Horticultural Characterization of Five Accessions of African Walnut (Plukenetia Conophorum Mûell Arg)

ABSTRACT Plukenetia conophorum Muell Arg commonly called African walnut is cultivated principally for the nuts which are cooked and consumed as snacks. The plant serves many nutritional and medicinal purposes yet its availability is on the decline. To preserve and ensure continued availability of P. conophorum, there is the need to develop propagation protocols for the plant. Five accessions were collected from Mbu, Nsukka, Orba and two locations in Edem-ani all in Enugu State, Southeastern, Nigeria. The objectives of the research were to: evaluate germination and emergence of the crop using botanical seeds; assay nutritional qualities of nuts of selected accessions; determine the influence of graded levels of poultry droppings on the growth of the crop; evaluate rooting and shooting potentials of stem cuttings and field growth performance evaluation of collected accessions. Specific experiments were conducted to achieve each of the objectives listed above. Results showed that sinker seeds had significantly (P

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page - - - - - - - - - i

Dedication - - - - - - - - - ii

Certification - - - - - - - - - iii

Acknowledgments - - - - - - - - iv

Table of contents - - - - - - - - v

List of tables - - - - - - - - - vi

List of figures - - - - - - - - - viii

List of plates - - - - - - - - - ix

Abstract - - - - - - - - - x

 INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - - 1

LITERATURE REVIEW - - - - - - - 3

Brief History of P. conophorum - - - - - - 3

Economic Importance - - - - - - - 3

Propagation - - - - - - - - - 3

Sexual Propagation - - - - - - - - 4

Vegetative Propagation - - - - - - - 4

Nursery media and seedling quality - - - - - - 5

Organic manuring - - - - - - - - 6

MATERIALS AND METHODS - - - - - - 7

Materials - - - - - - - - - 7

Methods - - - - - - - - - 7

Statistical Analysis - - - - - - - - 15

RESULTS - - - - - - - - - 16

Discussion - - - - - - - - - 61

Conclusion - - - - - - - - - 66

REFERENCES - - - - - - - - 67