Effect of Biomixture Containing Spent Coffee Ground and Milled Egg-shells on The Yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus Moench) and Soil Fertility under Greenhouse Conditions

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of biomixture including spent coffee ground and milled egg-shells (ratio of 10:2 (w/w)) on the yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus Moench) and soil fertility, an experiment was conducted in the greenhouse for 3 months with four replicates for each treatment. The soil sample in this study was collected from the experimental farm of Cantho University. The biomixture was applied with 3 levels: 5, 10 and 15% (w/w). A commonly recommended inorganic fertilizer application rate for Okra was used as control treatment and 15% of used coffee ground as another treatment to study a single effect of used coffee ground on yield of Okra and soil fertility. Results showed that although the plan performance was much better in the control treatment, the highest yield of Okra was found in the treatments amended with 10 and 5% of the biomixture and was 167 and 161 g/plant/pot, respectively. The yield was much higher in these two treatments than that in the control treatment. The appearance of Okra fruits in the amended biomixture treatments reached the standard quality for selling. Moreover, organic matter, N, P, pH, bacterial and fungal cell counts in soils were enhanced considerably when amended with this biomixture. Five percent of the biomixture performed as the best treatment to enhance Okra yield in the greenhouse experiment.