VARIATION IN AGES OF TRANSPLANTS AFFECTS AGRO-MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS OF SELECTED PEPPER LANDRACES FROM NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Assessment of transplanting effects at different ages of seedling development on morphological and yield attributes in two landraces (SOMBO/MKW/2017 and NDAGBACHI/MKW/2017) of Nigerian pepper (Capsicum spp.) was studied during the planting season of 2017. The Capsicum landraces were obtained from local farmers in Mokwa, Niger State. The study was conducted at the experimental garden, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State. Transplants were made at different ages (3, 4, 5 and 6 weeks after planting). The experimental design used was a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications of each treatment. Quantitative data obtained were pooled for analysis. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the various mean values. Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) post hoc test was used to separate the means. All values were considered significant at p<0.05. The result showed some interesting variations among the different ages of transplants; the results of the plant height at maturity and number of leaves for NDAGBACHI/MKW/2017 revealed that week 3 had the highest plant height (33.00 cm) at maturity and also the highest number (39.50) of leaves. However, these values were not significantly different (p>0.05) from all other weeks. The results for plant height at harvest and number of branches revealed that week 4 recorded the highest height (37.75 cm) at harvest and highest number (8.00) of branches, but is not statistically different (p>0.05) from other weeks. For SOMBO/MKW/2017, Week 4 recorded highest in terms of plant height (30.08 cm) at maturity, plant height (32.50 cm) at harvest and number of branches (9.25). These values were significantly different (p<0.05) from other weeks. For NDAGBACHI/MKW/2017, Week 3 produced the highest number of fruits/plant (28.00) but bears no significant difference (p>0.05) to all other weeks. However, for SOMBO/MKW/2017, Week 4 recorded the highest number of fruits/plant (35.00) and is significantly different (p<0.05) from week 3 and 6 but statistically the same with week 5. In both landraces, Week 3 produced the highest number of seeds/fruit, but is statistically the same (p>0.05) with other weeks. It is therefore concluded that variation in transplanting age tend to influence certain morphological and yield attributes in Nigerian pepper landraces. Also, 3 and 4 week old transplants seem to be the best age to produce more yields for NDAGBACHI/MKW/2017 and SOMBO/MKW/2017 respectively. Further research works should be done to test for other higher ages at transplanting and also for different landraces in order to arrive at a sound conclusion.