Abstract

Oleleji G. Bernald and Kennedy N. J

Amaranthus species are important vegetable crop cultivated and consumed daily in Nigeria and many countries of the world. Unfortunately, insect pests are a major setback for commercial production and for the purpose of food security in the country. The experiment was conducted at Alau Dam in 2010 and 2011 cropping seasons to investigate the effect of variety and spacing on these insect pests infestation and their subsequent growth performance. The results showed that Amaranthus cruentus was attacked more than the remaining three species and 20cm × 20cm plant spacing was found to be also the most effective in reducing insect pest infestations. A. caudatus and A. cruentus were also found to perform better by having more number of leaves of leaves/plant, more number of branches/plant and high heights and fresh weight/plot. Therefore vegetable farmers should use insect pest resistant varieties and good agricultural practices like the recommended crop spacing for the purpose of pest management and good crop performance