Cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta L). is an important edible tuber crop, but taro leaf blight caused by Phytophthora colocasiae has been the greatest constraint to cocoyam production in Nigeria since 2009. Field trials were conducted to determine the effect of fungicides and the spray regimes on leaf growth, disease incidence, disease severity and tuber yield of cocoyam. The trials were carried out at the

Quality changes of kola nut (Cola acuminata) as affected by processing methods and short-term storage environments were investigated. The experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Laboratory of the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria. The treatments comprised of: three different colour plastic buckets -red, green, white and three inner liningsNewbouldia laevis leaves, Spondias mombin leaves and Black polyethylene sheets giving a 3 × 3 × 3 treatment combinations. The N. laevis, S. mombin and Black polyethylene sheets were laid inside the buckets as beddings for the kola nuts. About 0.45 kg of kola nuts (coated and uncoated) numbering 20 nuts were put in each storage container. Sensory quality of the nuts after storage was determined with quantitative descriptive analysis in expert panel, using six quality attributes. Physical parameters measured were; weight loss, pest incidence and sprouting incidence. Weight loss was significantly lower in white plastic storage container for coated kola nut while green plastic container reduced weight loss for uncoated. Black polyethylene sheet as inner-ling of the storage container significantly (P≤ 0.05) reduced weight loss and pest incidence in coated kola nut compared to uncoated. N. laevis and S. mombin significantly reduced weight loss in kola nuts. It is evident in this study that coated kola nut genotype were kept better than the uncoated kola nut.

Synthetic chemicals have been used to control plant pathogenic nematodes in the farmers fields. These chemicals, though valued for their effectiveness, are costly and may constitute health hazards to farm households and the environment. Reducing these situations in the farms through use of natural plant extracts is one of the challenges in Nigeria. Powdery extracts of Jatropha curcas, Parkia biglobosas, Newbouldia laevis, Ficus exasperata and Cassia alata were evaluated for the control of M. incognita in yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa Hochst ex A. Rich) at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in Nigeria. Newbouldia laevis extract significantly (P<0.05) controlled the galling of Meloidogyne incognita, while the efficacy of other extracts were insignificant (P >0.05). Newbouldia laevis extract had significant effects on the height of the plant. Significant difference was observed on the plants height. Newbouldia laevis extract reduced the number of galls from 1.89 to 1.18 and increased the height from 106.1 to 213.3 cm and the number of leaves from 59.2 to 69.2 compared with control (water treatment). Cassia alata extract had a significant effect on both leaf numbers and stem height of the plant. It increased the number of the leaves from 59.2 to 81.3 and the height from 196.1 to 201.3 cm, and the number of root gall from 1.89 to 2.49.

The antifungal effect of ethanol leaf extracts of five plants, (viz. Jatrohpa curcas L, Newbouldia laevis (P. Beauv.) seem. Ex Bureau, Ficus exasperate Vahl, Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) and Cassia alata L.) Seed plus 30 wettable solvent (WS) and Water on some Seed borne fungi: Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporium of African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) seeds was studied in vitro using agar plate method of isolation. The efficacy of the treatments was tested separately on the individual fungal isolates. All the plant extracts except Newbouldia laevis (P. Beauv.) seem. Ex Bureau, significantly (P > 0.05) inhibited the radial hyphal growth of Aspergillus niger. Jatropha curcas L extract gave the highest inhibition at all levels of concentrations while Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) was the least. The positive control; Seed plus 30 wettable solvent (WS) inhibited the growth of A. niger significantly (P > 0.05) while water had no inhibition on the growth of the fungus. On the other hand, Jatropha curcas L., Cassia alata L. and Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) extracts had inhibitory effects on the hyphal growth of Fusarium oxysporium while Newboudia laevis (P. Beauv.) seem. Ex Bureau and Ficus exasperate Vahl. extracts showed no inhibition on the growth of the fungus at all levels of concentrations. Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) extract was the most effective whileCassia alata L. extract was the least in the inhibitory efficacy. The positive and negative controls; Seed plus 30WS and Water respectively recorded no significant inhibition on the hyphal growth of Fusarium oxysporium. The ethanolic leaf extracts of Jatopha curcas L., Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.), and Cassia alata L. which are very cheap and environmentally safe were proved promising for protecting African yam bean seeds against Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporium.

Efficient and improved agripreneurship cannot be attained if measures are not put in place to curtail crop losses due to nematode damage. This research was conducted to look at the level of resistance and susceptibility of selected annual crops to guide agripreneurs on what crops to adopt for planting in meloidogyne infested soils and in crop rotation as a method of cultural control. Five crops namely were randomly selected from different crop families and soillorganic manure medium in a 3:1 ratio was used as the planting medium. Nematode inoculum containing about 1000 larvae of the root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita in 30ml of nematode slurry was used to inoculate the test crops with the control left un-inoculated. Data were collected on plant height, fresh root weight, fresh top weight and number of galls/plant. The data were analyzed using genstat and the mean separation done using Fisher's least significant difference. The results showed that maize was resistant to the inoculum and a good control crop in nematode infested soils while the other four test crops (water-melon, green beans, tomato and green amaranthus) showed varying degrees of susceptibilities from the effect of the inoculum on all the parameters measured. Maize being immune to the inoculum can be used in rotation programmes as a cultural control crop in M. incognita infested plots to reduce the pest's population and boost the yield of the follow-up crop.