Agriculture

Agriculture Research Papers/Topics

DETERMINANTS OF CROP ENTERPRISE DIVERSIFICATION AMONG SMALL HOLDER FARMERS IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA.

ABSTRACT The study analysed the determinants of crop enterprise diversification among smallholder crop farmers in Delta State. Specifically, it sought to ascertain the socioeconomic characteristics of respondent, the determinants of crop enterprise diversification among the smallholder crop farmers, the intensity of crop enterprise diversification, the different crop combinations, the reasons for participating in crop enterprise diversification, the likely benefits of participating in crop e...

Effect of dietary supplementation of inulin and vitamin C on the growth, hematology, innate immunity, and resistance of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

The in vivo activities of inulin and ascorbic acid were evaluated experimentally via using 450 Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) that were distributed into 3 equal groups (each of three replicates). Fish of the first group served as a control and received a balanced diet free from inulin and vitamin C. The second fed on balanced diet supplemented with inulin (5 g kg1), whereas, the third one received a balanced diet supplemented with vitamin C (500 mg kg1). The survival and growth perf...

Effect of Garlic, Echinacea, Organic Green and Vet-Yeast on Survival, Weight Gain, and Bacterial Challenge of Overwintered Nile Tilapia Fry (Orechromis niloticus)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of some immunostimulants and probiotics on the survival rate, final weight, and disease resistance of overwintered tilapia fry. There were five treatments: T1 (control) fed a balanced diet (35% protein) without additives. Treatments 2 to 5 were fed diets supplemented with 4% garlic, 4 g/kg Echinacea, 4 g/kg Organic Green or 4 g/kg Vet-Yeast, respectively. Growth and resistance to disease challenge with Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudom...

Effect of probiotics on the survival, growth and challenge infection in Tilapia nilotica (Oreochromis niloticus)

This study was conducted in order to evaluate the potential bene¢t of Bacillus pumilus and a commercial product (‘Organic Green’TM) as a probiotic in the culture of the tilapia nilotica. Two doses of B. pumilus (106 and 1012 g1 diet fed) and Organic GreenTM (1 and 2 g kg1 diet fed) were used as feed additives and administered for periods of 1 (groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively) and 2 (groups 6, 7, 8 and 9 respectively) months; group 1 served as a control. Each group consisted of...

Characterization of Some Bacteria Isolated from Oreochromis niloticus and their Potential Use as Probiotics

A total of one thousand Oreochromis niloticus held in earthen ponds of the WorldFish Center were used in this study. Forty of these were randomly collected from the ponds and subjected to bacteriological and pathological examination where a variety of 80 bacteria were isolated. Among those 15 bacterial isolates were examined for their probiotic activity through studies performed in vitro and in vivo. Aeromonas hydrophila, Citrobacter freundii, Pseudomonas species and two Gram-positive isola...

Effect of garlic, black seed and Biogen as immunostimulants on the growth and survival of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Teleostei: Cichlidae), and their response to artificial infectio

Three dosage levels of black seed, garlic and commercial Biogen were administered for three months in summer and six months in winter to test their stimulation effect on growth, survival and response to challenge infection in Oreochromis niloticus. At the end of summer, no significant difference was observed in the growth performance of O. niloticus with most treatments, but the level of non-specific mortalities was reduced in all treatment groups compared to the control group. Significant...

Studies on Bacillus subtilis and Lactobacillus acidophilus, as potential probiotics, on the immune response and resistance of Tilapia nilotica (Oreochromis niloticus) to challenge infections

The probiotic activity of two bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Lactobacillus acidophilus) was evaluated by its effect on the immune response of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), beside its protective effect against challenge infections. Furthermore, their in-vitro inhibitory activity was evaluated. The in-vitro antimicrobial assay showed that Bacillus subtilis and Lactobacillus acidophilus inhibited the growth of A. hydrophila. The B. subtilis inhibited the development of P. fluorescen...

Effect of dietary supplementation of some immunostimulants on growth performance, profitability and disease resistance of Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) fries reared in hapa-in-pond system under

To evaluate the effect of some immunostimulants on growth performance parameters, survival rate and diseases resistance of Nile tilapia fry reared under different stocking densities, a total number of 2250 Oreochromis niloticus fries (0.3 ±0.05 g) were stocked at (2, 4, and 6 fry/m3) and provided with dietary supplementation of (Garlic 40 g/kg, purpurea extract 4 g/kg, Organic GreenTM 4 g/kg and Vet-YeastTM 4 g/kg of the diet) for a five-month period. The obtained results indicated that, sto...

Trials to improve the response of Orechromis niloticus to Aeromonas hydrophila vaccine using immunostimulants (garlic, Echinacea) and probiotics (Organic GreenTM and Vet-YeastTM)

This work aimed to investigate the role of some immunostimulants and probiotics in improving the response of overwintered tilapia to Aeromonas hydrophila vaccine. In this study, 15000 Nile tilapia fry (Orechromis niloticus) were collected and divided into five groups. Group 1 was the control, groups 2 to 5 were fed diet supplemented with garlic, Echinacea, Organic GreenTM and Vet-YeastTM respectively for 5 months. Vaccination with A. hydrophila bacteria was done by the end of the feeding e...

Detection of Tilapia Lake Virus in Egyptian fish farms experiencing high mortalities in 2015

Our aim was to detect potential pathogens in diseased tilapia that might account for the high summer mortalities observed in Egyptian fish farms. To this end, diseased fish were examined from eight farms in different areas of the Nile delta. Here, we report the detection of Aeromonas species and, for the first time, the presence of TiLV in Egyptian tilapia aquaculture.

Identification of Tilapia Lake Virus in Egypt in Nile tilapia affected by ‘summer mortality’ syndrome

Egyptian fish farms have faced unexplained mortality of tilapia during the summer months in recent years. Epidemiological surveys indicated that 37% of fish farmswere affected in 2015with an averagemortality rate of 9.2% and a potential economic impact of around US$ 100 million. Despite a number of researchers and organizations investigating potential causes results so far have been inconclusive. Meanwhile recent reports emerged of the presence of a new orthomyxovirus, Tilapia Lake Virus ...

Diurnal visitation of flowers of cowpea by insect pollinators with emphasis on the Western honeybee, Apis mellifera, in Bauchi, Nigeria

In order to study the diurnal visitation of flowers of cowpea by insect pollinators, the number of open flowers of cowpea and the kind and number of insects visiting the flowers were recorded for a period of 5 minutes and at intervals of 1 hour from sunrise to sunset in a quadrat of 1 m² placed randomly on a cowpea farm. Cowpea flowers were observed to open from 6:00 hour to 13:00 hour, daily. A total of 388 open flowers and 256 insect visitors were recorded during the 7-day period of the st...

Micronutrient Availability in Alternative Foods During Agricultural Catastrophes

Several catastrophes could block the sun, including asteroid/comet impact, super volcanic eruption, and nuclear war with the burning of cities (nuclear winter). Previous work has analyzed alternate food supplies (e.g., mushrooms growing on dead trees, bacteria growing on natural gas). This was shown to be technically capable of feeding everyone with macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and lipids) and minerals, although economics and politics remain uncertain. The present work analyzes vit...

Strengthening Farmer Adaptive Capacity through Farms of the Future Approach in Wester Kenya

hrough the farms of the future (FotF) approach, the CCAFS climate analogue tool can be used to connect farmers to their possible future climates through farmer-to-farmer learning exchanges. In East Africa, this has already been piloted in Lushoto, Tanzania (Nelson et al. 2012), and recently implemented in Nyando, Kenya. The Farms of the Future approach focusses on two main objectives: First, to build on farmer-to-farmer exchanges to analogue sites as a valuable option to improve adaptive cap...

Adoption and Dissemination Pathways for Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies and Practices for Climate-Resilient Livelihoods in Lushoto, Northeast Tanzania

Smallholder farmers in East Africa need information and knowledge on appropriate climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, technologies, and institutional innovations in order to effectively adapt to changing climatic conditions and cope with climate variability. This paper assesses farmer adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and innovation after being exposed to Farms of the Future Approach (FotF). First; we explore and assess the various CSA technologies and practices; includin...


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