The Incidence of Field Diseases and Vertebrate Pests on Popcorn (Zea mays everta) Varieties Cultivated in Forest Agro-Ecologies of Nigeria

Abstract: Eleven popcorn varieties cultivated in the humid forest zone of south-western Nigeria were subjected to natural infections with disease causing agents and vertebrate pest infestation. Data were taken on the incidence and severity of maize field diseases, birds and on rodents attacks. Resul...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: N. A. Amusa, J. E. Iken, J. O. Fayenuwo
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.415.82
http://www.idosi.org/wjas/wjas1(2)/13.pdf
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Summary:Abstract: Eleven popcorn varieties cultivated in the humid forest zone of south-western Nigeria were subjected to natural infections with disease causing agents and vertebrate pest infestation. Data were taken on the incidence and severity of maize field diseases, birds and on rodents attacks. Result of the experiments reveled that all the 11 popcorn varieties were found susceptible to leaf spot diseases with varying degrees of incidence. Five out of 11 Popcorn varieties namely Mercy, Ashland, Pearl shaped, P618 and DMRSR were found having maize rust infection. The incidence of occurrence of streak was found in New A2, Pearl shaped and Grace, while the remaining popcorn varieties had no streak infection. The popcorn variety with the least leaf blight incidence of 12.4 was New A2 followed with Prayer with the incidence of 14.6%. There was no incidence of smut and downy mildews recorded on the popcorn varieties. The vertebrate pests found associated with popcorn include bird species such as Ploceus cucullatus (Weaverbirds), Streptopelia semitorquata (Dove) and Francolinus bicalcaratus (Bush fowl), while the rodents include species such as Xerus erythropus (Red legged Ground Squirrel), Rattus rattus (Black grey Rat), Mastomys natalensis (Multimammate Rat) and Thryonomys swinderianus (Grass cutters/Cane rats). The activities of these vertebrate pests were more significant in P618, followed by Mercy, Yellow composite and Mixed grain. Key words: Popcorn varieties % Vertebrate pests and diseases insurgence % humid forest agro-ecologies