PAPER TITLE :INFLUENCE OF PLANT RESIDUE MANAGEMENT AND INTERCROPPING ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF PLANTAIN AND YIEL

APPLIED TROPICAL AGRICULTURE | VOLUME 18 NUMBER 1 2013

Paper Details

  • Author(s) : Aiyelari, O.P And H, Tijani-Eniola
  • Abstract:

Field studies were conducted between 1997 and 2000 at Epemakinde, Ondo State, Nigeria to evaluate the influence of plant residue management and intercropping on the growth and yield of plantain and yield of component crops. Residue management consisted of in-situ application of organic materials (mulching), parking and burning of trash/residue, while component crops include plantain, cassava, cocoyam and sweet potato. The experiment was a split plot in a randomized complete block design with the residue management (mulching/residue left in-situ after slashing the natural vegetation, parking the dried slashed residue, and burning of the dried wood and slashed residue through control burning) as the main plot, and the component crops (cassava, cocoyam, sweet potato and plantain) as the sub plots. Growth and yield parameters measured include pseudo-stem height, stem girth, number of functional leaves, days/ months to 50% flowering; Bunches were evaluated for: bunch weigh, number of fingers and hands per bunch, while number of tubers per plant, tuber weight, length and girth of the tuber were considered for cassava, cocoyam and sweet potato, respectively. Plantain height at shooting showed no significant differences across treatments but was higher in mulched plots than parked and burnt plots in 19997/99 cropping season by 5.4% and 11.1% and in 1998/2000 cropping season by 20.6 and 11.3%. Mulching of plantain enhanced early shooting while burning and packing prolonged shooting by 32 days and 23 days. Intercropping plantain with cocoyam, cassava and sweet potato prolonged days to shooting by an average of 19, 45, and 74 days. Average yield across years showed that sole plantain produced significantly higher bunch yield (11.3 t/ha) than intercrop in both plant crop and first ratoon-crop under residue and residue/intercropping system. Cocoyam and sweet potato yields were higher in mulched and burnt plots while cassava had higher yield in packed and burnt plots.