Abstract:
Purpose : Fruit peels waste is one of the waste accumulate in huge quantity every day. It is a serious problem
and need to be managed to make environment free from pollution. Fruit peels are very rich in macro and micro
nutrients that are beneficial for plant growth. By using fruit peel as fertilizer we can reduce load of wastes and
can get more benefits than inorganic fertilizer.
Research Method : The experiment was carried out in a Completely Randomized Design with six treatments having
twenty replicates. Treatments were, recommended fertilizer application at basal and topdressing (T1, control), half
dose of recommended fertilizer application at basal and topdressing times with 1g of banana peel powder (T2), 1g of
pomegranate peel powder (T3), 1g of orange peel powder (T4), 0.5g each of banana and pomegranate peel powders
(T5) and 0.5g each of orange and banana peel powders (T6) at both times. All agronomic practices were followed as
per Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka except fertilizers.
Findings : The results reveals that application of fruit peel powder at basal and top dressing had significant
differences (P<0.05) on plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, chlorophyll content, days to
50% and 100% flowering, dry weights of leaves, stem, root and fruit, fruit length and girth. At 1st, 2nd, 3rd
and 4th picking, and the highest value was obtained in T6 and lowest value in T1.
Originality/ Value : Application of fruit peel powder into the soil leads to improve growth and yield of okra
in sandy regosol compared to recommended inorganic fertilizer and present study suggested that, among
the all tested treatments, half recommended fertilizer application at basal and topdressing times with 0.5g
each of orange and banana peel powders at both times would be the most suitable fruit peel powders to get
higher growth and yield of okra in sandy regosol.
