Potential of rabbit urine as fertilizer on growth and production of Brassica carinata L
2024
Naza Mmbaga | Kelvin Ngongolo | Stanslaus Terengia Materu
Abstract In developing world especially Africa, organic fertilizers are mostly used to boost agriculture production. However, less is known about the effectiveness of stored and fresh rabbit urine as an organic fertilizer on the production of vegetables, including Ethiopian mustard (EM) in Tanzania. A split-plot experimental design was used, with rabbit urine status (stored and fresh) serving as the main plots and sub-plots made of rabbit urine concentration (0%, 25%, 50% and 75%). A total of eight experimental treatments with three replications each was used making a total of 24 plots. Plant height, number of leaves, leaf length, and width were recorded every 3 days for 7 weeks. After harvesting, fresh and dry yield was recorded. Rabbit urine was observed to significantly (p < 0.05) increase soil nutrients including nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus across different concentrations where 75% of rabbit urine concentration was found to perform better compared to 50% and 25%. Ethiopian mustard with the 75% concentration of rabbit urine increased plant height by 32.52%, leaf length by 19%, and number of leaves by 20.24% while keeping leaf width constant compared to 0% rabbit urine concentration. Similarly, 75% of fresh urine increased dry biomass by 42%. Fresh rabbit urine performed better in growth and production of the Ethiopian mustard compared to the stored rabbit urine. This result concludes that, the use of fresh rabbit urine can increase productivity of vegetables like Ethiopian mustard especially at 75%.
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