EFFECT OF HARVEST HEIGHTS AND PROPAGATION METHODS ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF JUTE MALLOW (Corchorus olitorious)

ABSTRACT

The effect of cutting height and propagation method was evaluated between 6th of January and 19th of April, 2021 at the Horticultural Experimental Farm of the Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. The experiment was a 3x3 factorial laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. Data were collected on the following parameters per plants; plant height (cm), number of branches, number of leaves, stem diameter (cm), leaf area (cm²), herbage weight (g), herbage yield (t/ha), pod weight (g) and pod yield (t/ha). There were significant differences in herbage yield. Stem propagated plants harvested at 20 cm above ground level produced the highest herbage yield (17.63 t/ha). From the result of this study, farmers in this locality should propagate Corchorus olitorious using stem propagated method and harvest at 20 cm above ground level for higher herbage yield.