Incidence of Maize Leaf Hopper (Cicadulina mbila Naude) and Its Management using Enhanced Efficiency Fertilization

Abstract

Maize leafhopper (Cicadulina mbila Naude), still remains a major yield-declining pest of maize in sub-Saharan Africa. Field experiment was conducted using nine varied regimes of fertilization to determine the results of enhanced efficiency fertilization on the c. mbila incidence and its influence on harvested output of maize. The abundance of c. mbila data were collected as well as damage cause and impact on productivity. The assessment was also done on the cost-effectiveness of the treatments on maize yield. Fertilization significantly influenced C. mbila abundance and incidence on maize. Unfertilized maize plants recorded significantly higher C. mbila populations and damages compared to the fertilized plots. Among the fertilizer treatments, T15-SUL and ACT-SOA recorded significantly higher C. mbila number and damage cause, respectively, whilst the Lowest invasion was recorded from T15-URE. All the fertilizer treatments recorded higher cereal productivity compared to non-fertilized plot. Though ACT-URE, ACT-NIT, T15-URE, ACT-SOA and T15-NIT yielded above all, there was no significant variation in yield among them. All the fertilization regimes produced more output compared to the no treatment plots. among the treatments, CLB-CLB gave lowest output and benefit-cost ratio whilst the biggest output and benefit-cost ratio was received from ACT-URE. application of ACT-URE is recommended for sound management of c. mbila for a towering yield and output in maize production in the savanna ecology of Ghana.