Browsing by Author "Hamza Abdulmajeed"

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    YIELD AND GROWTH RESPONSE OF SWEET CORN (Zea mays saccharata) TO WATER STRESS REGIMES ON A LOAMY SAND SOIL
    (www.nexusjournals.com: JOURNAL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES, 2016-04-18) Wahab Adesina Abudlkabir; Oluwasemire Kolapo Olatunji; Oshunsanya Suarau Odutola; Hamza Abdulmajeed
    Maize dry season production is often confronted with soil moisture, pest diversity and environmental stress that becomes obvious in plant stress. Therefore, the amount of stress that a plant can withstand depends on soil type and evapo-transpiration demand of the atmosphere. Thus an experiment was carried out to assess the effects of varying levels of water stress on the growth and yield of sweet corn on a loamy-sand soil. For this purpose, Crop-Environmental Water Demand (CEWD) was developed from daily evapo-transpiration records and FAO crop water requirements for different stages of maize growth, based on the average weather data for a decade (2001 - 2011). Soil requirement for growing maize in the area was also noted. A tropically adapted sweet corn population was grown under four water application rates ranging from 25 % to 100 % CEWD in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The results showed that there was a significant difference in plant growth for the four treatments imposed as the increase in soil moisture level influences plant development. Differences among the treatments number of grains per plant were significant. Sweet corn grain yield was in the order of 75 % > 100 % > 50 % > 25 % CEWD. Significant differences were not observed for flowerings dates and number of leaves. Mean plant height was closely related to the rate of water application and ranged from 0.65m - 1.2m across the treatments. Seventy-five percent CEWD treatment plots had the highest total dry matter content and leaf area index, which explains the significant differences observed in the grain yield. Application of 75 % CEWD on sweet corn significantly influenced the growth and yield of sweet corn on loamy-sand soil. Water application rates at 25 % less full CEWD was adequate for dry season sweet com production on loamy-sand soil in Ibadan, Nigeria.