The Effect of the Application of Different Rates of Herbicides on the Growth and Yield Component of Zea mays L

Abstract

Background: Weeds are responsible for low crop yield, and responsible for the large gap between the potential and actual yield per hectare. The traditional manual method of weed control in Nigeria has become very difficult and expensive, because of the cost of hiring labor, particularly during the peak cropping period, due to increasing rural-urban migration. This has encouraged the use of herbicides in weed control, even by untrained illiterate farmers, hence the need to assess the effects of the use on yield. This study assessed the effects of the application of different concentration of herbicides on the growth and yield of maize, cultivated in succeeding years.