Abstract
Field experiment was conducted at the Akwa Ibom state University Teaching and Research farm during the 2019 cropping season to assess the effect of seed bed preparations on the growth and yield of cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagitifolium) in Obio Akpa, Oruk Anam, Akwa Ibom, South Eastern Nigeria. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The treatments were four (4) types of seedbeds (mounds, ridges, surface hoeing and flat). Data on leaf area, plant height, no. of leaves, stem girth and yield of cocoyam were collected and subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Significant means were compared using the least significance difference (LSD) at 5% probability. Result revealed significant differences (p<0.05) in leaf area, plant height and yield of cocoyam whereas, stem girth and number of leaves, showed no significant difference. At 2,4 and 6 months after planting, the ridges produced the highest leaf area compared with the mounds, surface hoeing and flat. Plant height was high (29.17cm) at 2 months after planting with ridges whereas at 4 and 6 months after planting, mounds produced highest plant height (34.14 and 38.61cm respectively). Ridges and mounds produced significant total cocoyam yield (20.72 and 20.57t/ha) when compared with surface hoeing and flat. The yield and yield parameters – number of cormels per plant, corm yield (t/ha) and cormel yield(t/ha) were high with mounds followed sequentially by ridges, surface hoeing and flat respectively.