Comparative Evaluation of the Effect of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on the Growth of the Seedlings of Deinbolia pinnata Schum. & Thonn: An Underutilised Multipurpose Species

Aims: A pot experiment conducted to assess the effects of organic fertiliser (cow dung) and inorganic fertiliser (urea) on the growth of Deinbolia pinnata Schum. & Thonn seedlingsStudy Design: The experimental design was A Complete Randomized Design replicated ten times.Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at the Multipurpose Tree Species Multiplication and Improvement Unit Nursery at Forestry Research Institute Of Nigeria (FRIN) for a period of sixteen weeksMethodology: The design include 2.5kg of cow dung+ 5kg of soil,5.0kg of cow dung + 10kg of soil,7.5kg of cow dung + 15kg of soil and urea 0.5g of urea +5kgof soil 1.0kg of urea +10kg of soil and 1.5kg of urea = 15kg of soil with control (no fertilizer application).Results:It was found out that fertilizer application had a significant effect on all the growth variables at 0.05 probability level. The best performance was recorded in the seedlings raised with cow dung with a mean value in plant height (20.59cm), a number of leaves (36) and a number of branches (32) while the control has the highest mean value in collar diameter (6.96mm).respectively.Conclusion:It is recommended that organic fertilisers should be applied in raising Deinbolia pinnataseedlings. These research advocates for the use of naturally produced fertilisers as products from such is safe for human consumption. this can also reduce the harmful effect of an inorganically produced crop on mankind.