Comparative Efficacy of Organic Manures for Improved Performance of Waterleaf (Talinum fructicosum (L) Juss.) in the Humid Tropical Rainforest

Waterleaf apart from being a source of food provides employment and income to mostly female peasant farmers. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate effects of organic manure types and their combinations on the growth and yield of water leaf in a typical tropical humid rainforest in 2016 and 2017 Cropping seasons. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments included sole poultry manure (PM) at 10 t ha-1, 10 t ha-1 cow dung (CD), 8 t ha-1 oil palm bunch ash (OPBA) and their combinations including; 5 t ha-1 PM + t ha-1CD, 5 t ha-1 PM +4 t ha-1 OPBA, 5 t ha-1 CD+4 t ha-1 OPBA and the control where no manures were applied. Data collected included; plant height, number of leaves and branches and leaf area plant -1, fresh and dry weights of water leaf. These were analyzed using analysis of variance and means compared using Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) at 5%. Waterleaf plants fertilized with 10 t ha-1 PM and combination of 5 t ha-1 PM +4 t ha-1 OPBA showed better performance in all the parameters measured. Hence, 10 t ha-1 PM was recommended amongst other forms of organic manure applied as sole or in combination in Calabar agro ecology of Nigeria.