Economics of Organic Weed Management In Maize Production In Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The high cost of organic weed management has limited the adoption of organic crop production in North-Eastern Nigeria. Thus field experiments were conducted between 2007 and 2009 at the Taraba State College of Agriculture Teaching Farm, Jalingo, Nigeria to assess the economics of organic weed management in maize production using three cover crops: akidi [Vigna unquiculata sub-sp sequipedalis]; a local vegetable cowpea, mealom and sweet potato. There were 11 treatments replicated three times in a rrandomised complete block design. The treatments included 20,000, 30,000 and 40,000 stands/ha of Akidi [A1, A2, A3], Melon [M1, M2, M3,] and sweet potato [S1, S2, S3], in addition to hand-weeded [C1] and unweeded [C2] controls. The results show that net profits/ha from organic weed management using S [#217,660.00] and A [#131,670.00] were greater than hand-weeded control [C1][#117,570.00]. Therefore akidi or sweet potato is recommended for profitable organic weed management in maize.