# Effect of Different Ratios of Cow Manure and Chemical Fertilizers on Fruit Quality of Gala Apples
## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Single Fruit Weight, Yield, Longitudinal Diameter, Diameter and Colour  
This experiment showed that the single fruit weight of each fertilization treatment was significantly higher than that of the CK treatment without fertilization, and Table 2 shows the effect of different ratios of cow manure and chemical fertilizers on fruit weight per fruit and longitudinal and transverse diameter. For fruit weight per fruit, it was lower in all treatments with cow manure than with chemical fertilizer alone, with the 50% CF + 50% CM treatment having the highest fruit weight per fruit (171.92 g) among the treatments. Fruit weight per fruit was significantly higher in the chemical fertilizer treatment than in the cow manure treatment, but there was no significant difference between the other fertilizer treatments. The trend in fruit longitudinal diameter and diameter were similar to that of fruit weight. Fruit yield was higher in all fertilizer treatments than in the CK treatments, with no significant differences between fertilizer treatments. Colour, size, and shape are often factors contributing to consumers' buying decisions [29]. The results of this study showed that the application of cow manure alone, chemical fertilizer and cow manure and chemical fertilizer combination were able to increase fruit weight per fruit compared to the no fertilizer control. Fruit weight per fruit was significantly lower with cow manure alone than with chemical fertilizer alone; whereas, there was no significant difference between the treatments with cow manure and chemical fertilizer in combination with chemical fertilizer and cow manure alone. Fertilizer application could increase fruit weight per fruit, but different fertilizers supplied nutrients in slightly different ways. Chemical fertilizers have faster nutrient release efficiency while the nutrient types are more fixed; whereas, cow manure has slower nutrient release but its nutrient composition is richer. Another study by [PERSON] et al. (2018) [30] also concluded that there was no significant change in fruit weight per fruit with biochar, cow manure compost and biochar + cow manure compost fertilizers. We find that the fruit colour indexes (Tables 3 and 4) differed little between treatments. The study showed that peel colour is the preferred trait to determine the market acceptability of a variety, and the fruit colour of apple is mainly determined by its base colour, followed by anthocyanin pigmentation. Factors such as light, temperature, mineral nutrition, growth regulators, and carbohydrate utilization all affect anthocyanin accumulation. Light intensity and low temperature play a crucial role in anthocyanin accumulation in apple pericarp [31]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Treatment** & **Single Fruit Weight (g)** & **Yield** & **Longitudinal** & **Transverse Diameter** \\  & & **(kg/acres)** & **Diameter (mm)** & **(mm)** \\ \hline
100\% CF & 173.18 \(\pm\) 2.85 a & 393.80 \(\pm\) 73.39 a & 61.68 \(\pm\) 0.55 a & 70.37 \(\pm\) 0.71 a \\
75\% CF + 25\% CM & 170.82 \(\pm\) 6.24 ab & 348.44 \(\pm\) 41.64 ab & 60.83 \(\pm\) 0.38 ab & 70.40 \(\pm\) 0.94 a \\
50\% CF + 50\% CM & 171.92 \(\pm\) 6.79 ab & 340.65 \(\pm\) 37.16 ab & 60.32 \(\pm\) 0.09 b & 68.85 \(\pm\) 0.76 ab \\
25\% CF + 75\% CM & 166.26 \(\pm\) 3.83 ab & 377.24 \(\pm\) 61.89 a & 60.14 \(\pm\) 0.16 b & 68.27 \(\pm\) 0.81 b \\
100\% CM & 163.24 \(\pm\) 4.83 b & 418.54 \(\pm\) 35.52 a & 60.12 \(\pm\) 1.16 b & 67.99 \(\pm\) 0.51 b \\ CK & 127.21 \(\pm\) 6.77 c & 265.21 \(\pm\) 35.47 b & 56.53 \(\pm\) 0.67 c & 64.51 \(\pm\) 1.21 c \\ ANOVA & * & * & * & * \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Note: Values followed by different letters, within the same column, were significantly different (* means that \(p<0.05\)). NS means no significant difference.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Effect of different ratios of cow manure and chemical fertilizers on single fruit weight, yield, longitudinal diameter and transverse diameter.