ABSTRACT

Taro leaf blight caused blight caused by Phytophora  colocasiae is a disease of major importance . many region of the word where taro is gr Th' . in own. iis study was earned out and ed at preliminary investigation of the ±f aim 1e effects of organic soil amendment on some growth components and taro leaf blight disease severity. The soil amendments used are neem ash, cashew ash and oil palm bunch ash at rate of SO, 100 and 200g respectively. The field experiment was set up in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. The result of the effect of the soil amendment on the growth components showed significant difference P<0.05 on most of the components investigated. The analysis of the variance on leaf area showed that there was significant difference (p>0.05) due to the treatment. There was significant difference (p<0.05) on the number of leaf for each plant stand. The mean values range from 3.232- 2.879. A very highly significant difference (p<0.05) was observed on the plant girth due to the soil amendment. The plant height was highly significance at (p<0.05). The soil amendment significantly affected the plant height. The result obtained on the disease severity indicated that the various soil amendment showed on significance difference (p>0.05) following analysis of variance. This study showed that the different organic soil amendments significantly influence the growth components investigated. However, this study also revealed that the soil amendments increase the disease severity in CS0, C 100, and 0200 respectively.