Experiment was conducted to study the effect of metallic pollutants viz., Cobalt, Nickel and Lead on growth performance and biomass accumulation of Acacia mangium a multipurpose tree species. Growth performance studies revealed that the concentrations of Cobalt Chloride significantly affect the shoot and root length, leaf number, Collar diameter and nodulation of growing seedling and found to be decreased with increasing the concentrations of Cobalt chloride. The shoot and root length, leaf number, Collar diameter and nodulation of rhizobium were significantly affected by different concentrations of Nickel Chloride. Different concentrations of Lead Chloride significantly influenced the growth of shoot, root, number of leaves and nodulation and the highest growth performance for all the parameters was seen in control treatment but there was gradual decreased with increasing the concentration. In case of biomass accumulation studies, different levels of Cobalt chloride, Nickel Chloride and Lead chloride in soil showed statistically significant variation in leaves dry matter of above ground parts and below ground parts, total plant along with shoot / root ratio and found control was superior for maximum biomass accumulation.
Records have shown worldwide that the use of chemical in cocoa production is predominant. This practice has disastrous effects on both the environment and human’s life. As a result of the side effects, efforts are being made to shift attention from the use of chemicals to the use of organic materials to grow cocoa so as to avert the side effects being created by the use of chemicals. In Nigeria, there has been an information gap regarding the status of organic cocoa production. It is the gap that this study intends to fill, that is, to determine the status of organic cocoa production in Nigeria. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 102 cocoa farmers in the study area. Information was collected from the respondents with the aid of structured questionnaire and the data from the information were analysed using descriptive statistics as well as logit model. The result of the analysis shows that 76.47% of the respondents are age 50 years and below while 70.59% of the respondents are having formal education. Majority (92.08%) of the respondents used chemical to control insects while 1.98% used bio-control method. Also, 90.10% of the respondents used chemical to control disease while 1.98% used bio-control. The result of the logit analysis shows that age of farmers, educational level of farmers and association membership of farmers positively and significantly determined organic cocoa production in the study area. The study recommends that efforts should be put in place to encourage cocoa farmers to use bio-control as it is safer to both the environment and farmers.
A field experiment was carried out under agro-ecological conditions of Sheikhupura to evaluate different planting techniques for rice cultivation during Kharif-2014 and 2015 at Adaptive Research Farm, Sheikhupura. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments, each replicated thrice during both the years. The treatments comprised, transplanting of nursery (Conventional method of sowing), direct seeding (Broadcasting of sprouted seed in puddled soil), direct seeding (Broadcasting of sprouted seed in standing water without pudded soil), direct seeding (Drilling of soaked seed after land preparation in wattar condition) and direct seeding (Broadcasting of soaked seed in dry soil). All other agronomic and plant protection practices were kept uniform throughout the growing season during both the years. Data related to plant height at maturity, number of productive tillers, number of grains per spike, 1000-grain weight and paddy yield was recorded by using appropriate procedures. The results revealed that transplanted rice in puddled soil was better than direct seeded rice sown by all different methods. However, net economic return was lowest in transplanted rice and higher net returns were gained when rice was sown using DSR under agro-ecological conditions of Sheikhupura-Pakistan. It could be concluded that even transplanted rice is better than DSR in terms of reaping higher paddy yield, but DSR could also not be neglected as its economic returns are higher than transplanted rice and is not labour dependent for its timely and proper execution.
A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of GA3 and NAA on growth, biochemical function, yield attributes and yield of six boro rice varieties during February-May, 2013. The tested rice varieties were BR-2, Poshusail, Jirasail, BRRI dhan28, Lafaya and Nerica-4 and the treatments were Gibberelic acid (GA3)-H1 and Napthelene acetic acid (NAA)-H2 used as plant growth regulators (@100 ppm) sprayed at two times especially vegetative and pre-flowering stages, as well as water was applied as control (H0). Morphological parameters were significant due to application of NAA, maximum plant height (136 cm) at Lafaya and the number of tillers plant-1 (17.67) was found in BRRI dhan28 applied through 100 ppm NAA. The phyto-chemicals, on which grain yield mostly depends on it, particularly protein, proline and chlorophyll content in flag leaves were greatly affected by the application of NAA in comparison to GA3. Yield attributes viz. number of panicles hill-1, percentage of filled grains, 1000-grain weight, grain length and width, grain yield, straw yield, biological yield and harvest index were increased in all the selected rice varieties in both 100 ppm GA3 and NAA. Maximum yield was found in BRRI dhan28 (7.61 tha-1) through application of 100 ppm NAA. Finally it may be concluded that the stimulation rate of NAA was significantly better than the GA3 in response to growth, phyto-chemical function and yield contributing traits.
This study investigates the status of tea consumption in the study area. Random sampling technique was used to select Oyo and Ogun States from the Southwestern part of Nigeria where the study was carried out. Three Local Government Areas (LGAs) were randomly selected from the two States while a total of 120 tea consumers were randomly selected from the two States for the study. The information collected from the consumers was analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariate regression model. The result of the analysis shows that tea is consumed mostly by the respondents with the age bracket 31-40 years while consumers who are members of one association or the other consume more tea than those that are non-members. Furthermore, 91.7% of the respondents consume tea showing that tea is widely consumed in the study area and majority (85.8%) of the consumers consumed lipton tea. Majority (72.5%) of the consumers submitted that they consume tea because it is good for their health while 14.2% of the consumers claimed that they consume tea as a stimulant. The factors that significantly determine the quantity of tea consumption in the study area are age of consumer, gender of consumer, household size, frequency of tea consumption, tea purchasing point and the purpose of tea consumption. The study recommended that tea consumers should be sensitized on the need to consume tea on daily basis.
Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) faces multiple problems. The main one is improving the lives of the 30% of its population that suffers from extreme poverty and food insecurity. Because of strong demand, rice area expansion in SSA is larger than for any other crop. The abundant supply of agroclimatically suitable wetlands (239 million ha) and water resources can support a large expansion in rice area and productivity. Expansion and intensification of rice cultivation in SSA will not compete with other crops in terms of land and water resources because, during the rainy season, only rice can be grown on low lying wetlands, including inland valleys. Rice is cultivated in four ecosystems of SSA: dryland (38% of the cultivated rice area), rainfed wetland (33%), deepwater and mangrove swamps (9%), and irrigated wetland (20%). Many abiotic stresses (drought, flood, and variable rainfall; extreme temperatures; salinity; acidity/alkalinity and poor soils, soil erosion, and high P fixation) and biotic constraints [weeds, blast, Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV), and African rice gall midge limit rice production on the continent.
