GROWTH AND YIELD OF OKRA AS INFLUENCED BY LIVE MULCH IN SAMARU, ZARIA

Two field experiments were conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of theInstitute for Agricultural Research; Ahmadu Bello University Zaria located on latitude11011’N, longitude 7038’E and 686m above sea level in the Northern Guinea SavannahEcological Zone of Nigeria in 2010 and 2011 cropping seasons. The objective of thestudy was to compare the yield of okra grown under different weed managementstrategies. The experiment consisted of four treatments namely: control, cucumber,watermelon and pumpkin. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomised blockdesign (RCBD) with three replications. From the results so far obtained, pumpkinsignificantly gave higher mean values in both growth and yield characters measured,whereas the control treatment, significantly gave lower mean values of both growth andyield parameters throughout the period of assessment.