DefinePK

Abstract

Generally, the farmers are realizing low yield due to many reasons such as, use of primitive cultivars, conventional sowing methods, improper sowing time, imbalanced fertilization, weeds infestation and ignorance of plant protection measures etc. Therefore, present study was undertaken to determine high yielding cultivar (s) as well as the most suitable sowing date to maximize per unit production. To monitor the effect of different sowing dates on the yield and seed production of okra cultivars, an experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Baffa Mansehra during 2008. Six cultivars of okra i.e. Irka, Sabz Pari, Pusa Green, Pusa Sawani, Sarhad Green and Green Star were sown on three different sowing dates with 15 days interval i.e. 15th March, 30th March and 14th April, 2008. Maximum number of pods plant-1 (32.12), pod length (11.12 cm), pod diameter (1.54 cm), pod weight (15.24 gm), plant height (184.28 cm), number of branches plant-1 (9.12), pod yield (16.24 t ha-1), seed yield (1601.92 kg ha-1) and 1000-seed weight (86.92 gm) were recorded in cultivars, sown on 30th March, 2008. Maximum number of pods plant-1 (32.75), pod length (11.57 cm), pod diameter (1.67 cm), pod weight (16.04 gm), plant height (187.17 cm), number of branches plant-1 (9.25), pod yield (17.50 t ha-1), seed yield (1735.00 kg ha-1) and 1000-seed weight (89.32 gm) were recorded in cultivar Sabz Pari. Sowing of okra cultivar Sabz Pari on 30th March is recommended for realizing maximum fresh pod and seed yields under the agro-climatic conditions of Mansehra District.
Keywords: Abelmoschus esculentus L.; genetic characteristics; sowing dates; okra cultivars; crop productivity
http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2015.43006