This study analyzed the profitability of on-farm trial of Drought Tolerant (DT) Maize in Kwara State Nigeria using a gendered innovation approach. A Two-stage stratified sampling technique was used. The primary data for the study were collected through the use of well-structured questionnaires administered to forty (40) women farmers in an on-farm trial of the DT maize variety. The analytical tools used include Descriptive statistics, Ranking and Farm budgeting analysis. The result of the analysis showed that the women farmers were all married with only 10% of the farmers having no formal education and of an average age of 41 years. The result of varietal preference differs in some locations. The women farmers ranked the DT maize variety as the best at two of the locations. The profitability of the maize varieties also differs per location with the DT maize varieties having the highest profit at three locations. It is therefore recommended that women farmers should be involved in the varietal selection procedure so as to facilitate easy adoption of the drought tolerant maize. This will ensure that the women farmers' needs and preferences are incorporated in the development of agricultural innovations.

Field studies were conducted in 2010 and 2011 at the Teaching and Research Farm of the University of Ilorin, Nigeria (9°29' N, 4°35' E) to evaluate the effect of early weed competition on the growth and yield of maize. The experiment was designed as a randomized complete block (RCBD) with a split-plot arrangement and three replications. The main plots consisted of three weed control treatments included weedy (no herbicide), grass weeds (pre-emergence atrazine) and broadleaf weeds (pre-emergence metolachlor), while the sub-plots consisted of six durations of weed infestation (3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 weeks after emergence). The pre-emergence herbicides had a greater effect on weed density and weed dry weight. Weed seedling emergence and weed dry weight increased significantly with an increase in the duration of weed interference. The grasses and broadleaf weeds had a similar influence on the growth and grain yield of maize. Three to five weeks of weed interference gave similar grain yields, which were significantly higher than those obtained in plots that had 6-8 weeks of weed interference. These results suggest that the maize crop must be kept free of weeds for 6-8 weeks after the application of pre-emergence herbicide to minimize weed-crop competition and harvest a good grain yield.

The incidence and severity of viruses infecting yam and weeds were determined on 60 Dioscorea farms in Southern Guinea Savannah Agroecology of Kwara State, North-Central Nigeria. Double Antigen Sandwich Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (DAS-ELISA) was used as a serological technique to detect Yam mosaic virus (YMV) and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) on Dioscorea and weeds collected from the farms. The survey indicated virus incidence on Dioscorea between 62.8% and 100% and virus severity between 2 and 5 score values. DAS-ELISA ______________________________________

Field trials were conducted in savanna ecologies of Nigeria during the 2015 and 2016 seasons using maize (PVA8) and soybean (TGX 1448-2E) intercropping systems with different fertilizer rates to evaluate the yield of maize and assess the best intercropping system for resource management. Single plant stands and two plants/stand and 2 arrangements of rows (one row on a ridge and two rows on a ridge) were used to impose maize plant densities evaluated in strip inter-crop with soybean. The trial was factorial, laid out in a randomized complete block design and replicated three times. Thus, 8 maize-soybean strip cropping systems and application of 3 NPK rates were evaluated at Saki-Oyo, Ilorin, and Nasarawa (southern Guinea savanna), Kaduna in the northern Guinea savanna, Funtua (Katsina) and Gusau (Zamfara) located within Sudan savanna ecologies of Nigeria. Data on yields and yield components were collected. The intercropping systems were assessed using existing intercropping indices such as Land Equivalent Ratio (LER), Relative Crowding Coefficient (K), Aggressivity (A), Competitive Ratio (CR), Actual Yield Loss (AYL), Intercropping Advantage (IA) and Monetary Advantage Index (MAI). The result showed that Nasarawa and Kaduna were most ideal locations for maize production in the Nigeria savannas. The highest grain yield of 4.04 tons/ha maize and 1.36 tons/ha soybean were obtained from seeding 1 plant/stand in 2-rows per ridge x 4 ridges of maize alternated with 2 rows of soybean with the application of NPK at 100:50:50. The LER was 1.11, AYL (1.10) and MAI (208) gave a profit of ₦312,102.00 (US$990.80) ha-1 with a benefit-cost ratio of 2.38 and production efficiency of 29.56%. The study concluded that, seeding 80% maize and 20% soybean per ha will lead to sustainable maize crop production with limited use of fertilizer. It can be adopted by the farmers in Nigeria savannas as a relatively profitable intercropping system. Keywords: Maize production, Ideal location, Fertilizer rate, Competitive indices, Savanna ecologies, Nigeria

Aim: A field study was conducted during the late cropping seasons of 2015 and 2016 at Akamkpa (latitude 5°15 ' N and longitude 8°22' E), south southern Nigeria, to evaluate the response of some legume genotypes to seed inoculation with NoduMax, a Rhizobium inoculant developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Study Design and Methodology: Treatments were factorial combinations of inoculated and noninoculated seeds of Cowpea, Groundnut, Bambara groundnut, Bebi (Viny Lima) bean, Mucuna bean, and African yam bean, laid out in randomized complete block design replicated thrice. Results: The response of the test crops to inoculation varied with growth stage. At the seedling stage, effective nodule number was not significantly affected in all but Mucuna bean in which there was a 42.7% reduction. At pre-anthesis, Bambara groundnut, Bebi bean, Groundnut, and Cowpea Original Research Article