No abstract

The high premium placed on the organically produced cocoa in the international market coupled with its health and environmental benefits necessitated recent focus on research into the use of agricultural wastes as source of nutrients in cocoa (T. cacao) production. The study was carried out at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Ibadan (Lat. 7˚25'N Long. 3˚25'E), Southwestern, Nigeria during the 2010/2011 seedling production season to compare the effects of NPK (20:10:10) fertilizer, Cocoa Pod Husk and Oil Palm Bunch Ash (CPHA and OPA) on the seedling growth and dry matter yield of cocoa (T. cacao). Equivalent amount of different rates of two nutrients sources CPHA and OPA were applied one month after planting at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 t/ha respectively, recommended rate of 10 kg•N of the conventional NPK (20:10:10). Fertilizer was used as reference fertilizer. Results indicated that all the fertilizer materials positively and significantly (p > 0.05) increased the growth parameters considered. The influence of the ash materials irrespective of sources on the nutrient uptake, dry matter yield of cocoa seedlings and shoot to root ratio were either higher than or had a comparable results with the reference fertilizer (NPK 20:10:10). CPHA and OPA applied at a rate of 4 t/ha significantly (p > 0.05) increased the plant height and root length of cocoa seedlings respectively relative to control and inorganic fertilizer

An intercropping experiment involving coffee (sole), coffee/rice, coffee/plantain and coffee/ rice/plantain was carried out between 2007 and 2008 at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) Uhonmora Substation, Edo State situated in a derived Guinea Savanna agro-ecological zone of Nigeria. The experiment was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with above mentioned treatment and replicated three times. The spacing used for coffee and plantain was 3 m apart respectively while rice was sown 30 cm apart. Morphological parameters such as plant height, stem girth, leaf area and canopy score were taken on coffee monthly while the survival count were taken after two months of field establishment. Yields of the component crops were also collected at maturity. Data collected were subjected to statistical analysis of variance and LSD used to separate the means that were significant. Result obtained showed 98% survival without any significant difference among the treatments. On vegetative growth, coffee/rice and coffee/plantain were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than coffee sole and coffee/rice/plantain in plant girth and leaf area but not significantly higher in all the months. Plant height however did not follow the same trend as height in coffee sole was slightly higher than coffee/rice. However, the difference was not significant. But coffee/plantain was still significantly higher (P < 0.05) than coffee/rice/plantain. The least was recorded in coffee/rice/plantain intercrop. Grain and bunch yields from rice and plantain respectively in the intercrops compare favourable well to what obtain from coffee sole. From the result obtained, it could be concluded that there was no deleterious effect on growth when rice and plantain were intercropped with coffee. Therefore coffee/rice and coffee/plantain intercropped with better performance could be recommended to coffee farmers in Nigeria rather than sole planting of coffee.

Propagation success of stem cuttings of kola (Cola indica) was assessed with four node levels, with or without hormone treatment. Hormone treatment was not benefi cial. The three-node cuttings (without hormone) gave the highest rooting success. Results and discussionThe use of IBA had no benefi cial effect on the rooting of kola cuttings, as previously observed by Clay (1965) and Ashiru and Quarcoo (1971), who found that cuttings treated with hormone turned yellow within 1 week and died within 3 weeks. Cuttings that were not treated with hormone callused well, except for those with a single node ( Table 1). The highest rates of callusing (over 90%) were in cuttings with two or three nodes, but there was no signifi cant difference (at p = 0.05) between these. The sprouting rate of the cuttings followed a similar pattern. However, the rooting success (45.3%) of the three-node cuttings was the highest and signifi cantly better (p < 0.05) than that of the other cutting sizes. Farmers are therefore advised to use three-node cuttings (without hormone treatment).

Weed incidence and biomass in tree crop plantations are mainly influenced by environmental, farm management practices and cropping systems. Manipulation of intercropping systems to improve weed management in coffee intercropped with oil palm requires a better understanding of spatial and temporal dynamics of weeds. To evaluate the effect of weed incidence and biomass in coffee intercropped with oil palm in avenue and hollow square arrangement, a study was carried out in Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) in two locations. The locations are Idi-Ayunre (7˚25'N, 3˚24'E) (an alfisol) and Uhonmora (6˚5'N, 5˚50'E) (ultisol) in rainforest and derived savannah parts of Nigeria respectively. The experiment had three treatments comprising coffee sole (control), coffee with oil palm (Hollow square) arrangement and coffee with oil palm (Avenue) planting. Coffee was planted 3.0 m apart while oil palm was planted 9 m apart. Equal size of land area was used for coffee in each treatment. The experimental design was Randomized Complete Block (RCBD) with three replicates. Data on vegetative growth of coffee, weed incidence and biomass were taken at three-monthly intervals. The result showed that coffee/oil palm (Hollow Square) had the least weed incidence and biomass closely followed by coffee/oil palm (Avenue) planting. The control had the highest weed biomass which was significantly different from Hollow square and Avenue planting at P ≤ 0.05. The morphological parameters on coffee followed the same pattern but Hollow square arrangement was significantly higher than Avenue and control at P ≤ 0.05.