Influence of period of weed interference and age of pepper (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Cayenne pepper) seedlings on pepper fruit quality and marketability

Abstract

The field trials were conducted in the early and late wet seasons of 2012 at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. The objective of the study was to evaluate influence of period of weed interference on fruit quality and marketability of pepper fruit under different seedling ages. Split-plot arrangement in a randomized complete block design with three replicates was adopted in the trials. The main plot treatments were ages of pepper seedlings at transplant, four and six weeks after sowing (WAS). Sub-plot treatments consisted of 10 periods of weed interference. Data collected on weed cover score, cumulative dry weed weight, dry plant biomass, number of leaves, fruit girth, fruit length, marketable fruit count and yield as well as non-marketable fruit count and yield were subjected to analysis of variance and treatment means were separated using least significant difference at p ≤ 0.05. The results showed that six week old pepper seedling had higher plant biomass, number of leaves and marketable fruit yield than the four week old. Also, pepper growth parameters, pepper fruit quality and marketability increased with weed free period and decreased with weed infestation period. Uncontrolled weed infestation for whole season caused 98.4% and 91.8% reduction in pepper marketability in the early wet and late wet season, respectively. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09670874.2021.1995794 .