Effect of Aqueous Moringa Leaf Extract (Moringa Oleifera) on the Phenology and Growth Parameters of Three Tomato Varieties Under Different Water Regimes in Dutse, Nigeria

Abstract

Lack of adequate fertilizer, varietal differences and water stress are some of the factors that limit the growth and yield of tomato.  Moringa leaf extract (MLE) is one of the recent natural bio-stimulants use for enhancing growth, yield and stress tolerance in plants  because it contains various phytochemicals. The experiment was carried out to find out the effect of aqueous moringa leaf extract on the  phenology and growth parameters of three tomato varieties under different water regimes. The pot experiment consisted of 27  treatments. A split plot arrangement in completely randomize design with three replications was used for this experiment. The treatment  evaluated in this study showed significant difference in all the phenology and growth parameters measured. The MLE at 100%  was observed to be the optimum concentration for reducing negative effects of water stress and increasing the growth and decreasing  the phenology of tomato plant. 100% MLE decreased the phenology of tomato. Tomato showed shorter days to flowering and fruiting.  Varietal differences also affected the growth of the tomato varieties. The tomato varieties responded differently to the moringa extract.  The study observed that UC85B recorded the highest plant height (78cm), number of leaf per plant (149), number of branches (24) and  leaf area (21.5) whereas the lowest result was observed with ROMA VF with plant height (15cm), number of leaf per plant (23), number of  branches (5) and leaf area (10). From the results, it can be concluded that moringa leaf extract could be a potential bio-stimulant for  improving growth and yield of tomato plant under water stress.