Effects of Pig Dung and Poultry Manure With Plant Residues on the Production of Some Fruit Vegetables

The field experiment was carried out during the raining season at Organic Agricultural Farm of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Nigeria. Compost was prepared using pig dung and poultry manure with plant residue. It was applied at the rate of 0 and 10t ha-1 replicated three times. The observation on growth parameter showed that at 5 WAP okra with composted poultry manure was low although there was increase at 7 and 9 WAP. The observation on growth parameter showed that at 5 WAP okra with composted poultry manure was low than composted pig manure and no amendment but later showed increase in height at 7  and 9 WAP while pepper with poultry manure was higher than composted pig manure and no amendment which later increase in highest. Observation on yield parameter revealed that okra with composted pig manure had the highest number of fruits than pepper with composted pig manure. The soil micro biological parameters after adding compost showed that pepper with no amendment had the highest viable counts than pepper composted pig dung and poultry manure than okra with composted pig manure and no amendment. Fungal counts were high in un-amended soil planted with pepper than all other treatments. Microbial biomass carbon was high in soil amended with composted poultry manure planted with okra than all other treatment. Microbial biomass phosphorus was high in soil amended with poultry manure planted with okra than other treatments and microbial biomass nitrogen was high in soil amended with poultry manure planted with pepper and that of okra with pig manure. The soil microbiological parameters were affected by treatments

INFLUENCE OF BRADYRHIZOBIUM AND TWO GLOMUS SPECIES ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF SOYBEAN

A screenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of Bradyrhizobium japonicum on the response of soybean to inoculation with two species of mycorrhiza (Glomus mosseae and Glomus deserticola). The study was carried out in a screenhouse with soybean as test crop. The two species of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) were inoculated to the potted soil with or without B. japonicum. Single super phosphate (SSP) and zero amendment served as conventional and absolute control respectively. The experimental design was randomized complete block with 4 replicates. AMF/Bradyrhizobium interaction increased mycorrhizal fungi root colonization significantly (p = 0.05) by at least 35.9% at early growth stage (3 weeks after planting (WAP)) and 59.5% at later growth stage (9 WAP). G mosseae/Bradyrhizobium interaction significantly increased N and P uptakes by 68.9 and 80.0%, respectively, as well as plant height, number of leaves, number of branches, canopy spread and leaf area between 2 and 5 WAP. Soybean biomass increased significantly due to interaction of G mosseae and Bradyrhizobium by 42.2-53.4% between 3 and 9 WAP and nodule weight increased by 61.9-93.3% between 6 and 9 WAP. Grain yield per plant was similar in all AMF treatments and SSP but less in sole Bradyrhizobium inoculation by 37.5% and in control by 33.3%. AMF/Bradyrhizobium interactions produced higher N by up to 81% in the residual soil and the P content was similar to SSP but higher than in control by up to 32.3%. Interaction of G mosseae and Bradyrhizobium increased spores of mycorrhizal fungi in the soil by 41% at 3 WAP and 74.7% at 9 WAP. It was concluded that although Bradyrhizobium had a positive and synergistic influence on the activities of the two species of mycorrhizal fungi inoculated on soybean, the influence was, however, more pronounced on G mosseae than G deserticola

Photovoltaic Generating System Parameter Sizing for Building

Small to medium sized battery storage required to address the intermittency challenge of the energy of solar radiation could be achieved by appropriate sizing of the photovoltaic system parameters like photovoltaic module (PVM) number and battery capacity. This paper presents the results of evaluation of the optimum parameter values in sizing of stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) system that satisfies building energy demand, with almost zero Loss of Power Supply Probability (LPSP). A time step simulation of system performance based on energy balance for various combinations of PV numbers and battery capacities was employed. (Three seasons of operation were considered; rainy, hot and hot/dry). The rainy season result indicating high storage capacity requirement of about (2500-Ah), is of highest cost compared to other seasons. Stand-alone photovoltaic system size that will assuage the intermittency challenge; mitigate peak demand costs and provide near zero LPSP was determined. Keywords: loss of power supply probability, photovoltaic, energy demand, parameter sizing, stand-alon

PROPORTIONAL EFFECT OF OUTLIERS ON OVER-DISPERSION

The impact of outlier on analysis of time series data in causing over-dispersion was examined. The problemof overdispersion is central to all General Linear Models (GLM's) having discrete responses. If the estimated dispersion after fitting is not near the expected values, then the data may be over dispersed. One of the causes of overdispersion is outlier. Outlier is a data which is unusual with respect to the group of data in which it is found. In this paper, data were simulated based on poison model using SPSS and first analysed to see whether the estimated parameters is unbiased of the fixed parameters. Thereafter, two different values of outliers, 10's and 20's were introduced to different percentages of the generated data and then analysed using the STATA package to observe the effect of the outliers being introduced on the data for small, moderate and large samples. The data simulated were replicated 300 times for all categories. The averages of the results were computed. The results showed that the higher the percentage of outliers the more the over-dispersion occurs in the models and the larger the sample sizethe less the over-dispersion

Assessment of the influence of continuous and intermittent irrigation on greenhouse gas emissions from paddy rice

The impact of two water management practises on Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions from paddy rice fields was investigated. New Rice for Africa (NERICA 2) lowland variety was planted under intermittent irrigation (II) and continuous flooding (CF) water management practises. Two closed gas chambers (GCs) were developed and used for gas sampling from paddy fields and measurement was done conventionally in all the four growing stages of rice. Gas Chromatograph (GH200-9) was used analysing GHGs such as Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) and Oxygen (O2). Soil analyses were carried out to determine the presence of the following parameters viz: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), Manganese (Mn) and calcium (Ca). Others are Organic Carbon (OC), Moisture Content (MC), Iron (Fe), Chloride (Cl) and Electrical conductivity (EC) using standard laboratory procedures and ascertain effects of their availability on GHGs concentration levels. From the study, no appreciable CH4 emissions was detected during the four growing stages and under the two water management practises but other GHGs emitted were higher in CF compared with II. Soil nutrients such as N, OC, K and P also contributed considerably to emissions recorded on the two rice fields. The detection of H2S was also an indication that other gases apart from the common GHGs were present in rice fields. Although, CH4 was not detected, other GHGs emitted were more in CF when compared with II which suggested that II be encouraged as a mitigation strategy for reducing impacts of its emissions

Democratizing Service Deliveries in Exceeding Customers’ Expectations in the Hospitality & Food Industry

Satisfying and keeping loyal customers is becoming complex. To remain competitive in the 21st century and beyond, where technology is fast gaining acceptance in all aspect of human and business endeavours, organizations no longer rely on traditional ways of satisfying customers as companies with the most knowledge of their clients, are automating, streamlining, and democratizing their business functions to improve their ability to not only please customers but exceeding their expectations. The materials presented here is based on surveys, academic investigations, and extensive professional work in studying exceptional manufacturing, aviation, hospitality and food companies from the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa to gain an insight into their customer satisfaction strategies, in arriving at ways to achieve a unique customer expectations strategy. Keywords: Hospitality, Food, Management, Nigeria, Service Delivery, Customer Expectations

Effect of Building Orientation on Energy Conservation

Nigeria today faces serious challenge in providing adequate energy to meet the needs of her citizenry. Efforts are currently geared towards generation of more energy to ease the problem. While these efforts are commendable, it is equally desirable to explore ways of minimizing consumption of generated energy. This work has thus examined the impact of building orientation on the energy demand and thus proffers its appropriate orientation. A survey was carried out in lbadan which is the largest metropolis city in West Africa. The orientation of built houses in various setting such as Government Reserved Areas, Public/Commercial settings and local dweller settings were studied to determine their conformity with expected standard of North-South orientation of the building length. From the study it was observed that a sizeable percentage of the buildings with the survey were placed longitudinally in the East-West direction implying that more energy may have to be expended in cooling inside the building. The defaults are more pronounced in the local dwellers. In many of the cases considered in this study, the defaults were enhanced by the road networks. This study established the need for more education on building orientation as well as road network planning. This will cut down energy consumption in cooling inside a building

Analysis of Impact of Sectoral Government Expenditures on Economic Growth in Nigeria: Bound Test Co-integration Approach

This study empirically investigated the impact of government expenditures on adjudged critical sectors on economic growth in Nigeria (1984-2013). With the purpose of determining to what extent the government expenditures on these sectors are contributing to the achievement of growth objective. The study employs quantitative analysis by the use of Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag model (Bound Test Co-integration Approach) to determine both short-run and long run impact of Government expenditures on economic growth with the aid of Econometric package E-View 7. The necessary residual tests were conducted and the analysis was found to be reliable. The  specific ARDL estimates of the analysis reveals that government expenditure on defence retards the economic growth  and government expenditure on agriculture promote the economic growth while government expenditure on education and transport/communication have no impact on economic growth in the long-run. In the short run, none of the government expenditure on these sectors contributes to the growth objective. The study concludes that the reason for the failure of public expenditures to achieve the fiscal objectives is not unconnected to the fact that the level of fiscal indiscipline in these sectors is outrageous to the extent that it serves as drag to the economic growth. Consequently, the study decries policy prescription that the Government expenditures on these sectors should be increased except in the education sector to meet the UNDP recommendation.  And, further recommends that fiscal indiscipline in whatever manner among the political office holders and government officials must be mitigated to the barest minimum by ensuring that the fund budgeted are actually spent on the right course. The government should avoid the proliferation of anti-graft agencies but strengthen the available ones (EFCC and ICPC) by necessary legislations to carry out their functions diligently without unnecessary political interference. Keywords: Sectoral Government Expenditures, Economic growth, Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model.

Influence of spark plasma sintering temperature on the densification and micro-hardness behaviour of Ni-Cr-Al alloy

Abstract : Sintering temperature is essential towards attaining desired densification and formation of phases which in turn influences the microstructure and properties of a material. In this study, the densification and microhardness behaviour of Ni-Cr-Al alloy prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at different sintering temperatures were investigated. After sintering operation, the density, hardness, phase analysis, and microstructural evolution were investigated using the Archimede’s principle, hardness tester, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) respectively. The nickel based alloy was sintered at temperatures of 600, 750, 950 and 1100 ºC. The results indicated that the densification, microstructure, and hardness values were influenced by changes in the sintering temperature. The relative density increased from 73.89 % at 600 ºC to 99.89 % at 1100 ºC, while the hardness value was enhanced from 131.9 ± 2.8 HV to 404 ± 1.2 HV respectively