Thirty-one accessions of cowpea of diverse eco-geographic origins were evaluated for genetic diversity using principal component analysis (PCA), single linkage cluster analysis (SLCA) and canonical techniques. The accessions were classified into six groups by PCA and SLCA while canonical technique identified five vector groups. There was no relationship between the clustering pattern and eco-geographic distribution. PCA and canonical techniques can be jointly used in multivariate analysis as ...
BSTRACT A field experiment was conducted at the Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan to asses the effect of four levels of poultry manure on yield and post – harvest quality of celosia argentina. The levels of poultry manure used were 0, 10, 30 and 50t/ha. The growth and yield parameters measured were plant height, number of leaves, number of branches, fresh weight and total yield. The post harvest parameters were measured under three storage conditions i.e Ambient (25 – 270c) Eva...
ABSTRACT In Nigeria farmers apply fertilizers arbitrarily without considering the resultant effect on soil and the postharvest quality of crops. This study was therefore designed to investigate the effects of NPK fertilizer 20:10:10 on the postharvest quality of okra fruit (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moen). Okra seeds NHE-47 were sown in the field at the National Institute of Horticultural Research (NIHORT), Idi-Ishin, Ibadan, Nigeria at a spacing of 50 cm x 25 cm. The fertilizer NPK 20-10-10 ...
Abstract: A two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of nitrogen (0, 30, 60, and 120 kg N ha-1) and phosphorus (0, 30, and 60 kg P2O5 ha-1) application on grain yield and yield components of five New Rice for Africa (NERICA) cultivars, their parents, and a check on a degraded soil in the moist savanna of Nigeria. Nerica 14 recorded the highest grain yield of 1.3 mg ha-1compared to the other NERICA cultivars. It also produced significantly (P < 0.05) longer panicles (1...
ABSTRACT The study examined post harvest handling methods of pepper fruit and constrains faced by handlers. Multistage sampling technique was used to select respondents. Five markets were purposively selective in Ibadan, Oyo State. Namely Sasa, Bodija, Erunmu, Station and Odo-Ori where 20 respondents each were randomly selected. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from the respondents. Data were analysed using frequency distribution. The Pepper fruit marketers mean a...
ABSTRACT Research was conducted at Federal College of Agriculture, Akure between March to August 2010 and 2011 to evaluate the effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on growth and yield of pepper fruits. Pepper fruit (Capsicum frutescens) Long Cayenne was procured at the seed section of department of Agronomy University of Ibadan and raised for six weeks in the green house before transplanting to the field at a spacing of 70 cm x 50 cm inter and intra row spacing respect...
A field experiment was conducted to investigate the comparative effects of organic and inorganic soil amendments on growth and performance of plantain (Musa paradisiaca). The experiment was established in March 2011 and repeated in February 2012. The treatments consisted of nine soil amendments (NPK sole, Jatropha sole, palm kernel cake (PKC) residue sole, Sunshine organo-mineral sole, NPK + Jatropha husk 50:50, Sunshine organo-mineral + Jatropha husk 50:50, PKC residue + NPK 50:50, PKC resid...
ABSTRACT Improvement of the domestic chicken has dominated efforts of indigenous breeders in recent times. Three hundred and fifty seven (357) Fulani ecotype chickens in Osun State were surveyed and assessed for their phenotypic and productive characteristics. Plumage pattern, thigh and shank colour, mature weight (kg), comb size, wattle size, breast length, breast width, leg length (all in cm); egg weight (gm) and clutch size were examined. Plumage pattern was more heterogeneous iI1 hens, w...
Abstract: A total of forty (40) growing rabbits with an average initial weight of 921.5g were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments containing 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% palm kernel cake as replacement for soyabean cake respectively. All diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous (20% CP). The final live weights of the rabbits were higher in the control diet compared to those on palm kernel cake diets. With the exception of the rabbits placed on 40% level of palm kernel cake daily feed inta...
Abstract A study was conducted at the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Shika, Zaria, Nigeria to access some semen quality characteristics and to determine the effect of mating ratio on fertility and hatchability of Hubbard broiler breeders. 20 cocks were examined for semen quality characteristics. Parameters evaluated were: ejaculate volume, semen pH, sperm concentration and sperm motility. Sequel to semen quality evaluation, hens were divided into three groups according ...
ABSTRACT Fifteen days prior to parturition, studies was conducted using sixteen West African dwarf (WAD) ewes weighing between 22.80 and 26.03kg on a basal diet of Panicum maximum were allotted into 4 treatment groups A, B, C and D of 4 replicates each. The MSL replaced Wheat bran (WB) gravimetrically at 0, 15, 30 and 45%. Treatment A served as control, while animals in treatments B, C and D received Mexican sunflower leaf (MSL) at 15, 30 and 45% respectively. The experiment lasted for one we...
ABSTRACT Agricultural activities have been identified as the most common causes of land transformation. Such transformation results in changes in ecological features, such as weed flora succession. It is in view of this that a work is carried out to evaluate the effect of land clearing and tillage methods on weed incidence under maize - cassava intercropping system. The experiment was carried out at the International Board for Soil Research and Management experimental site, Epemakinde Nigeria...
Improvement of the domestic chicken has dominated the effort of indigenous breeders in Nigeria in recent times. Three hundred and fifty-seven (357) Fulani ecotype chickens were surveyed and assessed for their phenotypic and productive characteristics in Osun State, Nigeria. Mature weight (kg), comb size, wattle size, breast length, breast width, leg length (all in cm); egg weight (gm), clutch size were examined and classified. A higher level of variability was revealed in comb size, wattle si...
ABSTRACT Genotype sensitivity as a change in the relative performance of a genotype in the presence of two or more environments could be an important factor in the breeding of exotic birds in the tropics. Farm records covering 10 years (1999 - 2008) were employed to study the effect of seasons on genotype sensitivity and their usability for selection in the breeding of exotic Parent stock chickens of Bovan and ISA origins in South-West Nigeria. Cock weight, hen weight, Hen-day production, egg...
Abstract: Seasons play an important role in the performance of breeder chickens, but lack of adequate records on its specific effects in specific seasons could influence the efforts of breeders to improve on local ecotypes of chicken for standardization into breeds. This is why Nigeria still depends mainly on imported breeds of chicken for commercial production of chicken. In this study, the influence of Early Wet (EW), Late Wet (LW) and Early Dry (ED) and Late Dry (LD) seasons on reproductiv...