Response of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) Varieties to Different Animal Manure

High cost of inorganic manure in Nigeria coupled with the problem of product availability justifies an investigation into alternative source of nutrients, which is more readily available and cheaper while the importance of organic manure in improving crop production for food security cannot be overemphasized. Two field experiments were carried out at the Faculty of Agriculture Teaching and Research Farm, University of Benin during the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 dry cropping seasons of October – March to determine the response of two tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) varieties to different animal manure. The treatments were three types of animal manure (swine, poultry, cow-dung at 20 t ha-1 each and a control) and two tomato varieties (Roma VF and UC82). The experiment was a 2 × 4 factorial laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in three replications. Data were collected on plant height, number of leaves, number of branches, leaf area, stem diameter, number   of flowers, number of days to 50% flowering, number of fruits per plant, fruit fresh weight, fruit diameter and fruit yield t ha-1. Results obtained from the experiment showed that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in some of the reproductive characters as influenced by different animal manure. Swine and poultry manure showed superiority above cow-dung and the control. In both years, significantly similar and the highest fruit yield was produced by swine manure (14.24 and 7.82 t ha-1) and poultry manure (12.15 and 7.64 t ha-1). This study showed that the rate of 20 t ha-1 of either swine or poultry manure could be used for production of the two tomato varieties (Roma VF or UC 82) in Edo rain - forest zone of Nigeria

The Effects of Organic Manures and Harvesting Types in Two Seasons for Yield and Yield Contributing Agronomic Traits in Celosia (Celosia argentea L.)

The effect of harvesting, H1 (Non- cut and uproot at 40 days after transplanting), H2 (harvest at 40 days and uproot at 55 days after transplanting), H3 (harvest at 40 and 55days after transplanting and uprooting 70 days after planting) and four rates (0, 10, 15 and 20 t ha[1]1 ) of poultry manure application on growth, yield and nutrient uptake of Celosia argentea was evaluated for two years. The trial was a 3 x 4 factorial laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in three replications. Poultry manure significantly p &lt; 0.05) increased all the parameters above the control. H2 increased the number of leaves, branches and root length significantly in both years and nutrient uptake was the highest at 15 t ha-1 poultry manure application except for Ca which increased up to 20 t ha-1. N uptake (42.31 kg ha-1) was highest at H2 while P (9.43 kg ha-1), K (41.13 kg ha-1), Ca (34.33 mg 100g-1), Mg (19.07 mg 100g-1), Na (4.98 mg 100g-1) and Fe (1302.01 mg 100g-1) uptakes were highest at H3. The highest herbage yield (13.29 t ha-1 and 12.80 t ha-1) was produced at H2 in both years at 10 t ha-1 while seed yield (36.61 t ha-1) was the highest at H1 and 20 t ha-1 poultry manure

Influence of Poultry Manure Rates and Spacing on Growth, Yield, Nutrient Concentration , Uptake and Proximate Composition of Onion (Allium cepa L.)

Plant spacing determines to a greater extent crop performance in terms of growth and yield. The production of crop with organic fertilizer also plays a vital role in organic agriculture. Field studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of spacing and poultry manure on the growth, yield and quality of onion. Three spacing regimes were carried out consisting of (15cm x 15 cm , 20 cm x 20 cm and 25 cm x 25 cm) and four levels of poultry manure at ( 0, 5, 10 and 15 t /ha ). The effects of spacing and poultry manure were evaluated for 2 years based on plant growth, yield, nutrient concentration, uptake and proximate composition of onion plant. Leaf thickness, bulb and shoot fresh weights were significantly increased by the wider spacing of 20 cm x 20 cm and 25 cm x 25 cm, compared with the narrower spacing of 15cm x 15 cm in both seasons. However, highest total dry yield (1.82 and 1.58) t /ha, shoot yield (2.31 and 1.32) t /ha and total fresh yield (13.69 and 12.55) t/ha were obtained with the spacing of 20cm x 20 cm in both years. Similarly, application of poultry manure increased leaf thickness, bulb and shoot fresh weights and yields compared with the control. Generally, using 10 t/ha poultry manure has a superior effect on proximate composition and most of growth parameters and yield components achieved the highest nutrient concentrations and uptake on most of the macro and micronutrients in leaves and bulbs as compared with the control in both years

Jatropha Tanjorensis - Review of Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Pharmacotherapy

Jatropha tanjorensis (L) (Fam – Euphorbiaceae), which has been consumed as leafy vegetable and as medicinal plant in Nigeria has shown hematological, antimalarial, antimicrobial, hypoglyceamic, hypolipidemic and antihypertensive activities. This review focuses on valuable knowledge of traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacological activities of Jatopha tanjorensis against some tropical diseases, in order to highlight its therapeutic potentials with a view to integrate it into conventional medical use. Several classes of phytochemical compounds such as the polyphenols, saponins, tannins and alkaloids have been associated with the plant. It has also been shown to possess a wide spectrum of biological activities such as antiplasmodial (antimalarial), anti microbial, antiparasitic, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, antihypertensive, antihyperlipidemic and as remedy for anaemia. The review has thus provided a comprehensive and critical appraisal of the phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicity of Jatropha tanjorensis in the tropics. Based on the findings of this work, future study on the phytochemistry and chemical constituents in relation to certain other biological activities are required to fully understand the phytochemical and complex pharmacological effect of the plant specie. Further work to isolate active compounds from the plant is also necessary.Keywords: Jatropha tanjorensis, Pharmacology, Phytochemistry, medicinal usesJournal of Pharmaceutical and Allied Sciences, Vol. 10 No. 3 (2013