RESPONSE OF SNAKE TOMATO (Tricosanthes cucumerina) TO DIFFERENT FERTILIZER SOURCES IN SOUTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA ZONE OF NIGERIA

Snake tomato is gaining popularity due to its nutritional, medicinal and health benefits. Its production is constrained by depleting soil fertility. Recently, there is increased interest in organic food owing to health and environmental benefits. Thus, an experiment on growth and yield of snake tomato as affected by fertilizer sources was conducted at Ponyan and Kabba during the 2019 cropping season. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The treatments consisted of the control, residues from maize, guinea corn and spear grass, residues from soybean, cowpea and black bean, residues from cocoa and kola, pig manure, goat manure, cow dung manure and NPK plus B fertilizer. Data were taken on vine length, number of leaves, vine girth, days to 50% flowering, fruit length, fruit girth, number of seeds/fruit, fresh fruit weight, marketable fruits, non-marketable fruits and fruit yield (t/ha). Analysis of variance results indicated that plants treated with NPK plus B fertilizer significantly (P<0.05) recorded the longest vine, more number of leaves and branches. It also produced more fruits, longest fruit and heaviest fruits. Number of seeds/plant and marketable fruits were more in animal base manure. It is pertinent to know that non-marketable yield was highest in NPK plus B fertilizer. Contrarily, NPK plus B fertilizer increased yield, although statistically similar to animal base manure. Therefore, considering the benefits of organic manure on health and the environment, animal manure applied at 10 t/ha is recommended for snake tomato production in the study area