Effectiveness of Pulverized Cultured Banana (Musa acuminata) Peelings as Growth

Enhancer on Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Plant

Submitted by:

Binas, Richlyn T. STE 10 - ATHENA

Submitted to:

Mrs. Sharon Gallo Evangelista

Introduction

Over the last century, the global population has quadrupled. Earlier, in 1915, the

world population was 1.8 billion. Today according to the most recent estimate by the

United Nations, there are 7.3 billion people - and may reach 9.7 billion by 2050. This

increase in the population as well as the income rising in developing countries is also

causing an increase in demand for food. With such a rampant increase in population,

and industrialization and to meet such high demand for food, the farmers have to

produce more and more food. This can be achieved by increasing the area of

agricultural land required to grow crops or enhancing the productivity of the

agricultural land available by using chemical fertilizers, irrigation, and new methods of

farming. To be able to produce more food and therefore be more productive, farmers

have been more dependent on synthetic fertilizers (Vanlalmawii E. and Awasthi

M.,2016).

The widespread use of chemical fertilizers has contributed to environmental

degradation especially in soil fertility by reducing the natural nutrients on the soil

surface. Through the intensive use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture increases crop

production but at the same time, it causes a negative impact on land, air, water, and

on environmental health. In order to combine hydrogen and nitrogen gases to make

fertilizer, chemists use a process that submits both elements under enormous pressure

and heat in presence of a catalyst. To supply the process with the needed energy a

great amount of electricity is needed, and electricity is mostly produced by burning

fossil fuels which is the leading cause of global warming and other environmental

problems.

In order to solve these issues, better alternative techniques have been gaining

quite some importance. Instead of using inorganic/ synthetic fertilizers, farmers can

use organic/natural fertilizers. Organic fertilizers include substances such as dried blood

or seaweed derivatives, which are of animal and plant origin respectively (Saini V.,

Gupta S., Verma R. and Singh B., 2017).

One way of using organic fertilizer is composting. The composting process does

not bum fossil fuels and the use of compost as soil amendment does not pollute our

waters. Composting practice is an alternative sustainable waste management practice

to transform organic waste into a valuable commodity. Composting benefits the

environment because manure nutrients are converted to more stable forms and are

less likely to reach groundwater or move in surface runoff. Compost is valued for its

organic matter content and is typically used as a soil amendment to enhance the

chemical, physical and biological properties of soil. (Kadiret A.A., Rahman N.A. and

Azhari N.W.,2016)

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a bush or vine crop, growing rapidly within

90 to 150 days. It is one leading vegetable in the Philippines based on the value of

production. Its fruit contains significant amounts of Vitamin A and C, which can be

processed into juice, paste and sauce or sold as fresh tomato for salad and pickle

ingredient. This vegetable crop commands high price. It is one of the most profitable
crops grown in the Philippines during the rainy months or early part of dry season

when supply is scarce (Knott et al, 1967).

Banana (Musa acuminata) peelings is known to contain great amount of

nutrients such as, potassium, sodium which help in the movement of water between

cells, magnesium which helps in the photosynthesis process, sulfur which aids in the

formation of chlorophyll, calcium which helps the plants take up more nitrogen,

phosphorus, and trace amount of nitrogen (Lawas, et al., 2019 and Kristi, 2018). The

peelings of banana will be used, aside from it containing essential nutrients for the

growth of the plant, banana peelings are also discarded after eating the fruits,so it is a

cheap and harmless material to use

This study will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of pulverized

banana (Musa acuminata) peelings as growth enhancer on tomatoes (Solanum

lycopersicum). This study seeks to answer the following questions: a) Is there a

significant difference on the growth activity of varying concentrations of pulverized

Banana (Musa acuminata) peel in terms of the difference in the soil hydration where

the tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are planted? b) Is there a significant difference

on the growth activity of varying concentration of pulverized Banana ( Musa acuminata)

peel in terms of the difference in timing of application based on the growth stage of

tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plant?

 The following hypotheses of this study states that there is no significant

difference on the growth activity of varying concentrations of pulverized Banana (Musa

acuminata) peel in terms of the difference in the soil hydration where the tomatoes

(Solanum lycopersicum) are planted. While there is a significant difference on the

growth activity of varying concentration of pulverized Banana ( Musa acuminata) peel in

terms of the difference in timing of application based on the growth stage of tomato

(Solanum lycopersicum) plant. If proven effective, this study may give knowledge to

other researchers about the efficacy of pulverized banana ( Musa acuminata) peel as a

natural growth enhancer on tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum). Moreover, this study

can be a basis for other researchers conducting related studies.

Methods

The following will be the venue of the different tests to be conducted in the study:

 New market of the Municipality of Buenavista. It will be the site where the

banana (Musa acuminata) will be collected.

 Brgy. Salvacion, Buenavista, Guimaras. It will be the side where the tomatoes

(Solanum lycopersicum) will be planted, and the banana (Musa acuminata) be

peeled.
  Barangay Salvacion, Buenavista, Guimaras. It will be the site where the

experimentation will take place.

Preparation of Materials

The materials that will be utilized during the conduct of this study are the following:

tomato seedlings, tomato seedlings, 2 kilos of banana peels, mortar and pestle, 1 big

container for pulverized banana peel, marker, masking tape, weighing scale, beaker,

shovel,ruler and tap water.

Collection of Test Samples

8 2-week-old tomato seedlings and 8 4-week-old tomato seedlings on Binas’

residence, Brgy. Salvacion, Buenavista, Guimaras planted prior to the conduct of the

experiment. 2 kilos of banana peelings will be gathered from the banana fruits bought

from the Buenavista New Market.

Preparation of Banana Peel Powder

The collected banana peelings will be soaked in tap water for two days until

bubbly. The banana peelingss will be dried under the sun for three days. Using the

mortar and pestle, the samples will be pounded until finely pulverized.

Preparation of Labels

All twelve (12) tomato seedlings will be prepared to match the indicated number

of replicates in each treatment, and each will be labeled to the corresponding

treatment and replicates.

Preparation of Treatments

The pulverized banana peelings will be measured according to the indicated

grams using a weighing scale, a beaker will also be used to measure the indicated

amount of water to attain the following:

Treatment one with 75 grams of pulverized cultured banana peel

Treatment two with 50 grams of pulverized cultured banana peel

Treatment three with 25 grams of pulverized cultured banana peel

Treatment four (+) control will be applied with synthetic fertilizer, and

Treatment five (-) control will be untreated.

Application of Treatments

The treatments will be placed on the soil upon roots of tomato seedlings and will

be watered in comparison to positive control-synthetically fertilized tomato seedlings

and negative control- untreated tomato seedlings. For treatment one two and

three,75,50 and 25g of pulverized banana peel respectively will be applied before

planting, and after 7 days and 14 days. As for the treatment four,30g of synthetic

fertilizer via side dress method of application 7 days and 14 days after planting.

Lastly,for treatment five, it will receive no pulverized banana peels and synthetic

fertilizer.
 The treatments will be placed on the soil upon roots of tomato seedlings and will

be watered with 500mL tap water in comparison to positive control-synthetically

fertilized tomato seedlings and negative control- untreated tomato seedlings. The

procedure will be maintained and repeated every 2 days for 10 days, left untouched

and observed for 30 days.

Data and Data Gathering Procedures

The results will be based on the difference in the growth rate of tomato

seedlings from Day 1 to Day 30 which will be recorded every 72 hours/3 days.Plant

height will be taken by measuring centimeters from the base of the plant up to the tip

of the highest leaf.

Interpretation of Results

The growth rate and the difference in the appearance of tomato buds or

sprouts will be recorded. The growth enhancer will be considered efficient if the

tomatoes showed a slight change in length and vegetation and resulted to a low mean

based upon the difference in the tomato seedling growth.

Disposal

The pulverized cultured Banana peel will be disposed on garden soil to become

organic matter.
Statistical Data Analysis Procedure

The statistical tools that will be used in this study are mean, standard deviation,

and analysis of variance. The mean will be used to calculate the average scores of

treatment outcomes. Standard Deviation will be used to determine the dispersion

between the mean. ANOVA will be used to determine the difference of more than two

means set at a 0.05 level of significance.

Bibliography

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Peels on Tomato plant Quality. Arab Univ. J. Agric. Sci., Ain Shams Univ., Cairo, Egypt

29(1), 459 - 469, 2021

Philippine Daily Inquirer – “The Malady of Food Waste” (2017)

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1505252/the-malady-of-food-waste-millions-starve-as-
trash-bins-fill-with-leftovers#ixzz7dJVshK41

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Engineering and Technology, 4(4), 1596-1599.

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