Optimizing Okra Yield: The Synergistic Effects of Land Configuration, Mulching and Fertilizer Management

Abstract

The field experiment was carried out during rabi seasons of 2022-23 and 2023-24 at Instructional Farm, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Dapoli. Dist. Ratnagiri (M.S.). The soil of the experimental plot was sandy clay loam in texture, low in available nitrogen and very low in phosphorus, medium in potassium, very high in organic carbon and acidic in reaction. The field experiments were laid out in a strip plot design comprising of twelve treatment combinations replicated thrice. The vertical strips consist of four land configurations with or without mulch treatment viz., M1: Raised bed with mulch, M2: Raised bed without mulch, M3: Flatbed with mulch and M4: Flatbed without mulch similarly horizontal strips comprised three fertilizer management practices viz., F1: RDF through straight fertilizer, F2: Konkan Annapurna Briquettes (KAB) + Remaining N, P2O5 and K2O through fertigation and F3: RDF through fertigation. The results revealed that the among the varying land configuration with or without mulch, the treatment raised bed with mulch (M1) significantly enhanced growth, fruit and stalk yield and it was found comparable to each other with the treatment flat bed with mulch (M3). Regarding the different fertilizer management practices, the combination of Konkan Annapurna Briquettes with the remaining RDF applied through fertigation (F2) achieved significantly higher growth parameters, fruit and stalk yield during both the years of experiment and in pooled data. This result was found to be comparable to each other to the treatment involving application of the entire RDF through fertigation (F3) in the okra crop. Evaluating the interaction of treatment combinations, raised bed with mulch including Konkan Annapurna Briquettes plus remaining RDF through fertigation (M1F2) recorded a significant increase in growth, fruit and stalk yield of rabi okra during both the years of experiment and in pooled data.