EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT WEED CONTROL METHODS ON WEEDS, GROWTH AND YIELD OF MAIZE (Zea mays L.) UNDER RAINFOREST ECOLOGY, SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA

This study evaluates the effects of different weed control methods on weeds, growth and yield of maize (Zea mays l.) under rainforest ecology of Nigeria  Field trials were conducted in 2015 and 2016 at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University Oye- Ekiti, Ikole Campus (14o 30 ‘N, 9o 15o ‘E), Ekiti State, South-west, Nigeria. Five weed control methods evaluated on maize were pre-emergence application of pendimenthalin at 3.0 kg a.i/ha followed by (fb) supplementary hoe-weeding (SHW) at 6WAP, two hoe-weedings at 3 and 6 WAP, mulching with grass straw fb SHW at 6WAP, cowpea and soybean separately intercropped between maize rows fb SHW at 6WAP and a weedy check. The experiments were laid in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated four times. The results showed that the untreated weedy check plots produced the highest weed cover scores and weed dry matter while plots with pre-emergence herbicide, hoe–weeding twice and those mulched with grass straw recorded statistically higher 100-seed weight in 2015. In both years, all the weed controlled plots including the two intercrops had comparable net plot and maize grain yields. Conclusively, plots subjected to two hoe-weedings, per-emergence herbicide application and mulching with grass straw greatly suppressed weed growth and improved maize grain yields, but the unweeded control plots produced the least in 2015 and 2016.