Growth and yield variability of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars infected with cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus disease

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a major legume crop with diverse uses in Nigeria. Its productivity is however threatened by Cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus (CABMV) in most groundnut producing areas, resulting in huge losses. This study was conducted to determine the resistance of some commercial groundnut cultivars under CABMV disease. The experiment was conducted in Minna, Southern Guinea Savanna agro-ecological zone of Nigeria. Twenty groundnut cultivars were evaluated separately as healthy and CABMV infected trials. The experiment was laid out in randomised complete block design with three replications. Seedlings were infected with the virus by mechanical inoculation at 10 days after sowing. The plants were observed for disease incidence, growth and yield attributes. The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance, principal component and cluster analyses at p≤0.05. One hundred percent infection was found regardless of the cultivar. The healthy plants exhibited significantly (p<0.05) higher morphological and yield parameters than infected plants. Principal component analysis revealed that 100-seed weight accounted for the greatest variability in healthy (eigen vector = 0.6239) and CABMV infected (eigen vector = 0.6005) plants. Cluster analysis showed that 18 (90 %) cultivars formed cluster 1, whereas one cultivar each was found in cluster 2 and 3. The top three cultivars for 100-seed weight: “SAMNUT 23” (56.0 g), “SAMNUT 25” (50.5 g) and “SAMNUT 26” (50.9 g) were the most tolerant to CABMV, whereas “ICG-92267” was identified as the best cultivar for dry matter production (24.0 g/plant). Planting of these tolerant cultivars is recommended in order to mitigate the stresses imposed by CABMV.Keywords: disease incidence, principal components, clusters, groundnu

Reactions of commercial cultivars of okra, pepper, and tomato to cucumber mosaic virus disease

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), pepper (Capsicum spp.) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) are rich sources of minerals and vitamins required by humans for normal growth and development. However, the productivity of these vegetables is seriously constrained by Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) disease. To date, adoption of resistant cultivars is the most effective, ecologically sound and sustainable management strategy against the disease. Therefore, selected cultivars of okra (Clemson Spineless, Ex Bassawa -2 and NHAe 47 - 4), pepper (California Wonder, Cayenne and Yolo Wonder) and tomato (Roma Savanna, Tropimech, and UC82B) were evaluated for resistance to CMV. The experiment was conducted under screenhouse and field conditions in Minna, Southern Guinea Savanna zone of Nigeria. Completely randomised design with six replications was used in screenhouse while the field trial was laid out using randomised complete block design with three replications. Seedlings were inoculated with CMV at 10 days after emergence. Disease incidence, disease severity, growth and yield characteristics were recorded. Data were subjected to analysis of variance at p ≤ 0.05. Infected plants elicited mosaic symptoms but disease severity was cultivar dependent. Plant height, leaf area, fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight were all reduced by CMV. The lowest disease incidence ( < 35 %), severity ( < 3), reductions in morphological and yield parameters ( < 10 %) were found in Ex- Bassawa-2, Cayenne, and Roma Savanna. This indicated that they contained CMV tolerant genes. Therefore, the three most tolerant cultivars (Ex- Bassawa-2 cultivar of okra, Cayenne of pepper and Roma Savanna of tomato) are recommended to farmers in CMV prone areas.Keywords: CMV; Disease incidence; Growth and yield; Severity; Vegetable

Socio-economic factors influencing adoption of yam Minisett Technology in Niger State of Nigeria

Nigeria produces about 70% of the world’s yam accounting for about 39.9 million tonnes. The major constraint has being that of planting seeds amounting to about one third of the total production cost. In order to reduce this perennial production problem, yam minisett technology developed by National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, was thought to be an alternative to solving the planting seed menace. This study attempts to investigate the socio-economic factor influencing the adoption of this new technology. It was conducted in all the 25 local Government areas of Niger State. Data were collected by multi – stage random sampling technique using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the information collected. Results showed that majority of the farmers interviewed had no access to credit, very low extension contact, low levels education, lack of awareness about the minisett technology and therefore were yet to  adopt the minisett technology. Farm size (0.796), labour input (-0.585), cooperativeness (1.026), extension contact (0.959), income (0.473) and credit (0.533) were found to significantly influence the adoption of the yam minisett technology. The study recommends increased farm advisory services. Farmers  should belong to Cooperative societies. Key words:            adoption, minisett technology, socio-economic facto

Prediction of annual rainfall pattern using Hidden Markov Model (HMM) in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is a double stochastic process in which one of the stochastic processes is an underlying Markov chain, the other stochastic process is an observable stochastic process. Hidden Markov model is very influential in stochastic world because of its uniqueness, double stochastic nature and independence assumption between consecutive observations. A hidden Markov model to predict annual rainfall pattern has been presented in this paper. The model is developed to provide necessary information for the farmers, agronomists, water resource management scientists and policy makers to enable them plan for the uncertainty of annual rainfall. The model classified annual rainfall amount into three states, each with eight possible observations. The parameters of the model were estimated from the annual rainfall data of Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria for the period of 39 years (1977-2015). After which, the model was trained using Baum-Welch algorithm to attend maximum likelihood. The model is designed such that, if given any of the three rainfall states and its observation in the present year, it is possible to make quantitative prediction on how rainfall will be in the following year and in the subsequent years. The test HMM1 was able to make prediction with 75% accuracy in state and 50% accuracy in observations. The accuracy level of the model shows that, it is dependable and therefore, information from the model could be used as a guide to the farmers, agronomists, water resources management scientists and the government to plan strategies for crop production in the region.Keywords: Markov model, Hidden Markov model, Transition probability, Observation probability, Crop Production, Annual Rainfal

Physical and Pasting Properties of ‘Ofada’ Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties

ABSTRACTIn this study, grain physical and pasting properties of ofada rice cultivated in South-West Nigeria was evaluated using Standard Evaluation System (SES) for rice with the aim of providing basic information for brand development and utilization of ofada in the development of novel food products. Results showed that size and shape of ofada rice ranged from 5.9 to 9.0mm and 1.8 to 3.0mm respectively. The 1000-grain weight was between 24.0 to 31.0g. Percentage hull was significantly different among the cultivars, ranging from 16 to 21. Peak viscosity ranged between 112.7 and 152.8 BU, minimum, setback and final viscosities varied from 80.3 to 117.2 BU, 104.0 to 143.3BU and 190.8 and 232.3 BU respectively. Gelatinization temperature was not significantly different and varied between 64.1 to 64.7°C. Significant difference (p<5%) was observed among the samples in terms of minimum setback and final viscosities respectively. Significant negative association was observed between kernel length and gelatinization temperature (r=– 0.65), setback and gelatinization temperature (r=– 67) while positive correlation was observed between breakdown viscosity and peak viscosity (r=0.86). The good pasting behaviour makes ofada flour good material for the production of stiff dough products, better palatability and water binding capacity while physical qualities give ofada an advantage during milling. This attributes could be exploited for the development of new varieties and utilization in food development of the ofada rice value-chain

Track A Basic Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138319/1/jia218438.pd

A retroperitoneal extra-renal Wilms’ tumour: A case report

Wilms’ tumour originates predominantly in the renal tissue; in rare cases it can also arise from extra-renal sites accounting for 0.5-1% of cases of Wilms’ tumours seen. A diagnosis of extra-renal Wilms’ cannot be easily established with clinical and radiological features except when the histological facts are provided. Wilms’ tumours arising from extra-renal sites may not be different in clinical features, protocol of treatment and outcome from a typical intra renal Wilms’ tumour. A 2-year-old boy presented with an asymptomatic abdominal swelling for 3 months. Abdominal ultrasound and CT scans revealed an extra-renal mass. Intravenous urogram (IVU) showed prompt excretion bilaterally. Post excision histology of the tumour confirmed a Wilms’ tumour.Keywords: Extra-renal, Wilms’ tumour, retroperitoneum, triphasi

External ventricular drainage for spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage with intraventricular extension in National Hospital Abuja

Spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 10 -15% of all cases of stroke and is associated with intraventricular extension in 40% of cases resulting in raised intracranial pressure from obstructive hydrocephalus.  The most common cause is uncontrolled hypertension. The presentation and prognosis depend on the location and size of haemorrhages.  External Ventricular Drainage (EVD) is a surgical means of temporary CSF diversion resulting in reduction of raised intracranial pressure (ICP) and remarkable improvement in clinical condition of patients.  The aim of the study was to retrospectively evaluate the outcome of surgical placement of EVD in patients with spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage and intraventricular extension in our centre over 19 months. Sixty five percent of the 35 patients studied were male, with peak age group of 51 – 60 years and 80% were hypertensive. Majority of the haematoma (63%) was in the deep nuclei and 78% had haematoma volume greater than 30cm³ with significant midline shift. EVD placement was associated with good blood pressure control. Twenty-one patients (60%) had their EVD inserted more than 24 hours after onset of symptoms mostly because of financial constraint to purchase EVD set as occurred in 7 (33.3%) cases. However, mortality was high (68.6%) while only 17.1% of the patients had good recovery. Mortality found to be highest among patients with haematoma volume greater than 60mls (p = 0.008) and low GCS at admission (p = 0.012).EVD is an emergency procedure commonly performed for spontaneous ICH in our centre. It is associated with significant reduction in blood pressure. The high mortality recorded is related to the severity of brain damage.Keywords: intracerebral haemorrhage, external ventricular drainage,  hydrocephalu