Agriculture

Forty two samples each of two fish species, Tillapia zilli and Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus were collected along the Kpando Torkor Lake in the Volta Region of Ghana. The samples were investigated for levels of organochlorine pesticide residues and their potential health risks to humans were also assessed. Composite sample of muscles and gills of each species were homogenized using a warring blender. The homogenized samples were Soxhlet extracted with hexane/dichloromethane mixture. The extracts were cleaned up on florisil adsorbent and analyzed for organochlorine pesticide residues using gas chromatography equipped with electron capture detector. In all, fifteen organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were investigated of which thirteen organochlorines namely, ?-HCH, ?-HCH, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE, heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, ?-chordane, ?-endosulfan, ?-endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate and methoxychlor were identified. Heptachlor, ?-HCH, p,p'-DDD, ?-HCH, methoxychlor and endosulfan sulphate were the predominant OCP residues measured. The mean residue concentration in muscles and gills ranges from 0.10 to 17.35 ng/g wet weight and 0.56 to 37.75 ng/g wet weight respectively. A 100% incidence was recorded for ?-HCH, ?-HCH, p,p'-DDD, heptachlor, endosulfan sulfate in the muscle. In the case of the gills a 100% incidence was also recorded for ?-HCH, ?-HCH, p,p'-DDD, ?-chordane, endosulfan sulfate and methoxychlor. Risk assessment based on estimated daily intake (EDI) showed that values obtained for EDI for each organochlorine were far below the non-cancer and cancer benchmark concentrations. As a result the consumption of these fishes will have little or no significant adverse health effects on consumers. It is however, advisable to remove the gills from tilapia fish prior to preparation and consumption to reduce the cumulative and concomitant effect of OCPs in tilapia protein consumers in the long term.

Plantain banana are staple crops in DR Congo. These are superficially rooted monocot plants that require a continuous nutrient enrichment mechanism to maintain production, which decreases considerably after a few crop cycles. In burn agriculture, significant nutrient losses are recorded by various mechanisms. This research shows that cropping plantain banana in association with trees makes it possible to increase more not only the production of these on the unburned field in association with the trees, but also and above all to improve the yield of plantains in burned field in association with trees unlike burned cropping without the presence of trees where thirds of low yields are recorded.

Adoption is a decision to make use of an innovation on a continuous basis. This study investigated the socio-economic determinants of adoption of improved rice production technologies in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The study employed multi-stage random sampling techniques in the selection of 420 rice farmers from the three agricultural zones of the state. Primary data were sourced through field survey with the aid of structured questionnaires and interview schedule. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis. The result of the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers shows that majority (66.67 percent) of the respondents were males whose age ranged between 41-50 years with mean age of 42 years. Most of them (62.50 percent) were married and had household size of between 6-10 persons with average household size of 8 persons. Majority (50.83 percent) were full-time farmers whose farm size ranged between 1.1-2.0 hectares. Most of the farmers (43.33 percent) had been involved in rice farming for 21-30 years and earned monthly income of between N31,000-N40,000. The result of logistic regression analysis showed a log likelihood ratio of -188. 40 and Chi-square value of 682.559 which was significant at (P= 0.01); implying that all the variables jointly determined the dependent variable. The Pseudo R2 (Nagelkerke) which was 76.6 percent implied that about 76.6 percent of the variation in the adoption of improved rice production technologies was explained by the farmers socio-economic characteristics. Most of the variables were significant and met a priori expectations. The result of factor analysis identified: technical, financial and institutional constraints as major bottlenecks limiting adoption of improved rice production technologies in the area. It was concluded that the socio-economic characteristics of the rural farmers significantly influenced their adoption of improved rice production technologies. Necessary recommendations such as: reviving youths’ interest towards rice production; employing and training more extension workers; timely provision of subsidized agricultural inputs as well as incentives for the formation of cooperative societies; were made.

One of the most important natural resources that cover much of the earth's surface is soil. Most life on earth depends upon the soil as a direct or indirect source of food. Plants are rooted in the soil and obtain nutrients from it. Animals also get nutrients from eating the plants on the soil. Soil is home of many organisms such as seeds, spores, insects, and worms. The contents of soil change constantly and there are many different kinds of soil. It forms very slowly and is destroyed easily, so it must be conserved in order to continue to support life.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the agricultural performance in monocropping and in association of tomatoes affected by a few diseases in the city of Kisangani. The study was done following a non-randomized block device comprising two blocks of 6 plots each. Two types of crops were used namely tomato and spinach. The treatments consisted of tomatoes in pure culture and tomatoes in combination with spinach. Observations focused on the evolution of tomato diseases and the number of inflorescences, flowers, fruits, fruit weight, fruiting and yield per plant. The results obtained reveal that the combination of spinach with tomatoes reduces the spread of tomato diseases and increases tomato yield under the conditions of our study. information retrieval systems.

Nutrient status, availability, reachability are the basis of soil fertility studies in agricultural soils. The East Anglia experience evaluated soil nutrient dynamics from the following parameters: whole ecosystem and soil respiration, microbial carbon , soil total carbon, soil total nitrogen, soil C:N ratio, soil temperature and soil water filled pore spaces. The following land management practices were evaluated: grassland under permanent pasture on 5 y ley before stocking; grassland under permanent pasture sown with red clover a y before stocking; grassland under permanent pasture treated with N fertilizer a y before stocking; arable land under barley; with deciduous woodland as control. Each site was replicated four times and revisited at each time of sampling. Whole ecosystem respiration was measured once a day per month with portable environmental gas monitor. At the same time soil samples were collected for actual measurement of soil respiratory activity in the laboratory; together with soil water filled pore spaces. Significant differences were observed in whole ecosystem and soil respiration amongst land management practices with grassland under permanent pasture treated with N fertilizer a year before stocking giving the highest whole ecosystem and soil respiration, 67.8 and 33.9 mmol m-2 h-1 respectively. Respiratory activity was highest over the summer months and lowest over the winter months. Whole ecosystem and soil respiration were dependent on soil microbial C (R2 = 0.6 and 0.73 respectively). It pays to get it right when land management and nutrient dynamics are at stake.

The Study of heavy metal was carried out at mechanic village along Abeokuta-Ibadan Expressway for the presence of heavy metal and uptake efficiency of plant species as a means of phytoremediation. The concentrations of heavy metals determined from the soil of the mechanic village and compared to a control farmland located as Federal University of Agriculture. The soil sample collected at the base of different species of tree showed that the heavy metals were below permissible levels (FAO/WHO standard) and show no significant difference in the range of mean. Absorption of heavy metals by the bark of the trees in the mechanic village was evident when compared relatively to the presence and uptake of the heavy metals from the soil by tree in the average farmland. The mean concentrations of the heavy metals in the soil of the farmland are in this order of magnitude Cd>Cu>Pb, while the mean concentration of the heavy metals in the soil of the mechanic village are in the order of magnitude Pb>Cu>Cd. Lead has the least concentration in the farmland, while in the mechanic village, it is the predominant heavy metal detected which also shows greater significant different at p<0.05 with a value of 24.34 mg/kg which indicates area of high mechanic activity. While the concentration values of heavy metals in the barks in comparison to the FAO/WHO and EC/CODEX standard for these heavy metals shows that the concentration of the heavy metals in those vicinities is within the normal range for cadmium and copper, but the lead present is above the WHO/FAO standard at 0.299 mg/kg and close to the EC/CODEX standard. It can also be concluded that the uptake efficiency of heavy metal under study of the three species are in the order magnitude Mango>Cashew>Neem. We can also recommend that for better efficient cleanup especially where an area is polluted with copper, mango is best bet for the uptake of such metal while if an equal proportion all many heavy metals are evident then it will be better to use Neem as a phytoremediating plant.

The biological effectiveness of jute bags impregnated with Eucalyptus camaldulensis essential oils, Cymbopogon citratus, and vegetable oil of Azadirachta indica was evaluated on the adults of Callosobruchus maculatus of cowpea and the molds of the genus Aspergilus and Penicillium, in post-harvest conservation conditions. The results reveal that the jute bags tested have significant insecticidal and antimicrobial activity on Callosobruchus maculatus adults, when the dose and exposure time increase from 0 to 2% for 26 weeks.

The detoxifying effect of Vitamin C in the graded levels of Fumonisin B1 fed to bird was conducted with One hundred and five (105) point-of-lay Isa brown breed at 18 weeks and twenty-one (21) cocks at 25 weeks to access egg qualities and embryonic development of their eggs. The birds (layers) were assigned to Seven (7) dietary treatments of 15 birds each at three (3) birds per replicate. The treatments were classified according to inclusion level of Fumonisin B1 and Vitamin C. Treatment A served as the control, B (10 mg/kg of FB1), C (20 mg/kg of FB1), D (30 mg/kg of FB1), E (10 mg/kg of FB1 + Vitamin C), F (20 mg/kg of FB1 + Vitamin C), and G (30mg/kg of FB1 + Vitamin C). The birds were artificially fertilised with semen collected from intact cocks. All the eggs collected from day three (3) after artificial insemination for seven (7) days were incubated to assess the egg fertility and monitor the development of resulting embryos at 7 and 14 days. A significant difference was observed in shell weight (p?0.05) while other external qualities of eggs examined were not significantly (p?0.05) influenced by the level of fumonisin B1. Yolk height and yolk diameter had significance (p?0.05) while other internal qualities were not significantly (p?0.05) affected. No significant effect of FB1 was observed for the embryonic development just as there was no difference between the selected embryos of the treated group and the control. Meanwhile, the result shows that Vitamin C can effectively ameliorate the toxic effect of the FB1 on the egg qualities (external and internal) and embryonic development of eggs. 

Combining ability and nature of gene interactions that contribute to grain yield and its attributing traits of wheat were investigated using 21 bread wheat hybrids developed by crossing 7 commercial varieties in a half diallel mating design. The estimates of variance due to specific combining ability (?2 SCA) were absolutely greater value over variance of general combining ability for yield and yield attributing traits. Thus the results revealed that non-additive genetic variances accomplished an important role in the expression of different characters. The GCA and SCA ratio was less than unity for all the traits. This indicated that non-additive components played relatively greater role in the inheritance of these traits. Thus, use of diallel mating with recurrent selection could provide the better conditions for recombination and accumulation of desirable genes.