Aims: Growth and foliar yield responses of waterleaf (Talinum triangulare Jacq) to complementary application of organic and inorganic fertilizers were studied in a Ultisol. Study Design: The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replicates.

Two experiments were conducted at the University of Uyo Teaching and Research Farm in 2003 and to evaluate the impact of aqueous extracts of five local spices as biopesticides for the control of O. mutabilis and C. tomentosicollis on cultivated cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.). The spices evaluated were Capsicum annum L., Xylopia aethiopica (Dunal), Piper guineense Schum and Thonn, Allium sativum L. and Zingiber officinale Roscoe. The extracts were applied at 3, 4 and 5% concentrations, respectively to study toxicity, repellency, pod and leaf damage as well as grain yield. The experiment was designed as a Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated three times. Results obtained showed that the biopesticides significantly (P<0.05) reduced insect population, offered greater protection and promoted better grain yield compared to the control. However, amongst the spices, P. guineense consistently induced greater protection by bringing down the population of insects and promoting grain yield. The promising use of spices as biopesticides is discussed since they are available local resources for poor farmers and are environmentally friendly options for pest control.

The effects of uptake of metals (iron, zinc, cadmium and chromium) by juvenile snail Limicolaria aurora fed edible mushroom Pleurotus spp from 3 contaminated farm sites and a laboratory grown species (control) respectively were investigated. The 120 snails were fed in plastic snaileries for 4 weeks in the laboratory. Control site was risk free. Metal uptake was low and bioaccumulation in L. aurora tissue was below FAO/WHO standard of 1 mg/kg for chromium and cadmium. Snails were considered safe for consumption.

Survey of insects on sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (Lam) was conducted in Southern Nigeria during two cultivation periods within a season, March-July and August-December, to identify key pests and beneficial species that can be exploited in future biocontrol programmes. The recorded insects consisted of thirty four different species and approximately 80% were defoliators. The Order Orthoptera had the highest number of individual species (29.4%), followed by Coleoptera and Lepidoptera pests in equal percentages (23.5%). Members from these Orders were the key pests and they were responsible for the most significant damage to the foliage and the tuber. Specifically, economic damage was caused by sweet potato butterfly (Acraea acerata), leaf folders (Brachmia Original Research Article

Article HistoryA study was conducted at University of Uyo Teaching and Research farm to evaluate the effect of different tillage practices on growth and yield of fluted pumpkin in an ultisol. The treatments were no till, flat, surface hoeing, raised bed, mounds and ridges. The parameters studied were establishment percentage, number of leaves per plant, vine length, leaf area, number of branches, and number of pods, length and circumference of pods as well as pod yield in tons per hectare. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and means were compared using least significant difference (LSD) at 5% probability level. There was no significant difference in the establishment count. However, significant differences occurred in all other parameters studied. Best results were obtained from the ridges and mounds over the other tillage practices. Ridges and mounds are therefore encouraged for increased production of fluted pumpkin.Contribution/ Originality: This paper's primary contribution is finding that tillage practices have additional benefits in the growth and yield performance of crops particularly fluted pumpkin and farmers should till their soils before planting preferably using surface hoeing which is a less costly tillage method.