I. D. Bake
Abstract
The experiment was conducted to examine the performance of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) as affected by weeding regimes and nitrogen fertilizer application rates in Mubi North, Adamawa State, Nigeria, grown at the Teaching and Research Farm of Food and Agricultural Organization/Tree Crop Plantation (FAO/TCP), Faculty of Agriculture, Adamawa State University Mubi, during 2018rainy season. Mubi is located in the Northeastern part of Adamawa State laid between Latitude 90 26ʹ and100 10ʹN and Longitude 130 10ʹ and 130 44ʹE. at an Altitude of 696m above sea level. The experiments were laid out in split-plot design with the main factor consisted of four (4) levels of weeding regimes: 0 weeding, plot weeded once at 3 weeks after sowing, plot weeded twice at 3 and 6 weeks after sowing and plot weeded thrice at 3, 6 and 9 weeks after sowing ,on the other hand, the subplot treatment equally comprised of four (4) rates of nitrogen: 0 kg N ha-1, 50kgN ha-1, 100kg Nha-1 and 150kg Nha-1replicated 3 times. Data collected on plant height, Number of leaves, stem diameter and number of branches, days to first fruit setting, fruit length, fruit diameter, number of seeds per fruit, hundred seeds weight, fresh and dried fruit yield per hectare. All the data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Statistical Analysis System (SAS), (SAS, 2010) and means that showed significant differences separated by F-test using Duncan Multiple Range Table (DMRT).The results revealed that, weeding regimes and nitrogen fertilizer application rates significantly promoted plant height (36.567 / 34.960 cm), number of leaves (23.323 / 19.796),number of branches per plant (7.575 / 6.750), stem diameter (15.808 / 15.244 mm)as the highest values at 9 weeks after sowing. On the response of phonological traits and yield components of okra, to weeding regimes and nitrogen fertilizer application rates, significant improvement were observed in days to first fruit setting (60.083 /60.333 days), fruit length (9.110 /8.584 cm),fruit diameter (10.189 /9.731 cm), number of seeds per fruit (106.168 / 102.023),100 seeds weight (5.807 /5.636 g), dried fruit yield per hectare (709.80 / 615.33 g) and fresh fruit yield per hectare (1514.69 / 1238.38 g) as the values obtained from the plot weeded thrice and received 150 kg N ha-i accordingly. It is concluded that, plot weeded thrice and those received 150 kg N ha-performed significantly higher than the rest of the treatments. The study therefore recommends 3 times weeding at 3, 6, and 9 weeks after sowing and application of 150kg Nha-1 at 3 and 6 weeks after sowing to okra farmers in Mubi and its environs for optimum fruit yield.