Profitability of the use of poultry manure for cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) production in Iwollo, Southeastern Nigeria

A field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Enugu state polytechnic, Iwollo, Southeastern Nigeria in 2020 to evaluate the profitability of the use of poultry manure for cucumber production in the area. The study was carried out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The treatment comprised different rates of poultry manure viz; 0 (control), 5, 10, 15 and 20 t ha-1. The growth and yield parameters investigated were vine length, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, leaf area index, number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant and fruit yield per hectare. The data collected on growth and yield parameters were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and treatment means were separated using Fisher's least significant difference (F-LSD) at 5% level of probability. Gross margin (GM) as well Return on Investment (RoI) was calculated to determine the profitability. The results showed that poultry manure significantly (p<0.05) induced higher vine length, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, leave area index, number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant and fruit yield per hectare compared to control (0 t/ha) with optimum values obtained in 20 t ha-1. The profitability of the use of poultry manure increased with increase in the rate of poultry manure. The highest gross margin (N 3,233,860) was obtained from 20 t ha-1 of poultry manure followed by 15 t ha-1 (N 2,021,020), 10 t ha-1 (N 1,381,748), 5 t ha-1 (N 588,300) and 0 t ha-1(N14,660). Similarly, the highest RoI was obtained in 20 t ha-1 of poultry manure (325.95%) followed by 15 t ha-1 (237.49%); 10 t ha-1 (185%); 5 t ha-1 (93%) and the lowest was in 0 t ha-1 (2.76%). It could be concluded from the study that the use of poultry manure for cucumber production in Iwollo is profitable and most profitable when 20 t ha-1 is used.