Abstract

Aim: The study was carried out to evaluate robustness of moringa leaf extract on the growth and yield of okra.

Materials and Methods: Moringa leaves were collected; air-dried and milled. 20 kg of the milled leaves was mixed with 675 ml of 80% of aqueous ethanol. The extract was diluted with distilled water at ratio 1:20. The diluted moringa extract was sprayed at the rate of 0ml (control), 5ml, 10ml, 15ml, 20ml, 25ml and 30ml at two weeks interval. The experiment was laid out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) and the treatments were replicated seven times. The parameters assessed were the plant height (cm), stem girth (mm), number of leaves per plant, leaf area (cm2), days of flowering after planting, number of fruits per plant and fruit weight.

Results: The result revealed that okra treated with 30ml of moringa extract had the earliest days of flowering at 36days, produced the highest number of fruits with 19 fruits and height of 31.36cm with weight of 24.61g.

Conclusion: It was concluded that the higher rate of the moringa extract application promoted plant height and influenced early flowering and the number of fruits production.

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