Design, Installation and Greenhouse Facility Evaluation of Supplemental Lighting on the Performance of Okra

Abstract

An existing greenhouse was modified for an experiment to determine the effect of supplemental lighting on the growth and development of okra. The greenhouse was divided into four plots of 0.4 m by 0.4 m each. The facilities installed in the greenhouse include 0.5 kVA solar system; lighting bulb of different wattage; drip irrigation lines; irrigation buckets and the soil pots.  Lighting bulbs of 25, 65 and 100 Watts were installed. It was observed in the experiment that the plant height of okra increased with increase in time across all the wattages.  The plant height also increased with an increase in the bulb wattage. Similar observation was recorded in the relationship between time and age of okra and the number of leaves. On the fruit yield of okra, the highest number of pods per plant was recorded from the plot with the highest wattage of lighting bulb of 100 watts and the number of pods decreased with an increase in the wattage of the bulb and later increased with an increase in the wattage. This result also showed that extending the period of lighting in the greenhouse had a positive influence on the weight of okra pod. It was therefore noted that morphological characteristics and yield of okra were positively influenced by extension of the day light by the supplemental lighting.