed a high Benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR>2). However, T₅ was the most economically profitable treatment, with a profit rate of 658% and a BCR of 7.58 standing out as the most recommended treatment to farmers for okra cultivation.