Browsing by Author "Gammanpila, H.W."

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Open Access
The Impact of Bitt ern and Gliricidia on the Growth of Chili Plants in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2024-12-04) Senavirathne, H.M.R.Y.; Gunasekara, N; Priyadarshani, S.V.G.N.; Gammanpila, H.W.
Due to its unique spiciness, Capsicum annuum, Chili is an economically valuable crop in high demand in global and local markets. It belongs to the Solanaceae family. This study investi gated the eff ect of Bitt ern and Gliricidia sepium, Gliricidia plant leaf extract pulp as a complete organic multi -nutrient low-cost ferti lizer. Vermi wash and Albert’s Soluti on were used as inorganic and organic treatments to analyze the eff ect on Chili plant growth and development. This experiment observed suitable ferti lizer treatment for the bitt ern soluti on to complete nitrogen defi ciency and generate complete organic ferti lizer. This study employed a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 13 Treatment groups and 1 controlled group. Treatments were carried out for 10 weeks. Chili plant growth was analyzed using data for vegetati ve growth parameters, height, stem width, leaf count, and leaf area. Bitt ern 25% complex with Gliricidia sepium leaf extract pulp treated plants were the fi rst initi ati ng branching, second tallest plants (25.5 cm) with secondary branching was observed. Bitt ern 25%, Gliricidia sepium leaf extract pulp with Albert’s soluti on also signifi cantly showed the highest results on growth, tallest plants (28.5cm), the highest number of leaves, Branching & secondary branching. Analyzing results identi fi ed suitable bitt ern concentrati on with organic complex for opti mal plant growth. Pot plant treatments should increase with growth stages to prevent nutrient defi ciencies and opti mize growth and development. Stati sti cal analysis used One-way ANOVA and Microsoft Excel.
Open Access
A Study on the Eff ect of Bitt ern Treatments with Organic Ferti lizers on the Growth of Tomato
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2024-12-04) De Alwis, N.S; Priyadarshani, S. V. G. N.; Gammanpila, H.W.
Bitt ern, a byproduct of the solar salt producti on process has been studied for its potenti al to become a cost-eff ecti ve ferti lizer due to its high ion concentrati on. However, high salt toxicity and low levels of phosphorus and nitrogen have aff ected its ability to supply the plant’s nutriti onal requirements on its own fully. Here we observe its success as a ferti lizer when paired with known organic, nutriti onal sources such as Gliricidia sepium and Vermi-wash in the growth of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) a crop of high commercial value and nutriti on, that is culti vated in Sri Lanka during both agricultural seasons. These two components when added to diluted Bitt ern were able to provide nutrients that Bitt ern did not contain. Certain combinati ons of rati os of the three components were revealed to be more successful than others with the combinati on of Bitt ern 25%, Gliricidia leaf pulp, and Vermi-wash 25% leading to a 63% overall increase in growth parameters, surpassing the increment of its respecti ve control group. This indicated that Bitt ern could be uti lized to develop a substi tute for expensive inorganic ferti lizers by pairing it with other low-cost, organic nutriti onal sources such as Gliricidia sepium and Vermi-wash. This may also be a more environmentally friendly substi tute for syntheti c ferti lizers.