Effect of tillage on the efficacy of CGA362622 on weed control in maize

field trial was conducted to assess the performance of CGA362622 (trifloxysulfuron sodium), a sulfonylurea based herbicide formulated with ametryn (N-ethyl-N-(1- methy (ethyl)-6-(methylthio)-1,3,5-triazine-2, 4-diamine) on weed control in maize at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. The herbicide was applied pre-emergence at 200 g ai/ha and post emergence at 300 g a.i.ha-1 under three tillage methods. The trial was laid out in a split plot arrangement in a randomized complete block design. The main plots were tillage and subplots treatments were the weed controlmethods. The tillage treatments were no-till with existing stubble packed (NT), ploughed (P), and ploughed and harrowed to obtain a fine seed bed (P+H). The subplots were herbicide (H) and no herbicide (NH). Weed regeneration was significantly higher under NT compared with other methods of land preparation. The herbicide treatment depressed maize yield. Grain yields were 1619.58 and 277.46 kg/ha for H and NH, respectively. Tillage treatment significantly affected grain yield with values of 3446.4, 2296.67 and 841.99 kg/ha for P+H, P and NT, respectively (

Yield And Rate Of Returns From Soil Fertility Management Practices For Coconut/Food Crop Combinations On Coastal Soils

Intercropping of food crops in coconut palm plantations is a popular practice among coconut palm farmers in Nigeria. However, farmers are not guided by scientific information on the best combination of food crops and coconut palm. This study is designed to determine suitable crop combinations and fertility management practices for productivity and budgetary analysis of coconut-based farming system.The experiments were carried out between 1998 and 2007. The crop combinations tested were coconut/maize/cassava, coconut/cowpea/maize and coconut/maize/cassava/cowpea; and the fertilizer treatment were NPKMg (12:12:17:2) at 500kg/hectare and poultry manure at 2.5 tons/hectare. After 8 years of planting soil pH was fairly stable, while, available P and exchangeable K decreased, with the other cations increasing. This was attributable to preferential uptake of nutrients by the coconut and component crops. Coconut leaf area was increased by the inorganic and organic fertilizer, with the difference between the ‘no fertilizer’ application and application of NPKMg being significant (P < 0.05). Mean number of bunches per palm and number of nuts produced per hectare were not significantly increased by fertilizer treatment. However, there were increases due to crop combination, with combinations that include cowpea giving higher yields(2875 nuts) than those without (2118 nuts). Food crop yields were increased by the inorganic and organic fertilizers. The combination of coconut/maize/cassava/cowpea had the highest return per hectare (N222, 980) while coconut/maize/cassava combination recorded the least returnsper hectare (N26, 300) over the period. Gross margins within each combination were highest with application of NPKMg and lowest with no fertilizer application