ABSTRACT

 This study aims at evaluating the effect of aqueous leaf and bark extracts of Azadirachta indica on the germination and seedling growth of Arachis hypogea. The research was carried out in the screen house of the college of crop and soil sciences Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Umuahia. Thirty planting buckets were filled with soil and was used for the research. Six seeds of A. hypogaea was planted in each bucket and was thinned to three seedlings after germination. Seedlings were sprayed with 15ml of extracts three times in a week and treatment was carried out for 28 days. The germination percentage was investigated in the laboratory using cotton wool laid on petri dishes. Seedlings treatment was made moist with 2.0ml of extracts and its dilutions I: I, 1.2.5 1 :5 v/v were used as treatments and distilled water served as the control. Treatment of the seeds of A. hypogea with leaf and bark shows that the extracts of A indica did not have any significant effect on the germination percentage of the seeds of the plant. Though the extracts caused a decrease in the germination percentage of the seeds of the plants. Treatment of the plants with aqueous leaf and bark extracts of A. indica significantly (P<0.05) affected the height of A. hypogea. Treatments led to significant decrease in the height of the plants used in the study. Concentration of the extract affected the height of the plants. As the concentration of the extracts increased, the height of the plants decreased. Generally, the leaf extracts had more inhibitory effect when compared with the bark extract. The aqueous leaf extract of A indica had significant effect (P<0.05) on the dry weight of A. hypogea on the other hand, the aqueous leaf extract had no significant effect on the dry weight of A. hypogea. The leaf and bark aqueous extracts of A. indica tend to decrease the dry weight of the plants. Generally, as the concentration of the extract increases, the dry weight of the plant decreased. In conclusion, the aqueous leaf and bark extract of A.indica had inhibitory effects on both the germination and seedling growth of A. Hypogaea.