Okparavero, O. O.

Okra belongs to the Malvacea family, genus Abelmoschus and species Abelmoschus esculentus. It is indigenous to tropical Africa and grown all over West Africa. Okra is a vegetable of nutritional essential and is cultivated and consumed in Nigeria. An experiment was carried out in June 2022 at the Federal polytechnic Ilaro, to know the effect of spacing on growth and yield of different variety of okra. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in a split plot arrangement, the main plot was variety,(Kirikou and Jokoso) and the subplot was spacing. The result showed that spacing was significant on the yield performance of okra. Jokoso has taller plant(40.0 cm), higher number of leaves(10.02), bigger stem girth(3.23cm) as compared to Kirikou, while Kirikou has higher leaf area per plant (98.3), higher yield per plant (32.15), higher fruit yield (kg)(627.27), higher number of pod per plant (4.51) relative to Jokoso. Okra sown at spacing of 75 x 25 cm has taller plant (38.7), higher number of leaves(12.3), higher fruit yield(905.22), while spacing at 60 x 60 cm has bigger stem girth (3.37), higher yield per plant(39.63), higher number of pods per(5.09) plant and higher leaves area per plant(125cm2 ), compared to the other spacing. Based on this study, it can therefore be considered that, for optimum production of okra, Kirikou with spacing of 75 x 25 cm is recommended. Keyword: Okra, Spacing, Varieties, Yield  0150