PERFORMANCE OF OKRA (ABELMOSCHUS ESCULENTUS (L.) MOENCH) AS AFFECTED BY NITROGEN FERTILIZER APPLICATION RATES IN MUBI NORTH, ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA
Keywords:
Fertilizer, Nitrogen Okra, Performance and Rates.Abstract
The 2 years experiments were conducted to examine the performance of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) as affected by nitrogen fertilizer application rates in Mubi North, Adamawa State Nigeria, during the 2018 and 2019 rainy seasons. The experiments were laid out in Complete Randomized Blocked Design (CRBD) with four (4) treatment levels of nitrogen: 0 kg N ha-1, 50 kg N ha-1, 100 kg N ha-1 and 150 kg N ha-1 replicated 3 times. Data collected on plant height, number of leaves, stem diameter, days to first fruit setting, fruit length, fruit diameter, number of seeds / fruit, fresh and dried fruit yield / hectare. All the data collected were subjected to analysis of variance ANOVA using Statistical Analysis System (SAS, 2010) and means that showed significant differences separated by F-test using Duncan Multiple Range Test. Results for the combined analysis revealed that nitrogen fertilizer significantly applied at 150 kg N ha-1 had significantly (P ≥ 0.001) influenced plant height with the greatest mean values of 9.724, 21.010, 38.563 cm; number of leaves/plant 7.404, 11.915, 19.738 and stem diameter 2.807, 6.201, 14.660 mm (3, 6 and 9 WAS). Equally, significant reduction in days to first fruit setting (59.083 days) recorded at 150 kg N ha-1. Furthermore, significant increase in fruit length (8.836 cm); fruit diameter (9.799 cm); number of seeds per fruit (102.258); fresh fruit yield (1.265 kg ha-i) and dried fruit yield (0.633 kg ha-1) for the combined analysis all observed at 150 kg N ha-1 accordingly. It was concluded that, okra grown from the plots that received 150 kg N ha-i performed significantly higher than the rest of the treatments. The study therefore recommends the application of 100 kg N ha-1 or 150 kg N ha-1 at 3, 6 and 9 WAS as suitable dose to okra farmers in Mubi and its environs for optimum fruit yield and profit maximization.
