Influence of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms) and cow dung on soil chemical properties and growth of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench).

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of Cow dung and Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) on soil chemical properties, growth and yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus). The study was conducted at the Department of Biological Sciences Garden of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto in 2012/2013 wet season. The treatments consisted of cow dung (CD) and water hyacinth (WH) each at 0, 5, 10, 20 and 40% concentration incorporated with the top soil. The experiment was arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), replicated five times. Soil chemical analysis for pH, %Org. M, %Org. C, %N, P, K, Na, Ca, Mg and C.E.C. was carried out before and after planting using standard methods of soil analysis, chemical content of CD and WH were determined. The results shows that both CD and WH enhanced soil chemical contents and at 40% application of CD and WH organic matter, N, P and C.E.C. of the soil. Numbers of leaves, leaf length, number of fruits, fruit dry weight, stalk dry weight and root length were taken for ten weeks, 2 weeks after planting (2WAP). The result revealed that plant height and numbers of leaves of okra were significantly (p<0.05) affected with CD and WH. The application of CD and WH at 5% enhanced growth and yield of okra, as well as the soil nutrients status. Application of CD increased plant height and numbers of leaves in Okra more than WH this suggest their potential in ameliorating soil nutrient status and growth of okra