Assessment of Different Allelopatic Plants on the Yield Attributes of White Yam (Dioscorea .....

Bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina), basil (Ocimum gratissimum), and hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) were tested for their allelopatic interaction with parasitic nematode infection in a yam field in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. The experiment used a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with four treatments for the three plants intercropped with the white yam cultivar "Hembakwase" and the control group (without intercrop). This was done three times with a 1m x 1m spacing, covering a total area of 12m2. Tuber count per plant, tuber weight, tuber diameter, final nematode count/plot, and root gall index were all measured. Duncan's multiple range test (DMRT) was used to separate the means at a 5% probability level. The Vernonia amygdalina intercrops produced significantly more tubers per plant (4.71), tuber length (34.22), tuber girth (21.22), and yield per plot (5.6) than the other treatments, while the untreated control produced significantly less (1.5). Meloidogyne spp. had a significantly higher root gall index (P 0.05) in the peels of tubers in the untreated treatment (4.3), Ocimum gratissimum (3.1), Hibiscus sabdariffa (2.3), and yams grown with Vernonia amygdalina (1.3) intercrop, and yams grown with Vernonia amygdalina (1.3) intercrop had the lowest gall index This supports Vernonia amygdalina's allelopathic capability in worm population suppression. Farmers should favour bitter leaf intercropping in nematode-infested fields, as this will help control nematode populations and provide stakes for yams sown.

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