Effects of fertilizer, organic mulch and sucker hot water treatment on nematode populations and productivity of plantain.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of fertilizer (F), organic mulch (Tithonia diversifolia) (M) and hot water treatment (H) on nematode population, growth and yield of plantain (Musa AAB, cv ‘Agbagba’). Methodology and results: The study was conducted from 2003 to 2005 at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, Nigeria. The treatments included: (1) mulching each sucker with 5.0 kg of Tithonia diversifolia leaves (M) alone at six- week intervals; (2) hot water immersion (H) of suckers after paring the corms; (3) hot water immersion + 5.0 kg of Tithonia diversifolia leaves (HM) at six- week intervals; (4) no mulch nor hot water immersion (C). These sets of treatments were combined with two fertilizer levels (0 and 450 kg/ha N.P.K 15-15-15) to give a total of eight treatments arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Application of Tithonia mulch and hot water treatment without fertilizer significantly reduced the nematode infestation. Application of mulch and fertilizer (MF) significantly increased pseudostem height and girth; and also reduced days to shooting of plantain. The HMF combination resulted in the highest bunch yield of 11.87 t/ha which was not significantly different from HF and MF Conclusion and application of findings: The use of Tithonia gave the highest positive contribution to nematode reduction. Its combination with fertilizer would be a good option for plantain farmers as it reduces nematode population and increases plantain productivity.