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This study assessed the effect of vermicast on the early growth of Terminalia ivorensis A.Chev. (Black Afara) seedlings which belongs to the family Combretaceae. Seedlings were raised on Vermicast (100%), Vermicast + Topsoil (1:1,) and topsoil media. There were three (3) treatments, replicated four (4) times and laid in Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The experiment was monitored for 12 weeks and the following variables were assessed, plant height (cm), stem diameter (mm), leaf production and the leaf area (cm 2). Data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results revealed that the seedling growth parameters measured were not significantly affected by the vermicast treatments at 5% probability level, except plant height. The best performance was observed in the seedlings raised with T2 (Vermicast + Topsoil) in plant height, stem diameter, leaf production and leaf area with mean values of 28.55cm, 0.55mm, 18.25 and 38.87cm 2 respectively while the least performance was recorded in T3 (100% top soil) in plant height, stem diameter, leaf production and leaf area with mean values of 22.06cm, 0.49mm, 15.25 and 49.72cm 2 respectively. It is therefore recommended that 50% vermicast should be used to improve the growth media in order to enhance the early growth of Terminalia ivorensis seedlings at the nursery stage.

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This experiment was conducted on the Bombax buonopozense plantation at the arboretum of the Forestry Institute of Nigeria during the wet planting season of year 2014. There were three treatments viz: maize planted within rows of trees under non pruned bombax trees, pruned bombax trees and the control which was an open space with no tree. Data were collected on the height, vigour score, leaf production and shoot dry matter of the maize planted in the different treatments from 3 to 12 weeks after planting. The data were subjected to Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means separated by Duncan Multiple range tests. It was observed from this study that there were significant differences in the height, crop vigour score, stem diameter, leaf production and shoot dry matter. Maize plants under control performed better than the maize plants under non-pruned and pruned trees but the growth of the maize plants from the three treatments are comparable. This study revealed that maize can be planted in a 5 years old bombax plantation. Farmers interested in timber production can plant trees alongside with their and apply pruning techniques to increase the duration of crop production.Keywords: Agroforestry, pruning, annual crop production, timber, light interception