International Journal of Agriculture and Biosciences

Soil characterization and classification is very important to enhance soil productivity and food sufficiency. Characterization and classification of soils in Mbaitolu was carried out. Profile pits were dug and studied; soil samples from genetics horizons were analytically examined. Result of the findings revealed that the textural composition of the soils ranged from loamy sand on surface and sandy clay loam on the subsurface soil. The soil pH varied from very strongly acidic to moderately acidic (5.4-5.6). The exchangeable cations: calcium and sodium showed very low in the crest, and moderate in midslope and inland valley. Potassium varied from very low (0.03 – 0.3 cmolkg-1) in the crest to moderate (0.10 – 0.24) in midslope to moderate (0.35 cmolkg-1) in inland valley. Magnesium varies from low (0.10 – 0.46 cmolkg-1) in crest, to moderate (0.48 – 1.06) in midslope and inland valley (1.0 – 1.9 cmolkg-1). Organic matter and total nitrogen decrease with depth. The percentage base saturation varied from low to moderate (14.20 to 45.8%). Based on their characteristics the soil of the crest and midslope were classified into the suborder of the USDA soil taxonomy as Typic paleudult (Dystric Nitisol, WRB) and soil of the inland valley grouped as Arenic Tropaquept (Gleyic Cambisol, WRB) because of the acquic moisture regime.

Keywords: Soils, Characterization and Classification

Agriculture is extremely vulnerable and exposed to climate changes as all the farming activities directly depend on climatic conditions. Agriculture production is sensitive to weather and thus directly affected by climate change. A study was carried out in district Charsadda of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to find out farmers’ perception about climate change effects on cropping pattern and their yields. Multi-Stage sampling method was used for the selection of four sampled villages i.e. Tarnab, Daggi, Taurangzai and Sholgara. Total 102 farmers were selected on the basis of proportional allocation technique from the four sampled villages. Primary data was collected through pre-tested and well-structured interview schedule. It is found that all the sampled respondents were well aware of changes occur in climate. Most of the farmers reported that there is change in the cropping season i.e., Rabi crops and Kharif crops whereas Rabi Crops were affected more. A change occurred in the dates of sowing and harvesting and yield has also decreased. Human activities are also involved in changing the climate, although construction of housing colonies on the agricultural land affects the climate. The impact of climate change is directly on the crop production. Rainfall also plays a vital role in the production of crops (yield). Results show that there is also change in the pattern of rainfall i.e. it decreased with the passage time in the study area. It is concluded that the yield is getting low which is the negative effect of climate change. There is decline in the underground drinking water which is because of population growth. It was also reported that agricultural extension department fails to provide services to the farmers. It is recommended to aware the public regarding the impact of climate change using mass media and to include climate change concept in the curriculum at school level. More over famers may also decrease multiple cropping on the agricultural land. Government should introduce modern machinery for the cultivation of crops, to take action for the reduction of underground water.

Keywords: Climate Change, Agricultural Extension, Farming Community and Crop Production

In order to evaluate the effects of the substrate on the resistance of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) to drought stress, an essay is carried in a greenhouse of Oran1 University at Algeria. Three types of substrates were introduced: Substrate 1 (sand), Substrate 2 (peat) and Substrate 3 (soil). Drought stress at 10% of field capacity (FC) was imposed at the vegetative stage from the 36th day after sowing in a simple randomized design for 56 days. The response to water stress is evaluated through water status, growth parameters (plant height, collar diameter, branching number, aerial and root dry biomass) as well as plant pod yield. The obtained results show that the substrate 2 allows a better resistance to water stress, the analyzed parameters were positively influenced by the contribution of the organic matter which plays not only a role in the slow and regular release of the mineral elements but also in the retention of the water.

Keywords: Substrate, Drought stress, Vicia faba L., Organic matter, Resistance, Yield

The current investigation was carried out at the Rift Valley area of Ethiopia, with the objective of to assess the effect of Gibberellic acid (GA3), leaf base thinning and canopy hedging on quality and yield traits of Thompson Seedless grapevine. The experiment includes ten treatments developed via factorial combination of five level of GA3 rate and two level of canopy management. The treatments were laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications.GA3 was sprayed when the cluster length 8-10cm before flowering and after fruit setting by splitting the proposed rate and hedging and leaf base thinning was done at the height of 45% length of shoots from the arm after flowering and the second was done by removing lateral growth one month after the first hedging. Mean separation was made using the LSD test at 5% level of probability. ANOVA showed that application of GA3 significantly increased berry length, berry diameter and berry weight and hedging and leaf base thinning also affect berry length. Total and normal number of berry per cluster was significantly affected by GA3 application. Hedging and leaf base thinning treatment only affect total number of berry per cluster. The highest yield (19.83kg vine-1) were recorded by the application of 90 mg GA3/cluster which had about 241.53% yield advantage over control.GA3 application influenced TSS content of the berry and pH was affected by main factors. Finally, 90 mg GA3/cluster without canopy management showed better economic return.

Keywords: Berry size, Canopy management, Cluster size, Number of berries, Quality

This study examined the effect of yam peel-cassava leaf meal diets on the blood profile and growth performance of Red Sokoto bucks. The experiment was carried out in the Faculty of Agriculture Research and Demonstration farm, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state. 9 Red Sokoto bucks were gotten from the school farm, weighed and apportioned to three treatments; T1, T2 and T3 in a completely randomized design (CRD). The experimental diets contained varying levels of yam peels and cassava leaf meal. T1 had 0% yam peel and 0% cassava leaf meal, T2 had 5% yam peel and 5% cassava leaf meal while T3 had 10% yam peel and 10% cassava leaf meal. The yam peels used during this experiment were gotten from household, food stands (‘bole’ stand) and the cassava leaves were harvested from bushes within the University of Port Harcourt premises. They were air dried on a concrete floor until they became crispy dry, milled and bagged while the other ingredients (wheat offal, palm kernel cake, brewers’ dried grain, soyabean meal, bone meal and common salt) were purchased from the market and used for diet formulation. The animals were taken out for grazing in the morning and fed the experimental diets afterwards till the following morning. Feed intake was calculated as feed served minus feed refusal. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were taken from the animals and taken to the laboratory for haematological and biochemical analyses. Results show that body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the treatments. They were 1.71kg, 0.32; 1.21kg, 0.53 and 2.13kg, 0.26 for T1, T2 and T3, respectively. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the platelet, total protein and albumin values of the bucks. T3 proved superior in terms of platelet (232.37x103/ul), total protein (69.33g/l) and albumin (42.33g/l) and it is therefore recommended for goat production.

Keywords: Albumin, Body weight gain, Feed conversion ratio, Platelet and Total protein

A study was conducted on six genotypes of roselle with diverse characteristics using diallel mating design to derive information on gene action, heritability and principal component analysis for calyx yield and its attributes. The six parents and their fifteen hybrids were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with three replications at three different locations and data were collected on eleven yield and its attributes. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among the parents and the hybrids for most of the characters studied. This indicates the presence of both additive and non-additive gene action. The estimates of variance components showed the GCA variances were lower than the SCA variances where the ratios were all showing less than unity. This suggest the dominant role of non-additive gene action in the expression of these traits. The broad sense heritability of all the traits including calyx yield and its attributes were relatively low except for plant height, branch length, and number of flowers per plant and fruit yield. This shows calyx yield and some of its components have comparatively wide range of genetic variability and therefore, it is only through mass selection that their improvement will be possible. Four principal components were identified with Eigen values of greater than one and contributing 65.49% of the cumulative variance with significant correlations with nine traits. However, four of the traits including, number of branches per plant, branch length, days to 50% flowering and number of seeds per pod that are in the first PC contributed maximum towards the whole diversity among the genotypes. Therefore, these traits can be used as selection indices in the improvement of calyx yield and its components in roselle.

Keywords: Gene Action, Heritability, PCA, roselle

Plants of Vicia faba (L.) were exposed to gradual salinity stress for four weeks. NaCl used to induce salinity was added in four concentrations (100, 200, 300 and 400 mM), so, gradual salinization was achieved by transferring the plants sequentially every week over all NaCl concentrations. The aim of this work is to determine the effect of salt stress on biometric, water status, biochemical and ion content characters of Vicia faba (L.). Application of salt treatments significantly increased glycine betaine, proline and soluble sugars content in leaves. The NaCl at high concentrations advantage osmoticum accumulation involved in osmotic adjustment mechanisms. Average water content of plants was not affected by salt stress. Chlorophyll a, b, total and carotenoids are declining during times of stress. The biosynthesis of chlorophyll pigments would be linked to the proline biosynthesis activity. Leaf K+/Na+ ratio records optimal results for plants treated with saline water. Results indicated that salinity caused plants lengths, fresh and dry weight significant reduction. The study showed that the salt has a depressive effect on growth.

Keywords: NaCl, sodium, Potassium, Osmoticum, Chlorophyll, Carotenoids, Growth

The study was conducted to determine the effect of Avocado (Persea americana) seed meal on organ weights and serum lipid levels of broiler chickens. The seeds were chopped with a kitchen knife into smaller sizes, soaked in cold water for 24hours, sundried for 7 days (4-5hours) and then ground into a fine powder. The meal was incorporated into broiler diet at 0%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% respectively. A total of one hundred and twenty day old chicks were divided into four groups (T1, T2, T3, T4) and each was fed the experimental diet for eight weeks in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) arrangement. Each group was replicated three times with ten birds per replicate. Data collected included the weights of the internal organs such as Liver, Heart, Gizzard and the Spleen, Serum lipid parameters such as TC, TG, HDL, LDL, CR, CL and HCO3. Data collected was subjected to One Way Analysis of Variance. Result showed that higher Liver, Heart, and Spleen weight was observed for birds fed with 1.5% Avocado seed meal than others. Gizzard recorded no significant different (P>0.05). There was no significant different (P>0.05) recorded in serum lipid levels except for Creatinine and Bicarbonate. Birds in the control group recorded higher values of creatinine than the birds in the dietary treatment groups. Higher HCO3 levels was recorded for birds fed with 1.0% Avocado seed meal.

Keywords: Serum Lipids, Organ weight and Avocado seed meal

In the present research, ficin is extracted from the fig tree latex of the species Ficus carica from its two varieties: Marseillaise and Dauphine. Enzymatic characterization’s is carried out according to: protein content, clotting time, milk clotting activities, proteolytic activity and specific activity essays. Then enzymatic activity is tested at different temperatures (40, 50, 60 and 70oC) and different pH levels (6.0, 7.0 and 8.0). Obtained results show that ficin extracted from the Marseillaise variety has a proteolytic activity of 1455, 09 U. Which is superior to that of the Dauphine variety: 1298, 23 U. However, ficin has a similar coagulating activity for the two varieties which is 1110 UAC. Optimum enzymatic activity of ficin is at 60°C for both varieties, at pH range of 7 to 8 for the Marseillaise variety and only at pH 7 for the Dauphine variety.

Keywords: Ficin, Ficus carica, Biochemical characterization’s, Marseillaise variety, Dauphine variety

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.var. durum) is one of the major cereal crop produced in East Shewa Zone, Oromia Regional state for the purpose of both home consumption and market. However, its grain quality is low due to low availability of soil nutrients. Therefore, field experiment was carried out in 2017-2018 cropping season to assess the effect of blended NPSB and N fertilizer rates on grain quality of durum wheat. The treatments consisted of four levels of blended (0, 50, 100, and 150 kg NPSB ha-1) and five levels of nitrogen (0, 46, 69, 92 and 115 kg N ha-1) fertilizers. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement and replicated three times per treatment. Analysis of the results revealed that grain protein content (GPC) and hectoliter weight (HIW) were highly significantly (P<0.01) affected only by the main effect of N. The highest GPC (13.6%) was recorded at the highest rate of nitrogen (115 kg N ha-1). However, the maximum HLW (79.07 kg hl-1) were obtained at the rate of 69 kg N ha-1. On the other hand, wet gluten (WG), dry gluten (DG) and gluten index (GI) were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the interaction effect of blended NPSB and nitrogen fertilizers. The highest WG (41.8%) and DG (8.3%) were recorded at combined application of 150 kg blended NPSB with 115 kg N ha-1. However, acceptable wet and dry gluten contents were observed in plots treated with 69 kg N ha-1 for all levels of blended NPSB except at nil rate of NPSB application, and increasing N beyond 69 kg ha-1 appeared not to affect significantly in these parameters at NPSB levels of 50,100, and 150 kg ha-1 application while the maximum GI (86.97) was recorded at application of 50 kg blended NPSB combined with 92 kg N ha-1. Therefore, it could be concluded that application of blended NPSB with supplement of N ha-1 fertilizer were positive response with some quality traits of durum wheat.

Keywords: Blended, Durum wheat, Gluten index, Hectoliter weight, Nitrogen