Response of Cleome Gynandra to Animal Manure

Low inherent soil fertility and high cost of synthetic fertilizers are some of the factors hindering productivity of indigenous leafy vegetables. Response of Cleome gynandra to cattle, goat and chicken manure was thus evaluated at Horticulture Research Institute, Marondera, Zimbabwe. The field trial was laid out as a Randomized Complete Block Design with seven treatments, replicated three times. Treatment levels comprised application rates of 50t/ha, 30t/ha and 0t/ha for cattle, goat and chicken manures. Results showed significant influence (P<0.05) of manure on germination percentage, growth parameters and leaf yield. Goat manure performed better than cattle and chicken manure with the highest germination, plant height and leaf yield of 100%, 48.2cm and 32.68t/ha respectively. Thus production of C. gynandra using goat manure is recommended for optimum yield. However, further studies under different manure type combinations and the cost benefit analysis of using animal manures for C. gynandra production are also recommended.