Application of Some Management Strategies on Leaf Spot and Fruit Rot Diseases of Watermelon (Citrullus Lanatus) in South Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

A field trial was conducted at the Research Farms of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, South Eastern Nigeria to assess the potential of leaves, seeds, barks and roots of Azadirachta indica and Moringa oleifera in the control of bacterial spot and fruit rot diseases of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) experiment. Results obtained showed that all the plants parts assessed reduced disease incidence and severity drastically at 5% probability when compared with the control. Extracts of A. indica seed had the best performance at 12 weeks after planting on vine length (140cm), number of branches (8.00), number of leaves (49.00), and number of fruits (16.00) and compared favourably with synthetic pestic ide (streptomycin) on fruit weight at harvest (4.96kg) and in reducing incidence of the bacterial spot (61.27%) and fruit rot (35.51%) as well as severity of the spots (2.64) and rot (3.33) (P=0.05). From t he results obtained it means that the extracts of A. indica and M. oleifera could serve as a safe and che ap alternative to synthetic pesticides in the management of leaf spot and fruit rot of watermelon.

Evaluation of growth and yield performance of year round watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

“…A total of 1,200 hectare of land has been brought under watermelon cultivation with a production of 33,600 metric tons in Gopalganj during 2015 (DAE, 2016). This crop has a vast economic importance to human (Asuquo and Umunna, 2017) and has great demand in the domestic market as a major portion of income of the farmer comes from this crop. Recently commercial cultivation regarding off season cultivars of water melon has been popularized among farmers in Char areas of Bhola, Patuakhali, Barguna and hilly and low-lying areas of Sunamganj and Pabna.…”