https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs International Journal of Tropical Agriculture and Food Systems (IJOTAFS) publishes high-quality peer reviewed articles, in English, in all areas of agriculture and food production and processing including tree production, pesticide science, post harvest biology and technology, seed science, irrigation, agricultural engineering, water resources management, marine sciences, agronomy, animal and veterinary science, physiology and morphology, aquaculture, crop science, dairy science, entomology, fish and fisheries, forestry, freshwater science, arid soil research and rehabilitation, agricultural genomics, horticulture, soil science, systematic, virology, viticulture, economics and agribusiness. Tapas Institute of Scientific Research and Development en-US International Journal of Tropical Agriculture and Food Systems 1597-913X Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of Tapas Institute of Scientific Research and Development. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86556 <p>This work was undertaken to evaluate proximate composition and functionality of the grains of two cowpea cultivars. The seeds of the white cultivar had dimensions and weights higher than those of the brown cultivar (9.05 and 7.50 mm - 0.22 and 0.15 g respectively). Major components were carbohydrate and protein, 48.35 % and 28 % for the brown cultivar and 47.99 and 26.25% for the white cultivar, respectively. Lipids were present at lower levels in the two cultivars (2.44 to 2.52 %). Brown cultivar showed high cellulose content, about twice (6 g/100g) that of white cultivar (3.6 g/100g). Phosphorus (429.63 to 430.01 mg/100g), magnesium (119.22 to 131.28%), and calcium (48.67 to 54.72 mg/100g) were the major minerals in the seeds of both cultivars. Both cultivars recorded similar water holding capacity although the white cultivar was more resistant to soaking or less hydroscopic. At 95°C, the starch and the flour solubility for the BrC was 42.23 and 41.74% that of the WC was 40.99 and 50.37% respectively. The two cultivars of cowpea studied appeared to have identical chemical composition with the exception of their content in cellulose, ashes and magnesium.<br /><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Cowpea, proximate composition, water holding, solubility, starch, flour</p> R Koffi-Nevry K Kouassi M Koussémon NP Manizan F Aboua Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 167 175 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86567 <p>The study evaluated factors influencing efficiency of Fadama II arable crop farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. It specifically described the socio-economic background of the Fadama II arable crop farmers; identified the sub projects components and their levels of completion; ascertained the impact of the sub projects on farm income, output, productivity and farm size and determined factors influencing Fadama farmer’s efficiency. The multistage sampling technique was employed in the selection of120 Fadama farmers and their location. One hundred and twenty non-Fadama farmers were drawn using the same technique for comparison. Descriptive statistics and t-test statistic were used in data analysis. Results indicated that majority of the Fadama farmers were young (60%), educated (91.6%), experienced (75.7%), females (55.2%) and maintain households (57.1%). The best performing Local Government Area (LGA) in terms of implementation of sub projects was Ahiazu Mbaise that recorded a completion percentage of 54.84 and 70.00 in the pilot asset acquisition (PAA) and Rural infrastructure (RI) components, respectively. It was further found<br />that the determinants of technical efficiency were age, farming experience, education and household size while those of economic efficiency were education, farming experience, farm size and credit access. The study therefore suggests streamlining of the focus area of the project for<br />ease of management and reduction of rising cases of non-completion of sub projects.<strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Agriculture, arable crop, efficiency, Fadama, farmer, rural labor</p> AO Chukwu Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 176 182 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86568 <p>Milk yields by machine milk out and calf nursing techniques were estimated monthly from April to August in 24, 3- years-old, two-breed cross cows. Overall, average milk yield estimates were 16 - 18 lb/day by machine milk out and 12.79 lb/day by calf nursing, with a difference of 3.91 lb/day.<br />The two methods were similar across cow group, however, machine milk out estimates average 27 percent more milk than calf nursing estimates. There is also a correlation between machine milk out and calf average daily gain (ADG) and weaning weight.<br /><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Milk, cow, Ndama, Muturu, Sokoto Gudali, white fulani</p> WA Nwangwu Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 183 184 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86569 <p>Twenty-four landrace x large white grower pigs were used to study the effect of maize-cob- meal-based diets on the growth performance and economy of production of grower pigs. The pigs were divided into four groups of six pigs each and further sub-divided into three replicates of two pigs each and assigned to four formulated treatment diets containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% maize cob-meal-based diets. The pigs were assigned to their respective diets in a completely randomized design experiment. The result showed that daily weight gain of the pigs were similar (p&gt;0.05) between treatments, while daily feed intake of the pigs on control diet<br />differed significantly (p&lt;0.5) from the other treatment groups. Feed conversion ratio showed no significant difference (p&gt;0.05) among treatments and production at the 20% maize-cob-meal- diet inclusion level gave the highest profit, showing that it is more economical and beneficial to include maize-cob-meal at 20% of the whole diet.<br /><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Growth- Performance, Landrace, large white, grower pigs, maize-cob meal</p> WA Nwangwu Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 185 188 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86570 <p>This paper reports the effect of slurry mixture variations on the quality of biogas produced from chicken droppings. Chicken droppings were anaerobically digested to generate biogas as a sustainable alternative energy source for rural household energy requirements, in place of firewood. Samples of the chicken dropping (SS1, SS2 and SS3) were digested and biogas samples (GSS1, GSS2, and GSS3) collected. Combustion tests of the biogas samples confirmed combustibility of GSS2 and GSS3, indicating that methane (CH4) content of biogas was above 50% in the two samples. For GSS, there was no combustion, indicating low methane content of less than 50%. Adoption and promotion of biogas production and use will minimize the rate of firewood utilization by rural families thereby reducing deforestation rate and its environmental impacts.<br /><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Chicken droppings, biogas, methane, firewood, alternative energy</p> GA Fumen CG Okoli ZD Osunde Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 189 192 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86580 <p>About 60 - 80% Nigerians live in the rural areas and rely heavily on firewood as the main household energy source. A solar cooker or solar oven that uses direct sunlight, the cheapest and the most sustainable source of energy could be introduced in rural communities to help reduce the amount of firewood used by rural households. A simple solar box cooker was developed and test run at the Samaru College of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Maximum temperatures of 75 and 42oC were attained by the solar heated water and the sun heated water samples, respectively. The solar box cooker accumulated a temperature difference of 33oC over the ambient conditions within two hours (11:15 am to 1:20 pm) of heating test. The two maximum temperatures of the solar heated water and the open- sun heated water samples confirm that for solar cooking, food will cook faster in the two hours before and after the local solar noon than in either early morning or late afternoon of the day.<br /><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Solar energy, cooker, water heating, firewood</p> GA Fumen CG Okoli ZD Osunde SB Igboro N Magaji Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 193 197 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86581 <p>The interrelated problems of poverty and food insecurity have been jointly tackled by UN Food and Agriculture Organization through National Special Program for Security (NSPFS). To what extent this program has impacted on food product marketing and poverty level of smallholder farmers’ in Abia state, Nigeria was the primary objective of this study. The incidence and depth of poverty amongst the farmers as well as effect of the program, especially its micro-credit component on their farm revenue, profit and consumption expenditures were specifically investigated. Simple Random (SRS) technique was used to select 180 smallholder farmers<br />consisting of 90% participants and 90 non-participants in the special food programs. Cross sectional primary data were collected using structured questionnaire. Head count ratio and paired treatment (t- ratio) were used in analyzing the data. Descriptively, 4.4% of the farmer participants<br />lived below poverty line as against 55.6% non-participating farmers living below poverty line in the state. Inferentially, the t-test revealed statistically significant positive effects of the program on revenue, profit and consumption expenditures of the participating farmers. The study<br />recommended expansion of the program to include at least three quarters of smallholder farmers in the state, especially women, who apparently were not equally represented in the program. Involvement of more smallholder farmers in the program would reduce number of food unsecured and poor farmers in the country.<br /><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Micro credit, farm revenue, food security, product marketing, small holder farmers</p> CO Emerole Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 198 202 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86582 <p>This study verified structures of major resources used by smallholder farmers participating in the interventionist programs of food security in Abia State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 90 resource-poor farmers from 2006 to 2010. These farmers were made up of 30 participants chosen from each of the three agricultural zones of the State following a random<br />process. Demographic and socio-economic variables were subjected to descriptive analyses and data on selected structure-defining variables smoothed in two years 2008 and 2010 to get rid of possible noise. Smoothed averages were subjected to paired treatment tests of difference. Results revealed significant differences in number of livestock kept, number of farm plots, size of farm land, borrowed capital committed to farming by participants and man-hour of hired labor used in farming in the area. Policy recommendations were proffered for effective and enhanced farm resource use to increase productivity.<br /><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Structure, capital intensive, food insecurity, farm resource, farming system</p> CO Emerole Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 203 208 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86583 <p>This study on supplementation of income from farm enterprises with income from craft (mat-weaving) was conducted in Uturu in Abia state, Nigeria. Primary objective was to compare farm income with income from non-farm activities, especially from mat weaving; and determine factors that influenced decisions to use income from mat-weaving (rural craft) to<br />supplement farm income amongst farm households. Seventy-eight (78) farm households who weaved and sold mats were randomly selected from sample of 90 farm households chosen, following a multi-stage random technique. Primary data collected were analyzed with descriptive statistics and a Probit model that took care of limited response variables was subjected to multiple regression analysis. Results showed that farm incomes were low in the smallholder farm households (that dominated food and fiber production) in the area. Amount of income from matweaving<br />though lower than that from farms and some other non-farm activities was a good source for supplementing income from the farms and others in sustaining livelihood amongst the households on account of many factors including relative ease of producing mats (ingenuity and skill) displayed by affected households. Factors that determined choice of income from matweaving in augmenting income from farms included age of the farmer (decision maker), gender, level of education, ease of mat production, regularity of mat sales, and season in farming calendar. On basis of comparative income advantage the study recommended establishment of cottage centers for rural mat production and sales to gainfully engage farmers and members of their households in the area during off farm seasons and times of lull activities in the farms.<br /><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: mat weaving, rural craft, farming, livelihood cottage center</p> CO Emerole Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 209 216 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86584 <p>Priming is a seed enhancement method that might improve seed performance under stress conditions such as drought, freshly harvested or aged seeds. A field experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design in 2009 and 2010 at the Research Farm of the University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria to evaluate the effect of a range of priming techniques on agronomic performance of New Rice for Africa (NERICA), and to quantify their benefits to farmers. Treatments were on-farm priming, hydropriming, Osmopriming, vitamin (Ascorbate) priming, hardening, osmohardening, and a non-primed control. Results of variance of analysis showed that seed priming had significant effect on germination, seedling emergence, days to heading, duration to plant maturity, number of tillers, number of fertile panicles and grain yield (p=0.05). However, plant height at maturity and weight of 1000 grains were not similarly affected. Ridicule protrusion (germination) and seedling emergence consistently occurred sooner in primed seeds compared to non-primed seeds, but differences existed between priming methods. The time to 50% germination was least in hardened, hydro-primed, on-farm-primed, and Ascorbate-primed seeds compared with other priming methods evaluated, and percentage seedling emergence followed the same pattern. Primed seeds gave plants that matured significantly earlier than the unprimed ones, with hardened, hydro-primed, and on-farm primed seeds not differing statistically significantly. The grain yield from hardened, hydro-primed, and on-farm primed seeds was highest and statistically similar, but higher than that of other priming methods studied. Based on net returns, the most cost- effective priming method for NERICA rice is hardening, followed closely by on-farm priming and hydropriming.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: NERICA rice, seed priming, germination, seedling emergence, Nigeria</p> BW Bisong Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 217 222 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86585 <p>A study was carried out to determine the host range of two fungal organisms, Fusarium oxysporum, the cause of vegetable root rots and Aspergillus niger, the black mold organism, among the members of the family Solanaceae. The test crops were tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), pepper (Capsicum annuum), potato (Solanum tuberosum), egg plant (Solanum melongena) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Artificial inoculation of the test plants with spore and mycelial suspension of F. oxysporum and culture paste of A. niger showed that rot symptoms were produced in pepper, tomato, egg plant and tobacco, while mold occurred in eggplant, tobacco, tomato and potato. Root rot symptoms caused massive destruction of the root system in affected plants causing wilting and eventual death of inoculated plants. The severity of both rot and mold symptoms differed among the test plants.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Root rot, mold, fungal organisms, solanaceae, aspergillus, host range</p> JE Amadi O Bamgbose GS Olahan Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 223 227 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijotafs/article/view/86586 <p>The study was conducted to investigate the effects of abattoir wastewater on the microbiological and physicochemical properties of soils and neighboring residential wells in Gandu area of Sokoto State. The study was conducted during rainy and the dry season months. The mean count of bacteria in the waste water was 4.74x106 cfu/ml, while that of the soil was 3.3x106 cfu/g and the well water 2.95x105 cfu/ml. The mean fungal yield was 1.60x105 cfu/ml for the waste water, 1.5x105 cdu/ml for the soil, and 1.0x105 cfu/ml for the well water. A total of 267 different organisms belonging to sixteen different genera of public health importance were isolated from the samples. The most frequently isolated organisms from abattoir water, abattoir well and soil were Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus Aspergillus niger, A. flavus and A. terreus. The physicochemical parameters examined were pH, electric conductivity, nitrate, phosphate, magnesium, calcium, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The result of this study showed that the microbiological and some of the physicochemical properties of the abattoir wastewater, abattoir well water and soil were not within the limits specified by of FEPA and WHO and thus pose threat to the health of the Gandu community.<br /><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Abattoir, wastewater, bacteria, fungus, soil, wells</p> SB Oyeleke BEN Duada OA Oyewole BU Sumayya IN Okoliegbe Copyright (c) 2013-03-15 2013-03-15 5 3 228 233 10.4314/ijotafs.v5i3.