Growth and fruit yield of okro [abelmoschus esculentus (l.) Moench] as affected by gibberellic acid and harvest interval in tyhe sudan savanna region of Nigeria

Field studies were conducted during the 2011 rainy season at the orchard of Faculty of Agriculture, Bayero University Kano (BUK) (11*58N, 8’26’F and 460m above sea level) and NIHORT Experimental Station DadinKowa (11o 14oN, 11o8E and 440 above sea level both in the savanna ecological zone of Nigeria. The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the effects of gibberellic (GA), and harvest interval on growth and fruit yield of okra (Abelmoschusesculentus (L) Moench). The treatment comprised of four concentrations of (), 30, 60 and 90 ppm) and harvest interval (3, 6 and 9 day). The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and significantly different means were separated using Duncan Multiple Test (DMRT). The parameters measured include plant height and yield, compared with the control. Similarly, harvest interval significantly influenced the yield and parameters. The 3-day harvesting recorded significantly higher yield compared with 6 and 9 days intervals and this may be attributed to the fact that frequent picking influenced the plant to more fruits.