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ABSTRACT
Abstract: The paper examines the horse in the Bamenda Grassflieds by stating its roles in an attempt to educate and preserve the equine heritage history. This is to ensure that the developments that horses facilitated throughout history are recognized, embraced, and taught to future generations. The paper argues that beyond war and transport or quick displacement, horses in the Bamenda Grassfields were used for entertainment, ornamental and aesthetics functions. By doing so, the paper reinserts the horse into the broader historical narrative. Thus the idea of equine heritage history is tested in order to draw the Bamenda Grassfields history into the wider global dialogue equine historiographical issues. In order to achieve this, a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative research was used. Our findings revealed new perceptions on the role of horses in the region. These perceptions revealed that far from being instruments of war, horses were veritable actors of sports, entertainment and more. The organization of horse races and fantasia events in the region bear testimony to this. Besides horse races organized, horses staged public displays to decorate social events. Also, the horse impacted as they provided employment, created business enterprises and companies, developed the Bamenda Grassfields, added to its touristic potentials, and promoted unity and solidarity between Fulani and local inhabitants. On the flip side, it boosted prostitution, led to sporadic fights among spectators as they scrambled for vantage positions round the field. Cases of thievery and pick pocketing were also frequent.
ABSTRACT
Abstract: A total of nine soil samples were collected at the depths of 0-10, 10-20 cm and 20-30cm respectively from oil polluted soils of Awoye and Osustech farm (Control). The soil samples were analyzed for physico-chemical and bacteriological properties that reflect soil nutrient content and fertility status in the laboratory using standard methods. The results of microbial flora in areas with and without oil spill shows little effect on the microbial populations of the soils studied. The average microbial population of the oil polluted soil was 9.9 x 103cfu/g, while that without oil-spill was 2.03 x 104cfu/g for bacteria count; average pH value in polluted soil was 5.28 while that of the control was 5.71; average electrical conductivity polluted soil samples was 78.53 while that of the control was 33.7 while moisture content levels of polluted soils was 18.5% and control 44.7%. Bacteriological analysis revealed the presence of bacteria species including; Micrococcus, Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Aerococcus. Statistical analysis of results through the Duncan Multiple range test showed significant differences for microbial populations, electrical conductivity and moisture content of oil polluted soil and the control area (unpolluted) with no significant difference in pH of both polluted and non- polluted soils. It is then concluded that oil spills on the soils of Awoye is detrimental to the microbial population of the soil as it alters negatively the physico-chemical properties of the soil thereby lowering its microbial load and also render the soil and water unfit to support life supporting activities of man.
ABSTRACT
Abstract: Ethnomedicinal survey and antibacterial study of ethanol and aqueous extracts of Piper guineense and Tetrapluera tetraptera were carried out in Ogbia communities and Microbiology Laboratory Federal University Otuoke respectively. Rapid appraisal method and Use-Value index were applied to fetch information on ethnobotanical use of the two spice plants (commonly used among Ogbia people in Bayelsa State), and their antibacterial activities were tested on Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Ethnographic data shows that the principal health-care uses of the spices correspond to gastro-intestinal treatment, and fruits were the most important section utilized for managing health disorders. The fruit extracts yielded strong antibacterial activity against the organisms at the treatment regimens (200-12.5mg/ml), the zones of inhibition in both case decreases down concentration gradients. Escherichia coli shows the widest Zone-of-Inhibition in Piper guineense at each concentration regimen. The widest Zone-of-inhibition in Tetrapluera. tetraptera extracts were recorded against S. aureus, and the lowest Minimun-Inhibitory-Concentration, 2.5mg/ml occurred at the assay of Piper guineense against E. coli, and similar trend occurred in Tetrapleura. tetraptera extracts. Also Minimum-Inhibitory-Concentration of 2.5mg/ml and 5mg/ml was recorded on Streptococcus pyogene in ethanol and aqueous extract respectively, justifying the ethnomedicinal uses of the spices among the people.
ABSTRACT
Abstract: The control of the factors that influence grafting would help significantly to improve the yield of grafted plants for the benefit of shea breeding program and farmers of Côte d’Ivoire. The study aims to assess the influence of the grafting method on the recovery and growth of grafted shea plants in nursery. The grafting was carried out in nursery onto 2-year-old rootstocks. Two grafting methods that are terminal slit grafting and side-grafting in sap-wood were tested in the nursery in randomized design. The results showed that the method of graft has a significant effect on the grafted plant recovery and agronomic trait growth. Terminal slit grafting recorded the highest recovery rate (90%), rapid recovery time (21 days) and high mean values of agronomic growing traits (1.63 twigs per month, 5.59 leaves per month and 3.28 cm of height growing per month) in grafted plants. These results were permit to retain terminal slit grafting as the best grafting method to apply in shea in nursery in order to supply masse grafted plants to the farmers in Côte d'Ivoire.
ABSTRACT
Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the health quality of cassava meal (attiéké) sold in various regions by testing for trace elements. To do this, 30 samples of attiéké were taken due to 10 samples per city (Grand-Lahou, Dabou and Bonoua) which are areas of high production of attiéké. These samples were mineralized and their arsenic, cadmium and lead contents were evaluated by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Thus, 90 tests were carried out. The results obtained showed the presence of lead, arsenic and cadmium in the samples analyzed. The average arsenic content was 0.229 ± 0.050 mg / kg; 0.053 ± 0.03 mg /kg and 0.039 ± 0.00 mg / kg respectively for the cities of Grand-Lahou, DABOU and Bonoua. With regard to lead, the content was 0.444 ± 0.30 mg / kg for Grand-Lahou, for Dabou, this content was 0.387 ± 0.281 mg / kg and 0.451 ± 0.266 mg / kg for the city of Bonoua. As for cadmium, the levels were 0.0106 ± 0.0102 mg / kg, 0.002 ± 0.00 mg / kg and 0.0110 ± 0.00 mg / kg respectively for the towns of Bonoua and Grand-Lahou and Dabou. The presence of metallic trace elements above the standard (0.1 mg / kg) for arsenic and lead in the attiéké sold in Côte d'Ivoire should prompt systematic health checks for the well-being of consumers.
ABSTRACT
Abstract: One of the factors affecting food production in Nigeria is the problem of Soil fertility which determines the crop output by the farmers. The farmers’ concept of soil fertility is closely linked to land productivity. However, the need for maximum crop production depends on effective soil classification and management practices. It is significant to state that the local farmers have developed local methods for soil classification, soil fertility techniques and management of soil in their locality. It is in consideration of the above that the study examined indigenous soil classification techniques, determined indigenous methods of soil management and examined indigenous soil fertility techniques being used by the farmers. The study adopted the use of multi-stage random sampling techniques to select One hundred forty-five [145] farmers from Ondo State. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to obtain data for the study. The result of the study revealed that about 32 percent of the farmers had no formal education while majority (37.2 percent) were between 51-60 years practicing mixed cropping (89%) and mixed farming(9.6%). In the study the farmers also stated that the presence of Echinus Hispidus, Tridax specie, Eleusine indica on the farm land indicates that the soil is not fertile, while the presence of Eupatorium odoratum, talinum triangulare, Bernono spp and kalancheo spp are indications of fertile soil. The farmers also indicated the various local methods of identifying plants that is used for organic manure. Such methods include the use of taste, waxy nature of plant and leaf strength. In soil classification, it was also found out that soil colour and texture were the two basic determining factors used by farmers for classifying soil. The result of multiple regression analysis shows that 82.4% of variation in use of indigenous knowledge to classify and improve soil fertility was explained by level of ............
Research Article
The Influence of Integrated Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on Forage Yield and Nutritive Value of Maize and Soil Properties
Muhammad Ibrahim, Muhammad Jameel, Tanveer Ul Haq, Mubashar Nadeem, Muhammad Ishaq Asif Rehmani, Anam Noreen Abbas, Shakeel Ahmad, Muhammed Atif Shabir, Muhammad Mazhar Iqbal, Leonard M. Lauriault
East African Scholars J Agri Life Sci; 2020, 3(12): 383-388
DOI: 10.36349/easjals.2020.v03i12.001
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ABSTRACT
Abstract: High forage yield and nutritive value are critical to livestock production in semiarid regions where poor soil fertility and low organic matter are significant challenges for forage production. A randomized complete block study with three replications was conducted at Faisalabad, Pakistan, to compare the effects of organic (OF) and inorganic (IF) fertilizer in various ratios on soil properties and the production of forage maize (Zea mays). Treatments included the 100% recommended IF dose (110-60-100kg N-P2O5-K20 ha-1), 100% dose of cattle manure (CM, 20 t ha-1), 100% dose of poultry manure (PM, 5 t ha-1), 75% IF + 25% OF (75IF/25CM or PM), 50% IF + 50% OF (50IF/50CM or PM), 25%IF + 75% OF (25IF/75CM or PM), and an unfertilized control (0IF/0OF). The OF improved soil properties when applied 45 before sowing and incorporated. Maize growth variables and dry matter (DM) yield were maximized with 25IF/75PM (6.17, 7.06, 8.24, 8.99, 7.90, 8.23, 8.53, 9.43, 8.39, and 8.20 t ha-1 for 0IF/1OF, 100IF/0OF, 75IF/25C, 75IF/25PM, 50IF/50CM, 50IF/50PM, 25IF/75CM, 25IF/75PM, 0IF/100CM, and 0IF/100PM, respectively, LSD0.05 = 0.57). Organic fertilizer, especially PM, improved the soil characteristics. In addition, the integrated nutrient package 25IF/75PM (27.5-15-25 N-P2O5-K2O ha-1 + 3.75 t ha-1 PM) gave a greater maize forage yield with good nutritive value.