Abstract
A field study was carried out to assess the efficacy of some botanicals in the control of field insect pests in two varieties of okra. Dry leaf extract of Chromolaena odorata (Siam weed) and fresh and dry root extracts of Boerhavia diffusa served as treatments which were compared with Lambda-cyhalothrin and a control. The experiment was fitted into a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data collected were subjected to Spearman’s correlation analysis and a two-way analysis of variance and significant different means were separated using Fishers Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5 % level of probability. The results revealed that treated plants generally performed better than the untreated plants as they were taller, had more leaves, branches, wider stem girths and gave higher fruit yield. Fresh root extract of B. diffusa performed better in most parameters measured. A significant positive correlation was observed between insect pest populations, and between growth and yield parameters, while there was a significant negative correlation between overall yield and insect pest population. NHAe 47-4 okra variety performed better than F1-Lucky variety. Fresh root extract of B. diffusa is recommended for management of B. tabaci (Genadius, 1889) and Amrasca biguttula Ishida, 1912 in okra.
Highlights
Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench, is a commercially grown vegetable crop widely cultivated in Africa and Asia
Plants treated with fresh root extracts of B. diffusa generally performed better than untreated plants
The treated plots produced plants which were taller and had more branches compared to those of untreated plots (Tables 1 and 2). This may be because treated plants suffered less infestation from whitefly (Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, 1889) and leafhopper (Amrasca biguttula Ishida, 1912) compared to untreated plots (Table 4)
Summary
Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench, is a commercially grown vegetable crop widely cultivated in Africa and Asia. Within 2009 and 2010, a global area of 0.43 million hectares was cultivated with total production standing at 4.54 million tons (Varmudy, 2011). India is the largest producer (67.1 %), with Nigeria following at (15.4 %) and Sudan (9.3 %) (Varmudy, 2011). Okra fruit is normally boiled in water to give slimy soup sauces that is relished. The seeds are nutritious, can be dried roasted and ground for use as additive or coffee substitute (Moekchantuk and Kumar 2004) while the fruits are used to thicken soups and prepare vegetable curds
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