Effects of Bio-Soil Amendment on growth and yield of Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus L. Moench)

• Main Author: Rina Singkina
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: SB320-353.5 Vegetables
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/22482/1/ABSTRACT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/22482/2/FULLTEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/22482/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sabah

This study was conducted from December 2015 until November 2016 at the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture, University Malaysia Sabah in Sandakan. Field experiments (Experiment 1 and Experiment 3) were carried out in the research plot area under a rain shelter size and Experiment 2 was carried out in the laboratory to evaluate the effects of bio-soil amendment on growth and yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L Moench). The design used was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) for all experiments, replicated and repeated five times in all possible factorial combinations. Results showed no significant difference in number of leaves for Experiment 1, germination percentage for Experiment 2 and days to 50% flowering in Experiment 3. Other parameters were significantly at par. Application of bio-soil amendment from O to 200ppm the Experiment 1 at 80 DAS for growth parameter has significantly increased in plant height (68.50 cm), plant stem diameter (1.45 cm) and leaf area (747.12 cm2). Significant interactions were observed on variety and bio-soil amendment on pod length (12.12 cm), pod weight (10.08 g), number of pod per plant (45.33), fresh weight (197.58 g) and dry weight (107.79 g) respectively. 551 Fl Hybrid Okra named Green Torpedo variety significantly gave statistics at par on pod yield (4405.91 tons/ha). In Experiment 2, two study were carried out. The first was done to evaluate the effect of different rates of bio-soil amendment on germination. The second experiment was designed to investigate the effect of different rates of bio-soil amendment on seedling emergence. The highest germination was recorded with T6 (88.67%) and average mean of the germination time was lowest at T6 (3.00 days). Experiment 3, consist six levels of bio-soil amendment, which is Tl-0.0ppm as a control (water application), T2-50ppm, T3-100ppm, T4-200ppm, T5-400ppm and T6-800ppm. At 81 DAS, there was significant growth in parameter such as plant height (100.19 cm), number of leaves (46.93), plant stem diameter (1.88 cm), leaf area (702.31 cm2), fresh weight (546.72 g/plant) and dry weight (178.49 g/plant). Significant responses were observed on yield parameter such as pod length (11.73 cm), pod diameter (1.64 cm), pod weight (13.76 g), number of pods (32.53/plant) and yield 10.16 tons/ha. A highly significant and positive correlation were obtained between okra fruit yield and plant height, number of leaves per plant, stem diameter and total pods per plant. Regression analysis that has been carried out indicates that bio-soil amendment rate resulted quadratic response in Experiment 3. Based on the result obtained in this study, it could be suggested that for good growth and yield of okra at optimum rate of bio-soil amendment in the pot trial which is 12,028.38 kg ha-1 at 800ppm for the 551 Fl Hybrid Okra named Green Torpedo variety should be recommended. This combined results showed that the bio-soil amendment have significant potential to be applied in organic urban farming and sustainable agriculture in Malaysia especially for okra production system. Extended studies should be conducted to validate the effect of bio-soil amendment on the okra plant which includes soil physical and biological properties.