EFFECT OF SPACING AND FOLIAR SPRAY OF GIBBERELLIC ACID (GA3) ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF OKRA

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Horticultural Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during March-July, 2016 to find out the best combination of plant spacing and GA3 dose for successful production of okra. The experiment consisted of two factors, Factor A: three levels of spacing, viz. S1: 60 cm × 30 cm, S2: 60 cm × 40 cm and S3: 60 cm × 50 cm and Factor B: four doses of GA3, viz. H0 (control; no GA3); H1: 50 ppm GA3; H2: 100 ppm GA3 and H3: 150 ppm GA3. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design following 12 treatment combinations and replicated thrice. Results revealed that interaction effect of spacing and foliar spray of GA3 had significant positive effect on growth (plant height, leaves plant-1, branches plant-1 and leaf area), yield contributing traits (number of fruits plant-1, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit yield plant-1 and stover yield plant-1) and yield (tha-1) of okra. Among different treatment combinations, the highest yield (19.92 t ha-1) was obtained from S3H2 combination. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that foliar application of 100 ppm GA3 with the spacing of 60 cm × 50 cm produced the highest yield of okra as compared to other treatment combinations tested. From our present findings we can suggest that, 60 cm × 50 cm spacing with 100 ppm GA3 as foliar application would be one of the effective agronomic practices for economic production of okra.