The application aspect of microbial strains especially mineral solubilization in individual and /or combination under glasshouse and field conditions with respect to enhancement in plant of Acacia leucocephala was the main objective of the present for which 11 fungi, 5 bacteria, and 11 isolates of Rhizobia had been used. Screening of ten fungal species and 5 bacterial isolates for their effects on the growth of Acacia leucocephala, done under pot culture in conditions, elucidated the best performance of the combination of PF3 (Penicillum crysogenum Thom. 1) and IF5 (Cunninghmella elegans Lendn.) and Rhizobium isolates R10 and /or R11 in A. leucocephala. The combination of selected microbial inoculants for the individual test tree species was evaluated for their individual performance and /or in combination with the other selected inoculants in a specific ratio of their inoculums. Under the dual inoculation experiment, selected mineral solubilizers (fungi/bacteria) were evaluated along with the combination of different isolates of Rhizobium and resulted in the final formulation of Aspergillus sp. + Cunnighmella elegans with Rhizobium isolate no. 11 tree legumes tested. The present study done under controlled greenhouse conditions has provided an experimental approach to adopt pre inoculation of the symbiotic microbes to seedlings in the nursery for better plantation results.
Volume 2 Issue 4 August 2023
Assessment of Changes in Land Use and Land Cover in Hadejia Nguru Wetland of Yobe State, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The study assessed the change in land use and land cover changes in HNWs. Parameters evaluated include; changes in land use land cover over a 40-year window (1979-2019). Data collection for. Changes in land cover/ land use were obtained for a period of 40 years from Satellite imageries of the study area were officially downloaded from the United States Geological Survey website. Changes in land cover/ land use. Results showed that thick vegetation reduced from 14,284.25ha in 1979 to 9,560.36ha in 2019, Grassland increased from 6,339.38ha to 7,306.72ha, water bodies decreased from 4,131.70ha to 1,095.62ha and bare surface increased 1556.35ha to 8,348.98ha during the same period. Results also showed an association between respondent‘s occupational change and changes in wetland resources availability. There was also a significant Chi-square value (33.481a) between respondents’ effect of change in land use and increase in farm sizes (318.431a) majority of the respondents (78.25%) were males, 68% were married, Agric/farming (15.25%) topped the occupation list, age brackets of 45-50 was highest (23.75%) and 34.5% (highest) of the respondents had primary school education. The highest household size of the respondents (51.75%) was between 7 and 9 children, the highest previous yearly income (36.5%) was between N 50,000.00 and N 100,000.00 per annum while the highest (36.5%) present yearly income was from N 1,000.000,00 to N 1,500,000.00. majority of the respondents (80.25%) had awareness of change in land cover/land use, 89.25% were aware of the impacts of Changes in land cover/ land use on livelihood and 30.5% indicated sparse distribution as a major effect of Changes in land cover/ land use.. Result of LULC. There is the need to put in place right policies to protect and preserve wetlands. It is therefore concluded that the changes in LULC which has led to changes in livelihood patterns of the wetland communities highly significant.
Measuring the Degree of Adaptive Capacity of Farmers to Climate Change along River Niger in Kogi State, Nigeria
Ekemhonye, S. and Ndanitsa, M. A.
ABSTRACT
Climate change threatens people with increased flooding, extreme heat, increased food and water scarcity, more disease, and economic loss. Human migration and conflict can also be a result. The World Health Organization calls climate change the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. In Nigeria, the effects of climate change are expected not to stop at just affecting the agricultural production, it will surely affect the lives, health, and overall development of the country. In order to formulate appropriate programs and policies addressing this vulnerability, it is essential to understand their degree of adaptive capacity. This study measures the degree of adaptive capacity of farmers to climate change along River Niger in Kogi State. Primary data were collected from respondents, multistage sampling techniques were used to select respondents in Kogi State. Descriptive statistics, using the threshold concept for discrete variables results show that irrigation farming is the most used adaptation strategy to climate change in the study areas. It was concluded that the degree of adaptive capacities to climate changes in mulching material and planting of cover crops. The study recommends that to reduce the effect of climate change in these areas, there is a need for policymakers to engage communities when taking decisions relating to their livelihood.
Positive Role of Applied Chitosan as a Supplement Fertilizer on Okra Plants
Ihab I. Sadek, Z. Y. Maharik, S. H. Ahmed and Tarek M. Younis
ABSTRACT
This experiment was conducted under modified greenhouse (net house) conditions at the Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate (CLAC), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), to investigate the effect of using chitosan as a supplement fertilizer. Seeds of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus cv Balady) were sown on 15th February from each season in 2020 and 2021. Two factors were tested (i) applied method of chitosan (spry and adding to soil), and (ii) concentration of chitosan such as (100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 ppm) with fourth replicates designed in a randomized complete block. Results reflected the positive role of using a high concentration of chitosan on the growth, yield and quality of okra plants. The greatest values of all tested parameters i.e., vegetative growth (plant height, number of leaves and fresh and dry weights of leaves), chemical contents of leaves (N, P and K plus chlorophyll reading) and yield and its components (number of fruits/plant, average fruit weight, early and total yield, total protein, phosphorus and potassium) were obtained with 80% recommended doses from “N” chemical fertilizer + chitosan adding to soil 250 ppm “T10” and 80% recommended doses from “N” chemical fertilizer + chitosan spray 300 ppm “T6” treatments rather than grower treatment and reduced content of dietary fiber in okra fruit. While stem diameter was not affected by applied two tested factors.
Population Effect on Individual Crop Growth, Development, and Yield in Rainfed Maize in Southern Guinea Savanna Ecological Zone of Nigeria
Oyewole, Charles Iledun1*; Obadofin Ayejimi Oluwagbami2 and Oyewole-Ezeogueri, Anne Nnenna3
ABSTRACT
Maize yield is closely related to plant population; more plants mean higher yield. However, there are limitations to increasing plant population in tropical conditions. A 3 x 4 Factorial experiment with four replications was conducted to evaluate four plant populations (53, 333, 106, 666, 159,999, 213,332 plants/ha) on crop growth, development, yield and yield components of three maize varieties (Local variety, Oba Super and Samaz 52). The crops were spaced 25 cm x 75 cm and seeds were sown in line with the expected plant population per hectare: 53, 333, 106, 666, 159,999, 213,332 plants/ha. Six plant stands were randomly selected and tagged from the net plot for height measurement, average numbers of leaves per plant, leaf areas, and stem girth at 3, 5, 7 and 9WAS, as well as for yield and yield components. Significant (p≤0.05) influence of population was observed on days to 50% tassel, ear weight, ear length, kernel/ear, 100-kernel weight and grain yield per plant. Generally, increasing plant population led to the processive delay in days to 50% heading, reduction in ear weight, ear length, kernel/ear, 100-kernel weight as well as grain yield. There were significant interactions between variety and population on days to 50% tassel, ear weight, ear length,kernel/earr, 100-kernel weight and grain yield per plant. The better response of hybrids to population stress was evident in this trial compared with the local variety where the highest grain yield per plant was recorded in Oba Super II (779.13g and 890.01g, respectively in 2021 and 2022 cropping seasons), while the least grain yield per plant was in the local variety (530.80g and 475.00g, respectively in 2021 and 2022 cropping seasons). Sowing seeds at one seed/hole gave the highest grain yield/plant, 790.27g and 970.00g, respectively in the 2021 and 2022 cropping seasons. The least grain yield/plant, 513.27g and 322.50g, respectively in 2021 and 2022 cropping seasons were observed when four seeds were sown/hole. The highest amount of grain yield/ha was obtained in Oba super II (103,883.74kg and 118,667.70kg), respectively in the 2021 and 2022 cropping seasons, with the local variety giving the lowest grain yield in both seasons. While the lowest grain yield/plant was recorded in P4 (213,332 pop/ha), in the first year, the plot
DNA Fingerprinting of Date Palm Varieties (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Grown in Sudan Using ISSR Markers and SDS-PAGE
Manal A Ibrahim1, Gamal E Osman2
ABSTRACT
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) family (Arecaceae) is the most important and ancient cultivated species in Sudan. Protein-based (SDS-PAGE) and Inter- Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) PCR) were used to identify genetic distance and design the phylogenetic tree for the five different date palm varieties (Mishriq, Barhi, Khadrawi, Sagay, and Khenaizy). EightI SSR- PCR primers which were used to amplify DNA segments from five date palm varieties were annealed with 60 loci across all variety genomes with an average of 7 loci per primer with a range of 200 to 950bp. Among those loci scored, 51 loci were polymorphic with (85%) polymorphism for at least one of the varieties with an average of 6 polymorphic bands per primer. A total of 159 bands from all analyses with an average of 19.8 fragments per primer, were enough for the identification and evaluation of these five date palm varieties. According to ISSR analysis, UPGMA (Unweight Pair Group of Arithmetic Averages) classified the fifty-one polymorphic loci into two main clusters, the first one contained two varieties: Mishriq and Barhi. While Khenaizi, Sagay, and Khadhrawi grouped in the second one which consisted of two sub-clusters, the first one consisted of Khenaizi and Khadhrawi, and the second sub-cluster consisted of Sagay variety. The combined tree of ISSR and SDS-PAGE analysis classified the date palm varieties under study into two main clusters. The first one consisted of two varieties: Mishriq and Barhi, which were closely related varieties. While the second one consisted of two sub-clusters, the first one consisted of two varieties, Khenaizi and Sugay and the other sub-cluster contained of Khadhrawi variety.
Screening of Mineral Solubilizing Microbes and Rhizobium for Growth Promotion and Development of Acacia leucocephala Grown under Nursery Conditions
Sujata Dash and Nibha Gupta*
ABSTRACT
Seed Scarification and Plant Extracts Enhanced Germination, Seed Health and Seedlings Vigour of Tetrapleura tetraptera
Djeugap F.J.1*, Nouteka K.J.N.1, Ngalle T. S.1, Dida L.S.L.2, Essomo E.S1, Keegoui G.1, Kuenbou M.J.1, Abireche U.H.1, Galani Y.H.J.4
ABSTRACT
Seed dormancy and seed-borne fungi are main constraints to the domestication of edible non-timber forest products such as Tetrapleura tetraptera. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of thermal and mechanical scarification on seed dormancy and the efficacy of four plant aqueous extracts (Cymbopogon citratus, Callistemom viminalis, Tephrosia vogelii, Eucalyptus saligna) against seed-borne diseases and seedlings vigour of T. tetraptera. Treatments consisted of soaking the seeds in water at 70°C for 2 and 4 hours; and seed scarification with abrasive paper at 1 mm and 2 mm depths. The biological activity of plant extracts was evaluated both in vitro (by the dispersion method on agar medium) and in vivo at 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 mg/ml. Momtaz (Imidacloprid 250 g/kg + Thiram 200 g/kg) was used as a positive control. Dormancy was lifted by scarification at 2 mm depth; this treatment had the highest germination percentage (92.33%) and the lowest infection rate (20.67%). The more frequent seed-borne fungi isolated belong to Aspergillus spp. (18.43-21.78%). The pathogenicity test was positive with Alternaria alternata, A. fumigatus and Cercospora sp. T. vogelii extract totally inhibited the growth of the pathogenic fungi at all the concentrations tested. Seeds infection with C. viminalis (5.33%) and T. vogelii (4.12%) extracts at 1 mg/mL were significantly similar to Momtaz (3.33%). The extract of C. viminalis had the highest vigour index (674.42) at 0.75 mg/ml. Mechanical scarification using abrasive paper and seeds treatment with plant extracts of T. vogelii could be used in the domestication process of the species.