Perception of Job-Seeking Graduates in Oyo State Nigeria to Cashew Production

Cashew is an important and commercially grown cash crop in Oyo state and Nigeria generally for its apple and most importantly the nuts. Cashew cultivation in recent years has experienced a yield decline due to few cashew farmers involved and moribund cashew trees. This paper aims to understand the perception of job-seeking graduates in Oyo state to cashew production and proffer recommendations that will help in promoting their participation. Some selected areas were considered in Oyo state and data were collected using a questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics of the respondent, awareness on cashew tree and its importance, opinion of respondents to cashew farming, perception of respondents to money-making opportunities in cashew production and categorization of the respondents based on their level of perception. 270 respondents were considered in the survey. Data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. Results showed that 45.5% of the unemployed graduates were between the ages of 30-34 years. The study also showed that 90.7% know the economic importance of cashew while 89.3% know cashew farming as profitable. Farming ventures interest 73.3% of the unemployed graduates while 66.7% would want to venture into cashew farming. 52.2% of the job-seeking graduates had a favourable level of perception about cashew production. The perception of the job-seeking graduates is satisfactory as the favourability of their level of perception to cashew production is a little above average. Feasible loans or grants should be made available and easily accessible to job-seeking graduates to promote their involvement in cashew farming.

Evaluation of Alternative Pre-emergence Herbicides to Atrazine for Weed Control on Maize (Zea maysL.) plot in Ogbomoso, Southwest Nigeria

Field experiments were carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm of the LadokeAkintola University of Technology, (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso to evaluate the effectiveness and determine the optimum rate of applying alternative herbicides to atrazine on maize plots in view of the current criticism against the herbicide. Five herbicides, namely; 3-maize force, Xtra force, Pre-maize Guard force (solution and pellet) at two rates (100% and 50% recommended rates) were compared with atrazine at full dose and 3 hoe-weeding in a Randomized complete Block Experiment with 3 replications. Maize, Variety OBA Super, maturing in 75 days, was planted at two plants per stand at a spacing of 75 x 50cm in two-year trials and maintained following the standard procedures. The herbicides were applied using a knapsack sprayer calibrated to deliver at 200liters/ha. Results showed that there were no significant differences (p=0.05) among the treatment and between the treatments and control with respect to seed germination, plant survival and other growth parameters. The highest grain yield (6757.3kg/ha) obtained with atrazine was not significantly different from those of other treatments and control. The effectiveness of the herbicides, measured using weed density and biomass, showed comparable effectiveness across the herbicides and atrazine. Furthermore, at a dosage of 50%, the herbicide’s effectiveness was highly comparable to those of atrazine at 100%. The implications of these findings were discussed.

Nutritional Evaluation of Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc) From Lapai, Nigeria

The nutritional constituents of seeds of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean) were analyzed for their nutritional compositions using standard analytical methods. Results of proximate analysis obtained were moisture content (9.20±0.12 %), ash (3.40±0.09 %), carbohydrate (21.10±0.05 %), crude fibre (4.60±0.07 %) and calorific value (185.79±0.03 kcal/100 g). Mean concentrations of mineral elements were the order: zinc (139.00±0.04 mg/100 g) > potassium (31.50±0.12 mg/100 g) > copper (30.00±0.01 mg/100 g) > phosphorus (17.40±0.11 mg/100 g) > magnesium (3.90±0.07 mg/100 g) > calcium (3.50±0.17 mg/100 g) > sodium (0.11±0.03 mg/100 g) > iron (0.10±0.01 mg/100 g). Measured values for bulk density, water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, foaming capacity and foaming stability were 0.85±0.07 g/cm3, 1.65±0.13 %, 0.70±0.03 %, 16.00±0.12 % and 7.50±0.22 % respectively. The amino acid profile revealed that glutamic acid had the highest value (12.56 g/100 g) while tryptophan had the lowest concentration (0.87 g/100 g). Results obtained indicate that the consumption of V. subterranean can contribute to the nutritional requirements of the body.

Traditional Farming Practices: Espousal and Committed by Farmers in Northern Senatorial Districts of Gombe State, North – eastern Nigeria

This study was conducted in the northern senatorial district of Gombe state which comprises of local government areas like Gombe, Dukku, Nafada, Funakaye and Kwami respectively. The objective of the research is to ascertained the use of traditional farming practice in the said study area, Quantitative and descriptive research design was adopted for this study and the cluster sampling technique were used to randomly select 50 farmers from each of the five clusters in the study area making a total of 250 farmers as sample size. Structured questionnaire containing nine different organic farming practices on two point scale of yes and no that indicate use or not use was administered. Data generated for this study was analyzed using mean and standard deviation whereby six out of nine traditional farming practices was found to be commonly used by the farmers which are: Farm sanitation (use of fire) (mean value = 1.83, standard deviation (SD) = 0.6), Use of animal manure (mean value = 1.75, SD = 0.5), Light tillage (mean value = 1.65, SD = 0.4), intercropping (mean value = 1.63, SD = 0.4), Use of cover crops ( mean value = 1.55, SD = 0.3), Application of compost (mean value = 1.45, SD = 0.3). The trend of traditional farming practice used by the farmers in the study area shows that the above six practices are the prominent ones among the farmers, the demography of the respondents shows that farming is solely a venture of the men. However, this study recommended that farmers in the study area should have to increase their knowledge of the traditional farming practice for judicious and better conservation of soil, also they should adopt and increase their awareness of the traditional farming practices to drive home the benefits of eco-friendly nature of the practices. However, others include introduction of the practice as practical course in the curriculum of basic learning level and reorientation of the younger ones on the benefits of the practice ecologically and environmentally.

Biochemical Studies of Different Parts of Afzelia Africana Smith

Phytochemical and proximate analysis was carried out on the seed, leaf, stem bark, stem, root bark and root of Afzelia Africana plant. This analysis revealed that phytochemical constituents were mostly predominant in the leaf and lower in other parts of the plant. Steroid was high in the root (0.49±0.01) and lower in the stem (0.04±0.01). Phytate content was high in the seed (0.40±0.03) and lower in the stem. Carbohydrate, protein, fats, ash and moisture content were high in the seed. Fibre was high in the stem (61.1±0.23) and lower in the seed (3.61±0.06). Vit. C (ascorbic acid) was the highest vitamin component in all the plant parts with leaf being the highest (12.69±1.02) and root having the lowest (2.64±1.24). The stem has the lowest content of Vit. A, Vit. B2, and Vit. B3. The seed has the highest calcium content (188.80±5.54) while the leaf has the lowest (28.84±0.25). Stem bark has the highest magnesium content (10.08±0.94) and lowest in the root (4.96±0.14). Potassium and phosphorus were high in the leaf (368.67±3.06) and low in the stem. Sodium was high in the seed (11.63±0.40) and lower in the root (5.23±0.23). This study shows that the seed of Afzelia africana has the highest biochemical content and could serve as a good food supplement for man and livestock. The presence of phytate is known to induce mineral-related deficiency, its consumption also provides protection against a variety of cancers via its antioxidant properties.

Comparison of Growth Performance of three Strains of Clarias gariepinus: Hybrid Strain, Selective Breeding Strain and Wild Strain Reared in Concrete Tanks

A comparative study was conducted to investigate the growth performance of three strains of Clarias gariepinus reared in concrete tanks. The experiment was carried out for the period of three weeks. Three strains of Clarias gariepinus which were compared were hybrid strain, selective breeding strain and the pure/wild strain. The experimental fish were randomly assigned to three experimental groups. Each treatment was therefore replicated three times with 60 fry per replicate in concrete tanks. At harvest there was no significant difference among Hybrid strain, Selective breeding strain and wild strain (P˃0.05) in fish’ final body weight (1.83±0.11, 1.178±0.46 and 1.739±0.42). The SGR for hybrid strain, selective breeding strain and wild strains were 12.93 ±0.23, 4.53±0.22and 12.81±0.26. The survival rate for hybrid strain, selective breeding strain and pure strain 70%, 80% and 66.66 %respectively. The was no significant difference (p˃0.05) in FCR (2.12±0.01, 2.12±0.03 and 2.11±0.01) for hybrid strain, selective breeding strain and wild strain respectively. Though the difference was not that significant the pure Clarias gariepinus had the lower FCR as compared to the others. Therefore, this study recommends that hybrid Clarias gariepinus has a good performance as compared to the selective breeding strain and the wild Clarias gariepinus.

Assessment of Physico-chemicaal Properties, Antifungal and Anti-sprouting Efficacy of Essential oils (Moringa oleifera and Sesame indicum Oil)

This study was aimed at evaluating the physico-chemical properties, antifungal and anti-sprouting efficacy of Moringa oleifera and Sesame indicum seed oil extracts. Physico-chemical parameters were determined and compared for both oils. There was significant (p < 0.05) difference observed between the refractive values (1.4570 and 1.4633), free fatty acid (FFA) (2.04 and 3.21 mg KOHg-1), acid values (6.08 and 6.43 mg KOHg-1), pH values (4.55 and 5.33), saponification values (210.75 and 215.57 mg of KOHg-1), peroxide values (5.40 and 5.80 meqO2/kg), specific gravity (0.8897 to 0.9161 g/cm3) and yield (8.25% and 32.02%) for cold press extracts of Sesame and Moringa seed oils respectively. In vitro antifungal efficacy of both oils (M. oleifera and S. indicum) against Aspergillus niger shows a range of 43.63% to 58.18% inhibition. No anti-sprouting effect was recorded across all concentrations tested for the two oils. However, the antifungal potential of both seed oil extracts (Moringa and Sesame) exhibited moderate inhibitory properties with the highest percentage inhibition at 48 hrs.

Comparative Effects of Organic and Inorganic Manure on the Growth and Development of Cucumis Sativus

A study on the comparative effects of organic manure and inorganic fertilizer on the growth and development of Cucumis sativa was carried out at Nnamdi Azikwe University Awka. Randomized Complete Block Design was used for the study. 30kg of sandy loam soil was used and different concentrations of organic manure were 0.5kg, 1.0kg, 1.5kg and 2.0kg, while 0.3kg of inorganic manure was used to treat the soil. Growth parameters such as changes in length, girth, leaf area and the number of leaves were measured on weekly basis and recorded accordingly. The results on the effect of organic manure and inorganic manure on the leaf area of cucumber revealed that the 2kg of organic manure gave the highest leaf area increase of cucumber from 9.33±0.306cm2 in week 1 to 298.79±5.526cm2 in week 6. The performance of 2kg of organic manure is followed by 1.5kg of organic manure which gave leaf area increase of cucumber from 8.97±0.351cm2 in week 1 to 246.69±5.754 cm2 in week 6. The control increased the least leaf area from 3.20±0.200cm2in week 1 to 96.08±5.562 cm2in week 6. Analysis of variance showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in the leaf area of cucumber between treatments studied from week 1 to week 6. Also, results on the effect of organic manure and inorganic fertilizer on the height of cucumber revealed that the 2kg of organic manure gave the highest height increase of cucumber from 6.20±0.100 cm in week 1 to 99.60±0.200 cm in week 6. The performance of 2kg of organic manure is followed by inorganic manure which gave a height increase of cucumber from 5.33±0.058 cm in week 1 to 88.73±4.143 cm in week 6. The control gave the least height increase from 3.33±0.153 cm in week 1 to 29.20±1.153 cm in week 6. Analysis of variance showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in the height of cucumber between treatments studied (that is the different rates of organic manure, inorganic manure and control) from week 1 to week 6. study shows that the treatment of inorganic fertilizer on the cucumber plant had a significant impact on cucumber while organic manure alone gave the highest stem height and stem girth of cucumber.51

Assessment of Insecticidal Potency of Eggshell Powder Against Maize Weevil

Efficacy of chicken eggshell powder at concentrations 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g /100 g maize, for control of Sitophilus zeamais, were compared with permethrin at dosage rate of 0.167g / 100 g of yellow maize. Experiments were conducted at Biotechnology laboratory (NSPRI), Ilorin under ambient condition (26±3oC 65±5% RH). Mortality of S. zeamais increased with increasing dosages of the CESP as well as with days of exposure. CESP at 2.0g gives 96.67% mortality which is not significantly different from the positive control. The mean progeny emergence (0.00%), weight loss (1.11%), and percentage grain damage (19.68%) by S. zeamais was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) decreased with increased dosage of CESP. However, CESP did not significantly affect seed germination. Total coliform count at 2.0 g (2.48 x 102) was significantly different from both positive and negative controls at p<0.05 Therefore, CESP can serve as a good maize protectant which can be used as substitute for synthetic chemicals.

Evaluation on the Effect of Sustainable Environmental Friendly Bio-pesticide on the Growth of seed Borne Fungi (Aspergillus niger) on Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.)

Evaluation on the Effect of Sustainable Environmental Friendly Bio Pesticides Application on the Growth of Seed borne Fungi on Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) was conducted at the Department of Crop and Soil Science Laboratory, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. To determine the percentage (%) efficacy of plant essential oils and to evaluate the best plant essential oil on the suppression of the pathogen cultured and treated Potatoes Dextrose Agar (PDA) plates with the different plant essential oils concentration levels (0.1, 0.01, and 0.001%). This experiment was arranged in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) and each treatment was replicated three times and each replicate contained 12 petri dishes. The result shows that ginger oil at 0.1 in all the days of the bioassay assessment, particularly, from day 6-day10 proved more effective in suppressing the teste pathogen (A. niger), this could be the present of the active ingredient (Zingerone) on the treatment. Therefore, this result should be encouraged for Cowpea farmers as seed treatment before storage to prevent Cowpea weevils (Callosobruchus maculatus) as a grain storage insect pest, that causes serious destruction on the stored grains.