Keron Montague and Elroy Charles
📃• URC22 Abstract •
Published: May 16, 2022 • Book of Abstracts (Forthcoming) of the 4th Undergraduate Research Conference. University of Guyana, Office for Undergraduate Research.
Keron Montague ✉️ Elroy Charles Department of Agriculture. Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. University of Guyana-Turkeyen Campus. Greater Georgetown, Guyana.
Experiments conducted previously demonstrated that Moringa oleifera leaf extract had significant effects on the growth and reproductive performance of tomato plants. These experiments were somewhat silent on the ideal concentration of Moringa Leaf Extract (MLE) that is required to obtain optimum growth and reproductive performance. This study sought to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of M-L-E on the vegetative and reproductive performance of tomatoes. A pot study was conducted for a period of 13 weeks under a shade house. This experiment design was a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with five replicates and four treatments. The treatments were -T1 (control using 15:15:15), T2 (moringa extract at 25%), T3 (moringa extract at 50%) and T4 (moringa extract at 75%). Plant height at maturity, number of days to 50% flowering, number of primary lateral branches, quantity of fruit, and plant yield were all measured. Moringa twigs and leaves were gathered and sorted. To make the 100 percent stock solution, 400 grams of moringa leaves were liquefied in 400 ml of distilled water, and then the other concentrations were made by adding distilled water on a volume basis. The foliar application (30 ml per plant) of the extract began two weeks after transplanting, and then weekly until harvest. The results suggested that the foliar application of 50 % M-L-E on tomato had significant effect on days to 50% flowering. Therefore, it can be concluded that MLE aided in the reduction of days that tomatoes usually take to produce flower. This finding can be used to combat the challenges of climate change that the agricultural sector is currently facing. With early fruit development, the cost of production would be reduced and also farmers would not have to run the risk of having their crops in the ground for lengthy periods which may affect the yield of crops as a result of inclement weather. The application of MLE is recommended since it’s one of the cheapest and environmentally friendly methods of enhancing the yield of a wide range of crops.
Keywords: Moringa oleifera, Leaf extract, Vegetative growth, Yield performance
The 4th Undergraduate Research Conference (URC22) is hosted by the University of Guyana’s Office for Undergraduate Research on May 18-20, 2022.
