Okra is one of the important summer vegetable cropgrown all over the world. Old world tropics is believedto be okra’s native home (Shanmugavelu, 1989). This

vegetable is grown for its tender green fruits which aregenerally marketed in fresh stage, but sometimes in canned ordehydrated form (Thakur et al., 2003). It contains vitamin A,vitamin B complex and vitamin C and minerals like calcium,magnesium, sodium and iron (Aykroyd, 1963). It is an excellentsource of iodine and useful for control of goiter (Purewal andRandhawa, 1947). The roots and stems of okra are used forclearing the cane juice. It is said to be very useful againstgenitourinary disorders, spermatorrhoea and chronicdysentery. Okra is grown during summer and rainy season inmid hills of HP. Delayed and erratic germination is the seriousproblem in okra cultivation. Good germination can be achievedby producing good quality seed. For getting maximum returnsfrom the okra crop, it is essential to increase the yield andquality of okra seeds. Fruit load is believed to have an effecton the quality and yield of okra seed. The reasonable numberof fruits to be retained with pinching is a good device forgetting better yield and quality in okra.

RESEARCH METHODSThe present investigation was carried out at the

Members of the Research Forum

Associated Authors:1Department of Vegetable Science,Dr. Y.S. Parmar University ofHorticulture and Forestry, Nauni,SOLAN (H.P.) INDIA

HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE

Experimental Farm of Seed Technology and Production Centre,Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni,Solan in the year 2011. The experimental site is located 15 kmaway from Solan at 300 51’ N latitude and about 770 11’ Elongitudes. The elevation of the farm is 1250 m above meansea level, which falls under the mid hill zone of HimachalPradesh. The climate of Nauni is generally sub temperate tosub tropical. May and June are the hottest months andDecember to February are the coldest months. The annualrainfall ranges between 1000-1300 mm of which 75 per cent isrecorded during June to September. Variety P-8 was used forthe present investigation. Plants are tall with purplepigmentation, splashes on stem, petiole and lower surface ofthe leaf base. Stem, petioles, leaves and fruits are sparselyhairy. Fruits are medium long, thin, tender green and 5 ridged.In total there were five treatments including control. In T

1 first

six fruits, in T2 first eight fruits, in T

3 first ten fruits, in T

4 first

twelve fruits were retained on a single plant and all other flowerswere pinched off. T

5 was control where no pinching was done

and all fruits were retained on the plant. The experimental fieldwas thoroughly ploughed and unwanted material like pebblesand stones were removed from the field manually. The fieldwas well drained and subsequent provision for proper drainagewas kept. The seeds were sown in the month of May 2011.

Effect of fruit number on seed yield and quality of okra[Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench]

SANTOSH KUMARI, SHIV PRATAP SINGH1 AND DHARMENDER KUMAR1

Article history :Received : 08.10.2012Revised : 13.03.2013Accepted : 29.03.2013

Author for correspondence :SANTOSH KUMARIDepartment of Vegetable Science, Dr.Y.S. Parmar University ofHorticulture and Forestry, Nauni,SOLAN (H.P.) INDIAEmail : santoshstpc@gmail.com

ABSTRACT : An experiment was conducted at Research Farm of Seed Technology and ProductionCentre, Nauni, Solan to study the effect of fruit number on seed quality and yield of okra. Experimentconsisted of five treatments. Six, eight, ten and twelve fruits per plant were retained and in control all thefruits were retained. Retaining six fruits per plant resulted in increased fruit length, fruit diameter, fruitweight, 100 seed weight, seed germination percentage, seed vigor index-I and seed vigor index-II. Seedyield per plant, per plot and per hectare was highest in the treatment where twelve fruits were retainedon a plant.

KEY WORDS : Okra, Fruit number, Seed yield, Seed quality

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE : Kumari, Santosh, Singh, Shiv Pratap and Kumar, Dharmender (2013). Effectof fruit number on seed yield and quality of okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench], Asian J. Hort., 8(1): 106-109.

Research Paper

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Experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD)with three replications. Plot size was kept 2.40 x 2.00 m. Row torow and plant to plant distance was kept 60 cm and 20 cm,respectively. Recommended dose of fertilizers was appliedi.e. 10 ton/ha FYM, 75 kg/ha N in the form of CAN, 55 kg/haP

2O

5 in the form of muriate of potash and 55 kg/ha K

2O in the

form of SSP as basal dose. After germination, plants werethinned and spaced 20 cm apart and 60 cm distance wasmaintained between rows. Plants were irrigated as and whenneeded and maintained properly to keep free from weeds. Handweeding was also carried out. Preventive pest and diseasecontrol measures were followed during the entire period ofcrop. The observations were recorded on five selected plantsin each treatment. The observations were recorded on plantheight (cm), fruit diameter (mm), fruit length (cm) number offruits per plant, Average fruit weight (g), number of seeds perfruit, seed yield per plant (g), seed yield per plot (kg), seedyield per hectare (q), 100 seed weight (g), seed germinationpercentage, seedling length (cm), seedling dry weight (mg),seed vigour index-I and seed vigour index-II.

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONAnalysis of variance revealed that all the characters were

significant except number of seeds per fruit (Table 1). Meanvalues of different characters have been presented in Table 2.

Plant height varied from 102.18 cm (T2) to 118.32 cm (T

4).

All the treatments except T2 showed better results than control.

Maximum plant height was recorded in T4 (118.32 cm) followed

by T1 (115.12 cm) and T

3(106.15 cm). Treatment T

4 was at par

with T1. Treatments T

4, T

1, T

3 showed 12.15 per cent, 9.1 per

cent and 0.61 per cent increase over control, respectively.Retaining higher number of fruits resulted in higher plantheight. Similar results were reported by Nabi et al. (2010).

Fruit diameter ranged from 15.00 mm (T5) to 17.00 mm

(T1). Maximum fruit diameter was recorded in T

1 (17.00 mm)

followed by T2 (16.55 mm) and T

3(16.38 mm). Treatment T

1

was found at par with T2. All the treatments showed better

results than control for fruit diameter. Retaining lesser numberof fruits per plant resulted in increased fruit diameter. Lessernumber of fruits per plant utilized the food materials andassimilates more efficiently and had more fruit diameter. Similarresults were reported by Deshmukh and Tayde (1986), Reddyet al. (1997) and Nabi et al. (2010).

Maximum fruit length was recorded in T1 (21.80 cm). Next

best treatments were T2 (21.22 cm) and T

3 (20.85 cm). All

treatments performed better than control. Minimum fruit lengthwas observed in control, T

5 (18.95 cm). Fruit length was found

higher in such plants where less number of fruits were retained.The results are in consonance with the results of Deshmukhand Tayde (1986), Reddy et al. (1997), Narayan et al. (2009)and Nabi et al. (2010).

Fruit weight varied from 7.30 g (T5) to 9.00 g (T

1).

Maximum fruit weight was recorded in T1 (9.00 g) followed by

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EFFECT OF FRUIT NUMBER ON SEED YIELD & QULAITY OF OKRA

T2 (8.82 g) and T

4 (8.60 g). T

1 was found at par with T

2. Results

revealed that retaining lesser number of fruits per plant resultedinto increased fruit weight. The reason may be that foodmaterials were utilized more efficiently by lesser number offruits retained on the plant. Deshmukh and Tayde (1986),Reddy et al. (1997) and Nabi et al. (2010) also reported similarresults.

Maximum number of seeds per fruit were recorded in T4

(47.25) followed by T3 (47.00) and T

2 (46.80). Minimum number

of seeds were observed in T5 (45.85). Retaining 12 fruits per

plant resulted in maximum number of seeds per fruit. Similarfindings were reported by Nabi et al. (2009).

Seed yield per plant ranged from 19.00 g (T1) to 40.45 g

(T4). Maximum seed yield per plant was recorded in T

4 (40.45

g) which was significantly higher than all other treatmentsfollowed by T

3 (30.25 g). T

4 and T

3 showed 43.33 per cent and

7.1 per cent increase over control. By retaining 12 fruits perplant, seed yield per plant was increased over control.

Highest seed yield per plot was recorded in T4 (1.534 kg)

which was significantly higher than all other treatments. Nextbest treatment was T

3 (1.210 kg). T

4 and T

3 showed 36 per

cent and 7.2 per cent increase over control. Minimum seedyield per plot was recorded in T

1 (0.76 kg).

Seed yield per hectare ranged from 15.83 q (T1) to 31.96

q (T4). Maximum seed yield was recorded in T

4 (31.96 q) which

was significantly higher than all other treatments. Next besttreatment was T

3 (25.21 q). T

4 and T

3 showed 36.11 per cent

and 7.36 per cent increase over control. Seed yield per plant,per plot and per hectare were found higher where highernumber of fruits were retained per plant. The results are inaccordance with Deshmukh and Tayde (1986), Reddy et al.(1997), Nabi et al. (2009) and Narayan et al. (2009).

Highest 100 seed weight was recorded in T1(7.253 g)

followed by T2 (7.225 g) and T

3 (6.856 g). T

1 was found at par

with T2. Minimum 100 seed weight was observed in T

5,control

(6.254 g). Retaining lesser number of fruits per plant resultedin production of heavier seeds. Similar results were reportedby Reddy et al. (1997) and Nabi et al. (2009).

Seed germination percentage ranged from 81 per cent(T

5) to 95 per cent (T

1, T

2). Highest seed germination percentage

was recorded in both T1 and T

2 (95%). T

1 and T

2 were at par

with T3 (94 %). T

1, T

2, T

3 and T

4 showed 17.28 per cent, 17.28

per cent, 16.04 per cent and 13.58 per cent increase overcontrol. Seed germination percentage was higher where lessnumber of fruits were retained per plant. Similar results werereported by Reddy et al. (1997) and Nabi et al. (2009).

Seedling length varied from 16.70 cm (T5) to 20.00 cm

(T1). Maximum seedling length was recorded in T

1 (20.00 cm)

which was significantly higher than all other treatments. T1

was followed by T2 (18.97 cm) and T

3 (18.20 cm). T

1, T

2 and T

3

showed 19.76 per cent, 13.60 per cent and 8.98 per centincrease over control.

Seedling dry weight ranged from 0.02240 mg (T5) to

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0.03768 mg (T1). Highest seedling dry weight was recorded in

T1 (0.03768 mg) and this treatment was significantly higher

than other treatments. Next best treatments were T2 (0.02664

mg) and T3 (0.02612 mg) and were at par with each other.

Treatment T1 (3.57960) showed highest seed vigour index-

I which was significantly higher than other treatments. T2

(2.53080) and T3 (2.45528) were next best treatments.

Minimum seed vigour index–I was observed in T5

(1.81440). Data revealed that retaining lesser fruits per planthad positive effect on seed vigour index-I. Results are inconsonance with those of Reddy et al. (1997) and Nabi et al.(2009).

Seedling vigour index-II ranged from 1352.70 (T5) to 1900

(T1). Best treatment was T

1 (1900) which was statistically higher

from all other treatments. T1 was followed by T

2 (1802.15) and

T3 (1710.80). Retaining lesser fruits per plant resulted in higher

seed vigour index-II. Similar results were reported by Reddyet al. (1997) and Nabi et al. (2009).

On the basis of present studies it can be concluded thatretaining six fruits per plant resulted in increased values forfruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight, 100 seed weight, seedvigour index-I and seed vigour index-II and seed yield perplant, per plot and per hectare was highest in the treatmentwhere twelve fruits were retained.

REFERENCESAykroyd, W.R. (1963). The nutritive value of Indian foods and theplanning of satisfactory diets. ICMR Special Report Series no. 42.

Deshmukh, S.N. and Tayde, G.S. (1986). Yield and quality of okraseed as affected by fruit number. Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth Res.J., 10(1): 66-68.

Nabi, Ambreen, Sharma, S.K. and Shukla, Y.R. (2009). Effect offruit load on seed yield and quality of okra. Ann. Bio., 25(2): 147-149.

Nabi, Ambreen, Sharma, S.K. and Shukla, Y.R. (2010). Effect offruit load on morphological characters and yield in okra. Ann. Agric.Bio. Res., 15(1):17-19.

Narayan, S., Ahmed, N., Mufti, Shahnaz, Afroza, Baseeart,Roohi, Seema and Hussain, K. (2009). Effect of fruit load onquality and seed yield in okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench.]under temperate conditions of Kashmir valley. Asian J. Hort., 4(1):57-58.

Purewal, S.S. and Randhawa, G.S. (1947).Studies in Abelmoschusesculentus chromosomes and pollination studies. Indian J. Agric.Sci., 17: 129-136.

Reddy, D.M.V., Chandrashekara, B.P. and Chandra, Shekara,R. (1997). Effect of apical pinching nad fruit thining on yield and seedquality in okra. Seed Res., 25:41-44.

Shanmugavelu, K.G. (1989). Production technology of vegetablecrops. Oxford and IBH Publishers, New Delhi, pp.661.

Thakur, M.R., Arora, S.K. and Kabir, J. (2003). Okra In: Vegetablecrops by Bose T K, Kabir J and Maity T K. 3rd rev. ed. NayaUdhyog, Kolkatta, pp. 209-240.

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