Effect of Botanical Based Nano Formulations on the Morphological Growth and Yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.)

Abstract

Agriculture has to face major challenges related to the provision of a sufficient quantity of healthy food for a constantly increasing world population considering decreasing arable areas and approaching the limits of genetic potential of crops, the only solution to achieve this is the enhancement of crop yield and its protection. Okra requires high quantities of both macro and micro nutrients for economic production. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potash nutrients are important and play a key role in the production of both quantity and quality level in okra. The present study aimed to determines the effect of botanical based nano formulations on the morphological growth and yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.). An experiment was conducted at the Main Vegetable Research Station, Anand Agricultural University, Anand with a view to study the effect of botanical-based nano-formulations on the morpho-physiological growth of okra (abelmoschus esculentus L.) during the summer and kharif, 2024. The experiment was arranged in randomized block design (RBD) with three replication having thirteen treatments (T1: Control, T2: RDF, T3: 50% RDN + 10% GNF, T4: 50% RDN + 15% GNF, T5: 50% RDN + 20% GNF, T6: 50% RDN + 10% MNF, T7: 50% RDN + 15% MNF, T8: 50% RDN + 10% GNF + 10% MNF, T9: 50% RDN + 10% GNF + 15% MNF, T10: 50% RDN + 15% GNF + 10% MNF, T11: 50% RDN + 15% GNF + 15% MNF, T12: 50% RDN + 20% GNF + 10% MNF and T13: 50% RDN + 20% GNF + 15% MNF. The results revealed that the treatments included 50% Recommended Dose of Nitrogen supplemented with varying levels of GNF and MNF. The growth parameters, such as plant height, number of branches and dry matter accumulation were significantly influenced by treatments. The highest values across 60, 90 days after sowing (DAS) and harvest were consistently observed under treatment T8 (50% RDN + 10% GNF + 10% MNF), while the lowest were recorded in the control treatment (T1). Though crop growth rate (CGR) was not significantly affected during early stages (30–60 and 60–90 DAS), a marked improvement was recorded during the 90 DAS to harvest phase in pooled analysis, indicating cumulative effects of the nano formulations. Where, GNF: Gliricidia Nano formulation and MNF: Moringa Nano formulation. Foliar spraying of nano formulations significantly increased the number of fruits per plant, fruit length, and fruit weight in okra. The enhanced yield may be attributed to improved biomass dry matter (BMD), along with better morpho-physiological and biochemical traits.