Impact of farming system practices on weeds in arable farmlands in University of Port Harcourt and environs, Rivers State-Nigeria

Abstract

Crop production involves the combination of various farming systems practices to produce food and cash crops and at the same time have a reasonable control over weed infestation without course to soil health. Weeds are part of agroecosystems community and are neighbors to our crops and the soil. The work was aimed to investigate the weeds that are common in the sites chosen. A simple reconnaissance weed enumeration survey was adopted for the twenty-two (22) arable farmlands by walk through the farms within and round the boundaries. This was investigated between June 2020 as wet season and in January, 2021 as dry season respectively. A total of 154 weed species were recorded for both wet and dry seasons. The wet and dry seasons had 113 and 120 weed species made up of 37 and 36 families respectively. It revealed 168 broad leaved, 32 grasses and 26 sedges, composed of annual and perennial weed species. All the farms were continuously cultivated and mixed cropped, with 27 crop species identified and recorded. The farmers most preferred crops are Manihot esculenta Crantz being a tuberous crop and Zea mays L., grain cereal with 90.91% each from the overall percentage of individual crop species recorded from farmers who planted them on their farmland (Table 1) respectively, and been staple food items in most part of Nigeria, while the least cropped species are (Amaranthus hybridus L., and Solanum lycopersicon L., Ocimum. americanum L., and Solanum sp.) with 4.54% each respectively which are vegetables to supplement peoples ‘diet. Farming systems methods has a tremendous influence on weed species composition in arable farmlands either during the cropping season (wet) or off the season (dry). Some activities are very peculiar within crop production for example bush clearing, and burn, soil tillage in any form or pattern and weed removal either culturally, biological or chemically due impact on weed species in arable farmlands in short or long term and therefore, its impact on crop species and the environment should be minimized and sustained.