Determination of the Optimum Application Rate of Pig Slurry for Red Pepper Cultivation

This study was carried out to determine the application rate of pig slurry for red pepper. Field experiment was designed with non-fertilizer, chemical fertilizer recommended by soil testing (CFRST) and pig slurry treatments. In pig slurry (PS) plots, pig slurry was applied as basal fertilizer with different equivalents to nitrogen of chemical fertilizer plot (60%: PS60, 80%: PS80, 100%: PS100, 120%: PS120) and chemical fertilizer was top-dressed additionally. Soil organic matter contents after 50 day of planting and after experiment in the plots treated with PS were higher than that of CFRST plot, whereas content of of CFRST plot was higher than that of PS plot. Growth of red pepper were lowest in the non-fertilizer plot. Plant lengths of red pepper at 50 day after planting were similar among the different treatments, plant lengths of red pepper of PS100, PS120 and CFRST at 100 day after planting were higher than those of the PS60 and PS80 plots. But Main stem and stem diameter of red pepper were not different among the treatments. Uptake rate of N, P and K by red pepper plant were 27-44, 9-16 and 41-68% for total N, and , respectively. Utilization of applied fertilizer ingredient by red pepper plant were in the order of PS80> PS60> FRST> PS100> PS120. Yield of red pepper tends to increase by 3% in the PS100 compared with the CFRST, but there was not significant difference between PS120 and CFRST. Chemical component of run-off collected from the furrow of the red pepper field was not different among the treatments. Greenhouse gases ( and ) emission of non-fertilizer, PS100 and CFRST during the whole red pepper growth period were 4.0, 4.8 and , and 0.74, 6.68 and . Emission of and in PS100 was higher than those of CFRST by 23% and 26%, respectively. In this connection, to be used the pig slurry for red pepper, it is required that pig slurry must be decomposed for six months or more. Consequently, pig slurry equivalent to nitrogen of basal fertilizer of CFRST with additional top dressing of chemical fertilizer is recommend as an optimum application rate of pig slurry for red pepper.