Author(s): Selam Aknaw Mekonnen, Mtaita Tuarira, Tabarira Jefta and Sebastian Chakeredza

Abstract: To meet the high food demand due to the increase in population and limited area, it is imperative to obtain high yield per unit area. This experiment was carried out at Africa University farm, Mutare, Zimbabwe to find out the effect of increasing seed density per planting station on yield and yield components. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications and six (6) treatments. Treatments ranged from one (1) seed to six (6) per planting station at various spacing’s. To minimize the effect of excess competition, the spacing was varied in the same unit area of 3.6 m x 4 m per plot/treatment. Treatment one (T1) had a spacing of 90 cm x 25 cm, T2 with a spacing of 90 cm x 50 cm, T3 with a spacing of 90 cm x 50 cm, T4 with a spacing of 90 cm x 50 cm, T5 with a spacing of 90 cm x 100 cm and T6 with a spacing of 90 cm x 100 cm. Spacing’s were adopted to accommodate all the seeded treatments and was not a variable of the experiment. Data were collected on: Plant height (cm), plant thickness (cm), Grain, Cob and core weights (kg), Infertility Number, Shelling percentage and grain yield. From this experiment, it was observed that Treatment four (4) had a higher yield of 9.38 kg followed by T3 and T6 with a yield of 7.77 kg and 7.51 kg respectively. It is therefore recommended to adopt treatment three (3) consisting of three (3) seeds per planting station with a spacing of 90 cm X 25 cm, or treatment four (4) with four (4) seeds per planting station with a spacing of 90 cm X 25 cm, to improve yield per unit area.

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