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Full Length Research Paper
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Effects of intrapopulation
competition on morphological and agronomic characters of
Jute plant (Corchorus olitorius L.)
Makinde, S. C. Olubunmi1*,
Oluwole, O. Surukite1, Ojekale, B. Anthony2
and Olufeyimi, S. Rachael1
1Department
of Botany, Faculty of Science, Lagos State University- Ojo,
Nigeria.
2Department
of Biochemistry, Lagos State University, Ojo,P.M.B. 1087,
Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
scmakinde@yahoo.com.
Tel.: +234-8033277358.
Accepted
4 October, 2007 |
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Abstract |
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The effects of population density on some agronomic traits of
Corchorus olitorius were investigated by growing the
seedlings in a field experiment at densities of 1, 2, 5, 10,
25, 50 and 100 plants per m2 during the raining
season of 2006, at the Ojo campus of Lagos State University
(LASU), Nigeria. The randomized block design (RBD) was the
experimental design used, with three replicates. The direct
effect of competition was investigated on the following
agronomic attributes; final height/plant, number of
branches/plant, stem girth/plant, number of leaves/plant,
total fresh weight, total dry weight, moisture content,
total leaf length, leaf petiole length, leaf area, blade
length and blade width. A highly significant effect (p <
0.01) of competition was observed for final plant height and
total moisture content/ plant, while significant effect (p <
0.05) was observed for other attributes investigated,
except for all leaf parameters where insignificant effect of
competition was observed. There was a gradual decline in all
attributes except height/plant as population density
increased. These observations confirmed the occurrence of
intraspecific competition in population of jute plant.
Key
words:
Intrapopulation, competition, jute plant, morphological and
population density. |
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