Abstract

Anjorin, Toba Samuel* and Salako, Adebayo Ezekiel

This study assessed the germination and vigour of seeds of four arable crops (Arachis hypogea, Digitaria exilis, Vigna unguiculata and Zea mays) treated with Albit® bioregulator and also with superhormai® fungicide. Completely randomized laboratory trials showed that presoaking of seeds of A. hypogea, D. exilis V. unguiculata and Z. mays with 0.2 ml Albit® L-1 H2O produced significantly higher germination percentage, radicle and plumule lengths (P 0.05) than those of the control. Randomized pot and field trials showed that seedling emergence percentage (SEP), seedling vigour index (SVI), shoot growth rate (SGR) and shoot biomass (SBM) of the crops treated with Albit® + superhormai® were significantly higher (P 0.05) than the control. The root biomass (RBM) of D. exilis and V. unguiculata did not significantly differ (P >0.05) due to the treatment effects. The effect of Albit® treatment on the quantity and quality of yield of the test crops under varied agroecological conditions in Nigeria deserves further investigation.