http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/225 Crop Production Sat, 01 Aug 2026 14:44:45 GMT 2026-08-01T14:44:45Z http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/31763 Title: EFFICACY OF BIODEGRADABLE AROMATIC PLANT EXTRACTS IN MANAGING ROOT-KNOT NEMATODES (MELOIDOGYNE INCOGNITA) INFESTATION IN GARDEN EGG (SOLANUM MELONGENA LINNAEUS) Authors: Yohanna, J.; Bello, L. Y.; Oyewale, R.O. Abstract: Eggplant (Solanum melongena Linnaeus.) is the fifth most commercially significant solanaceous crop. It is one of the widely planted commercial vegetable crops worldwide. Root-knot nematode (RKN) disease comes first among the diseases and pests infecting eggplant, and the losses caused by it exceeded 50% and estimated to be 100 billion dollars annually. The study Location is between (latitude 9o 37 N and longitude 6o 28 E) in southern guinea savanna Agroecological zone of Nigeria at the screen house of the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of crop production Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger state. The experimental design for this study includes Extract Types, Concentration, Replicates. The types of extracts tested are Eucalyptus leaf, Eucalyptus bark, Neem leaf, and Neem bark. Each extract will be applied at five concentration levels: 0% (control), 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. The Treatments combination is a 4 × 5 factorial experiment, arranged in Completely Randomized Design (CRD), each treatment combination was replicated three times. The study was conducted in a screenhouse during wet season. The control group consist of plants left untreated to serve as a baseline for comparison. This design ensures a robust assessment of the efficacy of the extracts under varied conditions. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of Eucalyptus globulus and Azadirachta indica extracts in controlling root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) infestation in garden egg (Solanum melongena). It also seeks to identify optimal extract concentrations for promoting plant growth and compares the effects of Eucalyptus leaf, Eucalyptus bark, Neem leaf, and Neem bark extracts on plant height and yield. The research explores these botanical extracts as eco-friendly alternatives for nematode management.as done by drenching the egg masses into a grove close to the root of the plant, while the extracts were also applied directly to the plant by drenching. Growth and yield data were subjected to Analysis of variance. The result revealed that Eucalyptus bark has the highest plant height of (57.00cm), indicating potentials growth promotion, Eucalyptus leaf and neem bark have similar plant height (50.86 and 50.20 cm), also the result shows that Neem leaf has the shortest plant height (43.53 cm). 0%, 25%, 75% and 100 % concentration (49.83 - 51.75 cm), indicate that there is no significant (P≥0.05) growth inhibition and 50% concentrations has significantly shortest plant height (17.33 cm), suggesting phytotoxicity, Eucalyptus leaf extract promote yield and neem leaf and bark extract inhibits yield. The concentration effect at 25% optimizes yield.100% concentration has a positive effect but may lead to phytotoxicity. Description: Proceeding of conference paper Wed, 04 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/31763 2024-12-04T00:00:00Z http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/31762 Title: EVALUATION OF FALL ARMYWORM (SPODOPTERA FRUGIPERDA) INCIDENCE AND MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS OF MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L.) GENOTYPES IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA Authors: Abubakar, U. F.; Gana, A. S.; Oyewale, R.O. Abstract: Fall Armyworm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a major invasive insect pest threatening maize (Zea mays L.) production in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria. This study evaluated the incidence of FAW infestation and its effect on the morphological traits of 14 maize genotypes across two locations in Niger State, Nigeria: Minna and Mokwa. The trials were conducted using a randomized complete block design with three replications. FAW incidence was recorded as the percentage of plants showing signs of infestation, while morphological traits such as plant height and leaf area were measured. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and means were separated using Duncan multiple range test. Results showed significant variation in FAW incidence among genotypes. Highly susceptible genotypes such as NGBO 2854 and NGBO 2864 exhibited FAW incidences of up to 100% in Minna and 87% in Mokwa. Conversely, genotypes such as NGBO 2864, NGBO 2898, and NGBO 2249 demonstrated superior morphological performance with plant heights exceeding 170 cm and leaf areas above 660 cm², indicating resilience under FAW pressure. The environmental influence was evident, with Mokwa favoring slightly better growth for some genotypes. Genotypes NGBO 2864, NGBO 2898, and NGBO 2249 were identified as promising candidates for breeding programs aimed at developing FAW-resistant maize varieties. Description: Proceeding of paper presentation Wed, 04 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/31762 2024-12-04T00:00:00Z http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/29471 Title: Evaluation of herbicide management on nodulation of cowpea Authors: Ezekiel-Adewoyin, D.; Olanrewaju, E.; Aniyikaiye, R.; Tanko, F.; Daniya, E. Abstract: The use of herbicides will surely have diverse effects on cowpea performance. A screen house trial was conducted in the School of Agric. and Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology, Minna. Four treatments (pre-emergence (PE)+manual weeding (MW), pre+post emergence (PPE), manual weeding (MW), and weedy check (WC)) replicated thrice were laid in Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Two cowpea varieties nodulation, shoot, and root biomass were assessed. Manual weeding recorded the highest shoot dry biomass followed by PE+MW, while WC and PPE had the least shoot biomass in Sampea 14. Also, the highest root dry biomass was recorded for MW, followed by PE+MW, while, PPE and WC applications recorded the least root biomass. Similarly, Sampea 14 had the highest number of nodules under MW, followed by WC, PE+MW recorded the least number of nodules, while, PPE treatment had no nodules. Likewise, MW had the highest nodule effectiveness recorded followed by PE and WC. Sampea 14 treated with MW had the highest nodule weight followed by WC and PE+MW. In conclusion, the overall result of the experiment showed that the application of herbicides has a hazardous effect on cowpea nodulation, and shoot and root growth. Therefore, there is an urgent need to conduct further studies on the impact of different herbicides on cowpea growth. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/29471 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/29470 Title: Germination and seedling growth of okra: A comparative study with competitive weeds under salinity stress Authors: Mustapha, R.; Oluwole, B. I.; Daniya, E. Abstract: This study explores the effects of salinity stress on the germination and seedling growth of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) and its competitive weeds. The experiment was conducted under controlled conditions with a factorial combination of four salinity levels (0, 5, 10, and 15 mM NaCl) and three plant species (okra, Portulaca oleracea, and Cynodon dactylon) arranged in a completely randomized design, having four replications each. Data were collected on germination percentage (GP), germination energy (GE), germination rate index (GRI), mean germination time (MGT), and seedling vigor index (SVI). The results demonstrated that increasing salinity levels significantly negatively affected the plant species germination and seedling growth, as the higher the concentration the stronger the effect. Increasing salinity levels from 5 to15 mM concentration caused a reduction in GP from 25 % - 98.1%, GE from 33.3 % - 93.6 %, GRI from 39.2 % - 98.6 %, and SVI from 41.1 % - 99.9 % compared to the control. In contrast, P. oleraceae showed higher resilience to salinity stress, maintaining superior GP, GRI and SVI compared to okra and C. dactylon. The C. dactylon exhibited moderate tolerance to salinity between okra and P. oleraceae. The findings have shown the competitive disadvantage of growing okra in saline environments and suggest that P. oleraceae could exacerbate weed competition under such conditions. This study highlights the need for targeted weed management strategies and the development of salt-tolerant okra varieties to improve its production in salt-affected regions. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/29470 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z