Abstract:
Desertification is a major environmental concern in Yobe state and demand for sustainable crop
management is imperative. Thus, field trials were conducted to determine the appropriate sowing
dates of guna melon in pearl millet based intercrop as it relate to edaphic and environmental
characteristics for adaptation, reduced desertification, sustainable food, nutritional, income and
energy security. Treatments consisted of four different sowing dates of guna melon (18th July, 1st
August, 15th August and 28th August) laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD)
with three replicates. Result showed that early sowing of guna melon significantly affected both
number of vines/stand and length of vines/stand (cm) when compared to late sowing of guna
melon both as sole and as intercrop. Results also revealed that yield components and seed yield
of guna melon differed with different planting dates where highest number of fruits/stand,
seeds/fruit and seed yield (kg/ha) were produced at the fourth sowing dates for both sole and
intercropped guna melon (SG4; M1G4) in 2015 and 2016 seasons. Total LER values greater than
unity (1.00) were recorded for pearl millet-guna melon intercrop in both years. Based on these
findings, the fourth sowing date of guna melon is highly recommended for improved agricultural
productivity, sustainable nutritional security, enhanced income, source of alternative energy and
desertification control in the sahelian agro-ecology zone. Future research efforts should be
focused on genetic improvement of guna melon. |
