UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA
THE EFFECTS OF NITROGEN, POTASSIUM AND CHICKEN DUNG
ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF CHILLI (Capsicum annuum L.)
GROWN ON A BRIS SOIL
ZAHARAH BT. ARIFFIN
THE EFFECTS OF NITROGEN, POTASSIUM AND CHICKEN DUNG ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF CHILLI (Capsicum annuum L.)
GROWN ON A BRIS SOIL
By
Zaharah bt. Ari ff i n
Thes i s Submitted i n Partial Fulf i lme nt o f the Requi reme nts for the Degree of Mas t e r of Agri cultural S c i e nce
U nive rs i t i P e rtanian Malays ia Novembe r 1989
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wi she s to expre s s her s incere thanks and grati tude to her supervisors , Associate Professor Dr . Mohammad Md . Al i and Associate Prof e s sor Abdul Jabar Mohd . Kamal for the i r guidance and encouragement throughout her cour s e of s tudy and the preparat i on of thi s the s i s . Thei r availabi l i ty , patience and readiness i n the preparation of thi s the s i s are invalua bl e and greatly apprec iated .
Special apprec iation i s expressed to Mr . Zul kifly Mohd Zain , the Director of Tobacco Re s earch Divi s i on , Malays ian Agr icul tural Research and Devel opment Institute ( MARDI) for his permi s s i on and c o - operation in identifying the experimental plots in Central Tobacco Re s earch S tation , Tel ong , Bacho k , Kel antan . The author would al s o l i ke t o extend her appreciat i on to Mr . Ahmad Wahab and the s taff of the Central Analy t ical Laboratory MARDI for the ir as s i s tance in the analyses of plant and s o i l sampl e s . The assistanc e given by Ms . Sal biah Hus in and Dr . Le e Ghoon Soon in the statistical analys e s of the data are al so greatly apprec iated . Appreciation is al s o extended to Mr . Mat Ti Ot hman for the field wor k .
The author i s mo st grateful to MARDI for spons oring her graduate s tudies at the Universiti Pertanian Mal aysia .
F inally. the author would l i ke to expr e s s her appreciation to her hus band and children for the i r pat ience and understanding during her graduat e s tudi e s .
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . " i i LIST O F TABLES . . . vi i i LIST OF F IGURES . . . .. . . xi ABSTRACT . . . x i i ABSTRAK . . . . xiv CHAPTER I . INTRODUCTION . . . . .. . . , 1
II. LITERATURE REVIEW . . . 4
Bris Soil . . . 4
Physical Proper t i e s . . . 5
Chemical Proper ti e s . . . 5
N i trogen . . . .. . . 6
Plant Uptake of Nitrogen . . . 6
Effect of Nitrogen on Growth and Yield . . . B Effect of Ni trogen on Qual i ty . . . .. . . 10
Potass ium . . . . .. . . 11
Pl ant Uptake of Potass ium . .. . . ... . . 11
Effect of K on G rowth and yield . . . 12
Effect of Potass ium on Qual ity . . .. . . .. . 14
Farmya rd Manure . . . .. . . .. . . ... . . 15
Effect of Farmyard Manure on the Soil prope rties . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . 15
Effect of Farmyard Manure on G rowth , Yield and Qual ity . . . .. . . 17
Effect of Farmyard Manure on Plant Nut ri ent Uptake ... . . . ... , .... . ... . . . .. . . . '" 18 III. MATERIALS AND METHODS .. . . .. . . . 19
Experimental S i te . . . 19
Cul tural Prac t i c e s . . . .. . . . .. . . 19
Nur s e ry P ract i c e s . . . .. . . 19
Field Prac t i c e s . ... . .... ... . . .. . . .. . . . 21
Data Collection . . . .. . . .. . . ., . . 22
Soil Analys is . . . .. . . .... . . .. 22
Plant Tissue Analysis . . . .. . . , . . 22
Crop Growth and Yie ld Data . . . , . . . 23
Experimental Des ign ... . . .. . . .... . . .. . . 25
IV . E XPERIMENTAL RESULTS . . .. . . .. . . 2 9
First Crop . . . 29
Effect of N, K a nd Chicke n Dung o n Yield , Fruit Number , Plant He ight a nd Days to
Floweri ng . . . .. . . 31
Effec t of N, K a nd Chicke n Dung o n Chill i Frui t Qual i ty . . . .. . . .. .. .. . . . 34
Effec t of N, K a nd Chicke n Dung o n Nutr i e nt Co nt e nt s of the Chill i Leaf . . . .. . . 4 3
Second Crop . .. . . .. . . 4 9
Effect of N, K a nd Chicke n Dung o n Yield , Fruit Number , Plant Height a nd Days to
Floweri ng . . . 49
Effec t of N, K a nd Chicke n Dung o n Chi l l i Frui t Qual i ty . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. .. .. . . . 5 2
Effec t o f N , K a nd Chicke n Dung o n Nutrie nt Co nte nt s of the Chill i Leaf . . . 6 5
V . D ISCUSS ION . . . 69
Effects of N, K a nd Chicke n Dung o n Yield , Fruit Number , Plant He ight a nd Days to Floweri ng . . . 70
Effec t s of N, K a nd Chicke n Dung o n Chill i Fruit Qual i ty . . . .. . 7 5
Fruit Le ngth, Fruit Diameter a nd Fruit
Weight . . . .. . . 7 5
Soluble Sol ids, Cap saic i n a nd Ascorbic
Ac id Co nt e nt s . . . 7 7
Nitroge n, P , K , Ca and Mg Co nte nt s of
Fruit . . . 7 8
Effects of N , K and Chicken Dung on Chi l l i Chill i Nutr i ent Content . . . 81
V I. SUMMARY AND CONCLUS IONS . . . 85
B IBLIOGRAPHY . . . .. . . 88
APPENDICES
A Soil Analytical Procedure s . . . 96
B Plant Analytical Procedure s . . . 100 C Figures 7 and 8 . . . 106
LIST OF TABLES
Table
1 . Treatme nt Numbers a nd Treatme nt Comb i nati o ns . . . . 2 7 2 . A nalysis of Variance . . . 28 3 . The Phys ical Properties of Bris Soil Before
Plant i ng . . . . . 29 4 . Analys i s of Soil for Ammo niacal N, Availabl e P ,
Exchangeabl e K , Ca , Mg , C . E . C . , Organic Carbo n a nd pH . . . 3 0
5 . F -values of the Mai n Effects a nd Interac t i o ns i n the Analyses o f Variance o n Yi eld, Fruit Number Per Hectare , Plant He ight a nd Days to Floweri ng of the First Chi l l i Crop . . . 32
6 . Mea n Values for Yield ( tjha ) , Fruit Number Per Hectare , Plant Height ( cm ) a nd Days to Fl oweri ng of the First Chill i Crop . . . .. . . .. . . 3 3 7 . F -Value s of the Mai n Effects a nd Interact i o ns i n
the A nalyses o f Variance o n Fruit Le ngth , Fruit Diameter a nd Frui t We ight of the First Chi l l i
Crop . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6
8 . Mea n Values for Fruit Le ngth ( cm ) , Fruit Diameter (mm) a nd Fruit Weight ( g ) of the First Chilli Crop 3 7 9 . F - Value s of the Mai n Effec t s a nd Interact i o ns i n
the Analyses of Varianc e o n Solubl e Sol ids ,
Capsaic i n a nd Ascorbic Acid Co nt e nt s of the First Chill i Crop . . . . . . 39 10 . Mean Values for Solubl e Sol ids ( % ) , Capsaic i n
( pg/g Dry Weight ) a nd Ascorbic Ac id Co nte nts
( mg/lOOg Fresh Weight ) of the First Chill i Crop . . 40 1 1 . F-Value s of the Mai n Effe cts a nd Interac t i o ns i n
the Analyses o f Variance o n N , P , K , Ca a nd Mg
Cont e nts i n the Fruit of the First Chill i Crop .. 41
1 2 . Mean Value s for N , P , K , Ca and Mg Content s ( Pe rc ent Dry We ight ) in the Fruit of the First
Chill i Crop . . . 42 1 3 . F - Value s of the Main Effec t s and Interact ions in
the Analy se s of Variance on N , P , K , Ca and Mg
Content s in the Leaf of the F i r st Chill i Crop 46 14 . Mean Value s for N , P , K , Ca and Mg Content s
( Percent Dry Weight ) in the Leaf of the First
Chill i Crop . . . 48 1 5 . F-Value s of the Main Eff e c t s and Interact i ons
in the Analyse s of Variance on Yiel d , Fruit Number Per Hectare , Plant He ight and Days to
Flowering of the Second Chill i Crop . . . 5 0 1 6 . Mean Value s for Yield ( tfha ) , Fruit Number Per
Hectare , Plant He ight ( em ) and Days to Flowering of the S e c ond Chi l l i Crop . . . 5 1 1 7 . F - Value s of the Main Effect s and Interact i ons in
the Analyse s of Variance on Fruit Length , Fruit Diameter and Frui t We ight of the Second Chi l l i
Crop . . . . . . . 5 3
1 8 . Mean Value s for Fruit Length ( em ) , Fruit Diameter ( mm ) and Fruit Weight (g) of the S econd Chill i
Crop . . . . . 5 5 1 9 . F - Value s of the Main Eff e c t s and Interac tions in
the Analyse s of Variance on Solubl e Solids,
Capsaicin and Ascorbic Ac id Content s of the Second Chill i Crop . . . 5 8 20 . Mean Value s for Solubl e Sol ids ( % ) , Capsaicin
( pg/g Dry Weight ) and A scorbic Ac id Content s ( mg/lOOg Fre sh We ight ) of the Second Chill i
Crop . . . . . 5 9 2 1 . F -Values of the Main Eff e c t s and Interactions in
the Analyse s of Variance on N , P , K , Ca and Mg Content s in the Fruit of the Second Chill i
Crop . . . . . . . 6 0
2 2 . Mean Value s for N , P , K , Ca and Mg Content s ( Percent Dry Weight ) in the Fruit of the Second
Chill i Crop . . . 6 1
2 3 . F - Value s of the Main Eff e cts and Interactions in the Analyses of Variance on N , P, K , Ca and Mg
Contents in the Leaf of the Se cond Chi l l i Crop 66 24 . Mean Values for N , P, K , Ca and Mg Contents
( Pe r cent Dry We ight) in the Leaf of the S e cond
Chill i Crop . . . 6 7 2 5 . Comparison of Yield ( t/ha ) , Frui t Number Per
He ctare and Days to Flowering Be tween the Fir s t
and S e cond Crop by Us ing t- te s t . . . .. . . 6 8
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
1 . Ni trogen x K Interactions for Chill i Plan t Heigh t ( F i r s t Crop ) . . . 3 5
2 . Pota s s ium x Chi cken Dung Intera ctions for Chil l i Frui t K Content ( Firs t Crop ) . . . 44 3 . Po tass ium x Chi cken Dung Interactions for Chill i
Frui t Mg Content ( Firs t Crop ) . . . 4 5
4 . Ni trogen x K Interactions for Chill i Fru i t
Diame te r ( Se cond Crop) . . . .. . . 5 6 5 . Ni trogen x K Inter �ctions for Chil l i Frui t Ca
Content ( Se cond Crop ) . . . . . . 6 3
6 . Po tass ium x Chi cken Dung Interactions for Chill i Frui t C a Content ( Se cond Crop) . . . 64
7 . Monthly Total Rainfall and Maximum / Minimum
Temperature s During the Firs t Crop . . . 106
8 . Monthly Total Rainfall and Maximum / Minimum
Temperature s During the S e cond Crop . . . 1 0 7
Abs t ract of the s i s p resented to the S enat e of Unive r s i t i Pe rtanian Malays ia i n partial ful f il ment of the requir ements
for the degre e of Mast e r of Agr i cul tural S c i ence
THE EFFECTS OF NITROGEN, POTASSIUM AND CHICKEN DUNG ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF CHILLI (Capsicum annuum L . )
GROWN ON A BRIS SOIL
Supe rvisor Co - Supervi s o r Facul ty by Zaharah bt. Ariffin Novembe r 1 9 8 9
Assoc . Prof . Dr . Mohammad Md . Al i Assoc . P rof . Abdul Jabar Mohd . Kamal Agricul ture
Field expe riments were conducted to determine the requi rements of N, K and chicken dung f o r chi l l i ( Caps i cum annuum L.) grown on a b ri s sandy soil . The t reatments that were evaluated c omprised three l evel s of N ( 100, 200 and 300 kg Njha ) , three l evel s of K ( 100 , 200 and 300 kg Kjha ) and two l eve l s of chicken dung ( 0 and 10 tjha ) . The s tudy was conducted for two consecutive c ropping seasons .
The re we re diffe rences in c rop response pattern for the two c ropping s easons . In the f i rs t c rop, re sponse to N was l inearly significant only for fruit number and N , P and K contents in the l eaf and P contents in the f rui t . In cont ras t , re sponse to N in the second c rop was obtained f o r yield , f ruit number , f ruit weight , N and Ca contents in the fruit and N , K ,
Ca and Mg in the l eaf . Onl y fruit Ca content had a significant quadratic response to N whi l s t others had l inear response to N ferti l i zer appl i cation . Between l evel s of appl ied N fertil izer in the second crop , the second and third l evel of appl icat ion provided higher yield , yield attributes and f rui t qual i t y parameters . The differences i n response to N for the two c ropping s easons are attributed to the soil and weather conditions .
Appl ication of K fert i l i ze r be yond 1 0 0 kg Kjha had no favourable influence on yield , growth parameters and frui t qual i t y . I t onl y increased l eaf K content and decreased l eaf Ca and Mg content s .
Appl icat i on of chi cken dung at 10 tjha increased the yie ld , fruit number , plant height , fruit diameter , frui t we ight , Ca and Mg contents of the l eaf and fruit Ca content . Unl ike the other parameters , chicken dung appl ication reduced the number of days to fl owering by as much as ten da ys .
Abst rak t e s i s yang dikemukakan kepada S enat Unive rs iti Pe rtanian Malays ia bagi memenuhi s ebahagian da ripada
sya rat - sya rat untuk i jazah Mas t e r Sains Pe rtanian
KESAN NITROGEN , KALIUM DAN TAHI AYAH: KE ATAS BASIL DAN
KUTU CILI (Capsicum annuum L. ) YANG DITANAH: DI TANAH BRIS Ol eh Zaharah bt. Ariffin Penyel ia Penyel ia be rsama Fakul t i Novembe r 1 9 8 9
P rof . Madya D r . Mohammad M d . Al i P rof . Madya Abdul Jaba r Mohd . Kamal Pe rtanian
Pe rcubaan di pe ringkat l a dang telah di jalankan untuk menentukan kepe rluan N, K dan tahi ayam ke atas cil i ( Caps i cum annuum L. ) yang ditanam di tanah b ri s be rpas i r . Rawatan-rawatan yang diuj i mengandungi t iga paras N ( 100 , 200 dan 300 kg N/ha ) , t iga paras K ( 100 , 200 dan 300 kg K/ha) dan dua pa ras tahi ayam
( 0 dan 1 0 tjha ). Kaj ian ini telah di jal ankan bagi dua mus im tanaman be rturut - turut .
Te rdapat p e rbezaan di dal am pola ge rak balas di antara dua mus im tanaman . Bagi tanaman pe rtama , ge rak balas t e rhadap N a dal ah be re rt i secara l inea r hanya untuk bilangan buah dan kandungan unsur N, P dan K di dal am daun dan P di dal am buah . Di sebal iknya , ge rak balas t e rhadap N da ri tanaman ke dua dipe rolehi untuk has i l , bil angan buah, be rat buah, kandungan N
dan Ca di dalam buah dan kandungan N, K , Ca dan Mg di dal am daun . Hanya kandungan Ca di dalam buah yang menunjukkan gerak balas bererti s ecara kuadratik terhadap N manakala parame ter l ain mempunya i gerak balas l inear . D i antara paras - paras ba ja N yang digunakan bagi tanaman kedua , penggunaan ba ja pada paras kedua dan ketiga mengeluarkan has i l , c i r i -c i r i has i l dan mutu buah yang tinggi . Perbe zaan gerak balas terhadap N di an tara dua mus im tanaman adalah disebabkan oleh perbe zaan keadaan keadaan tanah dan cuaca .
Penggunaan baja K mel ebihi 100 kg Kjha t idak mempunyai kesan yang baik ke atas has i 1 , parameter-parameter tumbe saran dan mutu buah. Baja K hanya menambahkan kandungan K dan mengurangkan kandungan Ca dan Mg di dalam daun .
Penggunaan baja tahi a yam pad a kadar 1 0 tjha meningkatkan has i l , bilangan buah , tinggi pokok , gari spusat buah , berat buah , kandungan Ca dan Mg di dalam daun dan kandungan Ca di dalam buah . Penggunaan tahi a yam juga mengurangkan bi1angan hari berbunga sehingga s epuluh har i , tidak s eperti parameter l ain .
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTI ON
Chi l l i ( Capsicum annuum L. ) bel ongs to the family Solanaceae . The chi l l i plant i s a perennial , but often g rown as an annual . The p roduc tion pe riod range s f rom 2 - 1 2 months , depending on the va ri e ty , management and occurrence of diseases . The pungency nature of chi l l i is due to the p resence of the alkal oid capsaicin . The f ruit is rich in vitamins such as vitamins A and C and mine ral s such as K and P .
Chi l l i i s a popula r ingredient in Malaysian cui s ine . The dome stic c onsumpt i on of f re sh chill ie s in 1 9 8 5 was e s t imated to be 2 6 , 600 tonnes ( Malays i a , 1 9 8 7 ) . Howeve r, thi s does not pro j e c t the real s i tuat ion of dome s t i c demand for it does not take into cons ide ration the ins ti tutional demands of hotel s and res taurants . About 20% of the dome s t i c demand was impo rted in 1985 ( Malays ia , 1 9 8 5 ).
The extent of chi l l i cul t ivat i on in Peninsula r Malays ia ( 19 8 5 ) is es timated to be about 1 000 hectare s . The maj o r growing a reas a re d i s t ributed i n the s tate s of Kelantan ( 2 3 0 ha ) , Pe rak ( 20 3 ha ) , Pahang ( 1 2 6 ha ) , Johore ( 9 7 ha ) and
2 Terengganu ( 9 3 ha ) ( Malays ia , 1 9 8 1 ) . In Kel antan , i t i s mainly grown on sandy bri s ( Beach Ridge Interspersed With Swal e s ) and r iverine alluvium soil s .
Bri s i s a type of soi l deve loped on sandy coastal deposits and hence the charac teristic feature is its sandy textur e . Bri s s oi l s are e s timated to be about 1 6 2 , 000 hec tares exclus ively occurring in the east coast of Peninsular Malays ia (Ye oh, 1 9 8 6 ) . The hectarage for Ke1antan i s approximately 1 7 , 8 1 3 hec tare s . Bris soil is generally considered as a probl em soil because of its poor phys ical and chemical properties . It has poor wate r holding capaci ty , high nutrient losses due to l eaching , high surface temperature , low nutrient reserve and l ow organic matter c ontent .
Traditionally , bri s soil s have been cul t ivated with cashew and coconut . Cul t ivat ion of miscellaneous fruit tree crops have been attempted previously but with l imited success . However , currently , with proper soil management technique s ,
high value crops such as chilli, cabbage and mustard can be
suc c e s sfully grown.
Meticul ous fertil izer management t echnique s are required for producing high yield and good qual i ty chill i on bri s soil s . Thi s i s true for N and K which directly influence growth ,
3 maturi ty, yiel d and fruit qual ity . The use of chicken dung is al s o important s ince i t can impro ve the physical and chemical properties of the s oil . Cl imatic condi tions particul arly rainfal l during the growing period al so influence the crop growth .
Numerous s tudies on the nutritional r equirements of chi l l i grown on various other soil type s ha ve been reported ( Ng , 1978 and S troehl e in and Oebke r , 1 9 7 9 ). Howe ver , there i s a lack of knowl e dge o n the nutrient requirements of chil l i grown o n bris s o i l with high l eaching l osses o f N and K . The use of organi c manure s such as chicken dung woul d serve to amel iorate the poor phys i cal c ondi t i ons of bris soils and to compl ement as a fertil izer .
Thi s the s i s was confine d t o a s tudy us ing N , K and chicken dung for chi l l i pro duction in a bri s soil . The o bj e ct i ve s of the study were to determine the effe c t of N , K and chicken dung on:
1 . Yiel d and crop growth parameters such as plant he ight and number of days to fl owe ring of chill i . 2 . Frui t qual i ty of chill i , and
CHAPTER I I
LITERATURE REVIEW
Bris Soil
B ri s is a t ype of soil de vel ope d on sandy c oastal depos i ts and it is charact e ri z e d by its sandy texture . The parent mate rials are made up of marine sand deposits . I t can be di vi de d into s e ven s e ri e s bas e d on the i r texture and drainage clas s , namel y; Baging , Rompin , Rudua , Jambu , Melawi , Rus ila and Rhu Tapai ( Yeoh , 1 9 8 6 ) . The pe rcentage of coars e and me dium sands for Baging , Rudua and Rhu Tapai is 90 . 7 , 8 6 . 2 and 20 . 0% , respec t i vely ( Ye oh , 1 9 8 6 ) . S po dic ho ri zons we re not found in Baging , Rompin and Rus ila s e rie s . The depth of spodic horizons f rom the soil surface f o r Rhu Tapa i , Rudua and Jambu we re l e s s than 50 cm , 50 to 1 0 0 cm and g reat e r than 1 50 cm , respec t i vely . The spodic hori z on i s an alluvial ho ri z on in which act i ve o rganic mat t e r and amorphous oxi de s of aluminium and i ron ha ve precipi tate d. The depth of the spodic hori z ons a re di re ctly
related to the depth of water table from the soil surface.
5 Physical Properties
Bris soil normally has very l ow silt and clay contents . This make s bri s soil very infertile both in terms o f nutrient s and wate r -hol ding capac ity . The mean capillary rise for bris soil ranges from 8 cm for Baging series to 25 cm in Rhu Tapai ( Yeoh , 1986 ) . The s e value s largely depend on the percentage of the c oarse , me dium and f ine san d .
The surface temperature recorde d by Abdul Wahab ( 1 984 ) was about 4 5°C during the dry months of February and March .
Chemical Properties
The cation exchange capac i ty for bris s oil i s general ly l ow ( l e s s than 5 meq /lOO g soil ) c ompar e d to normal soil ( 5 to 20 meq/lOO g soil ) . Thi s indicates that bris s oil has a very poor nutrient holding capac ity . As a resul t , the appl i e d nutri ents t o the soil are eas ily l e ache d . S tudi e s showe d that
application of organic matter such as POME (Palm Oil Mill
Effluent ) increase d the C . E . C. of the soil (Abdul lah e t al . , 1 9 88 ) . Exchangeabl e bases were found t o be l e s s than 1 meq/lOO g soil for mos t of the cations .
6
Bris soil has l ow nutrient reserve and high l eaching rate of nutrients . Depending on the soil serie s , Biot et al . ( 1 9 8 2 ) report e d that the percentages of C, N and free Fe from the top soil ( 0 - 1 5 cm) range d from 1 . 08 to 8 . 71 , 0 . 06 to 0 . 30 and 0 . 1 6 to 0 . 18 , respectively . The C. E . C. , Ca , Mg , Na and K range d from 0 . 56 to 3 . 60 , 0 . 03 to 0 . 7 3 , 0 . 03 to 0 . 39 , 0 . 02 to 0 . 0 7 and 0 . 02 to 0 . 0 5 meq /100g soil , respect ively . The soil was ne i ther a c i d nor alkaline and the p H value s range d from 4 . 5 to 5. 4 .
Conduc tivity reading of bris soil was extremely low ( l e s s than 1 3 . 8 umhos /cm ) (Ye oh , 1 9 8 6 ) . Thi s indicates that the soil was severely leache d and containe d very l ittle amount of s oluble ions . Thi s i s due to the eluviat ion of s olubl e ions and micros i ze particles of organic matter from the upper hori zons .
Nitrogen
Plant Uptake of Nitrogen
In sweet peppe r , Thomas and Hie1man ( 1 964 ) reported that the amount of N in the l eaf tis sue was directly related to the amount of N appl i e d . The critical l evel of N in the leaf t i s sue was about 4% . Thi s value was higher than the critical l evel reporte d by Mil l e r ( 19 61 ) . He al so observe d that N def i c i ency
7 symptoms occurred in plants having a total N content of l e s s than 1 . 2 6 % . The percentage o f N i n the bel l pepper frui t was found to be 1 . 58% . For the l ow N plant s , the fruit s were somewhat chlorotic although they would ha ve been salabl e from the col our stand-point .
The N c ontent in the l eaf t is sue appeared to increase at the ini t ial growth s tage and gradually decreased at frui ting . Mil l e r et al . ( 1 9 7 9 ) reported that the concentrat i on of N in
capsicum fruit was highes t at fruit set and then decl ined as it matured . Maximum rate of growth and the uptake rate for total N and fruit N were found to be greate s t between 56 and 70 days after t ransplanting .
Huett ( 19 8 6 ) working on tomato reported that appl ication of N increased l eaf , s tem, and frui t N c oncentrations and leaf and fruit Mg concentrations but reduced frui t K c oncentrations . At the t ime of har ve s t , N appl ication resul ted in a sl ight decrease in Ca , Mg, P and K c oncentrations in the vegetati ve t i s sue s .
Ti s sue analys is carried out by Vimala e t al . ( 1 98 5) showed that the N concentration in chill i was highe s t in the leave s ( 4 . 6 6 % ) fol l owed by frui ts ( 3 . 14% ) and stems and branches ( 1 . 6 7% ) . On the other hand , the remo val of N was
8 highes t from the fruit ( 9 . 11 g/plant ) fol l owe d by s tem and petioles ( 2 .90 g/plant ) and leave s ( 1 . 8 5 g/plant ) .
Effect of Nitrogen on Growth and Yield
Nitrogen i s one of the mos t important el ement required for a normal plant growth . It i s important for chl orophyll and protein synthes i s . As a resul t , N defic iency i s normally relate d with pal e green col our due to l ack of chlorophyll , s tunte d growth as a resul t of r e duce d cell di vi sion and cell enlargement due to l ack of protein synthe s i s . Nitrogen def i c iency al so del aye d maturi ty and caus e d premature death of lower leave s .
In bell peppe r , Mil l e r ( 1 9 6 1 ) point e d out that N def i ciency was characterized by s tunt e d , weak growth with necrotic l ea ve s . Vi sual defic iency symptoms occurre d in plant s having a total N of 1 . 26 % or l e s s in the vegetati ve t i s sue . S imilar symptoms were obse r ve d by Maynard e t al . ( 1 9 6 2 ) . Their findings showed that N ferti l i zation increased flower product i on but did not increase fruit set . With respe c t to tomato , Huet t ( 1 9 8 6 ) obse r ve d that N defic iency del aye d fruit s e t and re duce d l eaf , s tem and root de vel opment .
9
On the other hand, exc e s s of N exten s i vely increased plant height and l odging but delayed maturi ty in some pl ants . According to Mil l e r ( 1 9 6 1 ), bell pepper frui ts produced on the high N plants wer e shor t , thi ck , rounded and gl o s sy dark green in col our . Knavel ( 1 9 7 7 ) , report ing on the influence of N on pepper transplant , obs e r ved that plants grown on higher N l e vel s showed l arge r , darker and hea vier fresh we ight of green l eave s and l arger fruit s but produced fewer number of matured fruits . He further indicated that har ve s ting was more difficul t because of the abundance of fol iage and tal l e r plant s .
Experiments carried out by S troehl ein and Oebker ( 19 7 9 ) indicated that N appl ied a t high rate ( 2 80 kgjha ) on chill i grown on loamy soil de layed frui t s e t . Moderate rates of N ( 100 - 1 50 kgjha ) tended t o produce more de s i rabl e type of plants and produced the highe st yield . Sundstrom e t �l . ( 1 984) showed that the yield of red pepper grown in sandy ol i vier s i l t l oam ( 0 . 41 % organic matte r ) increased with the increase in N when the rate appl ied was increased from 0 to 1 1 2 kgjha . On f ine sandy loam, Thomas and He i lman (1964) found that the highest
pepper yield was obtained at 1 3 5 kgjha N . Locascio et al . ( 1 9 8 1 ) stated that on sandy soil s , marketabl e frui t yield of chill i inc reased as N was inc reased from 140 to 220 kg/ha . A further increase to 308 kg Njha reduced the yield sharply , probably due to the s o lubl e sal t injury . Recent s tudies by
