Planting Time, Spray Regime, Disease Expression and their Impacts on Six Cucumber Lines in A Derived Savanna Agroecology of Nsukka, Southeastern Nigeria

Abstract

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. It is a major vegetable crop worldwide and develops rapidly, with a shorter time from planting to harvest than most crops.
It is a monoecious annual climber or creeper that has been cultivated for over 3,000 years and is still widely cultivated today.
The fruit is soft, succulent with high water content, roughly cylindrical and elongated with tapered ends. The plant shades one another, being allowed to creep on the ground thereby having a direct contact with some soil inhabiting disease causing organisms.
Its creeping nature, pre-disposes the plant to pest and disease infestation. However, the production of cucumber fruits in Nigeria is very low due to some constraints such as incidence of diseases which reduces fruit yield. Presently, they are produced mainly in the northern states of Nigeria.
Studies were conducted on the production of cucumber in south eastern Nigeria, in order to supplement the high consumption rate in the region.
Planting in April had the lowest disease incidence (3.48%) and severity on leaves (1.20) and fruits (1.06), followed by September with lower disease incidence (3.60%), disease severity on leaves (1.22) and fruits (1.17) while July had the highest disease incidence (6.27%) and disease severity on leaves(1.56) and fruits (1.74).
The yields during the April and September plantings were significantly (p<0.05) higher than other months. April and September had 481.60 and 483.60 tonnes per hectare respectively while July had 19.10 tonnes per hectare.
The spray regimes were significant (p<0.05) on the disease incidence and severity. The plants that received two weekly spray regime had the lowest disease incidence and severity on leaves and fruits (4.10%, 1.31 and 1.21 respectively) followed by those that received three and four weekly spray regimes.
Those that were not sprayed had the highest disease incidence and severity on leaves and fruits. The plants that were sprayed fortnightly gave the highest yield of 216.90 tonnes per hectare.

PROCEED NOW TO DOWNLOAD PAGE

Table Of Contents

Title Page     i
Certification    ii
Dedication       iii
Acknowledgements    iv
Table of Contents      v
List of Tables       vii
List of figures          ix
Abstract          x
1.0          INTRODUCTION      1
Objectives of the study      2

• LITERATURE REVIEW 3
• Origin 3
• Botany 3
• Plant description 3
• Nutritional and health values of the cucumber fruit 8
• Pests and Diseases 8
• MATERIALS AND METHODS 10
• Description of the study areas 10
• Collection of climatic data 10
• Materials and Methods 10
• Field experiment 10
• Data collection 11
• Laboratory analysis 11

3.13       Data analysis      12

• RESULTS 14
• Laboratory result 14
• Meteorological data 14
• The effect of planting time on phytophtora blight disease incidence and severity . 16
• The effect of spray regimes on phytophtora blight disease incidence and severity . 21
• The response of six cucumber lines on phytophtora blight disease incidence and severity.   26

• The effect of planting time and variety on phythophtora blight disease incidence and severity.  31

• The effect of planting time and spray regimes on phythophtora blight disease

incidence and severity. 36

• The cumulative effect of spray regime and variety on phthophtorablight disease incidence and severity.41

• DICUSSION 46
• Planting time and disease incidence and severity . 46
• Spray regimes for effective control of phythophtora blight disease
• The response of the six cucumber line/varieties to phythophtora blight disease incidence and severity.  47

• The cumulative effect of planting time and variety on phythophtora blight disease incidence.   48

• The interaction of planting time and spray regimes on the phythophtora blight disease incidence and 49
• The effect of spray regimes and varieties on phythophtora blight disease incidence and severity. 49

5.7          SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION         50
REFERENCES          50

PROCEED NOW TO DOWNLOAD PAGE

Introduction

Background Of Study
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. It is a major vegetable crop worldwide and develops rapidly, with a shorter time from planting to  harvest than for  most crops (Wehner and Guner, 2004).
The crop is the fourth most important vegetable crop after tomato, cabbage and onion in Asia (Tatlioglu, 1993); the second  most  important vegetable crop after tomato in Western Europe (Phu, 1997) and is the fourth most cultivated vegetable in the world after tomatoes, brassicas and onions (Wehner,  2007).
In  tropical  Africa, the crop has not been ranked because of limited use. Cucumber is grown widely in different parts of the world.
It is an all year round out door vegetable in the tropics and an important greenhouse vegetable especially in Northern Europe and North America (Mingbao, 1991).
Phu (1998) stated that cucumber could be cultivated  in the field  during the  summer  and winter in greenhouses using artificial heating. Jizhe (1993) opined that cucumber is a  typical vegetable of warm temperate and cool tropical areas that can be cultivated at  any time of the year.
At present; cucumber is cultivated as a field crop in most areas of the world under frost free conditions.
Nu (1998) stated that cucumber is a warm season crop which can be cultivated at any time but has little or no tolerance to frost and that growth and  development  are favoured by temperatures above 20^OC. In Nigeria, cucumber can be cultivated  at anytime  of the year.
During the rainy season, the  crop is grown under  rain fed  conditions and during the dry season using irrigation facilities; as a result the crop can be seen in most vegetable markets in Nigeria throughout the year.
Many varieties of cucumber exist with varying shapes, skin colour and carotene content (Simon, 1992) .The variation in the performance of cucumber varieties has been widely documented by many scholars (Manyvong, 1997;
Ajisefinanni, 2004), which could be as a result of environmental factors or  genetic composition. It is also known for its edible fruits because it is delicious, crispy, high  in nutrients, low in calories and excellent  source of fibre  needed for a  healthy digestive system.
In addition to its palatability and fairly good calorific value, it is reported to be  highly  important to human for its medicinal value.
It is very useful for natural Diuretic and thus can serve as active drug for secreting and promoting the flow of urine. Cucumber is a dependable laxative food for those who suffer constipation.

PROCEED NOW TO DOWNLOAD PAGE

References

Abawi, F.S., Gugino, B.K. (2007) Cornell University, New York  State  Agricultural Experiment Station. Soil Sampling for Plant- Parasitic Nematode Assessment.
Adetula O, Denton L (2003) Performance of vegetative and yield accessions of cucumber (Cucumis sativa L.) Horticultural Society of Nigeria (HORTSON) Proceedings of 21st annual conference 10-13 Nov, 2003.
Agrios, George N., (2004). Plant pathology /5th ed. Elsevier Academic Press 30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA.
Ajisefinanni, A. (2004).Performance of two cucumber varieties in response to manure rates and types at Samaru. Undergraduate Project Agronomy Dept. A.B.U.Zaria Nigeria.
Babadoost, M. (2005). Phytophthora blight of cucurbits. The Plant Health Instructor.DOI:10.1094/PHI-I-2005-0429-01.
Babadoost, M. and S.Z Islam. (2003). Fungicide seed treatment effects on seedling damping- off of pumpkin caused by Phytophthora capsici. Plant Dis. 87:63-68.