Influence of age of transplant and planting season on Corchorus Olitorius (L)

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1984-06-26
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Abstract
Two separate experiments, each in a split-plot design were set up in the Kumasi area of the forest zone to study the influence of age at transplanting and planting seasons on the growth and yield of Corchorus olitorius. The seasons of the year and the age of transplants had varying effects on the growth and yield attributes studied. Plants grown in the major and minor rainy seasons had more leaves at planting out than plants grown in the dry season. Seedlings transplanted 22 days after pricking out gave the best establishment. The highest percentage of surviving transplants was recorded in the major and minor rainy seasons. Earliness to, as well as heavier yields at, first harvest, was recorded f or seedlings grown in the two rainy seasons. The oldest transplants (22-day old) were the earliest to reach first harvest and the youngest transplants produced the heaviest yield at first harvest. The dry season plants flowered Earlier and were the first to set fruits. The 22-day old transplants flowered and set fruits earlier than the younger transplants (10 and 14-day old). The total number of side shoots, total marketable, edible, non-edible, total shoot, leaf and stem dry matter yields were higher in the rainy seasons than in the dry season. In most cases, the major season plants gate higher values than plants grown in the minor, season. The age at which seedlings were transplanted did not cause significant differences in these parameters. Fruit dry matter and leaf/stem ratio were higher in the dry season. Whilst the older transplants had higher dry matter, the younger transplants were rather higher in leaf/stem ratio. It was in both rainy seasons that higher net assimilation rates, leaf area indices, and crop growth rates were obtained. The older ages at transplanting at the initial stages of growth, had higher values than the younger transplants in these growth attributes but at the later stages of growth, the younger transplants, because of their higher growth rate were at par with the older transplants.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Horticulture, 1984
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