GROWTH AND SEED YIELD RESPONSES OF OKRA TO DIFFERENT RATES OF KITCHEN WASTE COMPOST APPLICATION IN A TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Okra is a valuable vegetable crop which is known to be rich in vitamins, calcium, potassium, and other minerals. However, poor soil fertility in the tropics has become a barrier for quality okra seed production. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different rates of kitchen waste compost on the growth, and seed yield of okra. The experiment was laid out by using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four treatments and replicated three times. Three different rates of kitchen waste compost (270 g, 540 g and 830 g) with topsoil and topsoil only (as control) were used as the treatments. The study revealed that number of leaves, number of pods and aborted flowers did not significantly affect the compost rates. However, plants treated with kitchen waste compost at a rate of 830 g had the best performance in terms of plant height, stem girth, days to 50% flowering, number of flowers, days to physiological maturity and seed yield. Additionally, kitchen waste compost at a rate of 830 g amended topsoil had significant influence on seeds per pod, total seed weight and 1000 seed weight. A correlation analysis showed that there was a strong, positive and significant (r=0.99) relationship between number of seeds per pod and total seed yield. The study concluded that the application of 830 g of kitchen composts significantly improved vegetative, reproductive and seed yield attributes of okra.