Abstract:
This research study was conducted to investigate the effect of different animal manure-compost mixtures on the growth of the okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) plant. The
compost was prepared by using banana leaves, paddy straw, and gliricidia leaves
(Gliricidia sepium), and compost was mixed with different animal manures in a 1:1
ratio. The animal manure-compost mixture was named as type-1 (compost + cattle
manure), type-2 (compost + goat manure) and type-3 (compost + poultry manure).
These three different animal manures- compost mixtures were incorporated with
topsoil at two different rates such as25% and 50% to prepare potting media. The study
comprises seven treatments including a control. Physiochemical parameters such as
pH, moisture, and nitrogen contents of the potting media were measured at Biosystems
Technology Laboratory, Faculty of Technology, Eastern University Sri Lanka. Okra
seeds were planted in prepared potting media in polythene bags and all other agronomy
practices were done as recommended by the Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka.
Growth parameters such as plant height, number of leaves per plant, and stem diameter
were measured during the 2nd, 4th and 6th weeks after planting. Data on physiochemical
properties of potting media and growth parameters were statistically analyzed using
minitab17. It was found that the physiochemical properties of potting media were
varied significantly among treatments. The results show that the different animal
manure-compost mixture has a significant (P<0.05) effect on the growth of okra,
suggesting that incorporation of manure-compost mixture improves soil nutrition and
consequently enhances the growth of the plant and thus the application of chemical
fertilizer could be avoided
