P. Ogban, M.I. Ibotto, U. Utin, O. Essien, G. Arthur
A study was conducted to assess the effect of slope curvature and gradient on soil properties affecting erodibility of coastal plain sands in Akwa Ibom State. Twelve locations comprising six each of concave (CC) and convex (CV) slopes, and three slope gradients, namely, gentle (GS), moderate (MS) and steep slopes (SS) in CC and CV were identified for the study. Bulk and core soil samples were collected from the top 30 cm soil depth at three slope positions of slope curvature and gradient categories for physical and chemical characterization, and derivation of microaggregate stability indices and erodibility factor, K. Results showed that coarse sand (CS), fine sand (FS), bulk density (Bd), total porosity (TP) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher on CC than CV, and among the slope gradients, GS > MS > SS. The interaction of slope curvature and gradients was significantly higher on CC than CV. A similar pattern of differences was also observed inorganic matter (SOM), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and other exchangeable cations, but the effect of slope curvature and gradients interaction was not significant. The microaggregate stability indices, water dispersible clay (WDC), water dispersible silt (WDS), dispersion ratio (DR), clay dispersion ratio (CDR), modified clay ratio (MCR), clay flocculation index (CFI), aggregated silt + clay (ASC) and aggregated clay (AC) were significantly higher on CV than CC, and differences among slope gradients and interaction of slope curvature and gradients were not significant. The erodibility factor, K, was significantly higher on CV than CC, while the slope gradients were similar in their effects on K. Linear regression analysis showed that K-factor was highly significantly related to CS, FS, Si, Cl, Bd, TP and Ksat, as well as WDC, WDS, CDR, DR, CR, MCR, CFI, ASC and AC. However, CS, Si, Ksat, Cl, ASC and WDS which explained > 40% of the variability in Kfactor could be relied upon as indices of soil erodibility in the coastal plain sands in Akwa Ibom State.
{"title":"Effect of slope curvature and gradient on soil properties affecting erodibility of coastal plain sands in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria","authors":"P. Ogban, M.I. Ibotto, U. Utin, O. Essien, G. Arthur","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i2.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i2.2","url":null,"abstract":"A study was conducted to assess the effect of slope curvature and gradient on soil properties affecting erodibility of coastal plain sands in Akwa Ibom State. Twelve locations comprising six each of concave (CC) and convex (CV) slopes, and three slope gradients, namely, gentle (GS), moderate (MS) and steep slopes (SS) in CC and CV were identified for the study. Bulk and core soil samples were collected from the top 30 cm soil depth at three slope positions of slope curvature and gradient categories for physical and chemical characterization, and derivation of microaggregate stability indices and erodibility factor, K. Results showed that coarse sand (CS), fine sand (FS), bulk density (Bd), total porosity (TP) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher on CC than CV, and among the slope gradients, GS > MS > SS. The interaction of slope curvature and gradients was significantly higher on CC than CV. A similar pattern of differences was also observed inorganic matter (SOM), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and other exchangeable cations, but the effect of slope curvature and gradients interaction was not significant. The microaggregate stability indices, water dispersible clay (WDC), water dispersible silt (WDS), dispersion ratio (DR), clay dispersion ratio (CDR), modified clay ratio (MCR), clay flocculation index (CFI), aggregated silt + clay (ASC) and aggregated clay (AC) were significantly higher on CV than CC, and differences among slope gradients and interaction of slope curvature and gradients were not significant. The erodibility factor, K, was significantly higher on CV than CC, while the slope gradients were similar in their effects on K. Linear regression analysis showed that K-factor was highly significantly related to CS, FS, Si, Cl, Bd, TP and Ksat, as well as WDC, WDS, CDR, DR, CR, MCR, CFI, ASC and AC. However, CS, Si, Ksat, Cl, ASC and WDS which explained > 40% of the variability in Kfactor could be relied upon as indices of soil erodibility in the coastal plain sands in Akwa Ibom State.","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87707899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Agricultural credit is believed to play a catalytic role in enhancing agricultural productivity; however, its access is limited for smallholder farmers in Rwanda. To investigate this phenomenon, this study sought to identify and assess the determinants of access to agricultural credit among rice and maize smallholder farmers in Rwanda. The study was conducted in the eastern and western provinces of Rwanda using a cross-sectional survey design. Sample districts, sectors, and cells were obtained using stratified random sampling techniques. Convenient and purposive samplings were used to sample households and farmers, respectively. Data were collected using structured interviews and questionnaires, and were analyzed using a binary logistic regression model. Model results indicated that both individual and institutional factors determine access to agricultural credit among smallholder maize and rice farmers in eastern and western provinces of Rwanda. The individualfactors included: saving of money in commercial banks (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 2.389), owning a size of land that is 0-0.1 ha (AOR = 0.127), and knowledge of the repayment terms of agricultural loans (AOR = 0.203), while the institutional factors included: having privately-owned finance institutions in the area (AOR = 0.287), offer of both long and short-term loans (AOR = 0.290), interest rate between 11-15% (AOR = 0.178), the process for obtaining agricultural credit not being too long (AOR = 2.026). Institutional factors were more important than the individual farmer characteristics in determining access to credit. Policy interventions aimed at bolstering agricultural credit access among the smallholder farmers should address institutional challenges such as information asymmetry and the lack of credit guarantees that hinder agricultural credit access.
{"title":"Determinants of access to agricultural credit among smallholder rice and maize farmers in the eastern and western provinces of Rwanda","authors":"N. K. Taremwa, I. Macharia, E. Bett, E. Majiwa","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i2.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i2.1","url":null,"abstract":"Agricultural credit is believed to play a catalytic role in enhancing agricultural productivity; however, its access is limited for smallholder farmers in Rwanda. To investigate this phenomenon, this study sought to identify and assess the determinants of access to agricultural credit among rice and maize smallholder farmers in Rwanda. The study was conducted in the eastern and western provinces of Rwanda using a cross-sectional survey design. Sample districts, sectors, and cells were obtained using stratified random sampling techniques. Convenient and purposive samplings were used to sample households and farmers, respectively. Data were collected using structured interviews and questionnaires, and were analyzed using a binary logistic regression model. Model results indicated that both individual and institutional factors determine access to agricultural credit among smallholder maize and rice farmers in eastern and western provinces of Rwanda. The individualfactors included: saving of money in commercial banks (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 2.389), owning a size of land that is 0-0.1 ha (AOR = 0.127), and knowledge of the repayment terms of agricultural loans (AOR = 0.203), while the institutional factors included: having privately-owned finance institutions in the area (AOR = 0.287), offer of both long and short-term loans (AOR = 0.290), interest rate between 11-15% (AOR = 0.178), the process for obtaining agricultural credit not being too long (AOR = 2.026). Institutional factors were more important than the individual farmer characteristics in determining access to credit. Policy interventions aimed at bolstering agricultural credit access among the smallholder farmers should address institutional challenges such as information asymmetry and the lack of credit guarantees that hinder agricultural credit access.","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87034229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Red flower rag leaf (Crassocephalum crepidioides) is one of the underutilized vegetables consumed globally. Pot trials were conducted to characterize 15 morphologically distinct accessions of C. crepidioides and assess the effects of treatment combinations of eggshell, NPK 15:15:15, poultry manure and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus(Glomus mosseae) as soil amendments on growth and yield-related characters of C. crepidioides. Thereafter, 48 seedlings of the best performing accession were transplanted into perforated polythene bags filled with 7 kg of heat-sterilized soil. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with three replicates. Treatment combinations were incorporated into in the polythene bags 1 week after transplanting, while control plants received no amendments. The results showed that accession NH/GKB-15 had the highest plant height (29.83 cm), stem length (27.67 cm), number of leaves (15) and length of internode at node 3 (1.13 cm) and node 4 (1.17 cm). The growth and yield characters of this best performing accession (NH/GKB-15) in response to soil amendments showed that poultry manure produced the tallest plants (55.17 cm), longest and widest stems (48.35 and 0.66 cm), longest and widest leaves (16.39 and 6.26 cm, respectively), and higher number of inflorescence (2.13). With NPK 15:15:15 the seedlings did not survive. Poultry manure should therefore be utilized for better plant nutrition and faster growth of C. crepidioides seedlings as well as for safer consumption of the leafy vegetable.
{"title":"Morphological characterization and response of red flower rag leaf (Crassocephalum crepidioides Benth S. Moore) to organic and inorganic fertilizers and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus","authors":"O. Olawuyi, C. Ezeanya, U. Orkpeh","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i1.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i1.9","url":null,"abstract":"Red flower rag leaf (Crassocephalum crepidioides) is one of the underutilized vegetables consumed globally. Pot trials were conducted to characterize 15 morphologically distinct accessions of C. crepidioides and assess the effects of treatment combinations of eggshell, NPK 15:15:15, poultry manure and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus(Glomus mosseae) as soil amendments on growth and yield-related characters of C. crepidioides. Thereafter, 48 seedlings of the best performing accession were transplanted into perforated polythene bags filled with 7 kg of heat-sterilized soil. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with three replicates. Treatment combinations were incorporated into in the polythene bags 1 week after transplanting, while control plants received no amendments. The results showed that accession NH/GKB-15 had the highest plant height (29.83 cm), stem length (27.67 cm), number of leaves (15) and length of internode at node 3 (1.13 cm) and node 4 (1.17 cm). The growth and yield characters of this best performing accession (NH/GKB-15) in response to soil amendments showed that poultry manure produced the tallest plants (55.17 cm), longest and widest stems (48.35 and 0.66 cm), longest and widest leaves (16.39 and 6.26 cm, respectively), and higher number of inflorescence (2.13). With NPK 15:15:15 the seedlings did not survive. Poultry manure should therefore be utilized for better plant nutrition and faster growth of C. crepidioides seedlings as well as for safer consumption of the leafy vegetable.","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"875 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72662053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total soil nitrogen (TSN) dynamics have both pedological and agronomic basis. Knowledge of their retention within aggregate hierarchies of varying soil textures as influenced by land use change is limited. The capacity of loam (L), clay loam (CL), sandy loam (SL) and sandy clay loam (SCL) soils to retain SOC and TSN in water-stable aggregate (WSA) at 10-cm intervals of 0-30 cm topsoil depths under cultivated and bushfallow/ uncultivated systems was investigated. The soils showed high dispersion ratio and great variations in aggregate silt and clay indices (CL > L > SCL > SL) under both land uses. Across soil depths, the uncultivated CL, SL and SCL soils had moderate to high > 2.00 mm WSA whose reduction due to cultivation impact was more pronounced in SL than in CL soil. Across soil depths and land uses, SOC content seemed higher in the macro- (> 0.50 mm) than in the micro- (< 0.50 mm) aggregates of all the soils while the reverse marked aggregate TSN content in almost all the soils. Cultivation mostly reduced macro-aggregate-associated SOC and TSN in L > CL > SL and in L > SL > CL > SCL soils, respectively. However, cultivation showed no reduction influence on micro-aggregate-associated SOC of all the soils. Cultivation-related reduction in micro-aggregate-associated TSN was more pronounced in the generally more ‘clayey’ CL and SCL than the L and SL soils. So, the potential of bush-fallowing to enhance micro-aggregateassociated TSN storage and stabilization against adverse influence of cultivation depends on soil texture.
{"title":"Enumeration of carbon and nitrogen contents of water-stable aggregates in layers of topsoils from cultivated and adjacent bush-fallow loamy soils","authors":"C. B. Okebalama, C. Igwe, A. Onunwa","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i1.16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i1.16","url":null,"abstract":"Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total soil nitrogen (TSN) dynamics have both pedological and agronomic basis. Knowledge of their retention within aggregate hierarchies of varying soil textures as influenced by land use change is limited. The capacity of loam (L), clay loam (CL), sandy loam (SL) and sandy clay loam (SCL) soils to retain SOC and TSN in water-stable aggregate (WSA) at 10-cm intervals of 0-30 cm topsoil depths under cultivated and bushfallow/ uncultivated systems was investigated. The soils showed high dispersion ratio and great variations in aggregate silt and clay indices (CL > L > SCL > SL) under both land uses. Across soil depths, the uncultivated CL, SL and SCL soils had moderate to high > 2.00 mm WSA whose reduction due to cultivation impact was more pronounced in SL than in CL soil. Across soil depths and land uses, SOC content seemed higher in the macro- (> 0.50 mm) than in the micro- (< 0.50 mm) aggregates of all the soils while the reverse marked aggregate TSN content in almost all the soils. Cultivation mostly reduced macro-aggregate-associated SOC and TSN in L > CL > SL and in L > SL > CL > SCL soils, respectively. However, cultivation showed no reduction influence on micro-aggregate-associated SOC of all the soils. Cultivation-related reduction in micro-aggregate-associated TSN was more pronounced in the generally more ‘clayey’ CL and SCL than the L and SL soils. So, the potential of bush-fallowing to enhance micro-aggregateassociated TSN storage and stabilization against adverse influence of cultivation depends on soil texture.","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"48 23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90066998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mayonnaise is an oil-in-water emulsion rich in calorie, micronutrients and fat-soluble vitamins which is produced from dominantly vegetable oil. African pear oil is a highly unsaturated oil, domestically and commercially underutilize with tonnage of postharvest losses. It presently, has little or no industrial attraction for use as commercial ingredient for food production and formulation. The aim therefore is to improve the commercial value of African pear pulp oil for use as a main ingredient in food applications, hence improving its utilization and reducing postharvest losses. Oil was extracted from African pear through Soxhlet extraction using n-hexane as the solvent and the extracted oil was blended with soybean oil in the following ratios: SO100:APO0 (Control), SO0:APO100, SO85:APO15, SO75:APO25, SO65:APO35, and SO50:APO50 for the production of mayonnaise. Some physicochemical properties of the oil blends were evaluated while proximate and sensory properties were also evaluated in the produced mayonnaise. Blending increased theiodine, acid and free fatty acid values of the oil blends and decreased significantly (p < 0.05) the peroxide value. The values ranged from 30.65 to 124.00 g iodine 100g–1, 6.85 to 2.57 mg KOH g–1, 5.03 to 1.91% and 2.62 to 3.50 meq O2 kg–1 for iodine, acid, free fatty acid and peroxide values, respectively. The proximate composition parameters of the mayonnaise samples increased significantly (p < 0.05) after blending. The values ranged from 32.65 to 35.04% for moisture, 1.12 to 1.44% for ash, 30.15 to 37.15% for fat, 1.93 to 2.31% for protein and 25.87 to 34.15% for carbohydrate. Significant improvement was recorded in the values of vitamin E, iodine and viscosity values of the mayonnaise samples after blending compared to the control with values ranging from 4.97 to 22.60 mg 100g–1 for vitamin E, 28.70 to 88.10 g iodine 100g–1 for iodine value and 24.70 to 30.13 Pa.s for viscosity. Sensory evaluation showed that the mayonnaise samples were generally acceptable by the panelists. Conclusively, blending soybean oil with African pear oil up to 50:50 could be used in the production of acceptable mayonnaise with higher fat, protein, ash, vitamin E, iodine value and viscosity, thereby reducing its postharvest losses through improved utilization.
{"title":"Production and quality assessment of mayonnaise from blends of soybean oil and african pear (Dacryodes edulis) pulp oil","authors":"U. Onwuzuruike, C. J. Okakpu, J. Ndife, C. Eke","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i1.14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i1.14","url":null,"abstract":"Mayonnaise is an oil-in-water emulsion rich in calorie, micronutrients and fat-soluble vitamins which is produced from dominantly vegetable oil. African pear oil is a highly unsaturated oil, domestically and commercially underutilize with tonnage of postharvest losses. It presently, has little or no industrial attraction for use as commercial ingredient for food production and formulation. The aim therefore is to improve the commercial value of African pear pulp oil for use as a main ingredient in food applications, hence improving its utilization and reducing postharvest losses. Oil was extracted from African pear through Soxhlet extraction using n-hexane as the solvent and the extracted oil was blended with soybean oil in the following ratios: SO100:APO0 (Control), SO0:APO100, SO85:APO15, SO75:APO25, SO65:APO35, and SO50:APO50 for the production of mayonnaise. Some physicochemical properties of the oil blends were evaluated while proximate and sensory properties were also evaluated in the produced mayonnaise. Blending increased theiodine, acid and free fatty acid values of the oil blends and decreased significantly (p < 0.05) the peroxide value. The values ranged from 30.65 to 124.00 g iodine 100g–1, 6.85 to 2.57 mg KOH g–1, 5.03 to 1.91% and 2.62 to 3.50 meq O2 kg–1 for iodine, acid, free fatty acid and peroxide values, respectively. The proximate composition parameters of the mayonnaise samples increased significantly (p < 0.05) after blending. The values ranged from 32.65 to 35.04% for moisture, 1.12 to 1.44% for ash, 30.15 to 37.15% for fat, 1.93 to 2.31% for protein and 25.87 to 34.15% for carbohydrate. Significant improvement was recorded in the values of vitamin E, iodine and viscosity values of the mayonnaise samples after blending compared to the control with values ranging from 4.97 to 22.60 mg 100g–1 for vitamin E, 28.70 to 88.10 g iodine 100g–1 for iodine value and 24.70 to 30.13 Pa.s for viscosity. Sensory evaluation showed that the mayonnaise samples were generally acceptable by the panelists. Conclusively, blending soybean oil with African pear oil up to 50:50 could be used in the production of acceptable mayonnaise with higher fat, protein, ash, vitamin E, iodine value and viscosity, thereby reducing its postharvest losses through improved utilization.","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79589255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The intensity of sex expression is important in crops, including cucumber, since sex form and flowering have direct effects on date of harvesting and yield. Two groups of cucumber comprising a native variety (Odukpani) and elite varieties (Griffaton, Poinsett, Ashley, Marketmore and Monarch) were evaluated in 2015 and 2016 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm, College of Agriculture, Garkawa, Plateau State; to assess flowering, sex expression and some yield traits. The experimental design was randomized complete block design with the 6 cucumber varieties as the treatments, replicated five times. The two groups differed significantly (p < 0.05) in phonological, flowering and yield traits assessed. The elite varieties were superior with respect to flowering traits, as they flowered early. The intra-population hierarchical cluster analysis of quantitative traits grouped the elite varieties in one main cluster and the native variety (Odukpani) alienated as an outlier. The cluster plots showed that Odukpani was robust in vegetative growth, produced few but larger fruit size and flowering was delayed for over two weeks. Conversely, the elite varieties flowered early, produced more flowers and recorded superior number of fruits per plant. The profuse production of pistillate flowers by the elite varieties had pronounced yield advantage over the local variety. Hybridization between the two groups of cucumber would make a mark in the drive for sustainable cucumber fruit yield.
{"title":"Comparative study on the phenology, gender and yield components of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) varieties","authors":"W. Manggoel, M. Uguru, P. Ogbonna","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i1.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i1.11","url":null,"abstract":"The intensity of sex expression is important in crops, including cucumber, since sex form and flowering have direct effects on date of harvesting and yield. Two groups of cucumber comprising a native variety (Odukpani) and elite varieties (Griffaton, Poinsett, Ashley, Marketmore and Monarch) were evaluated in 2015 and 2016 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm, College of Agriculture, Garkawa, Plateau State; to assess flowering, sex expression and some yield traits. The experimental design was randomized complete block design with the 6 cucumber varieties as the treatments, replicated five times. The two groups differed significantly (p < 0.05) in phonological, flowering and yield traits assessed. The elite varieties were superior with respect to flowering traits, as they flowered early. The intra-population hierarchical cluster analysis of quantitative traits grouped the elite varieties in one main cluster and the native variety (Odukpani) alienated as an outlier. The cluster plots showed that Odukpani was robust in vegetative growth, produced few but larger fruit size and flowering was delayed for over two weeks. Conversely, the elite varieties flowered early, produced more flowers and recorded superior number of fruits per plant. The profuse production of pistillate flowers by the elite varieties had pronounced yield advantage over the local variety. Hybridization between the two groups of cucumber would make a mark in the drive for sustainable cucumber fruit yield.","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81110473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E. O. Owoade, M. Abubakar, A. Abdulhakeem, J. Akinwale
The study examined factors influencing input dealers’ performance of extension role to farmers in Yobe State of Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted in selecting 86 input dealers. Primary data were collected from them on socioeconomic characteristics, performance of extension roles, sources of agricultural knowledge and training using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data. Results showed that input dealers were mostly males (98.8%); young and agile with mean age of 41.8 years, 44.2% had tertiary education but 86.0% had no agricultural qualifications. Although input dealers’ performance of extension roles was high (55.8%), they had low training (68.6%) to boost performance. Significant relationships existed between performance of extension roles and type of trade (χ2 = 25.135, p < 0.05) and membership of input dealers association (χ2 = 12.550, p < 0.05). Also, a significant positive correlation existed between performance of extension roles and training received (r = 0.33, p < 0.05) and sources of agricultural knowledge (r = 0.25, p < 0.05). It was recommended that input dealers should be strengthened to perform extension roles by enhancing their training and access to sources of agricultural knowledge via institutionalized research, extension, input companies and input dealers’ linkage.
本研究考察了影响尼日利亚约贝州投入物经销商向农民推广作用的因素。采用多阶段抽样方法选取86家输入经销商。使用结构化问卷从他们那里收集了关于社会经济特征、推广角色表现、农业知识来源和培训的主要数据。采用描述性统计和推理统计对数据进行分析。结果表明:投入品经销商以男性居多(98.8%);年轻敏捷，平均年龄41.8岁，44.2%受过高等教育，86.0%没有农业资格。虽然投入经销商在拓展角色上的绩效较高(55.8%)，但他们在提升绩效方面的培训较少(68.6%)。推广角色绩效与行业类型(χ2 = 25.135, p < 0.05)、投入品经销商协会会员数(χ2 = 12.550, p < 0.05)存在显著相关。推广角色的表现与所接受的培训(r = 0.33, p < 0.05)和农业知识来源(r = 0.25, p < 0.05)呈显著正相关。建议加强投入物经销商发挥推广作用，通过制度化的研究、推广、投入物公司和投入物经销商的联动，加强对投入物经销商的培训和农业知识来源的获取。
{"title":"Factors influencing input dealers’ performance of extension roles to farmers in Yobe State of Nigeria","authors":"E. O. Owoade, M. Abubakar, A. Abdulhakeem, J. Akinwale","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i1.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i1.15","url":null,"abstract":"The study examined factors influencing input dealers’ performance of extension role to farmers in Yobe State of Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted in selecting 86 input dealers. Primary data were collected from them on socioeconomic characteristics, performance of extension roles, sources of agricultural knowledge and training using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data. Results showed that input dealers were mostly males (98.8%); young and agile with mean age of 41.8 years, 44.2% had tertiary education but 86.0% had no agricultural qualifications. Although input dealers’ performance of extension roles was high (55.8%), they had low training (68.6%) to boost performance. Significant relationships existed between performance of extension roles and type of trade (χ2 = 25.135, p < 0.05) and membership of input dealers association (χ2 = 12.550, p < 0.05). Also, a significant positive correlation existed between performance of extension roles and training received (r = 0.33, p < 0.05) and sources of agricultural knowledge (r = 0.25, p < 0.05). It was recommended that input dealers should be strengthened to perform extension roles by enhancing their training and access to sources of agricultural knowledge via institutionalized research, extension, input companies and input dealers’ linkage.","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82410288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Idris, A. Rilwan, S. A. Abubakar, M. Adamu, Y. Sadiq, F. Abubakar
Soil testing is key to soil fertility management as it serves as a fertilizer application guide to farmers, scientists and consultants. It gives information on soil nutrient status and its supplying capacity. Laboratory (LB) procedures have been the most reliable approach for soil nutrients analyses. However, it is costly and nonpoint. Thus, the use of in–situ testing kit emerges and becomes prominent. Notwithstanding, applicability of soil testing kit must be validated by laboratory test. This work aimed to examine the reliability/suitability of Soil Testing Kit® Transchem (SK) in determining selected soil nutrients in Sahel Savannah, Nigeria. Twentyfive replicate soil samples were collected from 12°47’86’’-12°20’96’’N and 4°38’37’’-4°188’02’’E, Kebbi State Nigeria and used to test soil pH, N, P, K and soil organic carbon (SOC) by SK and LB. The SK uses colour chart and comparator for rating nutrients status qualitatively into; low, medium and high and up to very high for P. The LB results were transformed to qualitative data by corresponding the values with soil rating standardinto low, medium and high. To perform statistics, weighting was done by assigning weight load to each category; low = 1, medium = 2 and high = 3. The two methods were compared using t-test, regression and descriptive analyses. Results showed non-significant difference between the two methods for soil contents of N, P and K. However, SK poorly estimated soil pH and SOC. Correlation and regression coefficients (r = 0.915 and R2 = 0.838, respectively) indicated reliability of the SK. It is concluded that SK can be reliably used for N, P, and K but not soil pH and SOC estimation for soils in Sahel savannah of Nigeria.
{"title":"Testing the accuracy of Soil Testing Kit® Transchem","authors":"S. Idris, A. Rilwan, S. A. Abubakar, M. Adamu, Y. Sadiq, F. Abubakar","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i1.17","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i1.17","url":null,"abstract":"Soil testing is key to soil fertility management as it serves as a fertilizer application guide to farmers, scientists and consultants. It gives information on soil nutrient status and its supplying capacity. Laboratory (LB) procedures have been the most reliable approach for soil nutrients analyses. However, it is costly and nonpoint. Thus, the use of in–situ testing kit emerges and becomes prominent. Notwithstanding, applicability of soil testing kit must be validated by laboratory test. This work aimed to examine the reliability/suitability of Soil Testing Kit® Transchem (SK) in determining selected soil nutrients in Sahel Savannah, Nigeria. Twentyfive replicate soil samples were collected from 12°47’86’’-12°20’96’’N and 4°38’37’’-4°188’02’’E, Kebbi State Nigeria and used to test soil pH, N, P, K and soil organic carbon (SOC) by SK and LB. The SK uses colour chart and comparator for rating nutrients status qualitatively into; low, medium and high and up to very high for P. The LB results were transformed to qualitative data by corresponding the values with soil rating standardinto low, medium and high. To perform statistics, weighting was done by assigning weight load to each category; low = 1, medium = 2 and high = 3. The two methods were compared using t-test, regression and descriptive analyses. Results showed non-significant difference between the two methods for soil contents of N, P and K. However, SK poorly estimated soil pH and SOC. Correlation and regression coefficients (r = 0.915 and R2 = 0.838, respectively) indicated reliability of the SK. It is concluded that SK can be reliably used for N, P, and K but not soil pH and SOC estimation for soils in Sahel savannah of Nigeria.","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76927242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The gap in supply and demand of rice could be due to observable differentials in the allocative efficiency of the rice farmers in Nigeria. Therefore, the study focused on the determinants of resource-use efficiencies and profitability of lowland rice farmers of Enugu State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect cross-sectional data from 300 smallholder rice farmers across the six agricultural zones of the State. The gross margin (GM) analysis was used to estimate the profitability while the marginal value productmarginal factor cost (MVP-MFC) was used to evaluate the efficiency of rice farming. The Stochastic Frontier Cost Function was also used to estimate the determinants of resource use efficiency among lowland rice farmers in Enugu state. The results from the GM showed that rice production is profitable with an average rate of returns on investment (ROI) of 2.80. The MVP-MFC analysis showed that all the input factors hypothesized were over-utilised indicating the existence of large-scale resource-use inefficiency among lowland rice farmers of the state. Education and age were the only socio-economic variables that affected the allocative efficiency of the rice farmers. The study recommends a farm-level policy directed towards the encouragement of younger adults since they are more likely to adopt innovation and boost efficiency and investment in extension education for advisory services to facilitate resource-use efficiencies.
{"title":"Determinants of resource use efficiencies among lowland rice farmers of Enugu State, Nigeria","authors":"T. Okoh, P. Opata, I. Umaru","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i1.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i1.10","url":null,"abstract":"The gap in supply and demand of rice could be due to observable differentials in the allocative efficiency of the rice farmers in Nigeria. Therefore, the study focused on the determinants of resource-use efficiencies and profitability of lowland rice farmers of Enugu State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect cross-sectional data from 300 smallholder rice farmers across the six agricultural zones of the State. The gross margin (GM) analysis was used to estimate the profitability while the marginal value productmarginal factor cost (MVP-MFC) was used to evaluate the efficiency of rice farming. The Stochastic Frontier Cost Function was also used to estimate the determinants of resource use efficiency among lowland rice farmers in Enugu state. The results from the GM showed that rice production is profitable with an average rate of returns on investment (ROI) of 2.80. The MVP-MFC analysis showed that all the input factors hypothesized were over-utilised indicating the existence of large-scale resource-use inefficiency among lowland rice farmers of the state. Education and age were the only socio-economic variables that affected the allocative efficiency of the rice farmers. The study recommends a farm-level policy directed towards the encouragement of younger adults since they are more likely to adopt innovation and boost efficiency and investment in extension education for advisory services to facilitate resource-use efficiencies.","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83004445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Greengram productivity has been improved by application of farmyard manures in the last two decades; however, these manures are not readily available as at when needed. In some cases, they are available but in limited supply. Kolgrace bio-fertilizer, a novel commercial product of the Association of Organic Agricultural Practitioners could serve as a superior alternative to farmyard manures. Hence, a field experiment was carried out at the Teaching & Research Farm of the Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Nigeria during the 2015 cropping season to evaluate the effects of five rates (0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, and 2.00 t ha–1) of Kolgrace bio-fertilizer on the performance of greengram. The aim was to determine the optimum rate of application of this biofertilizer for greengram production. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replications. Data were collected on growth and yield traits, and were subjected to analysis of variance. Results showed that Kolgrace rates significantly (p < 0.01) influenced all the traits measured with exception of fresh pod yield (FPY). Plant height (112 cm), number of leaves (87), stem girth (1.43 mm) and number of flowers (10) at 8 weeks after planting (WAP) were significantly highest with the application of 0.5 t ha–1 whereas, 0.25 t ha–1 gave best results for number of pods (42) and pod yield (3.85 t ha –1). The application of 0.5 t ha–1 is, therefore, recommended if the interest of the farmer is sprout, fodder or green manure, and 0.25 t ha–1 if the interest is for seed production.
近二十年来，通过施用农家肥，绿豆的产量得到了提高;然而，这些肥料在需要时并不容易获得。在某些情况下，它们是可用的，但供应有限。Kolgrace生物肥料是有机农业从业者协会的一种新型商业产品，可以作为农场肥料的优良替代品。为此，本研究于2015年种植季在尼日利亚伊巴丹大学农学系教研农场进行了田间试验，评价了5种施用量(0.00、0.25、0.50、1.00和2.00 t hm - 1)的Kolgrace生物肥料对绿豆生产性能的影响。目的是确定这种生物肥料在绿芽草生产中的最佳施用量。试验设计为随机完全区组设计，共4个重复。收集生长和产量性状数据，并进行方差分析。结果表明:除鲜荚产量(FPY)外，Kolgrace率对其他性状均有极显著影响(p < 0.01)。植后8周株高(112 cm)、叶数(87个)、茎长(1.43 mm)和花数(10个)在0.5 t ha -1处理下显著最高，而在0.25 t ha -1处理下荚果数(42个)和荚果产量(3.85 t ha -1)最好。因此，如果农民对发芽、饲料或绿肥感兴趣，建议施用0.5 t ha-1，如果对种子生产感兴趣，建议施用0.25 t ha-1。
{"title":"Determination of Kolgrace bio-fertilizer rate for optimum greengram (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) production in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria","authors":"P. N. Ihejiofor, Uchenna Ukwu, G. Adeoye","doi":"10.4314/as.v21i1.13","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v21i1.13","url":null,"abstract":"Greengram productivity has been improved by application of farmyard manures in the last two decades; however, these manures are not readily available as at when needed. In some cases, they are available but in limited supply. Kolgrace bio-fertilizer, a novel commercial product of the Association of Organic Agricultural Practitioners could serve as a superior alternative to farmyard manures. Hence, a field experiment was carried out at the Teaching & Research Farm of the Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Nigeria during the 2015 cropping season to evaluate the effects of five rates (0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, and 2.00 t ha–1) of Kolgrace bio-fertilizer on the performance of greengram. The aim was to determine the optimum rate of application of this biofertilizer for greengram production. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replications. Data were collected on growth and yield traits, and were subjected to analysis of variance. Results showed that Kolgrace rates significantly (p < 0.01) influenced all the traits measured with exception of fresh pod yield (FPY). Plant height (112 cm), number of leaves (87), stem girth (1.43 mm) and number of flowers (10) at 8 weeks after planting (WAP) were significantly highest with the application of 0.5 t ha–1 whereas, 0.25 t ha–1 gave best results for number of pods (42) and pod yield (3.85 t ha –1). The application of 0.5 t ha–1 is, therefore, recommended if the interest of the farmer is sprout, fodder or green manure, and 0.25 t ha–1 if the interest is for seed production. ","PeriodicalId":15011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agro-environmental Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87966484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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