Abstract
Effects of weed infestation on plantain bunch yield in Nigeria is very alarming coupled with low nutritional status of the tropical soil. Therefore, field experiments were carried out in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 to investigate the effects of weed management strategies and organic manure on the performance of plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.ABB). The experiments were carried out in Agricultural Education Research Farm, College of Education, Afaha Nsit. Seven treatments were replicated three times. These were sweet potato (20,000 plants/ha) + poultry manure (20t/ha); sweet potato (20,000plants/ha) + sawdust (40t/ha); hand-slashing at three months interval + poultry manure (20t/ha); hand-slashing at three months interval + sawdust 40t/ha; sweet potato + egusi-melon + poultry manure (20t/ha); sweet potato + egusi-melon + sawdust (40t/ha) and weedy + no organic manure. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design. Analysis of variance was carried out on data obtained on weed studies and plantain performance. Means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test at 5% probability level. The unfertilized weedy plot reduced plantain bunch yield by 89.7% followed by 41.9% and 43.0% obtained from the sawdust treatment plots integrated with egusi-melon plus hand-slashed and sweet potato respectively. The treatment plot of sweet potato integrated with egusi-melon plus poultry manure (20t/ha) significantly controlled weeds satisfactorily, accelerated plantain growth, reduced 50% flowering time by 23.5% and significantly enhanced plantain bunch yield hence; it is recommended.
 Keywords: Plantain, sweet potato, hand-slashing, organic manure.
Highlights
Effects of weed infestation on plantain bunch yield in Nigeria is very alarming coupled with low nutritional status of the tropical soil
Over 70 million people in Africa depend on plantain for food (IITA, 2009).The consumption of plantain rises tremendously among the children as fried and plantain chips, youths as roasted and plantain pepper soup, the aged class and diabetic patients consume plantain in various forms including porridge, pounded and boiled plantain
On the other hand positive effects of poultry manure on plantain growth and development were reported by Ndukwe et al (2012) and Emma-Okafor et al (2017)
Summary
Effects of weed infestation on plantain bunch yield in Nigeria is very alarming coupled with low nutritional status of the tropical soil. Field experiments were carried out in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 to investigate the effects of weed management strategies and organic manure on the performance of plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.ABB). The treatment plot of sweet potato integrated with egusi-melon plus poultry manure (20t/ha) significantly controlled weeds satisfactorily, accelerated plantain growth, reduced 50% flowering time by 23.5% and significantly enhanced plantain bunch yield ; it is recommended. The use of herbicide for weed control is limited because of high cost, sometimes not available, requires training for proper use and it creates health hazard These factors make rural farmers depend almost on their traditional hand-slashing and this manual labour is unreliable, cumbersome and sometimes the labour is not timely available while it requires repeated operations and it is costly (Ekpo; Ndaeyo, 2011b). In the light of the above, the general objective of this study was to examine the effects of weed management strategies and organic matter on plantain performance
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