Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice最新文献

{"title":"Evaluation of available micro nutrients status of sandy loam soils of Gujba, Yobe State, Nigeria","authors":"F. Mani, I. Talha, D. Daya, M. Ismaila, I. Mulima","doi":"10.31248/JASP.18.041.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31248/JASP.18.041.5","url":null,"abstract":"A study was conducted in Gujba Local Government Area located in the southern part of Yobe state to evaluate the available micro nutrients status of sandy loam soils of Gujba. The drive towards self-sufficiency in food production through the adoption of more scientific intensive agricultural systems has necessitated the evaluation of the nutrient status of soils; most especially the micronutrients which had hitherto been neglected. Thus, thirteen locations were purposely selected to represent Gujba Local Government Area. In each location a total of 26 composite samples were collected using augers at two depth intervals of 0 to 15 and 15 to 30 cm. At each depth, 5 samples were collected and composited. Standard laboratory procedures were followed to determine the physio-chemical properties of the samples. Descriptive statistics (mean values) of soil parameters were computed and employed to compare the results with the relevant findings. Results obtained from this study indicate that the soils were generally sandy to loamy sand in texture, slightly acidic and low in organic carbon with low to medium contents of exchangeable bases and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Cu was found to be in the medium category while Zn was generally low. However, the soils contained Fe and Mn above the critical limits for crop production and categorized as “high”. This might be a potential environmental problem as they may, upon complex reactions, result in the formation of plinthite- /- petroplinthite leading to hard pan formation; restricting rooting depth and causing infiltration and drainage problem in the soil. For sustainable arable crop production on the soils studied, there is therefore the need for application of organic matter to improve the overall fertility of the soil and to reduce the possible development of plinthic/petroplinthic layers and to formulate organo-mineral amendments that would enhance in particular, Zn availability.","PeriodicalId":14890,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90838003","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}

{"title":"Factors affecting the marketing of perishables agricultural produce in Minna metropolis, Niger State, Nigeria","authors":"E. Onuk, N. D. Shehu, T. Anzaku","doi":"10.31248/JASP2018.091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31248/JASP2018.091","url":null,"abstract":"The study examined some of the factors affecting the marketing of perishable agricultural crops in Minna. A simple random sampling was used to select 100 respondents from three major markets. Data were obtained through interview with the use of a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results revealed that 70% of the marketers were within the ages of 31 to 50years and the marketing of these perishable crops is dominated by the female gender (69%). Analysis also show that 71% of the marketers had no contact with extension officers and consequently 73% had no access to credit facilities in the study area. Furthermore, majority of the marketers (61%) had marketing experience of between 6 to 15years. The marketers recorded most losses (58%) during transportation and 60% during loading and offloading. Using Tobit regression model, it was discovered that the t-value shows among other variables that four (4) were significant: education (X3), credit (X8), and cooperative (X9) positively influences marketing, indicating that a unit increase in any of the variables will have a positive impact in agricultural production. While transportation cost (X6) had a negative coefficient implying that the amount spent on transporting these crops creates a marketing margin. The sigma t-value = 14.142, implies that the overall model used is significant at 1%. The study concludes that small holder farmers are responsible for producing the nation’s food, but are faced by various constraints in marketing of these produce, hence it is recommended that farm household should be encouraged to have access to education, favorable credit condition, increased investment in rural and market infrastructure by the government and sensitization of the importance of cooperative membership by NGO’s among others.","PeriodicalId":14890,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77540744","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}

{"title":"Econometrics analysis of soybean production in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria","authors":"S. B. Ohen, F. B. Filli, A. A. Girei","doi":"10.31248/JASP2018.081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31248/JASP2018.081","url":null,"abstract":"The study is on economic analysis of soybean production in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of soybeans farmers and estimate the production function for soybeans in the study area, estimate the cost and return of soybeans production. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents. Primary data were collected with a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; mean percentage and frequency and production function. The result showed that the soybeans farmers were mostly young people, married, and literate with large household sizes. Also, 88.3% of the farmers cultivated less than one hectare, while 11% cultivated between 1.0 to 2.0 hectares of land. The estimated production function had a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.943, implying that about 94.3% variation in the output of soybeans were accounted for by seed and labour, that increase in any of the variables will lead to increase in output of soybeans. The study, therefore, recommended that improved inputs be made available on time, in right amounts and at affordable prices to the farmers by the government and other stakeholders in other to enhance production.","PeriodicalId":14890,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77798860","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}

{"title":"A comparison of pitfall traps and hand-picking techniques for studying macroathropods abundance in vegetable plots and the influence of abiotic factors on their abundance in Jos, Nigeria","authors":"Njila Hl, M. Mafuyai, A. Ombugadu, M. Ishaya, M. Lapang, G. Mwansat","doi":"10.31248/JASP2018.088","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31248/JASP2018.088","url":null,"abstract":"Soil macroarthropods are important components that sustain the health and quality of agro-ecosystems for improved agricultural productions though are influenced by abiotic components of the environment. Macroarthropod collections vary across traps due to the fact that some traps can stand for a long time while others such as handpicking cannot. However, traps may be used as a rapid assessment tool to generate checklists for macroarthropod species present in an area within a very short time. To this end, a study on the comparison of pitfall traps and hand-picking techniques for studying macroathropods abundance in vegetable plots and the influence of abiotic factors (temperature and pH) on their abundance in Jos, Nigeria was carried out from August to October, 2014. Pitfall traps and hand-picking techniques were used to collect macroarthropods from six different vegetable plots in three selected villages in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. Soil temperature was recorded in the field while soil samples were obtained from a 7.5 cm depth for measurement of soil pH in the laboratory. A total of 3,346 macroarthropods were collected and pitfall traps had 2,780 (83.08%) while handpicking technique recorded 566 (16.92%). There was a significant difference (P = 0.0076) in the mean abundance of macroarthropods between sampling techniques. Macroarthropods abundance and species richness in relation to vegetable plots varied significantly (P < 0.0001). There was a positive association between pH and macroarthropod abundance (r = 0.13) while temperature did not influence the abundance (r = -0.08). Although, pitfall trap is a passive collector of macroarthropods, it is still a more efficient and preferred sampling techniques for ground crawling arthropods. Farmers should ensure that their soil pH is well maintained at alkaline level so as to influence macroathropods abundance in vegetable plots and ensure robust productivity.","PeriodicalId":14890,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88986998","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}

{"title":"An assessment of copper-contaminated soil using Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus l.) as a phytoaccumulator","authors":"M. Ismaila, F. Mani, I. Talha","doi":"10.31248/JASP2018.084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31248/JASP2018.084","url":null,"abstract":"A pot experiment was conducted to study the potentials of Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) as a Copper (Cu) phytoaccumulator at different levels of artificial contamination. Copper was applied as cupric sulphate (CuSO4.5H2O) and the treatments were 0, 50, 100 and 150 mg kg-1 of Cu. Kenaf was grown in each of the treated pots for 10 weeks, following which, leaf, stem and root samples were collected and analysed for Cu contents. The soil was analysed for physicochemical properties [viz. pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), exchangeable acidity (EA), exchangeable cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+) and extractable and total Cu contents) before treatments/contamination and after harvesting. Kenaf showed symptoms of toxicity at 100 and 150 mg kg-1 treatments of Cu. It was observed that, compared with the levels of contamination of Cu, the concentration in kenaf was generally insignificant; thus, the concentration reduction in the soil at one cycle of cropping may not berealistic.  Copper treatments at different levels significantly changed soil pH and EC. Therefore, more cycles of growth are needed to effectively remediate Cu-contaminated soils using Kenaf as Cu phytoaccumulator.","PeriodicalId":14890,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice","volume":"113 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79782338","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}

{"title":"Consumer’s perception and preference on fresh vegetables (Carrots, Egg plants, Okra and Pepper) coated with wax of shea butter (Vitellaria paradoxa) oil","authors":"D. Ekpa, M. T. Salaudeen, E. Tsado, K. Muhammed, O. Adesina","doi":"10.31248/JASP2018.076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31248/JASP2018.076","url":null,"abstract":"Carrot, garden eggplant, okra and pepper were coated with melted shea butter oil by robbing it around the vegetables and then stored for a period of twenty days. The coated fruits took longer time to deteriorate when compared with the uncoated fruits signifying that coated vegetables fruits with edible coating material increases the shelf life and storage longevity. This fact has led the consumers to accept that shea butter is a very good edible coating material that can extend any food material. Some consumers accepted shea butter with mixed feelings. Reasons for their mixed feelings are that some do not take shea butter; they prefer vegetables and fruits in their natural form or processed. The findings from the study showed significant difference in the number of people preferring the freshly coated vegetables from uncoated vegetables and also the differences observed between the vegetables.","PeriodicalId":14890,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78535477","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}

{"title":"Effects of two selected systemic insecticides in the management of major field insect pests of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) in Enugu State, South-eastern, Nigeria","authors":"R. Ezema, J. Adinde, T. Omeje, S. Awere","doi":"10.31248/JASP2018.073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31248/JASP2018.073","url":null,"abstract":"Flea beetles (Podagrica spp.) have been a serious insect field pests of the family, Malvaceae or hibiscus crops most especially Okra in all growing nations. Field trial was conducted in the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria to determine their relative effectiveness of synthetic systemic insecticides in field management of Podagrica spp. insect pests of Okra. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and treatments consisted of two synthetic systemic insecticides: Dimethoate 40EC and Carbofuran 5G and control with no insecticide application. Early maturing Clemenson spineless Okra variety, Jokoso was used. The results showed that there were no significant (P > 0.05) effects on Flea beetles population before insecticide treatments at 14 and 28 Days after planting (DAP). There was also no significant effect of insecticide application on fresh pod and dry pod weight (kg/plot) at harvest. However, significant differences (P < 0.05) were obtained on Flea beetles population, number of infected plants (%), fresh pod quality/marketable pods (%) throughout the sampling periods after insecticide application and also on seed viability test after harvest (%). In general, insecticides treated okra plants performed better than the untreated ones with Carbofuran 5G treated plants having the best performance.","PeriodicalId":14890,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75069475","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}