Advances in Agriculture and Agricultural Sciences

Advances in Agriculture and Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2381-3911 Vol. 2 (7), pp. 143-148, July, 2016. © International Scholars Journals 

Full Length Research Paper

Impact of physio-chemical parameters of the used water on white tilapia Oreochromis niloticus mortality

Anigboro Bright Festus

Department of Plant Science and Applied Zoology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye

E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 10 June, 2016

Abstract

Acute and sub-acute toxicities of five plants’(Almond – Terminalia catappa, Pawpaw – Carica papaya, Neem – Azadirachta indica, Tobacco – Nicotiana tobacum and Cassava – Manihot esculenta) extracts on O. niloticus were conducted for 28 days to evaluate LC50s, fish behavior and heamatological indices of white tilapia in glass aquaria tanks. While the acute test lasted 48 hours, the sub-acute test lasted 28 days. The concentrations used for acute test were Almond = 15, 2.0, 2.5, 3.5 g/l, Cassava = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.5 g/l, Neem = 0.5, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 g/l, Pawpaw = 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 g/l, Tobacco = 0.25, 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 g/l and a control (0.0 g/l), while those used for sub-acute tests were Almond= 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, 1.0 g/l, Cassava = 0.15, 0.2, 0.35, 0.45 g/l, Neem = 0.10, 0.20, 0.35, 0.50 g/l, Pawpaw = 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0 g/l, Tobacco = 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25 g/l and a control (0.0 g/l). The mean values for the 48-h LC50s of the different plants’ concentrations on O. niloticus were 0.83 g/l, N. tobaccum, 1.22 g/l M. esculenta, 1.64 g/l A. indica, 2.16 g/l C. papaya and 2.44 g/l T. catappa logarithmically. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in all the concentrations as mortality increased with time of exposure. The sub-acute test showed varied heamatological indices such as pcv, hb, tp, rbc, and glucose which were significantly different (P<0.05) and mcv, mch and mchc that were not significantly different (P>0.05) among the treatments. Also, fish became anaemic and stressful in the exposed plant botanicals and the severity was directly proportional to the active doses of each plant concentrations. The overall results showed the potency of the five botanicals in the order of tobacco>cassava>neem>pawpaw>almond.

Keywords: Acute, sub-acute, toxicity, plant botanicals, haematology.

Advances in Agriculture and Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2381-3911 Vol. 2 (6), pp. 133-137, June, 2016. © International Scholars Journals 

Full Length Research Paper

Effectiveness of sunshine organic fertilizer, organmineral fertilizer and mineral fertilizer on soil nutrients, growth and yield of Maize

Babatunde S. A*, Ovigwe H. Ernest and Howard C. kelvin

Adeyemi College of Education, Department of Agricultural Science, PMB 520, Ondo, Ondo State, Nigeria

E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 10 May, 2016

Abstract

Many Researchers have shown that neither mineral fertilizers nor organic manures are a panacea for soil fertility management in Nigeria. This has led to the innovation of organomineral fertilizer which combines the attribute of both mineral and organic fertilizers. Field experiments were conducted in 2011 and 2012 to compare the effect of industrial manufactured organic (OG) fertilizer and organomineral fertilizer (OMF) at the rate of 0, 2.5 and 10t/ha; and NPK 15:15:15 fertilizer (NPK) at the rate of 300kg/ha on soil chemical properties, nutrient uptake, growth and yield of maize in Ondo, Southwestern Nigeria. The treatments were laid out in randomized complete Block Design with four replications and with plots size of 5m×5m. Compared with control, OG, OMF and NPK fertilizers significantly (P <0.05) increased plant N,P, K, Ca, Cu, Fe, Zn and Mn Also compared with control, Organic fertilizer (OM), Organomineral fertilizer (OMF) and NPK 15:15:15 fertilizer at all rates significantly increased (P <0.05) maize plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, Stover yield, root dry matter and grain yield. The percent increases in cumulative grain yield were 5t/ha OMF (68.31), 2.5t/ha OMF (60.21), 10t/ha OMF (38.72), 10t/ha OG (49.65) 300kg/ha NPK (12.13), 5t/ha OG (9.51), 2.5t/ha OG (5.63) compared with control. Organic and organomineral fertilizers at low level of application could be used to increase plant nutrients as well as maize production in south western Nigeria.

Keywords: Stover yield, macronutrient, micronutrient, cumulative effect, soil.

Advances in Agriculture and Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2381-3911 Vol. 2 (6), pp. 124-132, June, 2016. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effects of technosol substrates on soybean growth on Greenhouse experiments in Rwanda

Hicham J. O.¹*, Essaïdi Shatha², Refaeli N. Raviv³, Shimon Perlman³ Golda Ben-Gurion¹ and Itzhak D. Rabin⁴

¹Department of Agricultural Resources Management, School of Agriculture and Enterprise Development, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.

²Department of Soil and Environmental Management, Faculty of Agriculture, National University of Rwanda (NUR), P.O. Box 117, Butare, Rwanda.

³University of Kassel, Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), Germany.

⁴Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Langer Kamp 19c, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany.

E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 16 May, 2016

Abstract

Large areas of the Gatumba Mining District (GMD) in Rwanda are covered by Technosols (pegmatite or pegmatite-soil mixtures) resulting from coltan (Colombite and Tantalite) mining activities. These substrates are very poor in total and available plant nutrient contents and are therefore low in soil productivity. Due to agricultural land shortage in Rwanda, almost all the available land is farmed. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different fertilizers on plant nutrient uptake and biomass production of soybean. A greenhouse pot experiment using pegmatite substrate alone and a pegmatite-Lixisol Bt mixture was conducted in a complete randomized design (CRD). Tithonia diversifolia biomass (T) was applied at 5 tonnes (t) dry matter (DM) ha^-1 alone and combined with triple superphosphate (TSP), matongo rock phosphate (MRP) and ammonium sulphate (AS). The results demonstrate that soybean DM, grain yield, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) uptake were higher on pegmatite than on the mixture and the combination of T, TSP and MRP (total: 50 kg P ha^-1 with 70% from MRP and 30% from TSP) which gave higher DM yields compared to the other treatments. The integration of tithonia green manure and different inorganic fertilizers significantly increased the N, P and K uptake by soybean above ground and root biomass versus tithonia alone.

Key words: Tithonia, soybean, pegmatite, Lixisol Bt, Matongo rock phosphate.

Advances in Agriculture and Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2381-3911 Vol. 2 (4), pp. 117-123, June, 2016. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Pasteurization and chemical preservatives effects on the physiochemical, sensory properties and microbial qualities of kunun-zaki

Adebayor B. Yemi*, Folorunsho David Mark and A. U. Oluchi

*Department of Food Science and Technology, The Federal University, Wukari. Nigeria Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal Polytechnic, P.M.B O231, Bauchi, Nigeria.

Email: [email protected]

Accepted 31 May, 2016

Abstract

“Kunun-zaki” was prepared using millet, with varied levels (0.01-0.05%) of chemical preservatives (sodium benzoate and metabisulphite). The effects of the chemical preservatives on the physico-chemical (total soluble solids, total solids, moisture, ash, and protein), sensory (colour, mouth feel, flavour and general acceptability), and microbial qualities were evaluated. Total soluble solid decreased from 11.0 to 4.2, 11 to 5.3, 11.0 to 10, 11.0 to 9, 11.0 to 9.0, 11.0 to 7.5, 11.0 to 10, and 11.0 to 9.0%; total solids decreased from 21.20 to 20.8, 21.0 to 20.9, 21.2 to 21.0, 21.8 to 21.1, 21.8 to 21.7, 21.0 to 20.9, 21.5 to 20.9, and 21.9 to 21.7 g/100g, while protein increased from 3.27 to 4.31, 3.57 to 3.59, 3.4 to 3.44, 3.48 to 3.49, 3.22 to 3.29, 3.29 to 3.32, 3.19 to 3.23, and 3.22 to 3.29%, total titratable acidity increased from 0.28 to 2.1, 0.12 to 0.91, 0.13 to 0.42, 0.2 to 0.61, 0.18 to 0.83, 0.19 to 0.34, 0.18 to 0.32, and 0.17 to 0.3 g/100ml, total microbial count increased from 1.8 × 10⁴ to TNTC, 4.0 × 10³ to 8.7 × 10⁴, 2.5 × 10³ to 7.4 × 10⁴, 0 to 5.4 × 104, 0 to 3.85 × 10⁴, 2.0 × 10³ to 6.9 × 10⁴, 1.0 × 10³ to 6.45 × 10⁴ and 0 to 4.9 × 10⁴ cfu/ml for UPK, PK, P (0.01) NaBZ, P (0.03) NaBZ, P (0.05) NaBZ, P (0.01) MBS, P (0.03) MBS, and P (0.05) MBS respectively with increase in the storage duration (0-7 days). The samples preserved with metabisulphite had the lowest mean scores for colour. The pasteurized samples chemically preserved with 0.03% sodium benzoate product had the least microbial count, and was most accepted in terms of assessed sensory attributes.

Key words: Effects, chemical preservatives, pasteurization, shelf-life, kunun-zaki.

Advances in Agriculture and Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2381-3911 Vol. 2 (6), pp. 108-116, June, 2016. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Efficacy of Abamectin (ABM) against various stages of R. ferrugineus under laboratory conditions

*Al-Waleed Albutairi, Nasser G. Laden and Yasser Hariri Al Saud

Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, Alahsa 31982, P.O. Box 400, Saudi Arabia.

E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 1 May, 2016

Abstract

The red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, is one of the most devastating and invasive insect pests causing immense damage on date palms across the world. Natural insecticide Abamectin (ABM) has been evaluated against developmental stages of RPW under laboratory conditions. Insects were exposed to residual film of the insecticide on transparent cups using a Potter precision laboratory spray tower. Mortality of males, females, neonate larvae, larvae, eggs and pupae was recorded at different time intervals after treatment. Bioassay test showed that ABM at 600 ppm (µg/ml) caused 60% mortality against females and males after 24 h. By increasing the concentration to 1000 ppm, the mortality reached 100% for adults. The LC₅₀-values calculated for females and males were 582.9 and 502.1 ppm and that of LC₉₅ was 1226.9 and 967.2 ppm, respectively. Neonate larvae exhibited more sensitivity toward ABM, where 200 and 500 ppm caused 80 and 100% mortality at 24 h after treatment with LC₅₀ 98.7 ppm and LC ₉₅ 352 ppm. In the meantime, the toxicity effect of the treatment with ABM up to 500 ppm checked at the 24 h period was 0% mortality against 25-day old larvae, and then it reached 60% by the same concentration at 7 days after treatment. Other developmental stages, eggs and pupae, were dramatically affected by ABM, where 500 ppm caused 90.3% egg unhatchability and 100% mortality of pupae. Therefore, ABM can be a possible candidate to be applied on date palm by the Ministry of Agriculture after successful field experiments. 

Key words: Abamectin, red palm weevil, bio-insecticide, bioassay.