Utilizing Spent Plantain Pseudostems to Grow Vegetables for Additional Income to Farm Households in Nigeria

Abstract

Plantain belongs to the family of plants called "Musaceae", and the principal species are Musa paradisca (French plantain), Musa acuminata (genome AA-Gross Michel and Cavendish) and Musa. corniculata (Horn plantain) whose production requires an optimum temperature of 30 0 C, mean monthly rainfall of 100mm, soil pH of 4.5-7.5 and a partly drained sandy-loam soil (Ekunwe and Ajayi 2010; Ajiboye and Olaniyan 2016). Plantain is mainly grown in the tropical and subtropical countries and are widely used for its nutritional values all over the world (Imam and Akter 2011) and is one of the most important horticultural crops contributing to food security and alleviating hunger globally and serving as an important staple food for both rural and urban populace (USD, 2012). It meets their day-to-day food requirement in the form of chips, flour, flakes, cakes, fried plantain,