The effects of neem compost on root knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, pest of Lagos spinach, Celosia argentea, cv. TLV 8, was studied during 2010 and 2011 planting seasons on the field. The trial was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria. There were four treatments, replicated five times fitted into randomised complete block design. Neem compost was applied at 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 tonnes/ha. Experimental plots, where no compost was applied served as the control. The result obtained shows that Lagos spinach treated with neem compost significantly ( p < 0.05) reduced the final soil nematode population and root infections (damage), with resultant improvement on crop growth and yield. The result of the chemical analysis of the neem compost revealed the presence of flavonoids, sterols, glycosides, alkaloids and saponins.
Synthetic pesticides have been found to increase the yield of agricultural products over tenfold. However, the effects of pesticide misuse around the world include costly environmental pollution and disruption of the balance of nature in addition to their high cost and non-availability. Hence the need for search for alternative pesticide formulations to avert these undesirable effects. A study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) leaf powder and organic fertiliser for management of M. incognita in soybean (Glycine max) production. A screenhouse experiment was conducted to test the efficacy of neem leaf powder (NLP) and organic based fertiliser (OBF), alone and a combination of 50% each of the NLP and OBF against root galling and Meloidogyne incognita multiplication on soybean and their potency in grain yield improvement. The experiment was laid out in completely randomised design with three replications. Although all treatments were effective in reducing root galling and nematode reproduction, NLP applied alone gave the highest reduction (92.59 %) in gall formation and nematode multiplication (82.07 %), followed by NLP + OBF and then OBF alone. Increases in grain yield ranged from 103.08 to 108.46% in response to organic soil amendment. Integration of the two organic substances is a better and more promising strategy since it reduced the quantity of organic fertiliser that had to be transported to farmer's field by 50%.
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