ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of frequency of semen collection and management systems on semen quality, fertility and hatchability of local turkeys in the humid tropics. A total of 72 local Nigerian turkeys comprising 24 males and 48 females were used for the study at 36 weeks of age with average body weight of 9kg for the males and 4kg for the females. The males were randomly divided into two groups (1 and 2) with 12 males in each group. Group 1 males were i...
ABSTRACT The study analysed the effects of off-farm work on technical efficiency and production risks among rice farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria. Ninety respondents were selected using multistage sampling technique. Data for the study were collected by the use of well structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and stochastic production frontier model were used to analyse the data. Results showed that the two groups of rice farmers had similar socioeconomic characteristics. Technical eff...
ABSTRACT Promiscuous (naturally nodulating) IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) soybean (Glycine max (L) Merrill) varieties and elite varieties of maize (Zea mays L.) were evaluated in four experiments between 2007 and 2009, for their growth and yield responses to an area without history of soybean cultivation, some soil fertility management options and for soybean fertilizer replacement value (FRV) to companion and subsequent non-legume maize crop. These experiments were c...
ABSTRACT A two –year (2004/2005) field investigation was carried out on the runoff plots at the University of Nigeria Nsukka farm, to monitor the effects of cover management practices on physical properties, runoff and soil loss in Nkpologu sandy loam soil. The management practices were barefallow (BF), cocoyam (CY) sorghum (SG), legume (CP) and grass (PM), under no-till practice. There was no change in soil texture due to treatments. The treatments generally increased soil organic matter c...
ABSTRACT The present study was carried out to evaluate genetically the growth performance of the Gudali and Wakwa beef cattle. Data utilized for this study was obtained from the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IARD), Wakwa Station, Cameroon. The data used consisted of pedigree information of 3788 animals and 2276 performance records for the Gudali and Wakwa cattle respectively, ranging from birth to 36-months weight collected from 1968 and 1988. The data were collected fro...
ABSTRACT A study was carried out at the Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture Experimental Farm, University of Nigeria, Nsukka to: (i) evaluate the growth and yield of four improved cassava varieties, (ii) determine optimum NPK fertilizer rate for increased productivity and (iii) determine the best mode of fertilizer application for increased productivity. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Four varieties of cassava; TMS 01-...
ABSTRACT Twenty-four weaner pigs were used in a study to evaluate the response of weaner and grower pigs to diets containing graded levels of toasted soybean hull (SBH).In experiment 1(growing phase), twenty-four male hybrid (large white x landrace) weaner pigs, about 6 weeks old, weighing 5.92-6.85kg were randomly divided into four groups of six pigs each using a completely randomized design (CRD). Each group was randomly assigned to one of the four diets (1, 2, 3 and 4) containing 0% (contr...
ABSTRACT With the aid of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Satellite Aerial Photo, a comparative characterization and mapping of soil gully erosion features on two geological formations were carried out in Nsukka area of eastern Nigeria. The two geological formations were Ajali and Mamu formations. The study involved the use of base map created using a Geographic Information System (GIS) (GPS Track Marker) and Satellite Photo downloaded from the internet using the same GIS (GPS Track Marker...
ABSTRACT This study sought to determine the adoption and disadoption of sweetpotato production and processing technologies by farmers in the South-east zone of Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: determine the level of awareness of the sweetpotato production and processing technologies among farmers in the zone; determine the extent of adoption and disadoption of the sweetpotato production and processing technologies by farmers in the zone; examine the determinants of adoption and disad...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to analyze the effects of policy on the development of Agro-based micro-enterprises in the informal sector of Bayelsa State of Nigeria. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 150 microenterprises that were randomly selected. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression, Access model and the t- statistics were employed for data analysis. Among the major findings were that the agricultural micro-enterprises span the entire agricultural sector o...
Abstract This study examined the impact of fertilizer policy on crop production. The various trends in fertilizer policy reform were explored. Specifically, the fertilizer policy was studied under two policy regimes: the pre-liberalization and the liberalization periods. The first period is between 1986 and 1996, which otherwise constituted the preliberalization era while the years between 1997 and 2006 make up the second period, otherwise called the liberalization era. Secondary data on the ...
Abstract Micro-credit has been identified as a sustainable and effective poverty reduction strategy that can be employed to reallocate resources to the rural active poor. The livelihood of rural dwellers is usually characterized by low potentials. It is however believed that their access to micro – credit may improve their livelihood outcomes such as income, well-being, reduced vulnerability, food security, access to social amenities, economic expansion and employment. Also, it brings addit...
ABSTRACT A 16-week study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary protein and energy levels on the growth performance of African giant land snail (Achatina achatina). Two hundred and forty eight weeks old African giant land snails were used for the study. The snails were randomly divided into 16 groups of 15 snails each. The groups were randomly assigned to 16 diets in a 4 x 4 factorial arrangement involving four levels ((18%, 20%, 22%, and 24%) of protein and four energy levels (2....
ABSTRACT The study analyzed the performance of watermelon marketing in Enugu state, Nigeria. Watermelon has long been regarded as a minor crop in Nigeria and thus, has attracted little marketing research attention, in comparison to other major food and cash crops. The specific objectives were to: describe the socio-economic characteristics of watermelon marketers (wholesalers and retailers); describe the marketing channels of watermelon; examine the structure and conducts of watermelon market...
ABSTRACT This study examined access to formal credit by farmers’ co-operatives in Enugu State. The specific objectives were to: (i) ascertain the institutional credit guidelines which affected access to formal credit by farmers’ co-operatives in Enugu State, (ii) describe the patterns of access to credit, (iii) ascertain the extent of access to formal credit by the respondents, (iv) ascertain the factors which determined access to formal credit, (v) examine the respondents’ perceptions ...