The Effect of Calcium and Magnesium on the Growth and Yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esulentus L.) through Foliar Application

Abstract

Foliar fertilization is a popular practice for supplying mineral nutrients to the crops, especially under conditions of limited availability of soil nutrients. This study hypothesized that the foliar nutrients application can enhance the growth and yield of okra. The experiment was conducted at Complex Field 10, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and laid out as Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with four treatments and six replications. The treatments consist of Treatment 1 (T1): Foliar (calcium and magnesium); Treatment 2 (T2): NPK 15:15:15; Treatment 3 (T3): Foliar (calcium and magnesium plus NPK 15:15:15), and Treatment 4: Control. The foliar were sprayed with 2% on the leaf every 2 weeks and the fertilizer was spread around the crop. The data were recorded by measuring (i) the plant height (4 weeks interval); (ii) fruit yield (until 120 DAP); (iii) days of flowering (from 1 DAP); (iv) number of fruits and (v) branches per plant (until 120 DAP). Soil analyses were conducted before and after the experiment. All the parameters measured were analyzed using ANOVA and mean separations of LSD test using SAS 9.0 with p <  0.05. This study concluded that T3 showed the highest growth rate and yield as compared to other treatments. There was a significant difference between T1 and T2, where T2 showed prominent results. Therefore, it was concluded that fertilizer (NPK) cannot be substituted with foliar nutrients (calcium and magnesium), it can only supplement the current application.