EFFECTS OF THE SPECIAL RICE PROJECT ON QUALITY OF INPUTS USED FOR RICE PRODUCTION IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

The study was carried out in Edu and Patigi Local Government Areas of Kwara State. Through a two stage random sampling technique, 70 participants in Special Rice Project (SRP) were selected from 6 circles in Patigi Local Government Area (LGA) and another 32 participants were similarly selected from 3 extension circles in Edu LGA, making a total of 102 respondents. Data collected by means of interview schedule were subjected to descriptive, t-test and Pearson Correlation Statistics. The result of the study indicated that 86.7%, 91.3%, 90.3% of the participating farmers in SRP rated seed, her- bicide and fertilizer respectively, provided by SRP, to be of very good quality while 19.6%, 49% and 58.8% of them rated seed, herbicide and fertilizer used before they joined SRP to be of very good quality. Furthermore, the highest proportion of participants 90 (88.3%) produced 3 - 4 tonnes of paddy rice per hectare as opposed to 19 .6% of them who were able to produce 3-4 tonnes before SRP was implemented. Participants also recorded an average annual income of N338,700.00 (US$2,419.29) / annum, that is, US$6.63/day, as against N129,410.00 (US$9,24.4)/annum earned by them before SRP was implemented. Thus, participants earned about US$6.63/day, which is higher than poverty income level of US$2/day. The result of the t-test analysis indicated that a significant difference exists between the rice yield of participants before and after the introduction of SRP (t=4.537, p≤0.05). Also Pearson Correlation analysis shows positive, linear and significant relationship between quality of farm inputs used and yield of rice (r = 0.562, p≤ 0.05). Based on the evidence from the study, Special Rice Project has the potential to serve as a good channel of accessing quality farm inputs, increase farm yield and income of farmers and contribute to Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty level by 2015. It is, therefore, recommended that the activities of SRP are expanded to reach all categories of farmers in the country

Implications of Deceptive Practices of Poultry Input Suppliers on Poultry Production in Kwara State, Nigeria

Deceptive practices of poultry input suppliers are partly responsible for inability to meet the consumption of recommended animal protein (35g/person/day). The study examined the prevailing deceptive practices and effects on poultry production in Nigeria. Proportionate random sampling technique was used to select 70 small scale poultry farmers used as respondents. Data were analyzed using percentages and means. The respondents (68.6%) had a minimum of secondary school education and spent averagely 15.7 years in poultry production. The findings showed that deceptive practices include adulteration of feed ingredients, marketing of under‑weighed feeds, lack of proximate analysis of nutrient composition of feeds and use of old bags for packaging. The respondents (81.3%) agreed that deceptive practices delayed the start of growing period of the fowls. Similarly, 79.5% and 61% experienced low meat and egg production, respectively, resulting in expensive animal protein, increased production overheads (83.4%), lowered returns on investment (90.1%). The result of hypothesis indicated a positive significant relationship between the level of educational attainment of respondents and ability to identify deceptive practices in poultry production (R = 0.214, P ≤ 0.05) among respondents. Nigerian Institute of Animal Science and other relevant regulatory agencies should have a structure to regulate and award penalties to culpable individuals in these deceptive practices. Extension organizations should educate poultry producers on the concept of deceptive practices and its consequences. Keywords: adulteration; poultry feeds; egg production; poultry meat production

Moringa oleifera: A rare plant, its nutritional and health benefits

The various ways in which human foods are produced have been intensely discussed and questioned in recent time. It is expected that food from plants, farm animals and microorganisms should be inexpensive, healthy and of good quality. Therefore, the goal to produce sufficient food for everybody can only be achieved if the world food production increases by 2% per year. However, poultry possess a limited natural resistance and immunity against colonization or infection by potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, antimicrobial feed additives have made a tremendous contribution to profitability of intensive husbandry and providing people with healthy and nutritious animal products. Among antimicrobial feed additives, leaf and seed meals have been prominent recently in poultry and livestock production generally. Growing evidence indicates that increased intakes of phytonutrient-rich botanicals improve the nutritional status and health of the consumers. Moringa oleifera plant, a promising biologically active native plant found in Nigeria has nutritional and botanical attributes useful in livestock production. In poultry, Moringa oleifera leaf and seed meal is used as feed additive, especially in the absence of high plant energy-protein ingredients like full-fat soya bean. Various studies had been conducted on moringa plant by different researchers all reporting a positive effect on animal performances. This study therefore, review some reports from different researchers on the nutritional benefits of Moringa oleifera plant in animals and humans.&#x0D;  &#x0D;  &#x0D;  &#x0D; Les différentes manières dont les aliments humains sont produits ont été intensément discutées et remises en question ces derniers temps. On s'attend à ce que les aliments provenant de plantes, d'animaux de ferme et de micro-organismes soient bon marché, sains et de bonne qualité. Par conséquent, l'objectif de produire suffisamment de nourriture pour tout le monde ne peut être atteint que si la production alimentaire mondiale augmente de 2% par an. Cependant, les volailles possèdent une résistance naturelle et une immunité limitées contre la colonisation ou l'infection par des micro-organismes potentiellement pathogènes. Par conséquent, les additifs alimentaires antimicrobiens ont énormément contribué à la rentabilité de l'élevage intensif et à la fourniture aux populations de produits animaux sains et nutritifs. Parmi les additifs alimentaires antimicrobiens, les tourteaux de feuilles et de graines ont occupé récemment une place importante dans la production de volaille et de bétail en général. De plus en plus de preuves indiquent que des apports accrus de plantes riches en phytonutriments améliorent l'état nutritionnel et la santé des consommateurs. La plante Moringaoleifera, une plante indigène biologiquement active prometteuse trouvée au Nigéria, possède des attributs nutritionnels et botaniques utiles dans la production animale. Chez la volaille, la farine de feuilles et de graines de Moringaoleifera est utilisée comme additif alimentaire, en particulier en l'absence d'ingrédients protéiques à haute teneur énergétique végétale comme le soja entier. Diverses études ont été menées sur la plante de moringa par différents chercheurs rapportant toutes un effet positif sur les performances des animaux. Cette étude passe donc en revue certains rapports de différents chercheurs sur les bienfaits nutritionnels de la plante Moringa oleifera chez les animaux et les humains. </jats:p

Publishers, curriculum developers and educational stakeholders in textbook development for building a virile educational foundation in Nigeria

The book is a medium of mass communication which influences effective utilisation of other media. It is a literary work, printed or written, which propels and enhances national development. The role of books in literary, educational, political and social development of any nation cannot be over emphasised in the sense that the degree of national development is determined by level of literacy which is aided by book publication. Book is a primary means of inculcating and transmitting knowledge. No educational development succeeds without effective utilisation of the book, since the book is the printed material or electronic material used in preserving knowledge for onward transmission. In the light of the above, it becomes imperative for both publishers and educational administrators to increase commitment in the development and selection of books meant for use in schools at all stages of education in order to properly realise the national education philosophy. This paper therefore assesses the efforts made by Nigerian government to actualise the country's education philosophy, the role of publishers as well as the methods of selecting books for adoption in schools

Personnel, fund and market viability as factors affecting the publication of learning materials for inclusive education in Nigeria

Ojeniyi (2002) has observed that Nigeria has the largest commercial publishing in Africa, which has been corroborated by Ike (2004) when he describes Nigerian book publishing industry as vibrant, with perhaps, the largest publishing companies in Africa. There are over 1000 book publishing firms in Nigeria (both registered and unregistered), which further places Nigeria at a comfortable leading position in Africa. Despite its robust publishing industry, none of the numerous publishing companies in Nigeria specialise in the publication of educational materials for the physically challenged. This could be as a result of the fact that Nigerian publishers are faced with challenges bordering on trained personnel, access to capital and availability of market for the published learning materialsfor the physically challenged. Thefact that publishing in Nigeria is profit-driven necessitates that considerations are needed in the decision to publish for the all-inclusive education. This study therefore aims at assessing trainedpersonnel, access to capital and availability of market as factors affecting the publication of learning materials for students with special needs in Nigeria in order to recommend ways to overcome the inherent challenges for the actualisation of the dream of all-inclusive education in Nigeria

Information attitude of book editors and productivity in the publishing firms in South-West, Nigeria

The publishing industry is a vital index of a nation's development. It makes its contribution to national growth through its productivity, and a key agent of this productivity is the editor. The editor forms the nucleus of the publishing firm. He/she is the nerve of the publishing operations and is highly indispensable in the publishing processes. However, information is germane to editorial activities and as such he/she cannot perform optimally without having requisite information. This thus implies that editor must seek for information. Information-seeking entails requisite and appropriate disposition which is otherwise called attitude. The attitude of editors, the type as well as source of information are all important for editorial efficiency. It is these issues of information attitude of editors and their productivity that this study seeks to answer. Survey method was adopted for the study, structured questionnaire was the instrument employed for data collection while three research questions were formulated. The study population was 62 educational publishing firms in South-West Nigeria while the sample for the study was the 205 editorial staff of twenty randomly selected publishing houses which constituted 19.4 %. The data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 21. Mean and standard deviation were determined for continuous variables while frequencies and percentages were carried out on categorical variables. The results were presented in tables and charts. The study recommended that editors should obtain information on production, explore the Internet and social media more effectively and strive for more editorial competence to attain higher productivity. Structured into seven parts; the paper is discussed under the following subheadings: introduction, literature review, theoretical framework, methodology, analysis and discussion, conclusion and recommendations

Inclusive education and the challenges of publishing in indigenous languages in Nigeria

Inclusive education is a desired approach for strengthening the capacity of education. It addresses the needs of all learners and facilitates access to teaching and learning materials out of which book is principal. Books are basic to schooling which makes publishing vital to education. The National Policy on Education (2004) makes provision for employing indigenous languages for teaching at the primary level of education which is a boost to inclusive education. It is however disheartening that many indigenous languages are endangered. Due to the 'unpopular' nature of the languages and the decreasing number of users by the day, writing and publishing in indigenous languages is faced with stiff ling challenges. Preliminary investigations show that generally, there is dearth of indigenous languages publishers, and logically, there are fewer for inclusive education. The few who do, grapple with series of challenges. It is this resultant challenges to publishing for inclusive education that this paper discusses. Structured into six parts, the study examines the concepts of inclusive education and indigenous languages, the Nigeria publishing system and the persons with special needs, the Nigerian languages and the challenges of publishing for persons with special needs, technical and production challenges, and remedies for the challenges. It is recommended that a spirited effort on the part of the government will bring in a turnaround and be a boost for inclusive education

Analysis of Climate Change and Rural Farmers’ Perception in North Central Nigeria

The perception of climate change as a hazard will influence people’s response to it. This study examined farmers’ perception of temperature and rainfall between 1980 and 2009, and how age, sex, education and household size correlated with climate change perception. Simple random sampling with proportionate representation was used to determine sample size (411) from a sampling frame of 6000 farmers. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection and this was supplemented with interview of key informants. Temperature and rainfall records of Makurdi Meteorological Station were used as proxy for the study area. Data were analysed using regression and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Results showed an increasing trend in temperature and rainfall amount, rainfall unpredictability, corroborated by majority of the farmers’ perception. Bush burning, tree cutting and sinful behaviour were ranked as leading causes of climate change. Sex was significantly related to climate change perception and adaptation. Age, sex education and household size had significant impacts on the farmers’ perception of climate change effect on social, biological and eco-system functions. In conclusion, rural farmers correctly perceived the changes in the climate. It was recommended that demographic attributes of farmers and farming communities should be incorporated into climate change awareness and adaptation policies

Influence of Developmental Strategies on Agricultural Development in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria

Considering the importance of agricultural developmental strategies to agricultural and rural development and sustainable national development, this study examined the influence of selected developmental strategies on rural farmers to enhance sustainable agricultural development in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 120 respondents were randomly selected for the study. An interview schedule was used to collect information from respondents. Statistical analysis uses include frequency counts, percentage, mean, Kruskal-Wallis one-way Analysis of variance (ANOVA) by ranks and Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis. The results of the study showed that higher percentage (80%) were full time farmers. About 30% had above 20 years of farming experience. Majority 70.85%, 65% and 51.67% were involved in NFDP, ADP and RBDA programs respectively. Perceived effects after their involvement includes; increase farm size (46.67%), increase in production (53.33%), increase in income (41.67%), inputs received (46.66%), access to credit facilities (44.60%). Lack of adequate fund was ranked first as constraints. Chi square analysis shows that gender, level of education and farming experience had significant relationship with their level of awareness (P ≤ 0.05). Based on these findings, it was observed that NFDP, ADP and RBDA were the leading developmental strategies influencing agriculture in the study area. The study recommends among others that respondents should strengthen their farmers’ groups by contributing some amount of money during meetings in order to overcome the challenges of inadequate funds that restricted their participation developmental strategies. Keywords: Influence, developmental strategies, rural farmers, and sustainable development