CROP SCIENCE

This study evaluated the tolerance of maize accessions Edo Statefrom South-South Nigeria to waterlogging stress, a major constraint to maize productivity. This study was conducted in a screen house at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, the experiment was in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with six Accessions from South -South replicated three times. The Accessions were obtained from Aduwawa, Agbede, Auchi, New Benin, and Useh were pre-treated, and waterlogging was induced at the five-leaf stage (5LS) for four weeks. Neem leaves were used as an organic insecticide, and fertilizer was applied to support growth. Data on plant height, leaf dimensions, number of leaves, tasseling, silking, pollen shedding, ear height, adventitious roots, and plant mortality were collected as from 2 weeks after planting . The results showed
significant plant death due to hypoxia, with few surviving genotypes like Useh,Aduwawa and New Benin but failed to produce grain, likely due to high screen house temperatures that could have disrupted pollination.The results also showed that accession from Useh
showed the highest growth characteristics on leaf breadth and leaf area, despite the waterlogging effect. Some Accessions also showed high value for healthy leaves under waterlogging, indicating that amongst all accessions used in the study, Accession Useh
has the potential ability to grow and thrive on waterlogged soil.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a staple crop critical for global food security, yet its productivity is often constrained by soil nutrient deficiencies, pest infestations, and reliance on synthetic inputs. This study evaluated the agronomic response of maize to the application of neem leaf powder, an organic amendment derived from Azadirachta indica, as a sustainable alternative for enhancing soil fertility and plant performance. The study was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated five times. The treatment comprised four rates of A. indica leaf powder (0.0, 60.0, 120.0, and 180.0 Kg ha -1). Percent emergence, Percent establishment, Days to tasseling, Plant height, Number of ears harvested and Stover yield were evaluated. The results showed that the leaf powder significantly improved maize growth. The best performance was obtained from the plots incorporated with 180kg of A. indica leaf powder. The study concludes that Azadirachta indica leaf powder, is a viable and eco-friendly organic fertilizer for maize cultivation and reducing chemical dependency

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a major staple crop in West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, where it serves as a vital source of food security, income, and cultural significance. Despite its importance, yam production faces numerous challenges, including declining soil fertility, high labor requirements in traditional mound cultivation, the prohibitive cost of inorganic fertilizers and security challenges across Nigeria. Bag propagation has emerged as an innovative alternative, enabling efficient soil and nutrient management, reduced pest and disease incidence, and suitability for limited land areas. Poultry manure, a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer, offers a sustainable means of enhancing soil fertility for yam production. It improves soil structure, microbial activity, and nutrient availability, thereby promoting vegetative growth and tuber yield. However, limited research exists on its application in bag-propagated yam. This study, therefore, evaluates the effect of poultry manure on the growth and yield of bag-propagated yam, aiming to identify a cost-effective and environmentally friendly practice that enhances productivity and supports sustainable yam cultivation. The experimental site was a private farm in Ogida quarters. The experiment comprised two treatments, each treatment had six (6) replications. At outset, date of planting was recorded. Number of days to sprouting, vine lengths, stem diameter, number of leaves were recorded at subsequent intervals. At harvest, tuber weight and vine weight were recorded. Data collected were analyzed using excel, the two means were compared using t-test method with the probability of 0.05 and unequal variance. Yam grown with poultry manure recorded higher vine length and greater tuber weight at harvest compared to those without manure. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that the application of poultry manure significantly improved the growth and yield of bag propagated yam.

Uncontrolled weed reduce crop productivity by interfering with crop growth and yield. The reduction of weed growth by crop interference is a viable alternative to reduce the reliance on herbicide use in weed management. One of the strategies to reduce weed infestation is to grow crops as intercrops. A field trial was conducted during the rainy seasons of 2018 and 2019 at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City (06 0 20’ 50’ N, 5 0 37’ 23 “E; 78 m asl) to assess weed suppression in maize-groundnut intercropping systems. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. The experiment consisted of six treatments (weed-free intercrop, weed-free sole maize, weed-free sole groundnut, weedy intercrop, weedy sole maize and weedy sole groundnut. The attributes measured for weed were weed density per m2, weed dry weight per m2, weed smothering efficiency, and for the crops were days to flowering, plant height, ear and pod maturity, cob and pod yields, seed weight, yield and land equivalent ratio. Results showed that weed-free intercrop suppressed weeds relative to weed-free sole maize cropping system. Maize and groundnut plants grew taller in weed-free cropping system (175 cm and 61.5 cm). Number of cobs, 1000-seed weight and grain yield (maize), and pods and 100-seed weight (groundnut), were higher in weed-free intercrop or sole cropping systems. This implies that weeds are major constraints limiting maize and groundnut production in Rainforest environment. For weed suppression, weed density of broadleaves, narrowleaves and their total (561.4 cm, 246.8 cm and 808.2 cm) were all higher in weed-free cropping systems. However, weed dry weight of broadleaves, narrowleaves and their total (78.6 cm, 250 cm, and 329.2 cm) were higher in weedy cropping systems. Weed smothering efficiencies for broadleaves, narrowleaves and their total (72.9 % 626% and 68.0 %) were higher in weed-free intercrop. Broadleaves were better controlled in both weed-free and weedy intercrops. Land equivalent ratios were generally above one showing that it was more advantageous growing maize and groundnut together instead of the respective sole crops. Therefore, it may be recommended that farmers in the Rainforest agro-ecology should intercrop groundnut with maize and regularly control weeds.

Ripening of banana is the major economical concern during the post-harvest which improves the colour, softness, and characteristic aroma of banana and makes them ripened rapidly and palatable as well as more attractive to the consumer. People consume banana fruit ripened with hazardous chemicals like calcium carbide which pose great health risk to the population. Therefore, the present study was carried out to compare the effect of calcium carbide and biological ripening agent on the physical and chemical properties of banana. Treatments included (i) calcium carbide (ii) apple (iii) avocado (iv) oil palm fruits (v) pawpaw), (vi) pear (Pyrus sp) (vii) tomato, (viii) control (open air), (ix) control (bag) and (x) unripe banana. Hands of banana containing 10 fingers for each treatment were placed with calcium carbide and the other biological ripening agents in different black polythene bags which was tied up and placed on a table in the laboratory. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design in three replications. All sample were monitored for the changes in softness to indicate ripening. Result showed that there was significant differences among the ripening agents in both physical and chemical properties except in pulp percentage. Calcium carbide was earliest in days (5) to 100% ripening but was comparable to most of the biological ripening agent (5.33days). However, calcium carbide ripened banana had pulp to peel ratio of 1.80 while pear (Pyrus), apple, avocado and tomato had 1.99, 1.57, 1.53, 1.62 respectively. Calcium carbide ripened banana had the lowest percentage of ash fat and protein compared to biological ripening agents. Also, calcium carbide ripened banana also had the highest level of zinc, copper, manganese and lead compared to biological ripening agents. Thus biological ripening agents like apple, tomato and pear (Pyrus) should be adopted as ripening agent to avoid possible health risks from calcium carbide

The effect of digestate admixed top soil on the dry matter production of Tiger-nut (Cyperus esculentus L) was evaluated between December 2023 - April 2024 at the Department of Crop Science screen house, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria. The Experiment involved four application rates (0,5,10 and 15 kg N ha -1) of digestate per 10 kg top soil laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Data were collected at 10 - 14 weeks after planting (WAP) on shoot dry weight and nut dry weight; and at harvest on number of nuts per plant, nut size, weight and yield from the results, the application of digestate brought about increase in dry matter in terms of enhanced dry shoot and nut weight. Nut yield parameters were also improved through digestate application. The heaviest nut size (8.89g), highest nut weight (34.8g) and yield (0.69g) were recorded in top soil media treated with digestate at 10 kg N ha-1 which was not significantly (p>0.05) higher than those of plants produced from 5 kg N ha -1 digestate. Top soil media treated with digestate at 5 kg N ha -1 is thereby suggested for tiger nut farmers.

In Nigeria, bananas and plantains are important staple and cash crops. Nevertheless, one of the major constraints to their production is the unavailability of healthy planting materials at planting time. Fortunately, micropropagation using bud manipulation technique could be used to produce large numbers of healthy plantlets in a short time. The response of five Musa cultivars to micropropagation using bud manipulation technique was evaluated in the horticultural Nursery of the Department of Crop Science, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria in June, 2017. Three sword suckers (about 5-40cm in height) of each Musa cultivar were used. Two sword suckers (about 5-40 cm in height) of each Musa cultivar were used. The corms of each cultivar were cut through to remove apical dominance, and were treated with neem leaves extract/fungicide, and allowed to air dry for 72 hours under a shade. This was followed by planting the corms of each cultivar in high humidity plastic propagators. The experiment was laid out in randomised complete block design with three replications. The results indicated that there was no significant difference among the Musa cultivars in their response to micropropagation. The mean number of sprouted shoots per corm for plantain was 3.2-4.3. while banana and hybrid had 1.0 and 1.5 respectively. The mean total number of plantlets produce among plantain cultivar varied from 8.7-14.0, while banana and hybrid banana 3.0. The response of banana and plantain bud manipulation technique depends on the variety, and since the technology is simple and affordable there is hope of high farmer adoption through workshop training and collaborative research with farmers.