Weed Control Efficiency of Management Practices of Lowland Paddy Production in Sudan Savanna Ecology

Two concurrent experiments were conducted during the wet season of 2012 and 2013 at research farms of the Irrigation Research Stations of Institute for Agricultural Research (I.A.R), Ahmadu Bello University, Talata Mafara (12o 34’ N; 06o 04’E) and Kadawa (11o39`N; 08o02’E ) in the Sudan Savanna ecological zone of Nigeria to assess the efficiency of rice production practices in controlling weeds in rice. The treatment consisted of four (4) weed management practice (Oxadiazon at 1.0 kg a.i ha-1 [pre-emergence], orizo-plus [propanil 360 g/l + 2,4-D 200 g/l] at 2.8 kg a.i ha-1 [post emergence at 3 WAS], manual weeding [at 3 and 6 WAS] and weedy check [control]); three (3) each of seeding method (Drilling, Dibbling and Broadcast) and seed rate (40 kg ha-1; 70 kg ha-1; 100 kg ha-1). The experiment was laid in a split plot design replicated three times. Weed management practice was assigned to the main plots while the combination of seeding method and seed rate to the subplots. The result indicated that weedy check was consistent in recording the highest weed growth in terms of weed dry weight and weed cover score. Manual weeding at 3 and 6 WAS was significantly more efficient in controlling the weeds followed by oxadiazon at 1.0 kg a.i ha-1 then orizoplus at 2.8 kg a.i ha-1. Broadcast method of seeding recorded significantly lower values for weed control efficiency and weed growth when compared with drilling and dibbling seeding methods at both locations and years of study. A higher than 40 kg ha-1seed  rate increased weed suppression by decreasing weed dry weight indicating better weed suppression. Keywords: Weed control efficiency, weed dry weight, lowland padd

Level of heavy metals in soil and some vegetables irrigated with industrial waste water around Sharada Industrial Area, Kano, Nigeria

The level of some heavy metals in soil and plant samples from Sharada Industrial Area was analyzed. Plants absorb contaminants through root systems and store them in the root biomass and/or transport them to the stem and/or leaves. The waste water generated by industries was used to irrigate plants; onion (Alium cepa), lettuce (Lactuca sativa), okra (Hibiscus esculentus), Drumstick (Moringa oleifera) and carrot (Daucus carota) which are consumed locally. The level of heavy metals in these plants differs with plant species. Level of lead (Pb) ranged from 10.21±0.20-17.14±0.10μg/g in okra and onion respectively, and the level in soil was found to be 28.00±2.00μg/g. The level of heavy metal was higher in soil than in plants studied. Accumulation of heavy metals varied from plant to plant. The soil levels of copper (Cu) was found to be 9.00±2.00 μg/g with onion having the highest value (8.00±0.10 μg/g) compared to other plants. The uptake of cobalt (Co) by plants varies with plant species. Moringa oleifera had highest concentration of cobalt (14.00±8.00μg/g) and onion had the least concentration of Co (5.00±2.00μg/g). The high values of these metals might be attributed to the use of untreated effluents from industries by farmers for the irrigation of these plants. Thus, the high values of these metals in the plant samples could put the consumers of these vegetables at health risk, since the levels of these metals in plants and soil samples are all above WHO permissible limits.Keywords: Accumulation, Heavy metals, Irrigation, Industrial effluents, Vegetable

Epidemiology and control of soil transmitted helminthiasis and giardiasis in Nigeria- a review

Background: Nigeria is the country with the largest population in Africa. Helminthiasis and giardiasis are endemic in Nigeria, due to poor environmental sanitation, pollution, and contamination of water and soil. However, parasitic infections in Nigeria are not only due to the large number of its population, but also due to its geographic nature which is apt for easy parasitic development and individuals infected are children and they attributed this to the fact that children are very careless of the risk associated with playing in contaminated environments and eating indiscriminately with unwashed hands. Objective: To review the epidemiology of soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) and giardiasis in Nigeria and feasible control measures. Methodology: A wide-ranging search of electronic bibliographic databases was performed on the epidemiology and control of soil-transmitted helminthiasis and giardiasis in Nigeria. Twenty three full-length articles were studied comprehensively in order to gather up the information on epidemiology of giardiasis and STHs in Nigeria. Result: the occurrence of STH due to the triad of Ascaris lumbricoides, Hookworm and Trichuris trichiura was observed. The paper also showed that the highest and lowest prevalences of helminthiasis are 89.66% and 9.1% while that of giardiasis are 41.45% and 3.10% respectively. Conclusion: This suggests that soil-transmitted helminthiasis and giardiasis are still endemic in Nigeria and majority of those affected are children younger than 10 years living in rural areas and urban slums

Pyrethroid resistance in the Sudan Savannah Region in Nigeria: a study of the resistance profile and resistance mechanism of Anopheles populations from Hadejia Town in Jigawa State

Insecticide-based control measures are key strategies against malaria vectors, and pyrethroid is the only recommended class of insecticide for public health use. The work aimed at determining the pyrethroid resistance in Anopheline mosquitoes and the frequency of the knockdown resistance (kdr) gene determinant. Larval samples were collected from two sites in Hadejia Town, Jigawa State in April 2020 and November/December 2020, and reared to adulthood in Bayero University Kano Biochemistry's insectary. Samples were identified by morphological and molecular techniques. Three to five-day-old adult mosquitoes were exposed to standard concentrations of 0.75% permethrin and 0.05% deltamethrin according to WHO criteria. Kdr mutations were investigated using PCR. Results of morphological identification showed an abundance (100%) of the Anopheles gambiae complex. However, molecular identification showed varying percentages of An. gambiae s.s (15% and 35%), An. coluzzii (80% and 45%), and An. arabiensis (5% and 20%) each for agricultural and industrial sites, respectively. The result also revealed relatively higher KT50 and KT50 in the agricultural site and was relatively higher with permethrin based on the KT50. Higher insecticide resistance of Anopheles mosquitoes observed in the agricultural site suggests that the practice may affect resistance development. The frequency of negative (homozygous) L1014F kdr mutation genotype was 70% in the resistant (alive) mosquito population and 50% in the susceptible (dead) mosquito population. The frequency of kdr mutation for agricultural and industrial sites was 35% and 15%, respectively. This finding suggests that the kdr gene determinant may not be the only mechanism involved in the resistance of the Anopheline mosquito to pyrethroid

Patterns of Street-Begging, Support Services and Vocational Aspirations of People Living With Disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria

This study investigated patterns of street-begging, support services and vocational aspirations of people living with disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria. The research design adopted for this study was descriptive survey design. Purposive random and stratified sampling techniques were used in selecting street-beggars living with disabilities. The target population of this study was all street beggars living with disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria. A total 131 male and female street-beggars including both young and old who are blind, hearing impaired (deaf), crippled, intellectually disabled, emotionally disabled etc were randomly selected from Ilorin, Nigeria. The results revealed that the street-begging among people living with disabilities occurred mostly at the entrance of stores, super markets and petrol stations, while the support services were derived from the family, and friends. It was recommended among others that in order to eradicate the incidence of street-begging in Nigeria, rehabilitation and vocational training centers should be established across 774 Local Governments Areas in Nigeria. It was also recommended among others, that street-begging should be banned in Nigeria

A Fuzzy Classifier-Based Penetration Testing for Web Applications

The biggest challenge of Web application is the inestimable losses arising from security flaws. Two approaches were advanced by a number of scholars to provide security to Web space. One of such approach is vulnerability assessment, which is a conscious effort to isolate, identify and recognize potentials vulnerabilities exploited by attackers. The second being the estimation and determination of level of risks/threats posed to Web applications by vul- nerabilities obvious to the developer (or tester); this is generally referred to as penetration testing. Recently, there is Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) that combined these two schemes to improve safety and effec- tively combat the menace of attackers on Web applications. This paper proposed Fuzzy Classifier-based Vulnerability and Assessment Testing (FCVAPT) model to provide security for sensitive data/information in Web applications. Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) injections were selected for evaluation of proposed FCVAPT model. FCVAPT model’s classification performance for MSE, MAPE and RMSE were 33.33, 14.81% and 5.77% respectively. FCVAPT is considerably effective for detecting vulnerability and ascertaining the nature of threats/risks available to Web applications

A Fuzzy Classifier-Based Penetration Testing for Web Applications

The biggest challenge of Web application is the inestimable losses arising from security flaws. Two approaches were advanced by a number of scholars to provide security to Web space. One of such approach is vulnerability assessment, which is a conscious effort to isolate, identify and recognize potentials vulnerabilities exploited by attackers. The second being the estimation and determination of level of risks/threats posed to Web applications by vul- nerabilities obvious to the developer (or tester); this is generally referred to as penetration testing. Recently, there is Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) that combined these two schemes to improve safety and effec- tively combat the menace of attackers on Web applications. This paper proposed Fuzzy Classifier-based Vulnerability and Assessment Testing (FCVAPT) model to provide security for sensitive data/information in Web applications. Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) injections were selected for evaluation of proposed FCVAPT model. FCVAPT model’s classification performance for MSE, MAPE and RMSE were 33.33, 14.81% and 5.77% respectively. FCVAPT is considerably effective for detecting vulnerability and ascertaining the nature of threats/risks available to Web applications

Influence of Cultivar and Sokoto Phosphate Rock Levels on the Yield and Yield Components of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in Dry Sub-Humid Sokoto Area, Nigeria

Locally and easily available rock phosphate could be a sustainable source of phosphorus for legumes production in this region, where, phosphorus deficiency is one of the major problems to crop production. As such, field experiments were conducted during 2007 and 2008 rainy seasons at the Dry land Teaching and Research Farm of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto to study the effect of cultivar and Sokoto phosphate rock (SPR) on the performance of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in the semi-arid zone of Nigeria. Treatments consisted of factorial combination of two groundnut cultivars (Ex-Dakar and RMP-12) and four levels of Sokoto phosphate rock (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg ha-1) laid out in a randomized complete block design replicated three times. Results revealed that pods per plant, pod yield, kernel yield, shelling percentage and harvest index were higher in Ex-Dakar. Also, results obtained revealed no significant effect of SRP on the performance of the parameters observed. Thus, from the findings of this research it could be concluded that Ex-Dakar cultivar could be planted for increased groundnut production in the area. Groundnut cultivars under study did not respond to Sokoto rock phosphate application in the semi-arid zone

Effect of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Borreria verticillata Species of Sudano-Sahelian Savanna on CCl4 Induced Hepatotoxicity

Preliminary phytochemical screening of Borreria verticillata species of Sudano-Sahelian savanna and the effect of aqueous leaf extract of the plant were studied in CCL4-induced hepatotoxicity rats. Screening of the aqueous extract indicates the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, sterol and saponins. While athraquinone was absent. Serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein (TP) and bilirubin (BL) were analysed in rats intraperitoneally administered with 100 mg/kg CCl4 followed by oral treatment with 300mg/kg of aqueous leaf extract of B. verticillata for 48 and 96hrs. The rats treated for 48 hours after had serum AST, ALT, ALP, TP and BL levels not statistically different (P>0.05) compared to both normal control and positive control (treated with 100mg/kg standard drug) although the value of positive control was slightly lower than the test values. However, the test values were statistically lower compared to toxicity control at P< 0.05. The serum AST, ALT, ALP, TP and BL levels when the treatment was extended to 96 hours showed similar pattern to 48 hours treatment. Even though the test values with respect to the enzymes activity were slightly lower in the extended treatment. This result indicates the hepatocurative properties of aqueous leaf extract of B. verticillata on CCL4-induced hepatotoxicity rats, which could be attributed to its phytochemical contents. Keywords: Borreria verticillata, Hepatotoxicity, Hepatocurative, Aqueous leaf extract, CCL