Constraints facing agroforestry practices among farmers in New Bussa, Nigeria

The study examined agroforestry practices and its constraints among selected farmers in New Bussa, Niger State, Nigeria. Data were collected using a well-structured questionnaire, personal interview and observations from the total of one hundred and twenty respondents. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data collected. Findings revealed that farming was male dominated with a mean age and family size of 41years and 10 persons respectively. More than half (69.2%) of the farmers were literate with mean years of experience in farming being 14years. The most common trees on the farmlands were Vitellaria paradoxa, Mangifera indica, Parkia biglobosa, Azadirachta indica, Afzelia africana, Detarium microcarpum and Vitex doniana. Majority of the farmers were aware (70.8%) of agroforestry practices mainly through conservation education (32.5%) and forest guards (20.0%) to conserve economic trees and improve farm produce. Medicinal herbs (98.3%), Source of income (81.7%) and Source of food (80.3%) were the major benefit accrued to farmers from agroforestry in the study area. Constraints to agroforestry practices in the study area included limited use of farm machineries (75%), poor access to credit facilities (70.8%), fast growing nature of trees (68.3%), Land tenure (65.8%), Marketing channel (62.5%) and increase in population (56.7%). The study thus, recommended that extension agents from public and non-governmental organizations should enlighten farmers more on agroforestry through workshops and community awareness campaign and assistance should be given to farmers in form of credit facilities, improved seeds or varieties, and soft loans for enhanced production.Keywords: Agroforestry, Awareness, Benefits, Constraints, Conservation, Economic tree

Improving rheological properties of Gambe clay for drilling fluid application using fermentable polymers

There are abundant bentonitic clay deposits in Nigeria. However, it does not meet commercial standard for drilling mud formulation, because it is composed of calcium montmorillonite. Therefore, there is need for the clay to be enhanced and polymers have been identified as enhancement agents. The work was aimed at improving the rheological properties of Gambe clay for drilling fluid formulation using the fermentable polymers (xanthan gum, locust bean gum and tamarind seed gum). The clay was obtained from Gambe town in Adamawa State, Nigeria. The clay was beneficiated for quartz removal and chemical beneficiated with 6 wt% of Na2CO3. The mineral composition and the cation exchange capacity of the clay was determined using X-ray diffraction analysis and ammonium acetate saturation method, respectively to find out its quality for drilling mud formulation. Drilling mud was formulated by mixing of 22.5 g of the clay to 350 ml of water with a high speed mixer to obtain a homogenous mixture. The polymer enhancers were also added to the mixture. The effect of the fermentable polymer at different concentration on the rheological properties of the formulated drilling fluid was investigated employing FANN 35SA viscometer. It was found that 0.93 wt% of the tamarind seed gum, locust bean gum and xanthan gum in the formulated drilling fluid enhanced the yield point from 0.72 Pa to 7.2 Pa, 12.48 Pa and 16.36 Pa, and the gel strength from 0 Pa to 8.35 Pa, 10.44 Pa and 68.92 Pa of the formulated mud respectively. The mud enhanced with 0.80 wt% of the enhancers had high rheological properties than imported clay.Keywords: Drilling mud, Gambe clay, tamarind seed gum, locust bean gum, rheological propertie

Phytochemical Constituents, Antimicrobial activities and Isolation of Eupatorin from the Seed Extract of L. inermis LINN

In low- and middle-income countries like Nigeria, traditional medicine practitioners use seeds, roots, stem barks or the whole plant to cure some ailments, hence, the need to scientifically analyze these ethnobotanical claims. The extracts of L. inermis revealed the presence of cardiac glycosides, saponins, flavonoids tannins, triterpenes, steroid and alkaloids. The antimicrobial screening and activities of the crude extracts were observed against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia with a zones of inhibition ranging from 12-26 mm which were however lower than the standard drug (Ciprofloxacin) with 28-30 mm. The MIC/MBC  measurement against those microbes was found to be between 3.125 mg/ml to 50 mg/ml. The ethyl acetate extract was purified using column chromatography and eluted with ethyl acetate and ethanol solvents in various ratios. From the fractions obtained, the compound eupatorin (3’,5-dihydroxy-4’,6,7-trimethoxyflavone) was isolated and characterized using IR, 1D and 2D NMR. The eupatorin was found to show significant microbial activity against P. vulgaris, S. typhi, E. coli, S. pneumonia and S. pyogenes when compared with standard antibiotics used against these microbes. The results from this research have supported the ethnomedicinal uses of this plant in the treatment of skin infections, abdominal disorders, leprosy, rheumatalgia, edema and as a cough and cold remedy.Keywords: Lawsonia inermis, phytochemicals, antimicrobial screening, Eupatori

Critical Evaluation of Accounting System in Tertiary Institutions in Osun State, Nigeria

The essence of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of accounting system in tertiary institutions with aim of establish the way in which administrator of tertiary institutions are process and manage the resources to survive, grow and achieve common goal and prestige. The sample comprises one hundred and ten (110) employees who were randomly selected from seven categories of tertiary institution in Osun State, Nigeria. Data were collected from both primary and secondary source while descriptive analysis was used to analyse the data collected with aid of (ANOVA) Analysis of Variance tool to test hypotheses. The results showed that the accounting guideline and policies have impact on preparation of financial statement and maintained effective internal control system put in operation in tertiary institution. The implications are the if institution have no effective accounting system it may give rise for fraudulent practices of which will critical  damage the integrity of leadership to achieve common goal and prestige hence ability of institution to survive  will difficult. It was recommended that for accounting system of Educational Institution to be effective, institutions should work with administrators who have people’s skills to deal with a variety of culture and bring diverse teams together to achieve common goals and prestige. Keywords: Accounting system, guidelines and policies, tertiary institutions, internal control, financial statement

Effect of paint fumes on histoarchitecture of the testes of adult male Wistar rats

Aim: To investigate the effect of paint fumes on the histoarchitecture of the testes.Methodology: In this study, we reported sixteen (16) Wistar rats mainly male of an average weight of 180g. Four groups of four rats each were divided into groups A-D. The treated rats were exposed to paint fumes for 8 hours daily, group A for three weeks, B for four weeks and C for five weeks. Group D animals (control group) were exposed to air for 8 hours for five weeks. On the last day of exposure, animals were euthanized, sacrificed and thoraco-abdominal incision was performed after which one testis was received from each rats, preserved in 10% formal saline and further processed for histological study using Hematoxylin and eosin technique.Results: The testes of the paint fumes exposed group shows necrotic cell death of the germ cells (spermatogonia) and reduced sperm cells in the central lumen. This is an indication of altered spermatogenesis.Conclusion: Paint fumes that contain volatile organic compound cause the necrotic death of testicular germ cells in exposure dependent manner and there were reduced sperm cells in the lumen. This can lead to infertility. Keywords: histoarchitecture, testes, spermatogonia, infertilit

Governance, poverty and natural resources management. A case study of the Niger Delta

This study employs ethnographic research to investigate the extent to which local governance affects both poverty and natural resources management in the Delta region. The research develops a framework for governance of natural resources to understand the daily practices of different actors within the local context using informal observation and interviews. In applying the framework, the study places emphasis on resources for governance, actors¿ agency, arrangements of access to resources and governance outcomes in the Delta region. Evidence from the study shows that while the state and corporate actors only contextualise resources in terms of economic value, local actors interprete resources beyond economic value to incorporate symbolic and socio-culturally constructed values linked with historic values. The study also identified relational, routine practices and structural factors which differently shape actors¿ agency for resources management. The context which shapes different arrangements of access to local resources by actors varies. These arrangements are subject to negotiation, power differences and socio-cultural factors. The findings related to governance outcomes reveal both positive (favourable) and negative (unfavourable) outcomes for the livelihood of different actors. The study concludes by exploring implications for local governance in order to address poverty and enhance optimal resource management in the Delta region

Student performance prediction based on data mining classification techniques

The process of predicting student performance has become a crucial factor in academic environment and plays significant role in producing quality graduates. Several statistical and machine learning algorithms have been proposed for analyzing, predicting and classifying student performance. However, these classification algorithms still posed issue in terms of the performance classification. This paper presents a method to predict student performance using Iterative dichotomiser 3 (ID3), C4.5 and Classification and Regression tree (CART). The experiment was performed on Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (Weka). The experimental results showed that an ID3 accuracy of 95.9% , specificity of 95.9%, precision of 95.9%, recall of 95.9%, f-measure of 95.9% and incorrectly classified instance of 3.83. The C4.5 gave an accuracy of 98.3%, specificity of 98.3%, precision of 98.4%, recall of 98.3%, f-measure of 98.3% and incorrectly classified instance of 1.70. The CART results showed an accuracy of 98.3%, specificity of 98.3%, precision of 98.4%, recall of 98.3%, f-measure of 98.3% and incorrectly classified instance of 1.70. The time taken to build the model of ID3 is 0.05 seconds, C4.5 is 0.03 seconds and CART of 0.58 seconds. Experimental results revealed that C4.5 outperforms other classifiers and requires reasonable amount of time to build the model.Keywords: Student performance, ID3, C4.5, CART, classification, Education data minin

Optimum production plan for maize-based crop farmers in Niger State, Nigeria

The study tried to address optimum production plan for maize-based crop farmers in Niger State, Nigeria. Primary data were collection with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was used in selecting a total of 133 farm households engaged in maize-based crop production. The results showed that maize-based arable crop production in the study area is predominantly male activity, with a mean age of 37 years. The average household size of the respondents was 5 persons. Majority (86.46%) of the farmers had one form of formal education ranging from tertiary, primary, secondary and adult education. Also, 81.95% of the farmers earned less than ₦100,000 per annum from off-farm activities. An average farmer had 20 years of farming experience and cultivated 1.88 ha of land. Linear programming solution prescribed maize/soybeans on 1.1988 ha and maize/cowpea on 0.0468 ha respectively in the optimum farm plans for the farmers. It also indicated gross margin could be increased from ₦120,122.73 ha−1 in the existing crop production plan to ₦211,555.70 ha−1 in the prescribed optimum crop production plan. It was concluded that production inputs were not optimally utilized and that crop mixtures were in a better competitive position than sole crop to increase the farmers’ income in maize-based crop production systems in Niger State. It was recommended that farmers should produce crop mixtures maize/soybeans and maize/cowpea based on their hectarage allocation as prescribed in the optimum farm plans and that farm advisory services should give attention to optimum cropping patterns towards promoting increased agricultural productivity among farmers.Keywords: linear programming, sole crop, crop mixtures, incom

Evaluation of Asa River Water in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria for Available Pollutants and their Effects on Mitosis and Chromosomes Morphology in Allium cepa Cells

T: This study evaluated water samples from Asa River in Kwara state, Nigeria, for cytogenotoxicity at 25.0 %, 50.0 %, 100.0 % following the Allium cepa assay. Onions were grown in the water samples for microscopic and macroscopic screenings. Heavy metals and volatile organic pollutants in the water were elucidated using AAS and GCMS techniques. The Water samples except the sample ‘C’ induced higher mitotic index (MI) than the negative control. Root growth was significantly promoted at 25.0 %, and significantly reduced at 50.0 % and 100.0 % of the sample ‘C’ and 100.0 % of the sample ‘A’. Water sample ‘A’ (100.0%) induced highest percentage chromosomal aberrations (CA) while the water samples ‘B’ and ‘C’ induced higher percentage CA than the negative control. Cadmium was detected at a concentration higher than its permissible limit in drinking water. Poly aromatic hydrocarbons, Aromatic amines, Acridine dye, Phenolic and Polychlorinated compounds were detected in the water sample. The observed proliferative, inhibitory, cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of the water samples on A. cepa cells suggest that Asa river was polluted, having potential to adversely affect humans, animals and plants utilizing it along its course. Keywords: Allium cepa; Asa River; cytogenotoxicity; Nigeria; pollutant