COMPONENT OF YIELD OF THE FRUIT OF CHEERY PLANT (PRUMIS AVIUM AND PRIMUS CERASUS) A CASE STUDY IN IKPOBA OKHA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

ABSTRACT

The components of the yield of cherry fruit in terms of fruit diameter, number of seeds and weight in Ugbekun and Oka Market in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State. The average diameter of cherry fruits in location A and B in Ugbekun Market were 26.54mm and 22.84mm while the average diameter of cherry fruits in location A/B in Oka Market were 23.7mm and 25.9mm. the average number of seeds of cherry fruit in location A and B in Ugbekun market were 5.6 and 5.2 while the average number of seeds of cherry fruits in location A and B in Oka Market were  5.8 and 5.0. There was no much difference between the components of yield of cherry fruit from different locations in Ikpoba Okha L. G. A. because the plants were exposed to the same climate environ local  varieties plant and local propagation of cherry fruit without the use of adequate (little or no) fertiliz4er and new hybrid of cherry species.

CHAPTER ONE

1.     INTRODUCTION

2.     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Cherry Plant: (Prunmus spp) – Cherry is a fleshy drupe (stone) fruit of plants from the genus “Prunus” members of the family “Rosaecea”. This species in the rose family has a diploid set of sixteen chromosomes (2n=16). The fruit is a drupe which measures 1-2cm (0.4-0.8in) in diameter. (larger in some cultivated regions/sections). It is pale yellow in colour when mature in the mid-summer; it is edible and variably sweet to eat. However, all parts of the fruit except for the ripe fruit are slightly toxic in nature containing an acid called “CYANOGENIC  GLYCOSIDES”. Each fruit contain a single hard-shelled stone 8-12mm long, 7-10mm wide and 6-8mm thick grooved along the flattest edge. The seed (kernel) inside the stone is 6-8mm long. The fruit is readily eaten by numerous kinds of birds and mammals which digest the fruity flesh and disperse the seeds in their droppings. Some rodent and a fero birds notably the “HAWFINCH” also crack open the seeds to eat the kernel inside. There are two major varieties of cherries namely;

1.     The sweet cherry – (Prumus avium)

2.     The sour cherry – (prunus cerasus)

They are distinguished just as the names suggest. That is by their distinctive tastes. Both varieties of cherry tree can be grown from seeds (otherwise known as cherry pits). The trees grow to be between 8 and 30ft tall depending on whether they are dwarf, semi-dwarf or full sized. The wild cherries have been part of the human diet for a very long time. Some eighteen and nineteenth centuries ago, botanical authors assumed a western Asia origin for the species based on the writings of a botanist called PLINY. However archeological findings of seeds from pre-historic Europe contradict this view. The stones have been found in deposits at Bronze Age settlements throughout Europe including Britain. However, in one dated example, wild cherry micro-fossils were found in a core sample from the “defruits” beneath a dwelling at an early and middle bronze age pile dwelling site and in the shore of a former lake at “desenzano del garda or lonato, near the northern shore of lake garda Italy. The date is estimated at early bronze age 1A carbon-dated then to 2077BC plus or mims 10 years. The natural forest was largely cleared at that time. By 800BC cherries were being actively cultivated in Asia minor and soon after in Greece as the main ancestor of the cultivated cherry.            

1.     YIELD OF PLANT

Crop yield can be defined as a measurement of the amount of a crop that was harvested per unit of land area. crop yield is the measurement often used for a cereal, grain or legume and its normally measured in metric tons per hectare (or kilogrammes per hectare).

Crop yield can also refer to the actual seed generation from the plant for example, a  grain or wheat yielding three new grains of wheat would have a crop yield of 1:3. It is also referred to as “agricultural output”. 

Dictionary speaking, yield  has two meanings that seem quite different. “an amount” or “to give way”. The yield of the recipe was twelve brownie to avoid being tripped, Mary was forced to yield to the children on her way to the brownie plate. While these meanings seem quite different, they both mean “to give”. Yield can also be defined as to give forth or produce by a natural process or in return for cultivation.      

1.     STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

2.     Is cherry fruit important species in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area?

3.     Do we have high yield of cherry fruit in Ikpoba Okha Local Government?

4.     Is the environment in Ikpoba Okha condiucive for cherry plant?

5.     Component of yield of cherry plant is it the same in the different market in Ikpoba Okha LGA?

6.     PURPOSE OF  STUDY

Purpose of the study is to carry out a market survey in three different markets in Ikpoba Okha and compare the component of yield of cherry fruit. Circumference, number of seeds, weight in the market).

The research is also to find out the view of people in Ikpoba Okha L. G. A. about the yield of cherry plant and how to improve the yield.   

1.     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This project work is designed especially to provide people particularly those in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State with the prospect of the cherry fruit as it affect the socio-economic life of the people in Ikpoba Okha.

The project also aim to improve the yield of pepper plant in their environment and to draw the attention of the government in Ikpoba Okha to improve the lives of the people. 

1.     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In order to ensure a comprehensive investigation of this study it is important to formulate a number of questions to guide in collection of data that will facilitate the arrangement of finding and to make worthy discussion of finding. The following research questions are therefore pertinent;

·         Are the size(s) of cherry fruit in Ugbekun market and Oka market the same?

·         Do the numbers of seeds in a cherry fruit vary?

·         Do the sweetness as a component of the cherry fruit differ?

·         SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study was carried out within Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area. primarily, carried out in two different markets in Upper Sakponba road in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area.  

1.     DEFINITION OF TERMS

Cherry: Cherry is a flesy drupe fruit of plants from the genus “prunus” members of the family “Rosacae” and it is pale yellow in colour when mature in mid-summer.

Fruit: A fruit is a fertilized and ripened ovary and the seed inside the fruit are developed from ovules.

Components: One of several parts that together make up a whole system.

Survey: A set of questions you ask a large number of people in order to find out their opinion.

Yield: The amount of crops that you get.

Botany: The scientific study of plants and their structure.

Botanist: A scientist who deals with the scientific study of plants and their structure.