Agro-Science

Effects of different concentrations of Chitosan and application methods on growth and yield characteristics of chilli pepper (Capsicum annum)

A.N. Dery — 2024-05-23

Chitosan is a natural polysaccharide that is commonly made by chitin deacetylation, which is the structural component in sea crustaceans. It is beneficial to plant growth and development. Its use to improve chilli pepper production had been shown to elevate environmental and health issues. Hence, different concentrations of Chitosan and application methods on growth and yield characteristics of chilli pepper were investigated. Three replications were used in the split plot design experiment. Chitosan application types (foliar and media) were assigned to the main plots while Chitosan concentration levels were assigned to the sub plots. Apart from number of functional leaves and chlorophyll content that had significant one-way interaction of Chitosan application method (p < 0.05), all other growth and yield parameters were not significant (p > 0.05) for both sole and interactions. Highest number of functional leaves and chlorophyll content occurred under foliar application of Chitosan. Greater plant height and stem diameter was achieved under the media application of Chitosan with a rate of 50 ppm and 100 ppm respectively at 6 weeks after planting. Foliar application of Chitosan as a sole factor improved all the yield attributes of chilli pepper.

Consumers’ willingness to pay for quail eggs in Ogun State, Nigeria

O.O. Ayodeji — 2024-05-23

Rising demand for animal protein has necessitated the need to establish additional sources of protein. However, poultry products such as quail eggs or its meat, offer excellent nutritional benefits compared to chicken eggs. The study investigated consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for quail eggs in Ogun State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to obtain information from 200 consumers through a wellstructure questionnaire. The analytical techniques used were descriptive statistics, double-bounded dichotomous choice model and ordered logit regression. Findings revealed that majority (67.7%) of the respondents were willing to pay more for quail eggs with a mean willingness to pay (MWTP) of ₦3,141.50 per crate of quail eggs. Factors such as awareness of quail eggs nutritional benefits (p < 0.05), sex (p < 0.10), marital status (p < 0.05), age (p < 0.01), years of education (p < 0.05), household size (p < 0.01) and income (p < 0.05) significantly influenced WTP. The study concluded that a significant proportion of the respondents were willing to pay an extra amount for quail eggs in order to maintain a healthy life. Therefore, the study recommends that raising public awareness about the nutritional benefits of quail eggs would encourage people to diversify their protein sources and consume more of quail eggs.

Assessment of farm resources and livelihood strategies adopted in mitigating crop farmers’ food insecurity during insurgency in North-eastern Nigeria

A.A. Sani — 2024-05-23

The North-eastern part of Nigeria has experienced a number of insurgencies since 2009 which have intensified an unsecured livelihood among rural populace. The study assessed farm resources and livelihood strategies adopted in mitigating crop farmers’ food insecurity in north-eastern Nigeria. A three-stage sampling process with a proportionate factor led to 376 farmers from the three states of north-eastern Nigeria: Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaire and analysed using livelihood index, t-statistics and Chi-square model. The results of human resource characteristics of the sampled farmers show that majority (73.9%) were male, 86.5% were within the productive age range of 21-60 years with a mean of 47 years; 92.3% of the pooled farmers were married which implies that the farmers may have labour resource available resulting from their spouses and children. Substantial number of respondents (89.3%) had one form of education or the others. Crop sale (69.6%) was the major source of income during the pre-peak period while increase in livestock sales and off-farm income increase to 33.2 and 36.4%, at post-peak period. Reducing the expenditure of the household and outmigration of some family members, with Kendall’s coping index of 1.72 and 1.17 were the foremost food insecurity coping strategies adopted by the farmers at pre-peak and post-peak period, respectively. The farmers mitigate the effects of food insecurity using more of reversible strategies such as reduction of the expenditure of the household to buy food at pre-peak compared to pre-peak.

Agronomic performance of maize of contrasting maturities at varying rates of nitrogen fertilizer application in a tropical rainforest agroecology

U.D. Aigbe — 2024-05-23

The agronomic response of maize (Zea mays L.) to nitrogen (N) fertilizer depends on the cultivation conditions. However, there is a knowledge gap on the optimal rates of N fertilizer application for cultivars with different days to maturities in the tropical rainforest agroecology. Field trials were conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Benin, Benin City, which lies in the tropical rainforest of Nigeria in 2019 and 2020, to evaluate the agronomic performance of maize of contrasting maturities at varying rates of nitrogen fertilizer application. The experiment was arranged in a split-plot fitted into a randomized complete block design having three replications. The main plot treatment was N rate (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg N ha^–1) and sub plot treatment was maize variety (extra-early maturing (TZEE-Y POP STR C4); early maturing (2008 DTMA-Y STR); intermediate maturing (BR. 9928 DWRSR) and late maturing (TZL COMP.4 C4). Results showed non-significant N rate × variety interactions for measured traits except 1000-seed weight. However, optimum grain yield was achieved at 60 kg N ha^–1 beyond which rate, additional N did not cause any significant increase, suggesting that application of N above this optimum rate to maize plants may result in fertilizer wastage. The intermediate and late maturing varieties out-yielded the extra-early and early maturing varieties, indicating better utilization of available N. Therefore, in the rainforest agro-ecology, intermediate and late maturing maize varieties should be grown at 60 kg N ha^–1 for optimum yield.

Assessing food security profile of beneficiary and non-beneficiary farming households under Gurara irrigation scheme in Kaduna State, Nigeria

B.O. Akinmulewo — 2024-05-23

Globally, food security has been one of the major focuses of discussion particularly in developing country. This study analyzed and assesses the food security profile of beneficiary and non-beneficiary farm households under Gurara dam irrigation scheme in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined food security status, coping strategies and its determinants among the two categories of farming households. A cross-sectional survey which involved a multistage sampling procedure was employed to opt for 340 farming households made up of 170 for each category. Information on food security profile was collected using structured questionnaire during the 2019 cropping season. The analytical tools include descriptive statistics, t-statistics and logit regression models. The mean food security index implied that average food-secure individuals used up 127% above their day-to-day calorie needed while food- insecure individuals expended 26% below when compared to 2,260 needed per capita per day. About 74 and 52% of the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries were food secure. The beneficiary mean household dietary diversity score of 6.12 falls under high dietary score compared to 4.57 of medium dietary for non-beneficiaries. Logit regression results showed that the odd ratios of marital status (p ˃ 0.05), educational level (p ˃ 0.01), family status (p ˃ 0.10), farming knowledge (p ˃ 0.01), irrigation income (p ˃ 0.01), farmland (p ˃ 0.01) and dependency ratio (p ˃ 0.01) were the major determining factors influencing the food security status of the farming individuals’ beneficiary. The study concluded that farming households should take advantage of the proximity of the dam facilities, for increase farm yield, to enhance income and improve their standard of living.

Factors affecting the export value of Nigerian cashew nut: A time series analysis

Q.A. Ogunwolu — 2024-05-23

The study investigated the factors affecting the export value of cashew nut in Nigeria using a time series model. The study adopted the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework and Bounds co-integration test to identify the factors affecting the value of cashew nut in the short run and long run. The trend analysis showed that cashew nut export value in Nigeria peaked in the year 2012 to 447 million dollars. Although there was a sharp fall in the value in 2013 to ca. 60 million dollars, the value has remained largely unstable since then oscillating between 100 and 300 million dollars. The result of the inferential time series analysis showed that cashew production and exchange rate have a positive significant impact on cashew nut export value while growth in gross domestic product (GDP) has a negative impact on cashew nut export value in the long run. In the short run, production and exchange rate have a positive effect on cashew nut export value while inflation and GDP growth have a negative effect on cashew nut export value. The study recommended provision of incentives for cashew farmers to improve cashew nut production as this will result in a growth in export value in the short and long run. Policies aimed at improving exchange rate and reducing the inflation rate should be pursued by government so as to further improve the export value of cashew nut in Nigeria.

One-time conventional tillage, crop diversification and mulching enhanced hydro-physical properties of a tropical sandy loam soil

B.Q. Parker — 2024-05-23

Effective soil management is crucial to sustainable crop production in the Anthropocene characterized by intensive and mechanized agrarian activities. This study analyzed integrated measures involving one-time conventional or mechanical tillage followed by no tillage and cereal-legume rotation in the context of conservation agriculture. The aim was to improve the hydro-physical properties of a sandy loam soil located in the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana. Twelve treatments arranged in factorial viz. (a) two levels of tillage (continuous conventional tillage of ploughing and harrowing, and one-time conventional to no tillage), (b) three levels of cropping sequence (maize monoculture, cowpea monoculture and cowpea-maize rotation) and (c) two levels of crop residue management (no mulch and mulch) were evaluated. Soil aggregate size distribution and stability, penetration resistance and some hydraulic properties, namely, saturated hydraulic conductivity, infiltration rate and sorptivity, were measured. Interaction between onetime conventional tillage and maize-cowpea rotation increased soil aggregate stability by 34%, with greater proportions in the macro aggregate size range than the interaction of same cropping sequence with continuous conventional tillage. Integrating surface mulch with tillage and maize-cowpea sequence increased mean weight diameter of water stable aggregates from 0.66 to 0.85 mm compared to similar integrated system without mulch. One-time conventional tillage increased cumulative infiltration amount by 45% and sorptivity from 7.51 to 12.24 cm h^–1 over continuous conventional tillage. Generally, the interaction of one-time conventional tillage with maize-cowpea rotation or maize monoculture and mulch improved grain yield and the soil hydraulic properties of cumulative infiltration, steady state infiltrability and sorptivity. Diversifying tillage operations within the framework of conservation agriculture holds promise for improving soil hydraulic properties and crop yield in sub-Saharan Africa in the era of climate change.

Effect of ensiling time and browse species on silage mineral interactions in relation to goat’s nutrient requirements

A.M. Ogungbesan — 2024-05-23

Four different browses viz Gmelina arborea Roxb, Gliricidia sepium Jacq, Azadirachta indica A. Juss, and Leucaena leucocephala Lam were used to investigate the effect of browse and sampling time on silage major minerals interactions in relation to nutrient requirements of goats. The four browses were ensiled in air-tight rubber drum for 90 days and samplings were done at day 0, 30, 60, and 90 for mineral analysis. Mineral interactions included calcium and phosphorus, calcium and magnesium, calcium and sulfur, phosphorus and magnesium, sodium and potassium, potassium and magnesium, potassium/calcium + magnesium along with nitrogen and sulfur ratios. All the values/ratios were within range of optimum values for goats. Hence, goats fed with these browses will neither experience any clinical and sub-clinical deficiency symptoms nor the attendant low productivity and reproduction associated with sole feeding, thereby reducing the extra cost of procuring custom or commercial salt supplements.

Nexus between rice productivity and greenhouse gas emission in Nigeria

E.C. Ogbanje — 2024-05-23

Crop residue burning, which is a common land preparation practice for rice production, generates anthropogenic gases that compound climate change menace. Hence, this study estimated the nexus between rice productivity and greenhouse gas emission in Nigeria using time series that ranged from 1981 to 2020. Time series data on rice yield and residue burning-induced nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization. Augmented Dickey-Fuller and Phillips-Perron tests were used to ascertain the stationarity of the series. Johansen-Juselius cointegration and Engle-Granger causality models were used to test for long-run relationship and causality, respectively. The result shows that the series were I(1) and the trace and Max-Eigen tests produced divergent results on the existence of long-run relationship. Findings showed that there was a uni-directional causality from rice yield to nitrous oxide (p < 0.05), carbon dioxide (p < 0.05) and methane (p < 0.05) gases, respectively. The study concluded that rice intensification is a significant contributor to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in Nigeria. It was suggested that instead of burning crop leftovers, the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Environment should educate farmers on proper crop residue management techniques.

Field evaluation of M4 plants obtained from induced mutation of tomato ‘Cobra’ variety with ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS)

G.E. Ilo — 2024-05-23

Crop improvement through induced mutation has resulted in the development of new mutant varieties worldwide. Alkylating agents such as ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) are widely used to induce mutations in plants due to their ability to cause changes in the nucleotide sequence. In this study, a field experiment was conducted at the University of Nigeria Nsukka in southeastern Nigeria to evaluate M4 plants of tomato variety ‘Cobra’ obtained from selections in the third generation (M3) plants in the field. Seeds of the cobra tomatoes were subjected to induced mutation using different concentrations of ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS). Before this study, selections based on desired horticultural traits were carried out in the first-generation mutant (M1), second generation mutant (M2), and third generation (M3). Eight different mutants were selected and evaluated in the field as M4 plants. Variations were bserved in both the qualitative and quantitative traits studied. Average fruit weight of 1.118 kg per plant and 23.60 fruits per plant were recorded for variant 3 as against the parent plant that had 479 g per plant and produced 14 fruits per plant. Other promising mutants in terms of fruit yield per plant were variant 5 (1.079 kg) a variant 2 (1.069 kg). Remarkably, there was no incidence of blossom end rot in all the M4 variants evaluated.

Effectiveness of agricultural technologies dissemination and adoption among rural farmers in Yenagoa Agricultural Zone, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

I.J. Okringbo — 2024-05-23

This study analyzed the effectiveness of agricultural technologies dissemination and adoption among rural farmers in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Data were collected through interview schedule and well-structured questionnaires from 90 rural farmers. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed that plantain sucker multiplication (^x̄ =3.0), provitamin A cassava (x̄ = 3.4), and value addition (^x̄ = 3.0) were the various agricultural technologies development practice by research. The result showed that extension agents (^x̄ = 2.3) as well as friends and relations (^x̄ =3.6) were the various channels through which the developed technologies were disseminated. The result further showed that awareness (^x̄ = 2.9), interest (^x̄ = 3.1), trial (^x̄ = 3.1), evaluation (^x̄ = 3.0), and adoption (^x̄ = 3.1) were the various categories of adoption of agricultural technologies disseminated. The study also showed that complexity of technology (^x̄ = 2.8), triability of technology (^x̄ = 3.5), relative advantage and cost (^x̄ = 3.6) were the various attributes that influenced the adoption of agricultural technologies by rural farmers. The regression result indicated that the co-efficient of agricultural innovations (0.222) was positive and statistically significant at 1%. The ANOVA result showed that F-test (4.074) was greater than the tabulated F-value (3.04) at 5% level of significance. It was concluded that extension agents, contact farms, space and print, friends and relations were the various channels through which agricultural extension technologies were disseminated. Hence, the study recommended that the development of new agricultural technologies must be pursued with vigorous provision of extension services to farmers.

Determinants of household fish consumption in Enugu State, Nigeria

C.C. Apeh — 2024-05-23

This study analysed the determinants of household fish consumption in Enugu state, Nigeria; using 467 households selected through a multi-stage sample procedure. Data was collected using questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages, and mean, and a logit regression model. The study results showed that azu fridge (mackerel) with the highest mean score (MS = 4.24) was the most consumed fish species in the form of fresh fish (MS = 4.56). The majority (64%) of the respondents indicated that they prepared their fish through the boiling method. The results of the logit regression analysis revealed that age, gender, marital status, education, income, household size, location, access to the market, and fish cost were statistically significant at various levels of percentages. In light of the findings, it is recommended that the government should consider these fish consumption determinants in the formulation of fish distribution and marketing policies to encourage its consumption in the state.