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ABSTRACT
This study was carried out at the Department of Crop Science Teaching and Research Farm of the faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin in 2023 to study the Effects of Tillage and Pawpaw leaf powder on the incidence of termites on Maize. Termites pose a significant threat to maize crops in many agricultural regions, causing substantial economic losses. This study aimed to investigate the impact of different tillage practices and the application of pawpaw leaf powder as a potential natural deterrent on termite incidence in maize fields. The experimental design was a 2 x 3 factorial in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), with 3 replications. Treatments consist of Tillage (Factor A) at 2 levels (flat and ridge) and pawpaw leaf powder (factor B) at 3 levels (0.00ton/ha, 2.00tons/ha and 3.00tons/ha respectively). The data collected were on termite incidence and severity, plant height, leaf area, number of leaves, soil fertility status and yield. All Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and data was analyzed using GenStat software. Results show that pawpaw leaf powder at 3.00tons/ha suppressed termite incidence up to zero level from 2WAP to 6WAP, also, maintained least (1.70%) for both 8WAP and 10WAP. On the other hand, control consistently maintained highest termite incidence with 51.70% at 10WAP. Equally pawpaw leaf powder at 3.00tons/ha maintained least termite severity throughout the experiment with least value of 0.17 at 8WAP and 10WAP, whereas control plots maintained highest severity with the highest value of 2.83 at 10WAP. Highest cob yield was recorded by pawpaw leaf powder at 3.00tons/ha with the value of 1.30kg (before de-husking) and 1.10kg (after de-husking) as well as highest (4.81kg) of fresh stalk weight. Also, for the interaction, ridge and pawpaw leaf powder at 3.00tons/ha recorded highest cob yield for both before de-husking and after de-husking with values of 1.48kg and 1.18kg respectively, as well as highest (6.17kg) of fresh stalk weight. The result of this trial probably suggests that the biodegradable metabolite of pawpaw leaf powder known as papain, may have contributed to the reduction of termite incidence and severity on maize.
