YIELD PARAMETERS OF OKRA (ABELMOSCHUS ESCULENTUS) PLANT AND NUTRITIONAL CONTENTS OF THE HARVESTED OKRA FRUITS AS INFLUENCED BY THE APPLICATION OF PLANT EXTRACTS AND SYNTHETIC INSECTICIDES

Abstract

At Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Teaching and Research Farm, Ogbomoso, we conducted this experiment during the major planting seasons of 2019 and 2020 to determine the effects of Petiveria alliacea and Azadirachta indica extracts as botanical insecticides and synthetic insecticides (cypermethrin and dichlorvos) on the yield parameters, proximate, phytochemical, and mineral contents of okra. We included untreated plants in the experiment for comparison. We arranged the treatments in a randomized complete block design, replicating each treatment three times. We collected data on the plant height, leaf area, and yield, proximate, phytochemical, and mineral contents of the harvested okra fruits. The results revealed that cypermethrin and P. alliacea extracts had a higher okra plant height (36.5 cm), but all the treatments had the same effects on leaf area. However, tested plant extracts and synthetic insecticides produced the same okra fruit yield. Harvested okra fruits from plants treated with dichlorvos had the highest proximate contents, followed by P. alliacea and A. indica extracts. Meanwhile, okra fruits from plants treated with P. alliacea extracts had the highest phytochemical contents (5.2 mg/100 g), but okra fruits from A. indica and P. alliacea had the highest mineral contents (234.1 to 231.5 mg/100 g). Therefore, we can use the two tested plant extracts as stimulants for okra plant growth and nutritional enhancers.