Effects of Organic Weed Control Methods on Weed Density, Phenotypic Traits and Yield Attribute of Cucumber (Cucumis Sativus)

Oladele O.t ,Badmus A.a ,Olatubosun O.a

doi:10.7176/jbah/9-10-12

Abstract

Organic weed control methods has a long time record in conserving soil moisture, improving soil structure and increasing soil organic matter. This testimonial should not be left out to manifest on vegetable crops that serve greater part as supplement for balanced meals. Field experiment was conducted in two years (2016 and 2017) to investigate the effects of different organic weed control methods on weed density, phenotypic traits and yield of Cucumber. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The experimental site was marked into (4) blocks while each block was also marked into (3) plots, giving a total number of (12) plots. Plots were 4m x 4m. Two seeds were planted per hole with inter and intra row spacing of 1m x 1m.The results showed that mulched plots (Sawdust and wood shaving) and hoe weeding had higher and significant growth and harvested number of fruits per plant (yield), compared to the control (Weedy and non-mulched plots), this indicated that mulching and hoe weeding as methods of organic weed control have positive effects on reducing weed emergence, increase growth and yield of cucumber. It was concluded that higher yield is not only synonymous to use of synthetic chemicals (pesticides and herbicides) but as well to cost effective and safe organic management practices in breeding programmes. Keywords: Organic, weed control, weed density, phenotypic traits and yield attributes. DOI : 10.7176/JBAH/9-10-12 Publication date :May 31 st 2019

Highlights

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely grown plant in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae
Table 1 showed there was no significant difference in the vine length (VL), leaf length (LL), leaf width (LW) and number of leaves (NL) observed at four weeks interval after planting, this might be due to the fact that the treatments have not really taken effect on the physiology of the plants, since they were applied 2 weeks after planting to ensure favourable germination conditions on the planted seeds
There was significance difference in the (LL) at 6weeks after planting, hoe weeding (HW) had the highest (16.09a) and the lowest for sawdust (13.09c), this may be due to the initial response of the plant to the mulching materials used in this study, this growth stage of the crop is known as vegetative

Summary

Introduction

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely grown plant in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. It is a creeping vine that bears cucumiform fruits that are used as vegetables. There are three main varieties of Cucumber, which are slicing, pickling and seedless (Doijode, 2001). Within these varieties, several cultivars have been breed to suit consumer’s trait of preference (Renner et al, 2007). In the North America, the term ‘wild cucumber’ refers to plants in the genera Echinocystis and Marah, but these are not close related. Cucumber is originally from South Asia, but grows on most continents. Many different types of Cucumber are traded on the global market (FAOSTAT, 2018)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion