Effects of forest plant extract preparation and nutrient sources on performance of okra plant

Abstract

The possibility of solving the fertility and problems associated with disease control was explored by applying Neem extract [Ne], Swine manure [S_m] and Urea [U_E] amendment as botanical insecticide and nutrient source. The leaves used for the trial were collected from the locality, washed, pounded and soaked for 12 hours. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design [RBCD] with five treatments and four replicates. Treatments include, 0, 5 and 10 litres concentration of both N_e and Detergent [D], two sources of nutrients [S_m and U_E] at three levels 5; 2.5; 1.25 and 120;60 30 kg/ha respectively. The efficiency was based on the reduction in whitely number, leaves defoliation, nutrient use efficiency and performance of the Okra. Result showed that the N_e, D_e and the nutrient sources [S_m and U_E] significantly [p<0.05] influenced the performance of okra. Through there were no significant difference in the number of seed per pod and pod number between the treatments but were better than the control that gave the least values. The experiment confirmed that the combine use of N_e S_e application was found to be more effective to increase okra growth, yield and soil fertility. It also indicated that N_e  with S_m fortified urea could be used to substitute for synthetic insecticide and heavy use of chemical fertilizer.