Comparative Assessment of Yield Performance of Neglected Cocoyam (Colocasia esculeta (L.) Schott) Parts as Planting Materials in the South Western Nigeria

Hitherto, there is scarcity of information on the usefulness of neglected small corms and cormels of cocoyam in the South West Nigeria. A 9 (nine) months trial was conducted to compare the growth and yield performance of different types of cocoyam planting materials with treatment consisting of T1; sprouted small cocoyam cormels, T2, trimmed out lower parts of harvested cocoyam corm and T3; moderate sized corm of 50-100g (control) arranged in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates. Data on the number of leaves and plant height was taking at 4 week interval for 24 weeks while data on number and weight of harvested cormels was taking at 9 months after planting (MAP). The data collected were subjected to a univariate General Linear Model (GLM) two ways Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using IBM SPSS software statistical package 21. Significance mean differences were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that the highest mean number of leaves and plant height was obtained from treatment T1 (10.22) and T2 (92.83) respectively at 24 weeks after planting (WAP). While both treatment T1 and T3 collectively had the highest number of consumable cormels (54.0) in which treatment T3 weighed the highest (3.202 kg). There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in both the number of leaves produced and plant height among the different cocoyam planting materials utilised at 24 (WAP). Similarly, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the number and weight of cormels produced by the different treatments at 9 months after planting (MAP). The study therefore concluded that both sprouted small cocoyam cormels, trimmed out corms during planting compared favourably with moderate sized corm of weight 50-100g commonly used as planting material in term of yield potential and therefore recommended to be schedule for demonstration to cocoyam farmers in the study area for adoption.