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| ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological
Science
June 2012 | Vol. 7 No. 6 |
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Title: |
Argel (Solennostemma
argel Del hayenne) applications for control of the date
palm green pit scale insect (Asterolicanium phoenicis
Rao)
and yield enhancement |
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Author (s): |
Awad K.
Taha, Khalid O. A. M. Eldoash, Tagelsir I. M. Idris and O. A. A. Sidahmed |
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Abstract: |
The epidemiology of the exotic
green pit scale insect on Sudan’s main growing Date Palm
State had been of negative impact on dates yield. As cost of
the recommended pesticide was high, adoption of the
recommendation was partial. In this study foliar, soil and
combined foliar and soil applications of argel were compared
for their potency to control this insect against the
recommended pesticide and untreated control. A 100 g argel
dose/ palm applied as foliar or soil dressing gave
satisfactory control matching that of the chemical pesticide
for around 3 months. Besides, clear yield gains were
obtained upon argel application coupled with optimum
cultural practices. Being a safe cheap local herb, argel can
be proposed as an alternative or supplement to the chemical
pesticide for the control of the green pit scale insect and
enhanced date palm yield.
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Title: |
Yield and
yield contributing traits of wheat cultivars in relation
with planting dates and nitrogen fertilization |
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Author (s): |
Hasina
Gul, Beena Saeed, Ahmad Said, Humaira Gul and Zhou Weijun |
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Abstract: |
A two years field study was conducted to
determine the effect of different sowing dates and nitrogen
fertilization on yield and yield contributing traits of
wheat cultivars at New Developmental Farm of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan
under the agro-climatic condition of Peshawar valley during
2008-09 and 2009-10. The experiment was laid out according
to randomized complete block design having split plot
arrangements with four repeats. Four planting dates (24th
October, 13th November, 3rd December
and 23rd December) with 20 days intervals
allocated to main plots as factor A while eight combinations
of 4 nitrogen rates (0, 100, 130 and 160 kg N ha-1)
and two varieties (Pirsabaq-2005 and Khyber-87) were kept in
sub plots as factor B. Wheat crop responded differently to
sowing dates and nitrogen fertilization for various
characters. Number of spikes m-2, number of
grains spike-1 ,biological yield, grain yield and
1000-grain weight increased linearly in response to sowing
dates (early and normal sowing) and nitrogen rates (130 and
160 kg ha-1). Late sowing and no nitrogen
application significantly decline yielding capacity of wheat
cultivars. Khyber-87 performs better in term of yield as
compared to Pirsabaq-2005. Some interactions of sowing
dates, varieties and nitrogen levels were also responded
significantly toward yield and yield components of wheat
cultivars in both growing seasons. |
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Title: |
Determining the influence of drying condition on EHD drying
process |
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Author (s): |
Mohammad
Jafar Dalvand, Seyed Saeid Mohtasebi and Shahin Rafiee |
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Abstract: |
Drying is defined as a
process of moisture removal due to simultaneous heat and
mass transfer. The influence of drying condition on the
drying rate of Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) has been
experimentally evaluated in this study. Sample weight and
moisture content were measured during drying and drying
curves were obtained for each experimental data. The
moisture content data were performed using linear and
non-linear regression analysis by SPSS (vers. 15, SPSS,
Inc., Chicago, Ill.) computer program to estimate a suitable
model, and the models were compared based on their
determination coefficient (R2), the root mean
square error (RMSE). The cubic and exponential models were
found to satisfactorily describe the drying rate of kiwi
fruit with its moisture content. Based on the results, when
the applied voltage is not changed, the drying rate is
changed with field strength, Moreover, when the field
strength is not changed; the drying rate is changed with
applied voltage. |
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Title: |
Effects
of oil price change on capital stocks of selected companies
in agro-allied industry in Nigeria |
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Author (s): |
Layade A.
A. and Okoruwa V. O. |
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Abstract: |
This study was carried out to
determine the effect of oil price changes on capital stocks
of agro-allied companies in Nigeria. Secondary data obtained
from Nigerian Stock Exchange, Centre Bank of Nigeria and
Energy Information Administration was used.
Panel data estimation technique was employed in
analysing the data. The panel data set up comprises of seven
quoted agro-allied companies in the floor of Nigerian Stock
Exchange over the period of 120 months (1997.1-2006.12). The
result showed a significant positive relationship between
oil price change and stock prices. This implies that oil
price is a relevant factor in determining stock prices in
oil producing and exporting countries like Nigeria. It is
also revealed that inflation and interest rate on bank
deposit exert a negative impact on stocks. Exchange rate has
a positive significant relationship with capital stock.
Based on the findings, it is recommended that the Federal
Government of Nigeria should formulate and implement
policies that will control the economic variables in favour
of the stock market. |
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Title: |
Preservation of indigenous vegetables by solar drying |
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Author (s): |
Seidu J.
M., Bobobee E. Y. H., Kwenin W. K. J., Frimpong R., Kubge
S. D., Tevor W. J. and Mahama A. A. |
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Abstract: |
The abundance of indigenous vegetables during
the rainy seasons and poor transport and storage systems
leads to their high post-harvest losses but scarcity in the
dry seasons. Effective preservation and storage of theses
vegetables would not only reduce their post-harvest losses
but make them available throughout the year. A study
therefore, was conducted on the effects of solar drying on
the nutritional content of selected indigenous leafy
vegetable using locally constructed solar drying panels at
the Department of Agriculture Engineering and mechanization
of the College of Agriculture Education, Mampong Campus. The
study was done in June, 2011 and four (4) designed solar
dryers were used. The panels were constructed using hard
wood, nail, chicken mesh nylon net and black and white
polythene sheets. The Samples which include cocoyam leaves:
xanthosoma sagittifolia, “Ayoyo”, Moringa, Moringa
Oleifera, waterleaf, Talinum trangulare and
bitter leaf, Vernonia were weighed cleaned and those
with broader leaves (cocoyam leaf) were chopped. Half of
cocoyam leaves and Bitter leaves were blanched at a
temperature of 65°C. The samples both the blanched and
unblanched were evenly spread in each of the panels to dry.
Panel B which had black polythene sheet covering its
exterior and opposite ends recorded the highest mean
temperature of (30.13°C to 47.32°C) while the control panel
E (open air) recorded the lowest mean temperature (26.25°C
to 32.80°C). Drying period ranged between 3 and 5 days for
all samples in various panels with water leaf, Talinum
triangular showing the longest drying period of 5days in
all the panels due to its high moisture content. Drying was
more effective in the panels than the control (higher
percentage dried weight loss). Proximate analyses showed
that apart from the protein levels of the cocoyam and Ayoyo”
leaves that had lower values those of the other nutrients
had higher concentration except the moisture and fat
contents which showed drastic decrease. The high nutrient
levels of the dried vegetable make it a good source of food
for malnourish children and patients of heart diseases. It
is therefore recommended that similar investigation should
be carried out on other indigenous vegetables especially
fruits and root vegetable using the solar drying panels
technology. |
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Title: |
Comparative study of effluent for pollution indicators and
indicator pathogenic organisms from anaerobic digesters for
human and fruit waste |
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Author (s): |
A. Issah,
E. D. Aklaku and T. Salifu |
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Abstract: |
The study examined comparatively the levels
of pollution monitoring indicators (Biochemical Oxygen
Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and
Conductivity), a selected pathogen (Salmonella species)
and indicator microorganisms (Total Coliforms (TC), Faecal
Coliform (FC), Escherichia coli (E. coli)) in
the effluent of two anaerobic digesters treating Human
Excreta (HE) and Fruit Waste (FW) (pineapple and mango
peels). Both digesters were operated on mesophillic
temperature within short hydraulic retention time of 14
days. The mean, standard error (SE) and percentage reduction
in effluent for each parameter were computed for both
digesters. Except conductivity of HE, BOD, COD, TC, FC,
E. coli and Salmonella species reduced between
50-75% in the effluent. The reduction in the digester
treating HW was higher than the digester treating the FW
except for COD, conductivity and Salmonella species.
Despite the reduction in both digesters the effluent quality
exceeded the World Health Organisation (WHO) or the Ghana
Environmental Protection Agency standards for disposal or
use in agriculture. |
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Title: |
Do
microenterprises reduce poverty in rural Nigeria? |
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Author (s): |
Salman
Kabir Kayode |
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Abstract: |
There still exist progressively worsening
welfare conditions of Nigerians in spite of the country’s
physical and human resources endowment. The Nigerian Human
Development Indicator ranks 158th among 182
countries in 2008 portraying the country among the poorest
countries in the world with about 70% of its population
residing in the rural areas and farming as their major
livelihood enterprise. The farmers are however characterized
with low productivity and low income due to poor
implementation strategies of government policies among other
factors. It is thus widely documented in literature that
rural poverty is more pronounced than in the urban area
hence the farmers had to engage in non-farm microenterprises
as a necessary coping mechanism. In this study, available
microenterprises employed by the farmers, income derived,
effect on poverty reduction and constraints faced in the
enterprises were investigated and suggestions were made. A
multi-stage sampling technique was employed in the selection
of 169 respondents from Osun State, Nigeria. Data on
household socio-economic and demographic characteristics,
available non-farm microenterprises engaged in and income
realized were obtained with the aid of structured
questionnaire. The data obtained were analyzed through the
use of descriptive statistics, fuzzy set and probit
regression analysis. The result revealed that available
non-farm microenterprises are charcoal production,
blacksmith (metal fabricating), sawmill and firewood sales,
tailoring, soap making, cloth weaving and hat making, buying
and selling of food and non food items among others. About
Forty-five percent of the households have a non-farm
microenterprise income share of 45.9% of the total income.
The factors that determine participation in non-farm
microenterprises are age of the household head, being male,
level of education, closeness to the urban area, volume of
credit received and remittances. The result of the poverty
analysis indicates that larger percentage (43.5%) of farming
households whose household heads are not engaged in non-farm
microenterprises are living below the poverty line compared
with farming households (22.09%) whose household head are
engaged in non-farm microenterprises. The major constraints
are poor market opportunities and low capital base. The
study concludes that microenterprises are useful tools in
poverty reduction. It is therefore recommended that
formation of social groups be encouraged among the farmers
in order to facilitate information sharing, training
opportunities on suitable enterprises, and microcredit
opportunities. |
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Title: |
Poverty
and vulnerability in rural south-west Nigeria |
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Author (s): |
A. O. Adepoju1 and S. A. Yusuf |
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Abstract: |
The near failure of various programmes and
strategies by successive governments in Nigeria has been
linked to the improper diagnosis of poverty as a static
concept. There are growing concerns that poverty is not
reducing due to the lack of understanding of its dynamic
nature and vulnerability to poverty. This study investigates
poverty and vulnerability to poverty in rural South-West
Nigeria (SWN). Primary data were collected from 582 rural
households in a two-wave panel survey (harvesting and lean
periods) employing a multi-stage sampling technique. Data
were analysed using; Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT)
poverty measure; 3-Stage Feasible Generalized Least Squares
(3FGLS); Tobit and Probit regression methods. Poverty lines
of N3313.57 and N4093.21 were estimated for
the two periods respectively. Based on these, the incidence
of poverty was 35.0% and 43.6 % for the first and second
periods. At the standard vulnerability threshold of 0.5,
55.7% of rural households in SWN were vulnerable to poverty.
A unit increase in household size and dependency ratio
aggravated vulnerability by 0.05 and 1.28, while attainment
of secondary and tertiary education reduced vulnerability by
0.14 and 0.23 respectively (P<0.01). Vulnerability also
translated into significantly (P<0.01) higher poverty by
increasing the ex-post probability of becoming poor by 0.34.
However, there were some factors related with vulnerability
but not poverty and some related to poverty but not
vulnerability. The study therefore suggests that poverty
alleviation programs must focus on those factors which
aggravate poverty and vulnerability and employ several
specialized approaches to tackle these multifarious
problems. |
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Title: |
Potentials of ethanol extracts of infected florets of
Panicum maximum jacq in evoking uterine contraction in
Sprague-dawley rats |
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Author (s): |
Kanife U. C.,
Adekunle A. A. and Odesanmi O. S. |
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Abstract: |
The contractility effects of aqueous, ethanol
and chloroform crude extracts (0.0312-2.0mg/ml final bath
concentration (FBC) and purified ethanol fractions
(0.001-3.0 mg/ml final bath concentration) of infected
Panicum maximum floret were evaluated on primed isolated
rat uterus in the presence of ergometrine (10-5-10-2
mol/L). The crude aqueous, ethanol and chloroform
extracts produced dose-dependent contraction of the uterus
with ethanol extract being more potent than others, with the
least dose achieving 77% contraction at FBC of 0.062mg/ml.
Through the bioassay-guided fractionation, ethanol fraction
produced a similar pattern of contraction with standard drug
(ergometrine). Out of the three compounds detected in the
ethanol fraction on further purification, the compound with
Rf value of 0.20 (identified to be alkaloid) was
active. These findings suggest the possible use of this
compound as a new type of uterotonic agent for uterine
contraction. |
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Title: |
The
nursery industry in Ghana: Prospects and challenges |
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Author (s): |
J. B. K.
Asiedu, J. D. Owusu-Sekyere, K. J. Taah, G. C. van der Puije
and E. Ocloo |
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Abstract: |
The research was carried out between December
2008 and December 2010 and covered six administrative
districts in the Greater Accra and Eastern regions of Ghana.
A total of 132 nurseries were identified in the districts
out of which 20 were selected using a table of random
digits. A content validated questionnaire together with a
surveyors tape and a digital camera were used to collect the
data. The questionnaire was administered to respondents in
each of the 20 nurseries using English and two local
dialects, Twi and Ewe. The survey showed that the nursery
industry is serving as an important source of employment for
people both on full-time and part-time basis. The industry
is dominated by males who make up 80% of the respondents.
Young and agile people of between 20-49 years make up 75% of
the respondents. The industry is important in the
distribution of ornamental and fruit trees using seedlings
and vegetatively propagated materials. Nurseries surveyed
were mostly large in size ranging between 2023.5m2
and 7689m2, however, further expansion of small
nurseries located in built up areas could be limited by
inadequate space. Nurseries relied more on surface water
sources like streams to irrigate their plants and the main
method of irrigation was overhead with the use of watering
cans being the most popular. A total of 110 species of
plants belonging to 79 genera and 49 families were
cultivated by all the nurseries surveyed. None of the
nurseries was either affiliated to any organization or had
received any support. |
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Title: |
Intra-specific variability and diversity analysis of African
yam bean by seed size parameters |
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Author (s): |
Adewale
B. D., Aremu C. O. and Amazue U. E. |
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Abstract: |
Understanding the intra-specific variability
within a species is preliminary to any genetic improvement
of the crop. Thirty (30) African yam bean (AYB) accessions were
tried in four locations in Nigeria. Resultant seed lots from
harvest per location and per replication were evaluated in
the study. The genetic variability, distance and the
clustering of the 30 accessions were based on twelve seed
size estimates. Accession and location significantly
(P≤0.05) differed with respect to the twelve characters.
Among other characters however, the interaction: Accession
(Acc.) x Location (Loc.) was not significant for
circumference and geometric mean diameter of the seed. The
variance proportion due to location alone was significantly
(P<0.0001) the highest; ranging from 41.6% to 78.9%. The
variance due to accession (11.2 - 33.2%) was significantly
(P<0.001) higher than that of Acc. x Loc. (4.8 - 15.4%). The
contribution of Acc. x Loc. and the experimental error to
the total variation did not differ significantly. The mean
gower genetic distance between the 30 accessions was 0.232.
The least (0.036) was between TSs33 and TSs84 and the
highest (0.672) existed between TSs9 and TSs86. The 30
accessions grouped in five clusters. TSs104B and TSs69
existed independently in clusters III and IV respectively.
Despite intra-cluster uniformity, some characters
significantly (P<0.05) differentiated the four, twenty and
four accessions within clusters I, II and V respectively.
The present study on revealing the genetic variability among
the 30 accessions, equally presented the platform for
selection criteria for seed sizes parameters for AYB.
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Title: |
Study
energy indices of tobacco production in north of Iran |
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Author (s): |
Maral
Moraditochaee |
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Abstract: |
Energy in agriculture is
important in terms of crop production and agro processing
for value adding. This method in an agricultural product
system is the energy consuming in product operations and
energy saving in produced crops. In this article, evaluation
of energy indices under rain fed farming tobacco in north of
Iran (Guilan province) was investigated. Data were collected
from 72 farms by used a face to face questionnaire method
during 2011 year in Guilan province. By using of consumed
data as inputs and total production as output, and their
concern equivalent energy, and energy indices were
calculated. The average yield of tobacco was found to be
1112 kg/ha and its energy equivalent was calculated to be
890 MJ/ha. Energy efficiency (energy output to input energy
ratio) for seed in this study was calculated 0.03, showing
the affective use of energy in the agro ecosystems tobacco
production. Nonrenewable energy was 94.09% total input
energy that concluded that tobacco production needs to
improve the efficiency of energy consumption in production
and to employ renewable energy. |
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Title: |
Drying of
sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) (chipped and grated)
for quality flour using locally
constructed solar dryers |
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Author (s): |
Seidu J. M., Bobobee E. Y. H., Kwenin W. J. K., Tevor W. J., Mahama A. A. and Agbeven J. |
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Abstract: |
A study was conducted on the suitability of
processing sweet potato tubers into chips using locally
constructed solar panels within the semi forest and the
transitional climatic zone of Ghana. The study was done
during the months of November, 2010 and January, 2011 and
seven designed solar panels were used. The panels were
constructed using hard wood, binding materials (nails),
Chicken mesh, nylon net and black and white polythene
sheets. The cassava tuber was first thoroughly washed,
peeled and chopped into 20mm by 10mm as T1 and the grated
tubers as T2. Sixty kilogram of each type was dried in each
panel. Data variations in the panels resulted from the type
of polythene sheet used (black lining, white or a
combination of the black and white). Drying was observed to
be faster in the panels with their drying platforms covered
with the chicken mesh and nylon net (5 and 6 days) than
those with their drying platform lined with the black
polythene sheets (2 and 3 days) for October, 2010 and
January, 2011 respectively. The chips dried on the chicken
mesh and nylon drying platforms looked whiter and more
appealing to the eye than those dried on the black polythene
sheet platform due to moisture condensation that encouraged
mould growth before drying. The open air dried cassava
appeared darker since the sweet potato got mouldy before
drying. The dried products stored for 12 months in poly
sacks lined with plastic sheet still retained their original
appearance (white or grey). The least significant difference
(LSD) was used to separate the means when the data was
subjected to statistical analysis. It is therefore
recommended that Panels A, C, E, F and G should be used to
dry the grated and chipped sweet potato during both the
rainy and dry seasons since it took 6 days and 2 days
respectively to dry the product of better quality (whiter)
and without any mould infestation during the two sessions
(November, 2010 and January,2011).With the result obtained
processing cassava into quality chips will not only reduce
post-harvest losses but will also enable the rural farmers
produce quality chips to earn more income and improve upon
their standard of living. |
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Title: |
Comparative performance of a newly developed fish trap and
the Malian trap in Kainji lake |
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Author (s): |
N. D. Ago, J. K. Balogun and J. Auta |
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Abstract: |
Based on personal working relationship with
artisan fishers in the southern part of Lake Kainji, North
Western Nigeria, a new fishing pot trap made with polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) pipe material was designed, fabricated and
its performance evaluated by comparison with the traditional Malian trap. The aim was to have a fishing pot that
is long-lasting and be at least as effective as the
Malian pot in fish catch. Three units of perforated PVC
pipe each with length 1m and diameter 0.1m were ganged
together. With a funnel-like, nylon netting non-return valve
fitted on one end of each pipe, an untreated cotton twine
210d/3 fitted on the other ends of the pipes. The device was
set and hauled regularly for a period of six months. This
was to test for fish catch ability and durability. Data
collected on fish diversity, number and weight showed that
nineteen fish species belonging to ten families were caught.
While the two pot types had the same species density index
(SDI) of 0.83 in the dry season trials, a higher SDI of 0.93
as against 0.79 were recorded for the new pot and Malian
pot in the wet season respectively. An overall SDI of 0.89
was computed for the PVC pot as against the Malian
pot SDI of 0.79. There was however no significant difference
(P>0.05) in the catch by number and weight of the two pot
traps. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in the
lengths and weights of the Malian trap than the new
trap before and after they were tried, suggesting the new
trap to be more durable. |
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Title: |
Research
energy indices of eggplant production in north of Iran |
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Author (s): |
Maral
Moraditochaee |
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Abstract: |
Optimum use of energy is very vital for
agricultural productions section. This method in an
agricultural product system is the energy consuming in
product operations and energy saving in produced crops. In
this article, evaluation of energy indices under rain fed
farming eggplant in north of Iran (Guilan province) was
investigated. Data were collected from 72 farms by used a
face to face questionnaire method during 2011 year in Guilan
province. By using of consumed data as inputs and total
production as output, and their concern equivalent energy,
and energy indices were calculated. The average yield of
eggplant was found to be 21000 kg/ha and its energy
equivalent was calculated to be 123900 MJ/ha. Energy
efficiency (energy output to input energy ratio) for seed in
this study was calculated 9.3, showing the affective use of
energy in the agro ecosystems eggplant production.
Nonrenewable energy was 94.52 % total input energy that
concluded that eggplant production needs to improve the
efficiency of energy consumption in production and to employ
renewable energy. |
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