26 research outputs found

    Response of cucumber to timing of fertilizer application in southwest Nigeria

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    Publisher's version/PDFA field trial was conducted at the experimental farm of the Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, to determine the growth and yield response of cucumber (cv. Poinsett) to timing of fertilizer application. Fertilizer (20:10:10), at the rate of 150 kg N ha[superscript–1], was applied at: planting, 3 weeks after planting (WAP) and 6 WAP. Similarly, split applications were given at planting + 3 WAP, at planting + 6 WAP and at 3 WAP + 6 WAP. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with seven treatments (six fertilizer application treatments plus a non fertilizer control) and four replications. Means were separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at the 5% level of significance. In general, plants that were fertilized performed better than control plants in terms of vegetative growth and yield. A split application at 3 WAP + 6 WAP performed the best in terms of vegetative growth and fruit yield. Fertilizer applied once-over at 6 WAP was the least beneficial; application of fertilizer once-over at planting, or a split application at planting + 3 WAP, resulted in a high level of vegetative growth but lower fruit yield compared with the split application at 3 WAP + 6 WAP

    General anaesthetic and airway management practice for obstetric surgery in England: a prospective, multi-centre observational study

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    There are no current descriptions of general anaesthesia characteristics for obstetric surgery, despite recent changes to patient baseline characteristics and airway management guidelines. This analysis of data from the direct reporting of awareness in maternity patients' (DREAMY) study of accidental awareness during obstetric anaesthesia aimed to describe practice for obstetric general anaesthesia in England and compare with earlier surveys and best-practice recommendations. Consenting patients who received general anaesthesia for obstetric surgery in 72 hospitals from May 2017 to August 2018 were included. Baseline characteristics, airway management, anaesthetic techniques and major complications were collected. Descriptive analysis, binary logistic regression modelling and comparisons with earlier data were conducted. Data were collected from 3117 procedures, including 2554 (81.9%) caesarean deliveries. Thiopental was the induction drug in 1649 (52.9%) patients, compared with propofol in 1419 (45.5%). Suxamethonium was the neuromuscular blocking drug for tracheal intubation in 2631 (86.1%), compared with rocuronium in 367 (11.8%). Difficult tracheal intubation was reported in 1 in 19 (95%CI 1 in 16-22) and failed intubation in 1 in 312 (95%CI 1 in 169-667). Obese patients were over-represented compared with national baselines and associated with difficult, but not failed intubation. There was more evidence of change in practice for induction drugs (increased use of propofol) than neuromuscular blocking drugs (suxamethonium remains the most popular). There was evidence of improvement in practice, with increased monitoring and reversal of neuromuscular blockade (although this remains suboptimal). Despite a high risk of difficult intubation in this population, videolaryngoscopy was rarely used (1.9%)

    AGRICULTURE AND BIOLOGY JOURNAL OF NORTH AMERICA The performance of Amaranthus cruentus and Celosia argentea as affected by varying sowing depths

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    ABSTRACT Screen house trials were carried out to evaluate the optimum sowing depths of Amaranthus and Celosia at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, Nigeria. Seeds of NHAc3 and ED82/1040A varieties of Amaranthus and local green and TLV8 of Celosia (chosen on the basis of maturity period) were sown at 0,1,2 and 3cm depths using split-split design in randomized blocks with 4 replications. Data were taken on % germination, seedling emergence and establishment indices. Results indicate that Celosia had a higher % seedling emergence than Amaranthus . However, Amaranthus grew significantly taller than Celosia at plant establishment. Highest number of seedlings emerged at 0 cm depth but plants had highest number of leaves and total fresh vegetable production at 1 cm sowing depth. The two crops sown at and 1 cm gave significantly higher root development index than other interactive effects. However, the highest shoot development index was obtained at 0cm depth. The study demonstrated a significant interaction of sowing depth x variety such that the varieties (irrespective of species) performed best at 1 cm depth. The early maturing variety in the crops also had higher vigour, germination and root and shoot development indices than the late maturing variety

    SHORT COMMUNICATION - THE EFFECT OF LIGHT INTENSITY ON THE GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND YIELD OF SOYBEAN IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

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    Soybean (Glycine max   (L.) Merrill) is an important cheap source of plant protein in Nigeria. Its production is constrained by low light intensity in the southern rainforest ecology due to cloud cover during the production season. Understanding the physiological basis of performance under low light intensity is therefore central to efforts geared towards the crop's productivity improvement in the zone. Soybean plants were subjected to two weeks of 75 and 50% daylight regimes at the vegetative (V4-5); early flowering (R2); and pod filling (R5) stages of growth. Full exposure or 100% daylight served as the control. In the field and pots, the 75% and 50% light intensities (obtained by covering cages with one or two layers of 1mm mesh net, respectively) significantly enhanced the vegetative growth over plants grown under 100% light intensity. Plants grown under 50% light reduction (L2 plants) had significantly (P=0.05) higher leaf area plant-1, stem height plant-1 and number of branches plant-1 than plants grown under 75% light intensity (L1 plants). Similarly, L1 plants had higher values of these vegetative parameters than plants grown under 100% light intensity (L0 plants). Generally, the results of the pot and field trials were similar. Reduced light regimes led to a higher accumulation of dry matter in the various plant parts particularly when imposed at the vegetative stage of growth. Additionally, reduced light regimes led to reduced leaf chlorophyll concentration and a general reduction in yield. The highest reduction in yield resulted from 50% light intensity imposed for two weeks at the pod filling stage of growth. In pots the seed dry weight plant-1 of L0, L1 and L2 plants were 40.6g, 30.4g and 23.3g, respectively. While for the field trials, the seed dry weight plant-1 for L0, L1, L2 plants were 37.3g, 34.3g and 32.5g, respectively. The seed dry weight plant-1 for light reduction at the vegetative stage (35.5g) was similar to that at the early flowering stage (35.5g) but was significantly higher than the seed dry weight plant-1 at the pod filling stage (33.2g). Results reveal that reduced light intensity was most damaging to soybean performance at the pod filling stage and the lower the light intensity the greater the yield reduction

    AGRICULTURE AND BIOLOGY JOURNAL OF NORTH AMERICA Effect of soil moisture stress on the emergence, establishment and productivity of Amaranthus (Amaranthus Cruentus L.)

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    ABSTRACT Dietary intake of vegetables is low in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) compared to the world's average. This situation is worsened by low water availability for vegetable production especially in the dry season. However, amaranth which can be grown in the different agro-ecologies of Nigeria is a dual purpose crop with edible leaves and seeds rich in essential nutrients, minerals and proteins. The crop is also a drought tolerant C4 plant which has the ability to survive under minimum soil moisture condition, hence the reason for its use in the study. This investigation was therefore conducted to discover the optimum water requirements in a screen house, and evaluation of different moisture stress based on the derived optima in two subsequent field trials. In the screen house and field, water stress treatments varied from: -6.0, -1.2 to -0.3 bar (the control). Results in the screen house study showed that optimum soil water potential for amaranth was reached at -1.2 bar, and that variety NH84/493 performed better than the others, in all growth and yield parameters measured. In field trials, bringing the moisture content from dry (-6.0 bar) to -1.5 bar optimum soil water potential favored seedling emergence better than all other treatment combinations. However, treatment combination -0.3, -1.5 bar when the soil was initially wet (-0.3 bar) then bringing it to the optimum (-1.5 bar) gave the best seedling establishment and productivity. Variety NH84/493 grown at -0.3, -1.5 bar performed better than all other interactions. We therefore recommend -1.5 bar and variety NH84/493 amaranth for the SSA vegetable industry, especially for improving dry season productivity

    The effect of light intensity on the growth, development and yield of soybean in Southwest Nigeria

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    Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is an important cheap source of plant protein in Nigeria. Its production is constrained by low light intensity in the southern rainforest ecology due to cloud cover during the production season. Understanding the physiological basis of performance under low light intensity is therefore central to efforts geared towards the crop's productivity improvement in the zone. Soybean plants were subjected to two weeks of 75 and 50% daylight regimes at the vegetative (V4-5); early flowering (R2); and pod filling (R5) stages of growth. Full exposure or 100% daylight served as the control. In the field and pots, the 75% and 50% light intensities (obtained by covering cages with one or two layers of 1mm mesh net, respectively) significantly enhanced the vegetative growth over plants grown under 100% light intensity. Plants grown under 50% light reduction (L2 plants) had significantly (P=0.05) higher leaf area plant-1, stem height plant-1 and number of branches plant-1 than plants grown under 75% light intensity (L1 plants). Similarly, L1 plants had higher values of these vegetative parameters than plants grown under 100% light intensity (L0 plants). Generally, the results of the pot and field trials were similar. Reduced light regimes led to a higher accumulation of dry matter in the various plant parts particularly when imposed at the vegetative stage of growth. Additionally, reduced light regimes led to reduced leaf chlorophyll concentration and a general reduction in yield. The highest reduction in yield resulted from 50% light intensity imposed for two weeks at the pod filling stage of growth. In pots the seed dry weight plant-1 of L0, L1 and L2 plants were 40.6g, 30.4g and 23.3g, respectively. While for the field trials, the seed dry weight plant-1 for L0, L1, L2 plants were 37.3g, 34.3g and 32.5g, respectively. The seed dry weight plant-1 for light reduction at the vegetative stage (35.5g) was similar to that at the early flowering stage (35.5g) but was significantly higher than the seed dry weight plant-1 at the pod filling stage (33.2g). Results reveal that reduced light intensity was most damaging to soybean performance at the pod filling stage and the lower the light intensity the greater the yield reduction. RÉSUMÉ Le soja (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) est une source importante et bon marchĂ© de proteines vĂ©getales au Nigeria. Sa production est contrainte par la faible intensitĂ© lumineuse dans l'Ă©cologiĂ© de forĂȘt pluvieusedu sud due Ă  la couverture des nuages pendant la saison de production. Comprendre les bases physiologiques de la performance sous la faible intensite lumineuse est par consequent centrale pour l'amĂ©lioration des efforts dans la zone. Les plantes de soja ont Ă©tĂ© soumises Ă  deux semaines de 75 et 50% de rĂ©gime de lumierĂš du jour a l'Ă©tape de croissance vĂ©gĂ©tative (V4-5); defloraison precoce (R2) et de remplissement de gousses( R5), 100% de la lumiere journaliere a servi de contrĂŽle. Sur le champs et dans les pots, les 75% et 50% d'intensitĂ© lumineuse(obtenue par cages couverte avec une ou deux couches de 1mm mailles de filet, respectivement) d'une maniĂšre significative ont accrue la croissance vĂ©gĂ©tale par rapportux plantes poussant sous 100% d'intensitĂ© lumineuse. Les plantes poussant sous 50% de lumiĂšre rĂ©duite (plantes L2) ont eu de maniĂšre significative (P=0.05) le nombre Ă©levĂ© de feuilles par plante, surface de feuilles par plante, hauteur de tiges par plantes et le nombre de branches par plante que les plantes cultivĂ©es sous 75% d'intensit' lumineuse (plantes L1). Similairement, les plantes L1 ont eu des valeurs Ă©levĂ©es de ces paramĂštres vĂ©gĂ©taux que les plantes poussant sous 100% d'intensite lumineuse (plantes L0). GĂ©nĂ©ralement, les rĂ©sultats des essais des pots et du champs Ă©taient les mĂȘmes. Les rĂ©gimes lumineux rĂ©duits ont entrainĂ© une grande accumulation de la matiĂšre sĂ©che dans les differentes parties des plantes particuliĂšrement quand oĂč impose l'etape vĂ©gĂ©tative de dĂ©velopement. Les rĂ©gimes lumineux rĂ©duits ont conduit Ă  la rĂ©duction de la concentration de la chlorophylle par feuille et en gĂ©nĂ©rale, la rĂ©duction en production. La plus grande rĂ©duction en rendement a rĂ©sultĂ© de 50% de lumiĂšre imposĂ©e en deux semaines Ă  l'tape du development du remplissage des gousses. Dans les pots, le poids des graines par plant de plantes L0, L1 et L2 ont Ă©tĂ© de 40.6g, 34.4get 23.3g, respectivement. Alors que sur le champs, la matiĂšre sĂ©che des graines par plante pour la rĂ©duction lumineuse Ă  l'etape vĂ©gĂ©tative (35.5g) Ă©tait similaire Ă  celle des plantes Ă  l'etape de floraison prĂ©cose (35.5g) mais significativement Ă©levĂ©e que les poids de graines par plante de l'Ă©tape de remplissement des gousses (33.2g). Les rĂ©sultats ont montrĂ© que l'intensitĂ© lumineuse rĂ©duite pour deux semaines Ă©taient plus destructive Ă  la performance du soja Ă  l'Ă©tape de remplissement de la gousse et plus faible Ă©tait l'intensitĂ© lumineuse, plus grande Ă©tait la reduction de rendement. (African Crop Science Journal 2001 9(3): 577-590

    Effect of capacity building on production of safe and profitable leafy vegetables among farmers in Ibadan City of Nigeria

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    In Mukisira, E. A.; Wasilwa, L. A.; Wesonga, J.; Kahane, R. (Eds.). Proceedings of the First All African Horticultural Congress, 31 August - 3 September 2009. Leuven, Belgium: International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).ISHS Acta Horticulturae 911Eighty percent of the fresh leafy vegetables consumed by about three million people who live in Ibadan city of Nigeria and its environ are produced within and around the city by farmers in backyards, vacant land, near streams, road sides, barracks and government offices. Due to lack of adequate training among other factors, farmers make sub-optimal profit margins and produce vegetables which are dangerous to human health due to misuse of agrochemicals. This study was embarked upon for a period of three months, to build the capacity of vegetable farmers on how to produce safe and profitable vegetables using good agricultural practices (GAP) and improved production packages with minimal use of appropriate agro-chemicals. Two groups of 60 women vegetable farmers in Odogbo army barrack of the city were involved. Farmers' production practices and associated problems were documented through Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Innovative capacity building strategies building on farmers' resources and on-farm demonstration (OFAD) in the form of urban producers' field school (UPFS) focusing on the three most important vegetables - Corchorus, Celosia and Amaranthus - to the farmers was set up to address the problems. Weekly trainings were conducted and farmers were encouraged to apply the knowledge gained on their private farms. Thirty farmers each from participating and non-articipating farmers were randomly selected to compare their yield, quality of harvest and economic returns after the training. Data were analyzed using t-test. There was significant difference (p<0.05) between the yield obtained by participating and non-articipating farmers.Economic gains of the participating farmers also increased by 300% on the average due to improved quality of produce and higher market price. There should be conscious effort to assist vegetable farmers through capacity building in order to ensure supply of good quality vegetables and increase economic gains in the city
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