Influence of Planting Distance on Seed Yield and Size of Moringa oleifera

Select Volume / Issue:

• Volume 1,Issue 5, Sept. 2014

Year:

2014

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

Moringa oleifera, Planting Distance, Seed Yield, Seed Size

Authors:

Ojoawo, O. T.; Akinlade, J. A.; Akingbade, A. A.; Aderinola, O. A.

Journal:

IJRAS

Volume:

1

Number:

5

Pages:

330-332

Month:

September

Note:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Abstract:

The growing interest in the use of Moringa oleifera in human nutrition and as livestock feed has necessitated its cultivation on a commercial scale. There is need to explore means of improving its seed yield and size. The aim of this study is to verify the influence of spacing on the seed yield and size of Moringa oleifera seeds. An experimental site was set up at the pasture plot of Teaching and Research Farm, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso. Smaller plots of 10 m x 10 m beds were made, and dried 2 seeds per hole were planted in the raining season in May 2013. The planting spacings adopted are 0.6 m x 0.6 m (T1); 0.9 m x 0.9 m (T2) and 1.2 m x 1.2 m (T3), and these were replicated thrice. At exactly a year of age, dry pods were collected from each treatment using 1.5 m x 1.5 m quadrant sampling and weighed. The yields per treatment estimated and seed size measured and the data collected were analyzed statistically. Based on the findings from the use of mathematical computations in this study, it can be concluded that planting Moringa oleifera at spacing of (0.6 x 0.6) m2 brings about the highest seed yield. The 1.2 m x 1.2 m spacing on the other hand turns out the lowest seed yield. Therefore the seed yield decreases with increase in spacing. In the case of the seed size of the plant, the spacing of 0.9 m x 0.9 m results into large seed size that improves germination and better growth leading to much higher yields.

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