Food waste as alternative natural fertilizer for okra plants (Abelmoschus Esculentus L.)

Abstract

Many food preparation areas generate leftover food from vegetables, fruits, and meat. Consequently, the abandoned food will produce an unpleasant odour, attracted wild animals that roam around and disturb the residents. In this study, a combination of food waste; for instance, fruits, vegetables, and meat was used as a natural fertilizer for okra plant and the growth performance of the okra plant was analysed by measuring the plant height and the diameter of the stem. Three major components were used as compost fertilizer, namely brown sugar, food waste, and water, in ratio 1:5:10, respectively. The liquid fertilizer produced from the composted food waste was applied to okra plants in various dilution concentrations (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%). After ten weeks, the okra plant gave the highest growth and bigger diameter of 61.80 cm and 0.78 cm, respectively, indicating that the growth performance of the okra plants increased rapidly and healthily using the highest dilution. The effect of nutrients on okra plants was determined by nitrogen ammonia (NH3-N), phosphate (PO4 3-), and nitrate (NO2-N) analysis. The composted fertilizer showed that the application of natural fertilizer is beneficial to human and can contribute significantly to the conservation of the environment.