Effect of different planting dates on the growth attributes of cultivars of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta and Xanthosoma sagitifolum) in the rainforest zone of Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The experiment was conducted in 2019 at the Teaching and Research Farm of Department of Crop Science and Horticulture, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam Anambra State. The aim was to establish the best planting date for cocoyam cultivars. The experiment consisted of three cultivars (Ede nkiti, Akili Nssuka and Ede oyibo) as main factor while planting dates (28th June, 28th July and 28th August, 2019) was sub factor. It was a 3 x 3 factorial combination laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Three cultivars of cocoyam and 3 planting dates (28th June, 28th July and 28th August, 2019) constituted (9) treatment combinations. Data were collected on number of leaves at maturity, plant height (cm), leaf area (cm2), stem girth, and number of corms. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and significant mean were separated using Fisher’s Least Significant Difference. The highest number of leaves was recorded in the month of June which gave a mean number of leaves of 3.92, followed by July and August, which gave 3.24 and 3.00 respectively. So, number of leaves recorded for June showed that June was significantly different from the month of July and August. Plant height was highest in the month of June. The highest number of corms was recorded in the month of June as 26.2 followed by August then July, 18.0 and 17.8 respectively. The analysis of variance showed that the interaction between cocoyam cultivars and months of planting dates was not significant with regard to the number of corms of different cultivars of cocoyam.