African Scholar Journal of Agriculture and Agricultural Tech. (JAAT-8)
VOL. 14 NO. 8 ISSN: 2877-1990 MARCH 2019
Published by:
African Scholar Publications and Research International,
Centre for African Studies, University of Ibadan, PO Box 10108, U.I. Post Office, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria – West Africa.
Copyright © 2019 African Scholar Publications and Research International.
A Preliminary Survey of Fish Migration in Kainji Lake, Niger State, Nigeria
1Mshelia, M. B., 2Okaeme, A. N., 2Bankole, N. O. and 1Usman, A.
2National Institute for Freshwater Fisheries Research (NIFFR), PMB 6006, NEW BUSSA, 913003, Niger State, Nigeria 1Department of Fisheries, University of Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria
Abstract
A preliminary survey of fish migration was studied in Lake Kainji from the month of July to August, 2011. The aim was to establish the baseline for the beginning of scientific study of fish migration by experimental catching and marking or tagging fish in Lake Kainji. The result showed that a total of fourteen (14) families of fish were involve in migration. Citharinidae migrates along river course, Schilbeidae and Malapteruridae across water, Centropomidae migrates across water as well as along river. The families that migrates in shoreline, across water and along river course were Cichlidae, Clarridae, Bagridae and Cyprinidae. Distichodontidae, Mormyridae, Osteoglossidae and Polypteridae migrates along the shoreline only while Mochokidae migrates in the floodplain, shoreline, across water and along river course.
Key words: Fish migration, Tagging, Lake Kainji, Shoreline, Cichlidae, Survey
Assessment of Commercial production of Catfish (clarias gariepinus) in Saniz fish farm Tudun Yola, Gwale Kano State Nigeria
Azubuike Adams (Ph.D) and Abubakar Ibrahim (B.sc)
Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Nigeria Police Academy Wudil, Kano
Abstract
The study was carried out to assess the commercial production of Clarias gariepinus catfish in Saniz Fish Farms Tudun yola gwale, Kano State. It is critical for farmers and investors to understand how to calculate and interpret the profitability of aquaculture businesses. It is envisaged that a profitability model will become a valuable management tool to aquaculture farmers and investors and help facilitate a more market-driven production management. The information generated provided prospective and existing fish farmers with appropriate tools to determine the profitability of their farms and also help lending institutions better assess the viability of aquaculture projects and reduce the rate of failure in loan repayment. The study revealed that majority of the workers involved in catfish farming operations were males and most of the fish farmers’ age range was equally within the economically active age, which favored aquaculture development. The resources, costs and returns and other factors affecting fish production in the study area was examined. Data was collected from 2014-2018 production seasons through administration of a questionnaire to the fish farmer. Analysis of the data was done using descriptive statistics. The analysis revealed that land, water, labor and capital were the main resources employed in fish production. Despite the high profitability in fish production, The Saniz FishFarm practice identified lack of finance, lack of good market, pests and diseases, and water supply as the most important problems in fish production. With this high level of profitability in fish farming, it is recommended that there should be more research or studies on the commercial production of catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in Nigeria also, government should provide more infrastructural facilities that will reduce the cost of investment and provide a standardized law to regulate the price of fish seed and products in the market.
Keywords: Catfish, Production, Fish farm, Assessment, Fish seeds.
Effects of Vegetation Trend on Some Climatic Factors Variability in Kebbi State
1Oladipo, S. A., 2Yakubu, C. K., 3Olori Oke, O., 4Popoola, A. S., and 5Salisu, A. I.
1Department of Science Lab. Tech., P.M.B., 2019 Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. 2Horticulture & Landscape Tech Dept, P.M.B., 2019 Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. 3Pest Management Technology Dept., P.M.B., 2019 Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. 4,5Department of Forestry Technology, P.M.B., 2019 Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria.
Abstract
Effects of Vegetation Pattern on Some Climatic Factors Variability in Kebbi state, Nigeria were investigated. Both primary and secondary data were used to assess the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents, the vegetation trend, rainfall distribution, temperature distribution in the study area and correlation between vegetation trend and maximum temperature was determined using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Version 23.0). The study revealed that majority of the respondents is within the age bracket of 41-50 (42.1%) and 51-60 (42.1%). It was also observed that majority of the respondents are males (89.5%). Most of the respondents are PHD holders (47.4%) and are married (89.5%). Majority of the respondents have the family size of 0 – 5 (52.8%). This study revealed that; the vegetation in the study area is decreasing every year, the minimum and maximum temperature cannot be predicted as a result of their fluctuation pattern. This has been affecting rainfall pattern over the years due to the loss in vegetation. There was a significant negative association (-0.753 at p ‹ 0.01) between vegetation trend and maximum temperature. The result of the Pearson correlation coefficient test shows that there is a very strong relationship between vegetation trend and Maximum temperatures in the study area. The study therefore, recommended that awareness on tree planting should be intensified and policy on vegetation protection should be imple mented in the state for stable and sustainable environment.
Keywords: Climate Variability, Vegetation, Trend, Environment, Kebbi State.
Perception of People’s Towards Wildlife Resources Utilization in Taraba State
1Rikwentishe, F. 2Akosim, C. 3Alam, M.K.
1College Of Agriculture Jalingo Department Of Forestry 2Forestry Department Moddibo Adama University Of Technology Yola 3Department Of Agric-Extension And Management College Of Agriculture, Jalingo
Abstract
This study investigated the wildlife resources utilized, the pattern and level of utilization, factors affecting utilization and the attitude of respondents toward wildlife resources utilization in Taraba State. Structured questionnaires were administered on 337 respondents, using multi-stage and simple random sampling in the study area. results obtained indicated that 31 species of wild animals made up of 4 avian species, 5 reptilian species and 22 mammalian species were utilized in the study area. 70.35% of the respondents accepted bush meat as food, 89.86% of the respondents preferred bushmeat to domestic animals’ meat. 48.59%, 27.10%, 12.46%, 7.16% and 4.67% of the respondents utilized wildlife resources for food, medicine, metaphysics, decoration and others respectively. 91.00% of the respondents utilized wildlife resources for various purposes. The parts of wildlife species utilized included carcass (44.65%), skin (23.27%), horn (10.06%), dung (9.43%), skeleton (8.80%) and hair (3.77%). Age, occupation, religion, income level and educational level, significantly (P < 0.05%) affected wildlife utilization in the study area. 73.39% of the respondents did not support indiscriminate exploitation of wildlife resources in the study area. in view of high acceptability of bushmeat as food and the high level of utilization of wildlife resources for various purposes, it is recommended that government should encourage the people in the study area to embark on wildlife farming/captive breeding and game ranching. This will stem the pressure wildlife resources in the wild and guarantee sustainable utilization.
Keywords: Perception, Wildlife, Resource, Utilization.
Effect of heat stress on thermoregulatory, live bodyweight, physiological and blood indices of West African Dwarf goats exposed to different housing patterns
1Eyoh, G. D., 2Ayuk, A. A. 2Anya, M. I. & 2Ozung, P.O.
1Department of Animal Science, Akwa Ibom State University, Obio Akpa Campus, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. 2Department of Animal Science, University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of heat stress on the thermoregulatory, live bodyweight, physiological and blood indices of West African Dwarf goats exposed to five different housing patterns in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Twenty West African Dwarf goats aged between 8 and 9 months with average body weight of 8±0.31kg were used in this study. The goats were randomly assigned to five treatments, where each treatment represented the different housing patterns such as concrete house (T1CH), zinc house (T2ZH), mud house (T3MH), bamboo house (T4BH) and thatch house (T5TH) in a randomized complete block design with four goats per treatment. The results showed that the morning period was significantly (P<0.05) highest in relative humidity (58.67%) while the highest (P<0.05) ambient temperature (27.61oC) and temperature humidity index (76.15) were recorded in the afternoon. Final and change in live bodyweight (9.02 and 0.44kg) and serum calcium (6.5 mmol/L) were significantly (P<0.05) best in the bamboo house (T4BH), while packed cell volume (38.5%), haemoglobin (13.5g/dl), red blood cell count (12.5 × 1012/L) and white blood cell count (20.5 × 109/L) were significantly (P<0.05) highest in the zinc house (T2ZH) compared to other housing patterns. Rectal and skin temperature (42.08 and 40.92oC), respiratory rate (94.05 beats/min), serum albumin (7.0 g/dl) and potassium (3.8 mmol/L) were significantly highest (P<0.05) in goats raised in the zinc house (T2ZH). The study concluded that goats raised in the bamboo housing pattern were not affected by heat stress. The bamboo housing is hereby recommended for adoption by small ruminant farmers.
Key words: Housing patterns, heat stress, physiology, body weight
Farm Level Tree Planting in Maigatari Local Government Jigawa State Nigeria
*Rabiu Dahiru, *Mustapha Adam Abubakar, **Muhammad Ibrahim Hassan, ***Lawal Muhammad Adam and ***Bura Muhammad Ilallah
*Department of Horticulture and Landscape Technology, Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic, Hadejia PMB 013, Hadejia. **Department of Forestry Technology, Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic, Hadejia PMB 013, Hadejia. ***Department of Agricultural Technology, Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic, Hadejia PMB 013, Hadejia
Abstract
The low proportion of forested land and continuous degradation of existing forest cover are serious threats to the sustainability of forestry. The consequences of which have resulted to environmental degradation and accelerated wind and water erosion of the fertile land that can seriously affect sustainable agricultural production in Nigeria. Reforestation through small-scale village based farmers’ participation has been identified as a feasible solution. This study analyzed the factors that influences farm-level tree planting in Maigatari local government Jigawa State. Five (5) communities from amongst the communities in Maigatari LGA Jigawa state were randomly selected, 20 respondents/farmers from each of the communities were then randomly sampled. Data collected through structured questionnaires and interviews were analyzed using frequency distribution such as mean and percentage while chi-square test was used to establish the relationship between community participation (dependent variable) and socio-cultural, economic and environmental factors (independent variables). The results shows that majority (53%) of the respondents were above the youthful age, and most of them were male, only few (28%) of the respondents have no formal education whereas many (52%) possess either secondary (32%) or tertiary education. 82% of them have 1-10 persons in their household. The results indicated that only one factor significantly determined farmers’ intention to plant trees, which is their recognition of environmental consequences of deforestation. However, desertification was identified by most of the respondents as the major consequence of deforestation. One of the major factors that affect farmers’ decision for planting or not planting trees is the damage caused by animals and humans, especially during dry season when farmlands were left for grazing animals. Thus, this study recommends that government should ensure that factors which determine farmers’ reasons for planting or not planting trees were addressed for sustainable farm forestry.
Keywords: Farm level, Tree planting, Maigatari, Afforestation
Revealing the Potentials of Fish Marketing in Bauchi State, Nigeria
1Babuga, U.S, 2Garba, A. And 3Tafida M.
1Department of Agricultural Technology, The federal polytechnic, Bauchi, Nigeria. 2Department of Agricultural Extension and Management, Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic Hadejia, Jigawa State, Nigeria. 3Department of Agricultural Extension and Management, Federal College of Horticulture, Dadinkowa, Gombe State, Nigeria
Abstract
The study attempted to reveal the potentials of Fish marketing and identified the major constraints in Bauchi state, Nigeria. Information were collected from sixty respondents from the three markets identified in Bauchi metropolitan (Mude lawal, Wunti and Yalwa markets). Data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean and ranking.. The results of the study indicate that majority of the fish marketers were young adults of between the ages of 31 – 40 years. Mean household size was 5 persons per family. The study revealed that both male and female were involved in fish marketing activities. All the respondents have one form of education or the other. Fish marketing experience of 6 – 10 years. Majority of them (91.7%) were members of fish marketing cooperatives while only (8.3%) were non-members. However, the result further shows that only 8.3 % each of this respondents source capital from Agricultural or commercial banks. Therefore price variation is expected in the selected markets (Mude lawal, Wunti and Yalwa markets) respectively. Majority (61.7%) of the respondents saves between 21 – 40% of their income from fish marketing business every week. Mean savings was 36% in Bauchi state. The major constraints of the fish marketing in the study area were high cost of preservation (33.3%) due to epileptic power supply. Lack of finance and low patronage from customers accounted for (25.0%) of the respondents respectively. While low level of education (16.7%) of the total respondents as their major constraints. It is therefore recommended that financial institutions should consider small-scale business owners to assess loan without collateral security. Power supply should be improved in the study area.
Keywords: Revealing, Potentials, Fish, Marketing and Bauchi state
A Survey on Impact of Irrigation Farming on Rural Development in Makarfi Local Government Area, Kaduna State
Ibrahim HASSAN
Shehu Idris College of Health Sciences and Technology, Makarfi, Kaduna State
Abstract
This study surveyed the impact of irrigation farming on rural development in Makarfi Local Government Area, Kaduna State. Three (3) research objectives and questions guided the study. Descriptive survey method was employed and the population of the study was all the inhabitants of Makarfi Local Government Area, Kaduna state totalling one hundred and forty six thousand two hundred and fifty nine (146,259), while sample of four hundred (400) respondents comprising irrigation farmers, perishable good traders, students and civil servants selected through proportionate sampling technique. The instrument titled “ Survey on Impact of Irrigation Farming on Rural Development (SIMIFRAD)” questionnaire was used for data collection, which contained four (3) sections in relation to the study variables based on 4-point Likert scale. Cronbach alpha was used for the analysis of reliability and reliability coefficient of .91 (Section A); .82 (Section B); .89 (Section C) were obtained respectively. Mean and standard deviation were used to present the descriptive data and a mean of 2.5 and above was analyzed as agreed, while below 2.5 as disagreed. The study revealed that, irrigation farming contributes to employment opportunity and income generation by cutting down the rate of rural-urban migration, increasing per capita aggregate production, providing youths with income that they invest in businesses, increasing the demand for farm labour and use of hired labour, increasing farmers’ income regularly and agricultural productivity. irrigation farming contributes to poverty alleviation through reducing indebtedness among the people, helped families to enrol their children in both public/private schools, helped families to build their own houses, provided member with money to buy their children and wives good clothes and basic necessities, helped many youths to further their education in the home, increased families income for providing nutritious food in their homes, provided youths with income that enabled them to marry and take proper care of their families. Finally, it was found that, irrigation farming contributes to food security by increasing the availability of food items, reduced malnutrition among children, providing flexibility in decision-making with regards to food storage, improved the regular household supply of food items, enabled in-flow of people from different communities to buy food stuffs/ items as well as provide families with enough food commodities throughout the year in Makarfi Local Government Area, Kaduna state. Base on the findings, it was recommended that, Government, Commercial Banks and Development Partners should provide farmers with soft-loans in order to boost irrigation farming; Government at the Local Level should provide enough storage facilities for irrigation farmers, this will go a long way in achieving sustainable food security in Makarfi Local Government Area.
Keywords: Irrigation Farming, Poverty Alleviation, Employment Opportunity, Food Security and Rural Development
Profitability of poultry production in Kaduna state, Nigeria
Umar Tabari Yero & Kabir Haruna Danja (Ph.D)
Abstract
The study was conducted to investigate the profitability of poultry production in Kaduna state and 9 local governments were selected using stratified random sampling. Data was collected with the used of structured questionnaire from 166 poultry producers which consist of layers, broilers and pullet producers. Frequencies, percentages and net farm income were adopted in the analysis of data. The study was interested on total revenue and total cost of poultry production. The total cost comprises fixed and variable cost, total variable cost consists of day old chicks (doc), feeds, cost of vaccine, electricity and cost of labor. Fixed cost items include poultry house, cage, vehicle and other poultry production equipment. The profitability of layer producers in the study area was 6.15, broiler producers’ was 1.91 and pullet was 1.69 as revealed by the study. The study further revealed that variable cost took 99% of the total cost of poultry production in Kaduna state.
Keywords: Profitability, Poultry Production, Layer, Broiler and Pullet Production.
Performance Evaluation of Some Reference Evapotranspiration Models in Borno and Yobe States, Northeastern Nigeria
M. Dibal1, M. M. Harun2, and A.U. Bashir3,
1Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. 2Graduate Student, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria 3Senior Lecturer, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
Abstract
The performances of four reference evapotranspiration models were herein examined for their capacity to describe and compute the evapotranspiration of the semi-arid agro-ecological environment in two states of the north-eastern Nigeria, and for their suitability and applicability in the locations. The FAO – 56 Penman Monteith (PM) model was used as the standard model for the evaluation. The models studied were Blaney-Criddle (BC), Jensen-Haise (JH), Hargreaves-Samani (HS) and Thorntwaite (TW). Ten years monthly mean daily meteorological data (2002-2011 in Maiduguri, Borno state, and 2005-2014 in Potiskum, Yobe state) were used to evaluate the performances of the four ETo models in the selected sites. All the models were programmed in Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software packages to facilitate all computations. The evaluations were achieved using the statistical tools namely mean absolute error (MAE), mean bias error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE) and the Pearson correlation coefficient (r). All the models took a non-linear pattern in both the states due to variation in the magnitudes of the climatic variables through the months of the years. The Blaney-Criddle (BC) performed best in both locations when compared to PM with RMSE, MBE, MAE and r values of 0.770, 0.608, 0.608, 0.938, 0.813, 0.121 in Borno, and 0.699, 0.821 in Yobe states respectively. The TW model with RMSE, MBE, MAE and r values of 1.534, -1.295, 1.297, 0.738 and 2.224, -1.839, 1.839 and 0.426 for Borno and Yobe states respectively performed woefully in both locations. It was followed by the HS model. The BC model is thus found as the best fit for ETo estimation in both the states with high degree of confidence. While the TW and HS need to be calibrated if they must be used in computation of ET in these two states.
Keywords: Performance, Evaluation, Reference, Evapotranspiration, Models.
An Evaluation and Development of Packaging Local Rice in Nigeria (A Case Study of Bida, Niger State)
Orkuma, A. I., Attahiru Umar, Mamman, Z. N. And Winifred Wodu Tsado,
Department of Business Administration and Management Studies, Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru, Bida Campus
Abstract
Rice as a farm product has been a potential income generation crop for farmers in rural communities. A sample of 56 respondents, who are both from the farming sectors and rice milling sectors were selected from Badeggi community of Bida, Niger state. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire and personal interview. The data were analyzed using random selection method. The result also shows that government extension services contribute a lot to productivity, development and profitability of local rice. The study further revealed that local rice processors in the community make use of local and primitive equipment for their production process which leads to high cost of or with low quantity of quality output. It was discovered that farmers were willing to increase their production but were short of funds to acquire improved rice seedlings, machines and to adopt new method of processing rice. The study recommend that government through it various extension workers should continue to educate and support farmers, provide them with improved varieties of seedlings and also grant them loans to adopt modern methods of processing and packing and to assist in encouraging private sectors and individuals to invest more in agriculture especially local rice to boost it production.
Keywords: Rice, packaging, processing, workers, farmers, community, crop and Rural
Evaluating Health and Safety Hazards associated with Agriculture and construction in Nigeria & United Kingdom
Ibrahim Usman Kashim, Usman.B. Bello, Abubakar Isa.
Science and Laboratory Technology Department, Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Adamawa State Nigeria.
Abstract
This report was carried out in order to review environmental hazards associated with agriculture and construction in Nigeria and United Kingdom. It aims to identify two hazards that serve as challenge to agricultural and construction industries. In recent past, death tolls, permanent disability has been at increase as a result of building collapse and other operational accidents. This report explains the level of awareness of construction and agricultural industry operatives as compared to that of UK. Physiology of human body which revealed how significant these hazards affect and damage human body as regard to health and safety standards. Controls on how to manage these hazards were also given with their legislations. The last part of the report compares agricultural farming industry with other industries which revealed that other industries are more exposed to risk but agricultural industry is more at risk due lack of Health and Safety measures and supervision.
Keywords: Health and Safety, Legislations, Occupational Hazards, Health and Safety Executive, Overhead Power Lines.