COMPARABILITY OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CAPSICUM

ANNUM (PEPPER) DUE TO BIOMASS AND INORGANIC NUTRIENTS

A Thesis

by

MOUNIKA PUDOTA

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Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies
Texas A&M University-Kingsville
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in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
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MASTER OF SCIENCE

May 2018

Major Subject: Plant and Soil Science





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 COMPARABILITY OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CAPSICUM

ANNUM (PEPPER) DUE TO BIOMASS AND INORGANIC NUTRIENTS

A Thesis

by

MOUNIKA PUDOTA

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Approved as to style and content by:

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mbrose 0. Anoruo, Ph.D.

airman of Committee)
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Greta Schuster, Ph.D. Randall H. Williams, Ph.D.

(Member of Committee) (Member of Committee)

George Allen Rasmussen, Ph.D.

(Vice President for Research & Dean of Graduate Studies)

May 2018
 ABSTRACT

Comparability of Growth and Development of Capsicum annum

(Pepper) due to Biomass and Inorganic Nutrients.

(May 2018)

Mounika Pudota, B.Sc., Bapatla Agriculture College

Chairman of Advisory Committee: Ambrose O. Anoruo

Two hundred plants of Capsicum annum were arranged in four randomized complete block

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design under greenhouse conditions to study the impact of an organic extract, Medicago sativa

(alfalfa) and commercial fertilizer, Miracle-Gro® (MG) on the growth and development of C.
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annum. The NPK content of alfalfa and MG were 3:1:2 and 30:10:10 respectively. Treatments
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were represented as T1, T2, T3, T4 and C. These treatments were according to nitrogen

concentration of the working solution where 10ml of OE equals 1ml of MG (T1), 20ml of OE

equals 2ml of MG (T2), 30ml of OE equals 3ml of MG (T3), and 40ml of OE equals 4ml of MG
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(T4) whereas the control (C) received only water. Plants were treated every 15 days and data

collected seven days after treatment, and every 14 days thereafter. Plant growth parameters

measured include height; number of leaves, buds and flowers; fresh and dry weights of

vegetative and root parts; and total chlorophyll content. Statistical analyses of the data generally

indicate no statistically significant difference in plant growth and development due to the

treatments. However, 40 ml of OE seemed to outperform all the concentrations of MG in all

growth parameters.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Ambrose O. Anoruo (Amby) who has been not only a mentor

but also a great support to my project with whom I was able to achieve the results for my Thesis

with immense knowledge on the subject. He is always been a good sport throughout the research

and responded really quickly irrespective of the time. My sincere thanks to Dr. Greta Schuster

and Dr. Randall H. Williams for agreeing to serve on my committee. Your corrections and

suggestions are very much appreciated.

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To my parents, I am short of words to thank you. You have always been there supporting

me financially, mentally and emotionally like a spine sharing your love overseas.
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Without all of these people, it would not have been possible for me to build up my

confidence and put in my efforts to complete my thesis successfully and graduate with flying
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colors.

I thank each and every person who has been a part of my journey so far. I will carry forward
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the qualities and attitude towards the completion of a mission from the people that I worked with

to shape my future ahead.

My heartfelt thanks to the Welhausen Family Student Scholarship fund for its support of

my research and education at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………… iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………….iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………… v

LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………….vi

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………..........vii

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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….1

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………… 5

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CHAPTER III: MATERIALS AND METHODS……………………………………8

CHAPTER IV: RESULTS…………………………………………………………..18

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CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION………………………………………………………. 32

CHAPTER VI: CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………....36

LITERATURE CITED………………………………………………………………37
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APPENDIX 1……………………………………………………………………….. 47

VITA………………………………………………………………………………... 50

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 LIST OF FIGURES

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Figure 1: Agriculture, Agribusiness and Environmental Sciences greenhouse………………… 8

Figure 2: Flat trays with broadcast seeds………………………………………………………. 8

Figure 3: Flat trays with germinated seedlings…………………………………………………..9

Figure 4: Thirty-six cell trays with plugs………………………………………………………..9

Figure 5: Pots arranged in RCBD………………………………………………………………10

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Figure 6: MG® granules………………………………………………………………………... 11

Figure 6.1: MG® stock solution preparation…………………………………………………... 11

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Figure 7: Ground alfalfa powder……………………………………………………………… 12

Figure 8: Preparation of organic extract (OE) stock solution…………………………………..13

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Figure 9: Extraction of OE……………………………………………………………………...13

Figure 10: SPAD – 502 plus chlorophyll meter……………………………………………….. 17

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Figure 11: Paired t-test of height between OE and MG……………………………………….. 22

Figure 11.1: Paired t-test of leaves between OE and MG………………………………………..23

Figure 11.2: Paired t-test of buds between OE and MG………………………………………... 24

Figure 11.3: Paired t-test of flowers between OE and MG…………………………………….. 26

Figure 11.4: Paired t-test of chlorophyll between OE and MG………………………………… 27

Figure 11.5: Paired t-test of fresh vegetative weight between OE and MG……………………. 28

Figure 11.6: Paired t-test of fresh root weight between OE and MG……………………………29

Figure 11.7: Paired t-test of dry vegetative weight between OE and MG…………………….. 30

Figure 11.8: Paired t-test of dry root weight between OE and MG……………………………. 31

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 LIST OF TABLES

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Table 1: Dilution of stock solution………………………………………………………….. 14

Table 2: Nitrogen concentration of OE (3:1:2) and MG (30:10:10)………………………... .15

Table 3: pH of OE working solution and soil……………………………………………….. 15

Table 3.1: pH of MG working solution and Soil……………………………………………..16

Table 4: Paired t-test p-value for each parameter…………………………………………… 21

Table 5.1: Paired t-test of height between OE and MG………………………………………22

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Table 5.2: Paired t-test of leaves between OE and MG……………………………………... 23
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Table 5.3: Paired t-test of buds between OE and MG………………………………………. 24

Table 5.4: Paired t-test of flowers between OE and MG……………………………………. 25

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Table 5.5: Paired t-test of chlorophyll between OE and MG………………………………. 27

Table 5.6: Paired t-test of fresh vegetative weight between OE and MG……………………28
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Table 5.7: Paired t-test of fresh root weight between OE and MG…………………………..29

Table 5.8: Paired t-test of dry vegetative weight between OE and MG……………………..30

Table 5.9: Paired t-test of dry root weight between OE and MG …………….. ………. . . . 31

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 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Fertilizer has been defined as the material which has potential to nourish plants with

required amount of micro and macro nutrients for their growth and development. Fertilizer can

be broadly divided into inorganic and organic fertilizers. Inorganic fertilizers are made up of

chemicals and are capable of increasing yield by their quick action of releasing nutrients but

have also been reported to be harmful to the environment and human health (Nagavardhanam

2017). Organic fertilizers are naturally available and are eco-friendly fertilizers. Anthropogenic

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effects like industrialization and increasing human population have limited our naturally

available resources. Globally, increasing human population demands higher productivity which
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is possible through higher yields within the limited land (FAO 2012). High productivity within

shorter duration is possible through inorganic fertilizers (Nagavardhanam2017). Enhancing food

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productivity has driven innovations in cropping systems and practices including the use of

synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, etc., which are responsible for polluting the environment and
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vital natural resources. Crops can yield their best with fertilizers. Due to scarcity of land, and

considering time factor, farmers have turned to chemical fertilizers, which are quick in action but

pollute soil fertility by adding more salts to the soil (Swapna 2013). Continuous farming with

inorganic fertilizers leads to natural resource pollution including soil health and water quality

(Rajasekaran et al. 2012).

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 Agriculturists, natural resource scientists and environmentalists are very much interested

to develop organic farming to sustain soil health. Organic fertilizer increases the soil organic

matter (SOM) content which positively correlates with microbial activity and soil fertility

(Birkhofer et al.2008). Preservation of SOM is very important as it increases water retention,

intake and release of nutrients, and reduce leaching of soil nutrients. High SOM favors vegetable

crop production by reducing the adverse effects of soluble salts on plant growth (Chang et

al.2007).Organic fertilizers can increase yield attributes (Bhati and Prasad2005) and enhance

secondary metabolite quantity and phyto-nutritional quality (Dumas et al. 2003).The main reason

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for limited use of organic fertilizers in agriculture is the assertion that organics need

comparatively more land to produce the same output as inorganic fertilizers. However, several
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reports indicate that the agricultural sector is far better with organic farming. Hence several

scientists are exploring way to improve the use of organics in agriculture (Amor 2007,
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Karanatsidis and Berova 2009).

Capsicum annum L. (pepper), a famous world commercial crop and well known for its
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pungency was selected as the crop species for the study. Among the numerous species of

capsicum only five species, C. annum, C. baccatum, C. chinense, C. frutescens and C. pubescens

are considered for cultivation and within those five only C. annum, C.frutescens, and C.

chinensehave been commercially grown in the world. C. annum plays an important role in

human diet because of its antioxidant and anticoagulant activities (Bosland and Votava 2012). It

is commonly known as Chilli/pepper and in most cases, it is used as symbol of spice. Chilli can

be used as a fresh, dried or fermented food condiment. Chilli production has been in demand

because of increased commercial uses of chilli in food processing industries (Suharja et al.

2009).Increased demand of chilli production can be met with supplying the species with the

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essential nutrients it requires for growth and development. Sadewo (2008),

Allabi(2005),Chellemi and Lazarovits (2002), reported that macro and micro nutrients are

essential for increasing the productivity of chilli.

Medicago sativa(alfalfa)a leguminous crop, commonly known as queen of forage crops,

with a known NPK content of 3:1:2 (Baker 2011) was used as source of organic nutrient in this

investigation. It was selected as a source of organic extract because of its high nitrogen content,

biomass production and slow releasing capacity of its nutrients by decomposition. Alfalfa is also

a common animal feed because of its high nitrogen content. Because this research involves

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comparative evaluation of the growth promoting potentials of organic nutrients and inorganic

fertilizers, Miracle Gro® was adopted as the inorganic fertilizer because of its wide use in home

gardening in the United States.

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Chlorophyll is an important catalyst for photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is a green pigment
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present in thylakoid membranes and acts as a catalyst to convert carbon dioxide into

carbohydrates during photosynthesis. Chlorophyll content of the plant leaves was measured to
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know the impact of treatments.

Cultivation of vegetable crops like pepper demand for continuous and adequate supply of

nutrients (Chaung et al. 2006) for their superior quality of growth and development. Those

required nutrients are provided by the organic fertilizer (Zayed et al. 1997) after the process of

decomposition.

Despite the advantages of organic fertilizers to the environment and human, farmers and

natural resource managers still apply abundant inorganic fertilizers in agriculture and natural

resource cultural practices in part due to the following:

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 1. The quick action of inorganic fertilizers on plant growth and development and therefore

higher yield

2. The delay associated with nutrient releases in the soil due to the rate of organic matter

decomposition.

The objectives of this research therefore are to circumvent the time lag for organic matter

decomposition to release organic nutrients, and to use such nutrients as fertilizer to evaluation

their plant growth and development potentials relative to those of inorganic fertilizers. We

hypothesize that there would be no statistical significant differences between growth and

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development of C. annum treated with organic extract (OE) and Miracle-Gro® (MG).

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