Comparative Performance of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) Under Subsistence Farming Using Drip and Watering Can Methods of Irrigation

摘要

Application of water to crops during the dry season in areas of scare water supply is very important to meet the food demand of the ever-increasing population globally. Thus, modified irrigation technique that poor resource farmers can afford and use easily was evaluated in this paper. A field experiment was conducted at the University of Ibadan Teaching and Research Farm to evaluate the performance of okra under modified bucket drip kit (BDK) and wateringcan (WC) methods of irrigation for three growing seasons between 2011 and 2013. The BDK irrigation treatment had a higher mean percentage plant survival (92.9%) than those under the WC method (90.7%). The number of okra leaves, plant height and stem diameter were consistently higher under BDK irrigation than under WC irrigation for the three growing seasons. Harvested number of fresh fruits was only significantly higher under BDK method than WC method by 40.8% and 11.1%, respectively, for the second and third seasons. The plots under BDK irrigation system produced higher fresh fruit weight than the WC method by 0.1, 1.1, 7.4 t ha-1 respectively for the first, second and third seasons. The BDK performed better than WC in terms of okra growth and yields.