Effect Of Organic Fertilizer Derived From Food Market Waste On Cashew Seedlings Growth In The Nursery

The shift towards effective organic waste management and organic fertilizers is gaining attention due to concerns about environmental sustainability and raising healthy crops respectively. This study evaluates the effect of a processed market source waste: Aleshinloye Grade B Organic Fertilizer (AOF) on cashew seedlings growth in the nursery. A 3-month nursery trial was established at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria’s nursery Ibadan, Nigeria. The experiment is a 2 factorial experiment with fertilizer rate (200t/ha and 100t/ha) and application method (Top-dressing and Soil-mixed). The treatments arranged in a Complete Randomized Design are Top-dressed AOF at 200t/ha (T1TD), Soil-mixed AOF at 200t/ha (T1M), Top-dressed AOF at 100t/ha (T2TD), Soil-mixed AOF 100t/ha (T2M) and the control treatment (NF) with no fertilizer. Morphological and destructive samples data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and treatment means were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD) at a 0.05% probability. Results showed that T1M improved cashew seedling number of leaves at 3 months after sowing while other morphological traits and destructive samples were not significant when the fertilizer treatments were compared with NF. Either of the two application rates and methods of application did not improve cashew seedling growth in the nursery. However, notable improvement was only observed in the number of leaves when 200t/ha of AOF was applied as topsoil-mixed. For notable improvement in cashew seedlings, it is therefore recommended that the period of observation be extended as organic fertilizers slowly release their nutrients in the soil.