E. J. Falodun

This study was conducted at the University of Benin, Faculty of Agriculture experimental farm, from October 2021 to Oct 2022, to determine the best propagation method and planting date for enhanced growth and yield components of onion (Allium cepa) in two seasons (dry and wet) in a rainforest zone of Nigeria. Onions were cultivated using sets and seeds on four planting dates in each season. The experiment was laid out in a factorial design, comprising 8 treatments for each season (P1D1, P1D2, P1D3, P1D4, P2D1, P2D2, P2D3, P2D4) in three replications, where P represents propagation methods (P1: set and P2: seed), and D planting dates for Dry (D1: Oct 10th, D2: Oct 24th, D3: Nov 7th and D4: Nov 21st) and Wet (D1: Mar 6th, D2: Mar 20th, D3: April 3rd and D4: April 17th) season.
Data on growth and yield parameters, including plant height (cm), number of leaves per plant, stem diameter (cm), bulb length (cm), bulb diameter (cm), number of bulbs per stand, bulb weight per plot (g/m2), and yield (t ha-1), were collected and subjected to statistical analysis. Results showed significant effects of propagation method, planting date, and season on most parameters measured.
During vegetative growth, seasonal effects influenced the number of leaves, which was higher in the wet season (16.47) than in the dry season (11.78), while plant height and stem diameter showed no significant differences. Set propagation yielded significantly over seed propagation higher plant height (49.14 cm), number of leaves (29.98) both on planting date April 17 and stem diameter (1.88 cm) on planting date Nov 21. For yield components, dry season cultivation produced significantly higher bulb diameter (9.35 cm), bulb weight per plot (976 g/m²), and yield (9.76 t ha⁻¹) compared to the wet season. However, bulb length and the number of bulbs per stand were not significantly affected by season.

The experiment was conducted at the Crop Science Research Farm in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City. Seeds were obtained locally from Ekosodin, Benin City, Nigeria. Poultry manure was obtained from University of Benin Farm project, while NPK fertilizer was procured from Ring road market. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in three replications consisting of propagation planting methods D (propagation by seed), T(propagated by seedling) and four fertilizer treatment F1 (control), F2 (400kg/NPK) ,F3 (poultry dropping 20 t/ha), F4 (poultry manure 10 t/ha and 200 kg/ha).Data on vegetative characteristics (plant height ,leaf length, stem diameter and leaf area) and reproductive characters (nut yield, herbage yield and number of nut) were taken. From the result of the experiment it was observed that plant height
(98.35) and the leaf area (68.81) were significantly increased with direct sowing compared with the transplant, similarly plants that receive fertilizer were superior in plant and leaf area the control. However the effect of propagation methods and fertilizer application was not significant on the herbage and nut yield of Tiger nut. Therefore farmers in this locality can produce tiger nut using the direct sowing method with little to no fertilizer application.

This study was carried out to determine the effect of fertilizer application and staking
methods on the growth and yield of Cucumber ( Cucumis sativus). The experiment
was conducted during the 2024 dry cropping season at the Teaching and Research
Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin city. The experiment
was laid out as a randomized complete block design in three replicates consisting of
four rates of fertilizer application (0kg/ha, 400kg/ha NPK, 20t/ha PM, 200kg/ha
NPK+10t/ha PM) and three levels of staking (no staking, single staking and trellis).
The parameters measured were vine length, number of leaves, number of tendrils,
stem diameter, leaf area, days to 50% flowering, number of flowers, number of fruits,
fruit weight per plot and yield(t/ha). The results obtained showed that the effect of
fertilizer application using poultry manure influenced the vine length and the number
of leaves positively at the vegetative stage, but fruit yield was not insignificant,
However best yields were obtained with the combination of poultry manure and NPK
15:15:15. The result of this experiment suggests that cucumber farmers use the
combination of poultry manure and NPK with or without staking for a better
performance of cucumber crop.