Response of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) moench.) to different rates of nitrogen and lime on an acid soil

Uwah D.F.¹*, Nwagwu F.A.², Iwo G.A.^3
1Department of Crop Science, University of Calabar, P.M.B. 1115, Calabar, Nigeria,
²Department of Crop Science, University of Calabar, P.M.B. 1115, Calabar, Nigeria,
³Department of Crop Science, University of Calabar, P.M.B. 1115, Calabar, Nigeria,
* Corresponding Author : dfu55@yahoo.com

Received : -     Accepted : -     Published : 21-12-2010
Volume : 2     Issue : 2       Pages : 14 - 20
Int J Agr Sci 2.2 (2010):14-20
DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.9735/0975-3710.2.2.14-20

Keywords : Acid soils, okra, growth, pod yield, lime, nitrogen, rates.
Conflict of Interest : None declared

Field experiments were conducted in 2007 and 2008 at Calabar in the south eastern rainforest zone of Nigeria to evaluate the response of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) to four rates of nitrogen (0, 40, 80 and 120kg/ha) and three rates of lime (0, 5 and 10t/ha). Factorial combinations of the treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Nitrogen had significant effects on plant height, number of leaves and branches/plant, number of pods/plant, fresh pod weight and total fresh pod yield. The 80kgN/ha rate maximized all the growth and yield attributes. Lime application had no consistent effect on plant height and number of branches/plant; but significantly improved all other growth and yield attributes. Total fresh pod yield was highest at 5t/ha lime rate, and this was 91% higher than the control. Significant interactions were recorded between nitrogen and lime on number of leaves/plant and fresh pod yields, with the combination of nitrogen and lime at 80kg/ha and 5t/ha giving the highest values.