Water treatment of Parkia biglobosa pulp dressed Maize (Zea mays L.) seed for Striga hermothica control at Minna, Nigeria

Abstract

Seeds of two maize (Zea mays L.) varieties (Striga resistant Jo-98 and susceptible Obatanpa) were dressed with Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) R. Br. pulp at 164 g to 1.0 kg maize seed. Various volumes of tap water (0, 50,75,100,125 and 150 ml) were each added, stirred with a stirring rod and lefit overnight for 18 hours before sowing to evaluate their efficacy in Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth. control under field conditions. The control was maize seeds without Parkia pulp dressing. The experiment was laid out as a split-plot arrangement in a randomized complete block design with maize varieties in the main plots and Parkia pulp concentration constituting the sub-plot treatments. All the treatments were replicated three times in both 2004 and 2005. Results indicate that maize varieties did not significantly differ in delaying Striga shoot emergence, reducing Striga shoot density m2 and number flowering and maize syndrome reaction score in 2004, but the resistant maize variety Jo-98 effectively reduced these parameters than the susceptible Obatanpa in 2005. Also, the resistant maize was significantly taller and produced greater grains than the susceptible one in both years of the study. The addition of 50 ml water significantly delayed Striga shoot emergence by 14 and 4 days in 2004 and 2005, respectively and correspondingly reduced shoot density by 58 to 62% and 69 to 71 % compared with the no-water treatment. It also reduced Striga development and enhanced maize growth. These resulted in significant increase in maize grain yield by over 80% compared with the treatment without addition of water and with greater grain yield in the resistant variety than the susceptible one at each pulp concentration. Maize grain yield obtained from both varieties showed a high negative correlation with number of Striga shoots/m2 and positive relationship with maize plant height.