Growth response of Sysepalum dulcificum seedlings to watering regimes and nitrogen-based fertilizers

The experiment was carried to determine the effect of selected nitrogen based fertilizer and watering regimes on the growth variables in Synsepalum dulcificum seedlings. The study was carried out at the Forest Nursery of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. Seedlings were subjected to treatments such as Urea, NaNO3 and cow dung as fertilizer source and a control while, watering daily (7/7), every other day (3/7) and weekly (1/7) were the watering frequencies employed and these were laid out in a 3x4 factorial in CRD with 5 replicates in each treatment. Collected data was subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and significant means were separated using LSD. Obtained results showed that height (12.45 cm), collar diameter (1.42 mm), fresh weight (0.70 g) and total dry weight (0.22 g) were significantly (p<0.05) higher in seedlings raised with cow dung while daily watering enhanced (p<0.05) collar diameter (1.43 mm) and fresh weight (0.63g). Application of cow dung and daily watering showed the best method to enhance the growth rate of Synsepalum dulcificum.Keywords: Growth rate, watering, fertilizer, Synsepalum dulcificu

Soil seed bank dynamics and regeneration potentials in a degraded forest reserve

Prolonged degradation of a forest has the tendency to reduce its potentials for regeneration, most especially when the degradation impact has dovetailed to the soil level. This study investigated soil seed bank status of Omo forest reserve in Ogun state through seedling emergence in randomly sampled soil at 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm depths. One kilogramme of air-dried soil samples (approximately 1.3 L) of each depth were placed in separate plastic trays, watered and observed for seedling emergence within 20 weeks. Emerged wildlings were identified by species, counted and removed. Data were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results showed that seed bank varied significantly (p<0.05) both in distribution and abundance across seasons and depths, with 0 to 20 cm soil depth holding up to 89% of seeds. The study showed that the soil of the enumerated Forest Reserve still supports some of the most diverse and productive plant communities despite anthropogenic activities. Therefore, stringent conservative management measures are recommended to forestall forest degradation and from eroding the soil of the Forest Reserve

Cost and Returns on Chewing Stick Retail Marketing In Southwest Nigeria

Purposive sampling technique was employed for the selection of four LGAs in Ogun State and six LGAs in Oyo State where 40 chewing stick retailers were randomly selected equally in both rural and urban settings to give a total of 400 respondents i.e. 160 and 240 respondents in Ogun and Oyo state respectively. Responses from one hundred and seventy eight (178) retailers were used in the final analyses due to different degrees of non-completion. Data collected include demographic characteristics, year of experience in the business, frequency of trade, unit of purchase, form in which product is sold, awareness on cultivation of species marketed and cost associated with the trade, etc. Data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics (such as frequency distribution and computation of percentages), Gross Margin (GM), Net Income and Rate of Return (ROR). Forty percent (40.4%) of the retailers fall within 16 to 30years of age. Each of these bundles was retailed at an average total cost of N900 to earn an average revenue of N1,440 and an average net income of N540. The study concludes that chewing stick retail trade is a lucrative business in the study area. The following recommendations are made: education of the respondents on the need to form themselves into social groups like cooperative societies so as to enhance their scale of operation through adequate funding and value-addition (such as better packaging) to their products so as to enhance their profit margin from the business.   Keywords: Retailers, Rate of return, Environmental degradation, Household, Livelihoo

Ground flora species richness and diversity in traditional forests of southwest, Nigeria

Diversity indices of tree species in tropical rainforest have been studied, but less effort has been devoted to the ground flora studies especially in sacred groves of tropical rainforest, Nigeria, as it plays a critical role in nutrient cycling and energy flow within the forest ecosystem. This study was carried out to determine the ground flora species diversity, richness and density in five traditional forests (Igbo-Ile, Igbo-Oba, Igbo-Olua, Igbo-Olodumare Igbo-Gbopo) of southwestern Nigeria. The ground flora enumeration of 5 x 10m was laid at the centre of 50 x 50m laid in each of the sacred grove. All plants with dbh < 10cm were identified and the frequency of occurrence recorded. In all the Sacred Groves, a total of 14064 plants/ha individual were recorded with 80 species distributed among 36 families. Igbo-Oba had highest diversity index of 3.21, followed by Igbo-Olodumare (2.80), Igbo-Ile (2.42). The least diversity index was recorded in Igbo-Gbopo (1.97). Among the 36 families, maximum species was recorded in Sterculiaceae (10), followed by Euphorbiaceae (5), Apocynaceae (4), Combretaceae (4) and Sapindaceae (4). Among the families with lowest frequencies (1) recorded are: Acanthaceae, Araceae, Rutaceae, Sapotaceae, Solanaceae. The study concludes that anthropogenic disturbances observed, e.g. farming, spiritual engagements etc. around Igbo-Olua and Igbo-Gbopo might have contributed to low diversity index compared to Igbo-Ile, Igbo-Oba and Igbo-Olodumare where high diversity index was recorded. It is recommended that to maintain high diversity index in the scared groves, buffer zones should be created around the sacred groves. Keywords: sacred grove, diversity, ground flora, herbaceou