The Influence of Plant Spacing and Weed Control Intervals on Weed Infestation, Growth and Yield-Related Traits of TGX 2010- 2F Soybean (Glycine max L.) Variety in Buea, Cameroon
Abstract
Achieving optimal soybean productivity requires careful consideration of several key agronomic factors. Field trials were carried out in the Teaching and Research Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, during the 2022 and 2023 cropping seasons to assess the effect of plant spacing and weeding intervals on weeds, growth components, and yield of TGX 2010- 2F soybean variety. A 4x4 factorial combination of four plants spacing (30cm x 20cm, 30cm x 30cm, 40cm x 30cm, and 75cm x 50cm) and four weeding intervals (one-hand weeding at two weeks after sowing (WAS), one-hand weeding 3WAS, one-hand weeding 4WAS and one-hand weeding 5WAS) were laid out in a randomised complete block design with three replications. Analysis of variance for lumped data for the 2 years revealed that plant spacing significantly (P<0.05) influenced plant height, number of branches, stem girth, number of pods, grain yield, and weed components while weeding intervals significantly influenced all the soybean growth components, grain yield, and all weed parameters. The interaction effect of plant spacing and weeding intervals had significant (P<0.05) impacts on the number of branches, stem girth, grain yield, and weed parameters. The most abundant weed families were the Poaceae (03) and Asteraceae (03), followed by the Lamiaceae (02), Amaranthaceae, Brassicaceae, and Oxalidaceae, each of which recorded one species. Significantly higher plant height (28.68±1.7cm), number of pods (87.08 ± 6.26/m2), and grain yield (3.48±0.29 tons/ha) were observed under 30cm x 20cm plant spacing. Additionally, higher weed fresh weight of 769.30±92.3 g/m2, weed dry weight of 748.90±92.3 g/m2 and weed biomass of 0.46±0.06 tons/ha and the lowest grain yield of 2.04±0.28 tons/ha were recorded under one-hand weeding at 5WAS treatments. The highest grain yield, 4.38±0.03 tons/ha, was obtained from the interaction of 30cm x 20cm plant spacing and one-hand weeding 2WAS treatments. These results suggest that narrow plant spacing of 30cm x 20cm and practicing one-hand weeding at 2WAS will improve the productivity and reduce labour, thus making it agronomically feasible for TGX 2010-2F soybean production
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Copyright (c) 2025 Ndam Lawrence Monah, PhD, Ofon Roland, Njilar Rita Mungfu, PhD, Tening Aaron Suh, PhD, Nkongho Raymond Ndip, PhD
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