Effect of Palm Bunch Ash Application on Soil and Plant Nutrient Composition and Growth and Yield of Garden Eggs, Pepper and Okra

The effects of palm bunch ash (PBA) application on growth, nutrient uptake and yield of three vegetable crops; garden eggs, pepper and okra were studied both in the field and in the pot. The study which was carried out at the Forest and Horticultural Crops Research Centre, Kade in the forest zone of Ghana was conducted in a split plot fitted in a randomised complete block design. The results of the study showed that PBA application significantly (P<0.05) increased soil pH, soil phosphorus and exchangeable cations. In the field experiment, mineral fertilizer application resulted in an increase in the fresh fruit yield of the garden eggs and the pepper over the control by as much as 93% while PBA application resulted in fresh fruit yield increase of between 55-91%. For okra, fertilizer application resulted in fresh fruits yield increase of about 83% over the control while yield increase as a result of PBA application ranged between 8 and 69%. There were also significant interactions between the vegetables and the PBA application rates. For the garden eggs, the highest fruit yield of 9.52 t ha-1 was obtained at PBA application rate of 4 t ha-1 while for the pepper and the okra, the highest fruit yields of 6 and 4.96 t ha-1 were obtained at the PBA application rate of 2 t ha-1. Our study suggests that PBA could be used as a liming material and fertiliser supplement to increase soil pH of acid soils and increase the yield of vegetable crops.