Sensitivity of Okra Growth Indices to Various Moisture Conditions

Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of flooding conditions on two Okra cultivars (Ibadan local and Jokoso) at Abeokuta, Nigeria. The flooding conditions vary from continuous Flooding (FLD), Wetting after three Days (W3D), Wetting after five Days (W5D), Wetting after seven Days (W7D), and Wetting after ten Days (W10D). The agronomic parameters (leaf width, leaf length, plant height, numbers of leaves, and leaf area) and yield data (weight, fruit diameter, fruit length) were subjected to analysis of variance and treatment means separated using the Least significant difference. Okra growth and fruit yield were significantly (p<0.05) affected by moisture conditions; FLD produced significantly (p<0.05) the tallest plant at 7 WAP in Ibadan Local and Jokoso with 34.0 and 42.2 m respectively while W10D gave the shortest plant height of 24.5 and 20.5 cm for Ibadan Local and Jokoso respectively. Several leaves at 7 WAP followed a similar trend as plant height with FLD producing significantly more leaves in Ibadan Local and Jokoso with 5.0 and 9.0 leaves respectively while W10D produced the lowest number of leaves of 2.67 and 2.33 leaves for Ibadan and Jokoso respectively. Okra Leaf Area was highest in FLD at 7WAP in Ibadan Local and Jokoso with 224.2 and 249.7 cm², respectively and W10D produced 144.0 and 78.8 cm2 for Ibadan Local and Jokoso respectively. Moisture conditions significantly (p<0.05) affected fruit yield characters with FLD recorded the highest fruit weight of 13.97 and 0.87g for Ibadan Local and Jokoso, respectively, while W7D recorded 0.78 g for Ibadan Local and 0.00 g for Jokoso. Also, FLD recorded the highest fruit diameter in Jokoso with 6.43 and 2.63 cm for Ibadan Local while W7D recorded 2.23 cm for Ibadan Local and 0.0 cm for Jokoso. The trend for Fruit length was similar with FLD producing the longest fruits in Ibadan Local with 5.51 and 4.67 cm for Jokoso while W5D produced 4.62 cm in Ibadan Local and 3.00 cm in Jokoso. It could be concluded from the study that flood conditions such as continuous flooding, wetting after three days, and wetting after five days were suitable for the growth and fruit yield of okra cultivars; Ibadan Local and Jokoso in the study area while wetting after seven days and wetting after ten days appeared detrimental to these cultivars.