EFFECT OF SPACING ON QUALITY AND YIELD OF JUTE MALLOW (Corchorusolitorius) PHENOTYPES IN KENYA

Abstract

Localvegetables are important crops grown in many parts of African countries including Kenya. They are at times given various names depending on their where about grown, for example, Corchorusolitoriusis also known as Jute mallow, African Sorelor Jew’s mallow.In KenyaJute mallow is highly nutritious and is of commercial value.Their production has been low due to poorfarming practices such as spacing, processing and post-harvest handling. This study seeksto investigate the effect of various spacing on quality and yield ofJute mallow. Field experiments were established at Kenya Agriculture Livestock Research Organization,Kitalefarm and University of Eldoret,Chepkoilel farm using RandomizedComplete Block Design (RCBD)with threereplicatesand threelevels of spacing. Seeds were drilled and later plants thinned to spacing of 20 x 30, 30 x 30 and 40 x 30 cm. Data was collected on five tagged plants per plot and their plant heights, branching at main stem, pod count and fresh leaf yield determined. Data collected wasanalyzed using computer package GENSTAT andmeansseparation done using DMRT at p≤0.05.The results showed that Jute mallow accessions responded best towiderspacing of 40 cm x 30 cm with tallest plant height of 35 cm and 35.6 cm and shortest plants at 31.6 cm and 31.4 cm on short varieties GEMS and BEMS,respectively. VarietiesGLMT and BLMT had highest mean branching at 6.7 and 6.0 and highest mean number of podsof 21.8 and 21.6 from Eldoret (site 1)and Kitale (site 2),respectively.Fresh leaf yield per plant showed late maturing varieties (GLMT, BLMT) had highest fresh leaf weight of 77.02 g and 74.93 g per plant for Eldoret and Kitalesite, respectively.It is concluded that widerspacing of 40 cm x 30 cm increasesJute mallow yieldperhaps due to low plant competition. This studyrecommendsthat farmers use wider spacingfor higher cropyield