Organic Production of Pepper as Influence by Variety Grown in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

The experiment aimed to investigate the effect of variety and organic nutrients on the growth and yield of pepper grown in Makurdi, Nigeria. The experiment is laid in a complete randomized design with three replications. The treatments used are variety (Red and Green pepper) and organic nutrient source (cow dung, poultry dropping, goat manure and control) the experiment was carried out during the 2023 rainy season. During the investigation, some physiological variables, such as growth, Plant height (cm), Numbers of leaves, Numbers of branches, Other characteristics like Days to first flowering, Number of flowers, Days to first, Number of fruits, Fruit length (cm), Fruits weight/plant (g), Fruits diameter (mm) and overall yield were also recorded. The results of the investigation revealed that pepper generally responded to both variety and organic nutrient. All the parameter studies have significantly (P ≤ 0.05) responded to the variety with Bell pepper recorded higher in growth parameters and such, as plant height (19.53), the number of leaves (37.73), number of flowers(16.02), number of branches (8.83), with yellow Wanda variety recorded higher days to maturity (48.52), bell pepper also recorded higher number of fruits per plant (12.63), fruit diameter (6.00), fruit length (7.62), fruit weight(72.62g) and over all yield (4.31). On organic nutrient source poultry dropping recorded higher in both growth, yield and yield related characters such as plant height (20.19), number of leaves (40.82), number of branches (8.68), number of flower (17.13), except where control recorded longer maturity days (48.22), while Bell pepper recorded higher in number of fruits per plant (13.12), fruit diameter (6.00), fruit length (6.84), fruit weight (92.41) and over all yield (4.02) . Based on the results obtained it can be suggested that pepper farmers use bell variety of pepper and poultry dropping which is better in both growth and yield characteristics leading to optimum yield in pepper cultivation in the study areas.