The chilli pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) is a highly prized and widely consumed vegetable throughout the world. In Burkina Faso, its production remains marginal, despite its numerous agronomic and economic potential. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of organic, mineral and organo-mineral fertilization on the agronomic performance of chilli pepper. A trial was conducted in a completely randomized block design with four treatments (Compost = 16 t/ha Compost; Compost+NPK = 8 t/ha +100 kg/ha; NPK = 200 kg/ha; and Absolute control) and four replications. Morphological, physiological, phytosanitary and harvesting parameters were assessed. The results showed that the treatments did not induce any significant difference in the physiological parameters. The NPK significantly reduced the number of harvested plants by 87 % compared with the Absolute control (p ≤ 0.01). NPK treatment significantly (p < 0.05) improved plant collar diameter by 41 %; number of fruits harvested by 73 %; number of yellow fruits harvested by 74 %; number of fruits harvested per number of plants harvested by 57 %; fruit length by 25 %; and fruit yield by 70 % of chilli pepper compared with the Absolute control. The Compost treatment significantly increased the number of perforated fruits by 79 % compared with the control. Thus, compared with other treatments, mineral fertilization (200 kg/ha of NPK) was more effective of the best agronomic performance of chilli pepper.

Compost; NPK; Organo-mineral fertilization; Chilli pepper; Agronomic performance; Burkina Faso