Princess Magar , Jenisha Lama , Rakshya Devkota

Faculty of Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan, 44200, Nepal
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Horticulture, 2026, Vol. 16, No. 2   doi: 10.5376/ijh.2026.16.0009
Received: 27 Dec., 2025    Accepted: 26 Mar., 2026    Published: 20 Apr., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Magar P., Lama J., and Devkota R., 2026, Effects of different mulching materials on growth and yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) cv. Arka Anamika in East Rukum, Nepal, International Journal of Horticulture, 16(2): 98-104 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2026.16.0009)

A field study was conducted from 10^th April to 24^th June 2024 to evaluate the effects of different mulching materials on the growth and yield of okra, specifically the Arka Anamika variety, and to compare yield performance across the various mulching treatments. The experiment was carried out at Dhakalbara, Sisne Rural Municipality-6, East Rukum, Nepal, using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Six treatments were tested: T1 (black plastic mulch), T2 (control), T3 (mustard straw), T4 (banmara), T5 (sawdust), and T6 (leaf litter), each replicated four times. The results indicated that mulching type had a significant influence on both growth and yield parameters. The highest plant height was recorded from black plastic mulch at 25 days after sowing (DAS) (8.61 cm), 40 DAS (22.37 cm), and 60 DAS (74.87 cm), compared to other treatments. Black plastic mulch consistently produced the tallest plants, followed by mustard straw mulch (20.17 cm and 68.82 cm), which showed moderately improved growth compared to the other treatments. In addition to plant height, black plastic mulch also promoted a higher number of leaves per plant and resulted in superior yield performance. Black plastic mulch produced the highest average fruit weight (245.80 g), which was statistically superior to most organic mulches and comparable to the control plot (193.70 g). The highest productivity (14.897 Mt/ha) was recorded from black plastic mulch, followed by control (11.739 Mt/ha). The findings confirm that mulching, especially black plastic mulch, significantly enhances okra growth and productivity.

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench); Arka Anamika; Yield; Black plastic mulch; Mulching