Determination of Number of Manual Hoe Weeding for Optimal Yield of Castor (Ricinus communis L., Euphorbiaceae) in Nigeria

Abstract

Weeds are very detrimental to castor plant as castor plant emergence is slow. The need to determine for specific number of manual hoe weeding needed for the achievement of effective and affordable weed control for the realization of optimal yield of castor becomes very important in Nigeria. The experiment was established on the upland castor experimental field of the National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi in 2011 and 2012 wet seasons. Three hoe weeding regimes including weeding at 1month after planting (MAP), weeding at 1&2MAP and weeding at 1,2 and 3MAP were evaluated along with the weedy check where no weeding was carried out. From the results in both years of 2011 and 2012 wet seasons, poorest weed control and crop growth along with the yield of castor were obtained from the weedy checks. Among the weeding regimes, castor plots that were hoe weeded once at 1MAP in the two years trial gave good weed control and castor yields significantly comparable to plots that were weeded 2 and 3 times both years.