ABSTRACT

Pepper (Capicuni S/2 is an important commercial vegetable crop that is widely grown throughout the tropics. It belongs to the family Solanaceue. There are four species of Capsicuin which includes Cbaccatu,n. C. pubescens, C. annuum and C. frutescens. The last two species are grown in commercial scale in most countries of the world. The fruit of Capsicuin frutescens are highly pungent and some types could he really fiery. Fruits of C.annuurn are usually mild and less pungent (Uguru, 1996). They are annual (C. annuum) or perennial (C. ti descens) herhaceous plants. Nigeria's annual production in 1991, 1992 and 1993 were 850000 and 900000 metric tons (Anonymous, 1993). The low yield obtained by farmers is due to lack of improved cultivars and attack by pest and diseases (Alegbeo et at 1991). Also the utisols which constitute the main agricultural lands of Southern Nigeria cover more than 70% of the total land area (Mbagwu, 1992) but they suffer the constraint of low reserves of essential plant nutrients and high soil acidity (Unamba — Oparah, 1985; Mbagwu, 1989). Use of organic manure is recommended for managing such soil to improve the nutrient content, physical characteristics and to sustain yield with the current high cost of inorganic fertilizer (M'oagwu and Ekwealour, 1990).