An experiment to know the effect of fertigation on growth, yield and quality of okra. Var COBhH 1 was carried out during the year 2011 to 2013 at the Department of Vegetable Crops, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with six treatments and replicated four times. The treatment combination includes raised bed cultivation, drip irrigation, fertigation, plastic mulch, foliar spray of WSF and micronutrients. The results revealed that okra raised bed + drip irrigation + plastic mulch + fertigation + foliar spray of WSF (19:19:19 @ 10 g/lit. 5 times) + Mixture of all micronutrients (T1) recorded the days to 50% early flowering (43.7days), highest plant height (175.4cm), fruit length(13.8cm), fruit girth (6.48 cm), No. of fruits/plant (25.0), fruit yield/plant (0.466 kg), fruit yield/hectare (201.2.0 q) and economic returns (1.89) when compared to farmers practice (T6) which recorded 155.4 q/ha. Therefore (T1) raised bed + drip irrigation + plastic mulch + fertigation + foliar spray of WSF (19:19:19 @ 10 g/lit. 5 times) + mixture of all micronutrients can be recommended for getting increased growth, flowering and the highest yield for okra under kharif cultivation.
Okra hybrid COBhH 1, fertigation, mulching, foliar application, micro nutrients, growth, yield
Akanda, M.A.R., Ahamad, M.S., Rahman, M.S., Halim, G.M.A. and M.M. Hasan. 2012. Performance evaluation of fertigation and micronutrients on fruit yield and quality of summer tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.). Bangladesh J. Agric. Res., 37(3): 449-456.
Badr, M.A. and A.A.A. El-Yazied. 2007. Effect of fertigation frequency from subsurface drip irrigation on tomato yield grown on sandy soil. Australian J. Basic & Appl. Sci., 1(3): 279-285
Brahma, S., Phookan, D.B., Barua, P. and L.Saikia. 2010. Effect of drip-fertigation on performance of tomato under Assam conditions. Indian J. Hort., 67(1): 56-60.
Cook, W.P. and D.C. Sanders.1991. Nitrogen application frequency for drip-irrigated tomatoes. Hort. Sci., 26(3): 250-252.
Dwivedi, Y.C., Sengupta, S.K. and R.S.Sharma. 1994. Effect of sowing dates and nitrogen fertilization on seed crop of okra. Veg Sci., 21(2): 122-125
Gupta, A.J., Ahmad, M.F. and F.N. Bhat. 2010a. Studies on yield, quality, water and fertilizer use efficiency of capsicum under drip irrigation and fertigation. Indian J. Hort., 67(2): 213-218.
Gupta, A.J., Ahmed, N., Bhat, F.N. and M.A. Chattoo. 2010b. Production of hybrid tomato for higher income under drip irrigation and fertigation in Kashmir valley. Indian J. Hort., 67(1): 127-131.
Jat, R.A., Wani, S.P., Sahrawat, K.L., Singh, P. and Dhaka, B.L. 2011. Fertigation in vegetable crops for higher productivity and resource use efficiency. Indian J. Fert., 7(3): 22-37.
Mahajan, R.K., Sapra, R.L., Srivastava, U., Singh, M. and G.D. Sharma. 2000. Minimal descriptors of agri-hort. crops - part I. National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. pp181-184.
Meenakshi, N. 2002. Growth and productivity of hybrid bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) CoBgoH-1 under different macro and micronutrient fertigation levels. Ph.D. (Hort.) Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Moniruzzaman, M. and A.K.M. Quamruzzaman. 2009. Effect of nitrogen levels and picking of green fruits on the fruit and seed production of okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench]. J. Agric. & Rural Dev., 7(1&2): 99-106.
Sasani, G.V., Patel, C.K., Patel, R.N., Patel, N.H. and S.H. Patel. 2006. Efficient use of water and fertilizers through drip fertigation in potato. Potato J., 33(3-4): 131-133.
Savitha, B.K., Paramaguru, P. and L. Pugalendhi. 2010. Effect of drip fertigation on growth and yield of onion. Indian J.Hort., 67: 334-336
Shedeed, S.I., Zaghloul, S.M. and A.A. Yassen. 2009. Effect of method and rate of fertilizer application under drip irrigation on yield and nutrient uptake by tomato. Ozean J. Appl. Sci., 2(2): 139-147
Shinde, J.B., Malunjkar, B.D., Raut, R.S., Patil, P.D. and D.W. Thawal. 2010. Response of cucumber to fertigation under drip irrigation system. Bioinfolet, 7(2): 161-164.
Singh, B., Singh, M. and A.B. Rai. 2011b. Vision 2030, Army Printing Press, Lucknow, U.P. (INDIA).
