| dc.description.abstract | CABBAGE is an important food, medicinal and cash crop in Uganda that increasing its production and productivity
must be emphasized. The yield and quality of cabbage head are partly influenced by fertilizers application method
used / nutrient level. There is an increased land degradation and low use of fertilizers by famers in Uganda leading
to low cabbage yields and poor quality – dry matter. Most farmers have low adoptility in fertilizer use which would
otherwise cabbage production. In order to boost cabbage production in Uganda, the fertilizer application method
used should be affordable, efficient and environmentally friendly for sustainable usage. In order to address these,
this study was designed with the aim of establishing the efficacy of foliar fertilizer application on growth and yields
of cabbages in Butunduzi sub-county Kyenjojo. The objectives of the study were to determine the growth
parameters, yield output and nutritive content of cabbage varieties under different fertilizer application methods
convectional fertilizer and foliar fertilizer application methods. The fertilizers used were NPK 25:5:5, vigmax and
Easgro on two varieties of cabbage namely; Gloria and Copenhagen. The study was carried out for two seasons at
Mujungu Farm Butunduzi subcounty Kyenjojo District. The experiment was carried in a 4 x 4 factorial arranged in
a Randomized Complete Block design (RCBD) with four replications for each season. Results showed that growth
parameters like plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, were not significantly different among the fertilizer
application methods. The application of Vigmax (F1) on GLORIA (V1) led to the highest means plant height of
28.75 cm in season one and 30.25 cm in season two . On the other hand, copenghen cabbage (V2) plants which
were subjected to the control (C) treatment showed the least means of plant height of 16.33 cm in season one and
16.50 cm in season two. The height of 26.3cm was the best for copenghen and it was achieved in season two. NPK
treatment that was used on Gloria (V1) had the greatest influence on the number of leaves of cabbage plants of 16.00 in season one, while vigmax (F1) treatment had the greatest effect on cabbage number of leaves of 16.17 in
season two. The yield potentials of all varieties were achieved with use of any fertilizer application method. The
highest overall means head weight was achieved from vigmax(F1) with Gloria at 104.0 t/ha during Season two and
this was far better than 70 t/ha internationally recorded tonnage for hybride varieties and the lowest over all mean at
25.4 t/ha from copenghen with control treatment during season one. Copenghen yielded most at 67.3 t/ha during
season two with vigmax (F1) and this was equally far better than the average tonnage of 30 t/ ha for OPV varieties.
There is a significant difference between the means of copenghen (V2) and Gloria (V1) varieties in both seasons.
COPENGHEN with control treatment had the greatest influence on the content of Calories (24.2g), Carbohydrates
(19.7g), and Vitamin K (67.7mcg) in cabbage. Meanwhile, Gloria with NPK treatment had the lowest influence on
the content of Calories (22.1g) and Carbohydrates (18.4g). Vigmax( F1) treatment with copenghen (V2) had the
greatest influence on Vitamin A (3.1mg) and Vitamin C (32.8mg) while F2 treatment with Gloria (F2V1) had the
least mean of Vitamin A of 2.9 mg and Gloria variety with control treatment(C1V1) had the lowest mean of
Vitamin C of 32.4mg in season one. Both treatment F1, F2 and NPK gave exceptionally good results which beyond
the normal. Treatment F1 that was applied onto Gloria (V1) cabbage plants was the most effective treatment in
regard to significantly influencing the growth parameters. Similarly, treatment F1 that was applied on Gloria gave
the best yield results. Control Treatment gave good results in terms of nutritive content than all treatments. | en_US |
