Effect of Growing Population

The tillage sector is deemed unsustainable by various studies as the main focus of the current development agenda is feeding the ever-expanding population. it loses sight of the negative environmental consequences it creates particularly on soil health. land use is optimized through technologies and management practices that fall short of requirements for sustainability. the current practice in agriculture is basically chemical-based farming that makes a considerable contribution to the degradation of our natural resources especially soils. heavy application of fertilizers has polluted surface and groundwater resources dela cruz 2006 growing vegetables has been a practice for centuries in civilized countries. vegetables are a very important food commodity.

Aside from playing a major role in meeting our vitamin mineral and protein requirements they also serve as a reliable source of income of farmers chauburg 1984 as cited by torrefiel 2006 the income derived from growing vegetables is relatively higher than other crops because growers can produce more crops from a small area in a very short period of time. pechay brassica napus l. belongs to the brassiceae family and one of the most known vegetables in the philippines. it is also known as one of the oldest green vegetables in asia. it therefore plays an important role in the philippine economy as well as in the nutrition of the filipino people.

Pechay is used mainly for its immature but fully expanded tender leaves. the succulent petioles are often the preferred part. it is used as main ingredient for soup and stir-fried dishes. in chinese cuisine its green petioles and leaves are also used as garnish http://www.darfu4b.da.gov.ph/pechay.html fertilizer application using either inorganic or organic fertilizer sources is one ofthe most common cultural management practices in vegetable production. according to lampkin 1990 as cited by masarirambi 2010 that the commercial and subsistence farming has been and is still relying on the use of inorganic fertilizers for growing crops.

This is because they are easy to use quickly absorbed and utilized by crops. however these fertilizers are believed to contribute substantially to human animal food intoxication and environmental instability or degradation masarirambi 2010 inorganic fertilizers are the most common fertilizers used by the farmers. however its use incurs a high cost and its supply is sometimes limited that many farmers now are still adapting the idea of using organicfertilizers no matter how long and laborious is the preparation. brady 1974 reported that organic matter increases the cation exchange capacity of the soil. aside from its ability to supply nutrients organic fertilizers are also capable of improving the physical chemical and biological properties of the soil which could significantly improve the growth and development of plants. among the potential sources of organic fertilizers is compost.

Composts are a form of organic fertilizer; they are considered low-analysis fertilizers because they contain about 1% n and p and their organic nitrogen mineralization rate is about 10% sikora and enkiri 2001 as cited by espiritu 2011 organic fertilizer has been defined as any product of plant and/or animal origin that has undergone. there is increased demand of organically produced vegetables in view of its health and nutritional benefits. there is paucity of information on the use of organic fertilizers for vegetable production and therefore this study aimed to evaluate the effect of different levels of compost as a source of organic fertilizers on the growth and yield performance of pechay.