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Author(s): Soala Minima .O, A.B. Nwauzoma, Adeleke M.A, Wisdom U.G.

Volume/Issue: Volume 1 , Issue 1 (2018)

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to investigate (as well as compare) the effects of botanicals as extracts and soil amendments for the management of Meloidogyne species on Telfaria occidentalis in Nigeria. The following three indigenous plants were selected and used for the study: Carica papaya (pawpaw), Jatropha curcas (Belly ache bush) and Eichhorniacrassipes (water hyacinth). The soil used for the experiment was a loamy soil collected from a horticulturalist at AIT in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. The experiment adopted a 9x4 (column by row) arrangement in a completely randomized design (CRD) replicated 4 times. Four (4) pumpkin seedlings were planted in each of the experiment bag. The seedlings were measuring 2cm apart from each other and 6cm deep into the soil. This was done after 2 weeks of fertilizing the soil. A total of 256 seedlings were used for the experiment. Graphical charts from Excel in Windows 7 version were used to illustrate observable differences in the experiments, while the ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) in SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences version 22) was used to further test the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that: the fluted pumpkin (Telfaris occidentalis) is susceptible to attack by Meloidogyne species (prior to application of the Nematicides). This is true as the Control experiment showed observable differences and relative low performance in growth and yield parameters when compared with the results and performance of the Treatment and Amendment plants. And, although no statistical significant difference was observed between the botanicals , Carbonfuran , and Control on the growth parameters of Telfaria occidentalis, however, a remarkable and significant difference was observed between the growth parameters of the Control and the Pawpaw leaf extracts and amendment which happened to have yielded the highest growth parameters in all. Also, by way of method of application, there was no enough statistical evidence to show that there was any significant difference between the growth parameters obtained from the Amendment, Treatment and the Control. Although, the Control (at a mean of 16.69) did show evidence of having the lowest performance in this regard while the Amemdement had the best performance being slightly better than the Treatment. The study therefore recommended that agriculturalists seek more solutions in botanicals rather than depending on expensive synthetic nematicides which may have considerable side effects on some of the growth and yield parameters of agricultural crops.

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