Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management

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Browsing Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management by Subject "Aquaponics System"

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    Effects of Water Hyacinth-based (Eichhornia Crassipes) Vermicompost Tea (Aqueous Extract) Supplement on Growth Performance of Lettuce Under Non-Circulating Hydroponics and Aquaponics System
    (Addis Ababa University, 2020-11-14) Ruth, Upile; Geremew, Akewake (PhD)
    The study was conducted to determine the effects of water hyacinth-based (Eichhornia crassipes) vermicompost tea (aqueous extract) supplement on growth performance of lettuce under the non-circulating hydroponics system. Water hyacinth is nutrient-rich and can undergo vermicomposting and be used in hydroponics or aquaponics production systems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential use of water hyacinth-based vermicompost tea material in a hydroponics system for an improved product of lettuce and management of water hyacinth through utilization. The study used a systematic random sampling design to obtain the sample size of a total of 33 plants per unit. To compare the effect of various dilutions of water hyacinth based vermicompost tea and the growth performance of lettuce in non-circulating hydroponic and aquaponic systems leaf area, shoot length, root-shoot ratio, growth rate, moisture content analysis, were used. Ash and digesting methods were used to determine the effect of various dilutions of hyacinth-based vermicompost tea on the concentration of selected nutrients and heavy metals in lettuce. Lettuce dosed with hydroponics nutrient solution were significantly different at (P<0.05) from lettuce supplied with water hyacinth-based vermicompost extract dosed at 30%, 40% and 60%, the plants had a higher growth rate, shoot length and moisture content, large leaf area and a small root-shoot ratio. Lettuce dosed with vermicompost tea was resistant to aphid and fungi attack, while the ones dosed with synthetic solutions were attacked. Yield from hydroponics and aquaponics system was not significant. Lettuce dosed with WHBVCT were short in nutrient content in their solutions while the ones with synthetic solutions had enough nutrient supply. Lettuce dosed with WHBVCT had nutrient and heavy metal concentrations within the permissible limit, except for treatment dosed at 30% and 40% which showed a higher Pd and Zn values. WHBVCT is rich in chitinase, phenols and alcohol which digest the chitin of insects and phenol and inhibit the growth of fungus and spread of insects which made lettuce with WHBVCT more resistant than the others. Therefore, WHBCVT can be used to control aphids and fungus, but it cannot be used for lettuce production non-circulating hydroponics and trials have to be made on fruiting vegetables to observe its performance.