Effect of Organic and Inorganic Fertilisers on Cucumber Yield in Bauchi State

This study examines the effect of organic and inorganic fertiliser applications and their combination on fruit yield and quality of cucumber in Bauchi State, North East Nigeria. Cucumber is an increasingly popular vegetable crop in northern Nigeria, consumed fresh and processed into juice and pickles. Bauchi State's growing urban consumer market has expanded commercial cucumber production, but optimal fertiliser management for the local soil conditions has not been adequately documented. This study establishes a randomised complete block design experiment at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University research farm, testing five fertiliser treatments: no fertiliser control, poultry manure alone at 5 tonnes per hectare, NPK 15:15:15 alone at 300 kilograms per hectare, combination of half poultry manure and half NPK, and full poultry manure and full NPK. Ashley cucumber variety is used. Plant height, number of leaves, days to first flowering, fruit number per plant, fruit weight, and marketable yield are measured over two growing seasons. Findings reveal that the combined half poultry manure plus half NPK treatment produces the highest marketable fruit yield of 18.6 tonnes per hectare at the lowest combined fertiliser cost, outperforming either sole application. Poultry manure alone produces adequate yield for subsistence while NPK alone shows better early growth. The study concludes that integrated organic-inorganic fertiliser management is the most cost-effective approach for cucumber production in Bauchi State. It recommends this combined approach in vegetable production extension programmes.

Keywords: cucumber yield, organic fertiliser, NPK fertiliser, integrated nutrient management, Bauchi State.