Abstract:
Investigations have shown that there is a strong relationship between soil fertility and plant health, in the sense of the plant's ability to resist pests and diseases. Poor land management and declining soil fertility often result in negative feedback cycle, characterized in part by an increase in soil-borne pests and diseases. An investigation was carried out to evaluate the effects of weevil damage to a plantain orchard at the Teaching and Research Farm of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti. The plantain orchard had experienced yield decline which necessitated the development of a strategy for rehabilitation. The experiment was performed using the randomized complete block design involving eight treatments of pared control, non-pared control, pared mulch, non-pared mulch, pared manure, non-pared manure, pared mulch + manure and non-pared mulch + manure with three replicates each, on plantain farm established at 2.5 x 2.5 m spacing. Adult plantain/banana weevils (Cosmopolites sordidus) were introduced at the base of each selected flowered plant (5 males and 5 females). Weevil damage to the corms was estimated at harvest. Non-pared mulched suckers had the highest number of weevil and larvae infestation and percentage peripheral damage than pared unmulched suckers. Generally, all plants established from non-pared sucker treatment combinations had higher percentage peripheral damage and higher number of larval infestation than those established from pared sucker treatment combinations. Unpared systems enhances weevil and pest infestations hence, plantain farmers are encouraged to adopt pared or clean sucker treatment before planting. |
