Influence of Mulch Materials on Population of Plant Parasitic Nematode, Growth and Yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at National Horticultural Research Institute Idi-ishin, Ibadan to investigate the influence of mulching materials on population of plant parasitic nematodes, weed density, soil moisture, temperature content, growth and yields of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench). The mulch materials were dried leaves of Azadirachta indica , Terminalia catappa , Eugenia uniflora, Pannicum maximum (grass straw) and plastic mulch with hoeing and no weeding as control. The experiment was conducted between June to September 2010. The experimental design was randomized complete block design in three replications. Data were collected on Vegetative Growth (VG), Gall Indices (GI), nematode reproduction. All data were analysed using ANOVA (p=0.05). GI was reduced by 76.91% in black plastic mulch, 69.28% in Azadirachta indica, 61.43% in no weeding control, 46% in Eugenia uniflora, 23.09% in Terminalia catappa and 15.24% in Pannicum maximum as compared to Hoeing weeding control. The root-knot nematode in the soil were also reduced by 96.63%, 89.28%, 76.81%, 53.63%, 50.72% and 24.63% in black plastic, no weeding control, Eugenia uniflora, Terminalia catappa, Azadirachta indica and Pannicum maximum mulching materials respectively as compared to hoe weeding control. The mulching materials significantly affected the growth and yield of okra (P≤0.05) with black plastic mulch resulting in the highest number of pods (30.0), fresh weight (378.0g) and dry weight (58.3g) per plant. Highest soil moisture retention was observed from hoe weeding plot (6%) while the highest soil temperature was recorded from black plastic mulch (25 o C) and the least weed density (6.0 plant/m 2 ) weed fresh weight (100.0g) and weed dry weight (34.0g) was also recorded on plastic mulch plot. These were significantly lower P≤0.05 compared with other mulched materials and no weeding control. Therefore mulch materials reduced the root-knot nematodes in the soil, weed interference in okra production while, enhancing moisture retention promotes faster plant growth and yield of okra. Keywords: Gall indices, Mulch materials, Nematode population, soil moisture and weed density