Effect of Different Sources of Nutrient on Growth and Yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Monech)
Abstract
The experiment was carried out at Nepal Polytechnic Institute field, Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal to study the effect of different nutrient sources on growth and yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L Monech). Five different treatments; poultry manure, FYM, goat manure, chemical (as per N equivalent) and no fertilizer (control) were replicated four times. The experiment was arranged in Randomize Complete Block Design (RCBD). The okra variety ArkaAnamika was used for experiment. The data were collected on the growth and yield parameters including plant height (cm), canopy (cm), numbers of leaves per plant, numbers of branches per plant, fruit length, diameter and yield. Results indicated that different nutrient sources had significant (P<0.05) affected on plant height, canopy, leaf number, branches and also in yield parameters. Based on the findings of the experiments, it can be concluded that application of poultry manure significantly increased the growth and yield performances on Abelmoschus esculentus L. Monech (okra) compared to other types of fertilizers. As the study reflected the use of no fertilizer results in the lowest vegetative growth and yield performances which indicates to use some nutrient sources for better growth and production of okra.
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Introduction
Okra, Abelmoschusesculentus L. Monech is a popular vegetable in tropic and countries of the world grown for its pod (Folorunso & Ojeniyi, 2003). It is a member of the hibiscus family, Malvaceae and has the typical floral characteristics of that family. It is originated from tropical Africa and was first cultivated in Egypt in 12thcentury (Maurya et al., 2013). The okra plant requires warm temperatures and is unable to withstand low temperature for long or tolerate any threat of frost. Optimum temperature is in the range of 21 to 30 degrees Celsius, with minimum and maximum temperatures of 18 degrees Celsius and maximum 35 degrees Celsius respectively.
Vegetables and vegetables based cropping systems show those vegetable crops are well responsive to nutrient supply through organic manures and chemical fertilizers (Kale et al., 1991) . Soil nutrient level gets decreased overtime when crop plants get harvested, and these nutrients get replenished either through natural decomposition processor by adding fertilizers. Hence fertilization is an essential component of modern agriculture. Fertilizers provide different nutrients, one of them are the main macronutrientsi.e. nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), second are three secondary macronutrientsi.e. calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sulfur (S), others are micronutrients. Today fertilizer has become essential to modern agriculture to feed the growing population. Use of fertilizers, especially, the chemical fertilizers has brought in blessings to humanity, which helped contain hunger and death indifferent corners of the world. However, the use of inorganic fertilizers alone may cause problems for human health and the environment (Arisha & Bradisi, 1999).
In recent year use of organic manures like FYM, poultry manure, goat manure is gaining prominence. The organic manuring has positive effect on soil texture and water holding capacity (Kale et al., 1991).It also provides food for soil micro-organisms. This increases the activity of microbes which in turn helps to convert unavailable plant nutrient to available form. Organic manure generally ameliorates the entire soil physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil as it energies the activities of soil microbes, which help in the liberation of plant nutrients and the healthy growth of the plants. Organic manure has also been found to sustain yield under continuous cropping and improve the fertility of a degraded soil (Eghareyba & Ogbe, 2002).
Conclusion
The research was carried out to evaluate the effect of different sources of nutrient on growth and yield of okra. The application of poultry manure, FYM, chemical and goat manure had a significant effect on growth and yield of ArkaAnamika variety of okra. Poultry manure produced maximum plant height (76.4cm), fruit length (19.94cm), fruit diameter (2.13cm) as well as fruit yield (14.91 tn/ha) in okra among all other nutrient sources. The results obtained revealed that okra responded well to the application of poultry manure compared to other different fertilizers and control treatment in the study. Therefore poultry manure could be used as the good organic nutrient source for increasing the productivity of the okra among different fertilizers.
