Effect of sowing date and cropping system in control of Striga hermonthica in maize (zea mays (L.).moench)

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the third most important cereal crop inthe world after wheat and rice (MINFAL 2003). It is an important cereal crop in Nigeria with a total production of about 7.3 million tons in 2009 (FAO, 2011). Despite its importance, the yield of maize obtained in Nigeria is far below expectation due to numerous factors which include weed infestation, low soil fertility and unavailability of labour. Maize is highly susceptible to weed competition particularly at the early stage of growth. In Nigeria, yield losses as high as 51 to 100% have been sustained in maize due to weed competition ( Akobundu IO, Ekeleme FE 2000). Field trial was conducted at the Research Farm of Federal University of Technology Minna, during the rainy season of 2017. The objective of this study was to evaluate the time of sowing and intercropping of groundnut for control of Striga in maize. The experiment was 2×2×2 factorial in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates. Two sowing dates (29th of June and 13th of July), maize intercropped with SAMNUT-24 groundnut and maize without groundnut and two Maize (Oba-Super 2 resistant and local maize susceptible) varieties. The results showed that resistant maize significantly (P0>05) delayed Striga emergence reduced Striga shoot density, severity score, produce taller plant height and higher grain yield in all the parameters.While sowing in July reduced Striga severity score (4.38 ) increased plant height at 8 and 10 weeks after sowing (WAS) (132.42 cm and 146.43cm respectively) and increased maize grain yield ( 297.45g) while intercropping maize with groundnut significantly (P0>05) delayed Striga emergence (54.97 days) reduced Striga count per stand (2.08) at10 WAS and per plot at 6, 8 and 10 WAS ( 1.58, 2.75 and 3.57 respectively) reduce severity score (4.33) and increased plant height at 8 and 10 WAS (119.88 cm and 133.02 cm respectively) . It could therefore be recommended that intercropping resistant maize variety with groundnut in July can be used for effective Striga control.