Chapter IV

Results and Discussion

This chapter presented the result gathered in the study, here the collected data from

the first and second cropping. It includes the growth, yield, and nutrient use efficiency of

pechay. The fertilizer materials used in the study were: 1) organic fertilizer, which was

chicken manure; 2) inorganic fertilizer which were urea and ammonium phosphate; 3)

combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers.

General observation

The experiment was conducted at Brgy. Pahinga Sur Candelaria, Quezon. This

location has an open area that is suitable for 16 pots where it offered sunlight exposure.

Moreover, the location had all the materials and equipment that were available to perform the

experiment.

During the first week of the plants after transplanting in the 2 nd cropping, there was a

little disturbance in the growth performance of pechay. The presence of Diamond moth larvae

was observed, which consumed little parts of the leaves. To address this issue, manual hand

picking was employed as a method of pest control to larvae.

Result of the Initial STK

Data on soil chemical properties of initial sample consist of chemical properties

presented on table. The chemical properties of soil involve total nitrogen, available

phosphorus, exchangeable potassium and soil pH. Due to the unavailability of Regional Soils

Laboratory at the Southern Tagalog Integrated Agricultural Research Center, researcher use

soil test kit for initial chemical soil test.

Table . Initial soil analysis
Initial Soil Analysis

Properties Result

Total Nitrogen Low

Available Phosphorus Medium

Exchangeable Potassium Sufficient

Soil Physicochemical Properties

Data on soil physicochemical properties consist of physical and chemical properties.

Soil physical properties involve the soil’s bulk density and porosity. Percent Nitrogen (N),

Total Phosphorus (P), Exchangeable Potassium (K) and soil pH were included in soil

chemical properties.

Bulk density

The result of the analysis of bulk density showed that there is a significant difference

between treatments. The treatment 1, which was the soil treated with organic fertilizer has the

highest mean whereas treatment 4, which was the soil with no fertilizer has the lowest mean.

This is supported by the study of Verma, S. et al. (2024), stated that use of organic manure

significantly influencetheca on several physical characteristics of soil, such as bulk density,

porosity, soil structure, and water retention capacity. These effects ultimately contribute to

the overall health of the soil and its ability to support agricultural productivity.
 Bulk Density
0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 4.06 0.0442*
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 9.77%

Porosity
The table presents the data on porosity of soil after the harvest of pechay, comparing

different fertilizer materials. The study finds significant differences between the different

fertilizer materials on soil grown with pechay. The treatment 4, which was the soil treated

with no fertilizer has the highest mean whereas the soil with organic fertilizer has the lowest

mean.
 Porosity
45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 3.95 0.0473*
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 10.20%

Total Nitrogen (N)

The analysis showed that there is a highly significant difference between the treatments,

whereas, the treatment 4 which was treatment with no fertilizer showed the highest mean

where the treatment 2 which was the inorganic fertilizer showed the lowest mean
 Total Nitrogen
0.45

0.4

0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 47.32 0.0000**
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 3.54%

Available Phosphorus (P)

The analysis showed that there is a highly significant difference between treatments whereas,

the treatment 4 showed the highest mean where the treatment 2 showed the lowest mean.
 Available phosphorus
600

500

400

300

200

100

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Exchangeable Potassium (K)

The analysis of variance finds that there is a significant difference between different

treatments. Treatment 1, which was the organic fertilizer has the highest mean and treatment

4 which was the treatment with no fertilizer has the lowest. This is supported by the study of

Priyanka (2021). Studies have shown that the use of fertilizers, either alone or in combination

with organic manure, results in an increase in different forms of potassium in the soil. These

forms include water-soluble potassium, exchangeable potassium, non-exchangeable

potassium, lattice potassium, and total potassium.

 Exchangeable K
1000

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 77247520.75 0.0000**
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 0.0068%

Soil pH

The analysis of variance finds that there is a significant difference between different

treatments. Treatment 2, which was the treatment treated with inorganic fertilizer has the

highest mean and treatment 1 which was the treatment with organic fertilizer has the lowest.
 Soil pH
8.4

8.3

8.2

8.1

7.9

7.8

7.7

7.6

7.5

7.4

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 6.49 0.00125*
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 2.62%

Growth and Yield Parameters on First Copping of Pechay

In terms of growth parameters of pechay applied with different fertilizer materials, the

parameters include the weekly plant height, weekly number of leaves, length of roots, fresh

plant biomass and dry plant biomass. On the other hand, the yield parameters of pechay

included the leaf width, length of widths, and weight of harvest per pot.

Weekly Height of Plant

Table summarizes the plant height of pechay from week 1 to week 4. In week 1, week

2, and week 3, the analysis of variance showed no significant differences between the

treatment mean values. In week 4, the analysis of variance showed significant differences
between the treatments in which treatment 1 which is the inorganic fertilizer has the highest

mean while treatment 4 has the lowest.

Plant height

Treatment Means
Treatments Week
1 2 3 4
1-Organic 6.67 8.12 12.42 23.38b
Fertilizer
2-Inorganic 5.42 8.71 12.67 25.54a
Fertilizer
3- Combination 5.87 8.92 12.96 24.21b
of organic and
inorganic
fertilizers
4-No fertilizer 5.75 7.46 11.46 20.79c
Standard - - - 0.8693
Deviation
CV% 10.20 8.40 5.80 2.31

Weekly Number of Leaves

The analysis of variance showed significant differences between the treatments used in the

study. Treatment 2, which was the inorganic fertilizer has the highest mean value whereas

treatment 4 showed the lowest mean value.

 Weekly Numbers of leaves
12

10

0
week 1 week 2 week 3 week4

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Length of Roots
The analysis of variance showed highly significant differences between the treatments

used in the study. Treatment 2, which was the inorganic fertilizer has the highest mean value

whereas treatment 4 showed the lowest mean value.

Length of roots
11

10.5

10

9.5

8.5

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
 Source of Variance F Value Pr
Treatment 21.40 0.0002**
CV= 2.56% ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant

Fresh Plant Biomass

Figure presents the average value of four treatments in terms of fresh plant biomass

after harvesting the pechay. The analysis of variance exhibited high significant differences

between the different treatments used in the study, Whereas treatment 2, which was the

inorganic fertilizer have the highest mean while treatment 4 which was treatment with no

fertilizer has the lowest mean.

Fresh biomass
80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 287.71 0.0000**
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 6.76%

Dry Plant Biomass

The analysis of variance exhibited high significant differences between the different

treatments used in the study, Whereas treatment 2, which was the inorganic fertilizer have the

highest mean while treatment 4 which was treatment with no fertilizer has the lowest mean.
 Dry biomass
35

30

25

20

15

10

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 11.14 0.0022*
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 31.10 %

Length of Leaves
Figure presents the average value of four treatments in terms of length of leaves after

harvesting the pechay. The analysis of variance exhibited significant differences between the

different treatments used in the study, Whereas treatment 2, which was inorganic fertilizer

and treatment 3, which was the combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer have the

highest mean while treatment 4 which was treatment with no fertilizer has the lowest mean.
 Length of leaves
14

13.5

13

12.5

12

11.5

11

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 5.09 0.0248*

ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant

CV=2.38

Leaf Width
The analysis of variance exhibited significant differences between the different

treatments used in the study. Whereas treatment 3 which was the combination of organic and

inorganic fertilizer has the highest mean while the treatment 4, which was the treatment with

no fertilizer showed the lowest mean

 Leaf width
11

10.5

10

9.5

8.5

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 5.89 0.0165*
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 2.60%

Growth and Yield Parameters on Second Copping of Pechay

The following data were gathered on the second cropping of pechay applied

with different fertilizer materials:

Weekly Height of Plant

Table summarizes the plant height of pechay from week 1 to week 4. In week 1, the

analysis of variance showed significant differences between the treatments in which treatment

3 which was the combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers has the highest treatment

mean then treatment 2, which was the inorganic fertilizer has the lowest.

In week 2, week 3, and week 4, the analysis of variance showed no significant

differences between the treatments.

Plant height

Treatment Means
Treatments Week
1 2 3 4
1-Organic 6.54b 8.96 12.16 20.71
Fertilizer
2-Inorganic 6.33b 9.67 12.33 19.54
Fertilizer
3- Combination 7.83a 10.42 12.87 21.12
of organic and
inorganic
fertilizers
4-No fertilizer 6.58b 9.79 11.54 20.71
Standard 0.3395 - - -
Deviation
CV% 3.11 8.04 4.86 3.87

Weekly Numbers of Leaves

The analysis of variance exhibited significant differences between the different

treatments used in the study. Whereas treatment 3 which was the combination of organic and

inorganic fertilizer has the highest mean while the treatment 2, which was the treatment with

inorganic fertilizer showed the lowest mean

Weekly Numbers of leaves

12

10

0
week 1 week 2 week 3 week4

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Length of Roots

The analysis of variance showed that there is no significant difference between the treatments

Length of root
TREATMENT TREATMENT MEAN
1-Organic 12.17
2-Inorgnic 11.67
3-Combination 11.42
4-No fertilizer 12.00
Standard deviation
*Means with the different letter are significantly different
Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 0.61 0.6261ns
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 2.56
Fresh Plant Biomass

The analysis of variance exhibited high significant differences between the different

treatments used in the study, Whereas treatment 3, which was the combination of organic and

inorganic fertilizer have the highest mean while treatment 1 which was treatment with

organic fertilizer has the lowest mean.

Fresh biomass
70

60

50

40

30

20

10

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Dry Plant Biomass

The analysis of variance exhibited high significant differences between the different

treatments used in the study, Whereas treatment 3, which was the combination of organic and

inorganic fertilizer have the highest mean while treatment 1 which was treatment with

organic fertilizer has the lowest mean.

Dry biomass
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

organic inorganic combination no fertilizer

Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 105.53 0.0000**
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV= 6.10 %

Length of Leaves
The analysis of variance showed that there is no significant differences among the treatments
Length of leaves
 TREATMENT TREATMENT MEAN
1-Organic 14.37
2-Inorgnic 13.67
3-Combination 14.46
4-No fertilizer 14.50
Standard deviation
*Means with the different letter are significantly different
Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 1.22 0.3569ns
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV=4.99%

Leaf width
The analysis of variance showed that there is no significant differences among the treatments

TREATMENT TREATMENT MEAN

1-Organic 10.92
2-Inorgnic 10.38
3-Combination 11.67
4-No fertilizer 11.38
Standard deviation
*Means with the different letter are significantly different
Analysis of Variance
Source of Variance F Value P value
Treatment 3.64 0.0574ns
ⁿˢNot Significant * Significant **Highly Significant
CV=5.33%