Potentials of Moringa oleifera Leaf Extracts as Biostimulant on the Field Performance of Sweetcorn

Abstract

The potentials of Moringa oleifera Leaf Extract (MLE) as a bio-stimulant have been established in some vegetable crops.  A field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti in 2015 cropping season to study the effects of MLE as bio-stimulant on the performance of two varieties of sweet corn. Treatment consisted of two forms of MLE (dry and fresh), three times of application which are 2 weeks after planting (WAP), 2 and 4 WAP, 2, 4 and 6 WAP and a control. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replicates.  Application of MLE significantly increased plant height; stem girth, number of leaves, cob weight, cob length, kernel row and cob girth of sweet corn. The highest yield in terms of cob weight was observed to be 16.8% and 16.3% higher than the control for dry and fresh methods respectively. The highest cob weight which was 21.15% higher than the control was observed when application was done once. Furthermore, the yellow variety had higher cob weight than white variety with about 2.55%. It is concluded that application of MLE can be used to improve the productivity of sweet corn.

Keywords: Sweetcorn, Maize, leaf extract, Moringa olifera, biostimulant