INFLUENCE OF GA3 AND NAA ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF OKRA (Abelmoschus esculentus L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out to assess the performance of okra cv. Green Finger as influenced by GA3 and NAA during the period from February 2023 to June, 2023 at area sales center (ASC), Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), Chehelgazi, Dinajpur, Bangladesh. The treatments consisted of three levels of GA3 (i.e., 0 ppm, 150 ppm and 250 ppm) combined with three levels of NAA (i.e., 0 ppm, 150 ppm and 250 ppm) and formed a total of nine treatment combinations. All the treatments were replicated thrice in the two factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The results revealed that plant growth and yield as well as qualitative attributes of okra were highly influenced by different levels of GA3, NAA both individually or in combination. Vegetative growth like plant height, number of leaves and branch plant-1 at 20, 40, 60 and 80 DAS were statistically higher than control. At 80 DAS, the maximum plant height (114.40 cm), leaves plant-1 (57.03), and branch plant-1 (5.43) were observed by NAA @ 150 ppm + GA3 @150 ppm. Further the leaves area (112.10 cm2), internode number (25.40), internode length (21.33 cm), buds plant-1 (51.13), pods plant-1 (24.63), pod length (15.93 cm), pod diameter (2.02 cm), dry matter of pod (21.33 %), 1000 seeds weight (75.80 g), stover yield plant 1(505.67 g), yield plant-1 (419.93 g) and yield plot-1 (14.43 ton) were also found to be superior by NAA @ 150 ppm + GA3 @ 150 ppm as compared to control. In addition, the maximum amount of β-carotene (69.46 mg), TSS (4.53 %) and vitamin C were found from NAA @ 150 ppm + GA3 @ 150 ppm respectively, and minimum (43.24 mg, 6.45 mg and 2.50 %) were observed from N0G0, N2G0 and N1G2, respectively. Moreover, minerals like magnesium and zinc were also increased and potassium was decreased by the application of different levels of GA3 and NAA as compared to the control whereas calcium was not influenced by GA3 and NAA. Overall, the present experiment suggested that the application of GA3 @ 150 ppm + NAA @ 150 ppm can be effective in enhancing the growth, yield and quality of okra.