Effect of cropping systems induced shading on the physiology of cowpea varieties intercropped with sorghum based systems in the savannah ecology of Nigeria

Six cowpea varieties (IT98K-131-1, IT04K-227-4, IT89KD-288, IT93K-452-1, IT97K-499-35 and IT99K-573-1-1) were intercropped with a local sorghum (Kaura) using four row arrangements (1C:1S, 2C:2S, Mixed crop and sole) in fields experiment conducted at Minjibir and research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture Bayero University Kano located in the Sudan Savannah ecological zone of Nigeria during the 2015 and 2016 rainy seasons. In the field, the experiment was laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD), Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant difference on cowpea cropping systems and variety on the physiology of cowpea. At BUK in both years and the combined, cowpea had higher non significant percent light interception at sole, at both sampling period’s varieties IT98K-131-1 and IT93K-452-1 intercepted higher percent light compared with the other varieties similarly chlorophyll content was higher at sole, varieties IT97K-499-35, IT04K-227-4 and IT98K-131-1 had significantly higher chlorophyll content. At Minjibir in both years and the combined, sole row arrangement had the higher non significant percent light interception while variety IT89KD-288 had no significant higher light interception. In both trials, higher percent light interception was recorded in variety IT98K-131-1 and varieties IT04K-227-4 and IT97K-499- 35 had a significant combined effect on chlorophyll content.Keywords: Cropping systems, Cowpea varieties, Shading and physiolog

Economics of On-Farm Sorghum "“ Legume Strip Cropping System in Kano State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to carry out Economics of Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) on-farm Sorghum-legume strip cropping system in Kano State. Structured questionnaire was used and data were collected from 229 farmers randomly selected from three purposively selected Local Government Areas (LGAs). The Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, profitability ratios and Paired T-test. The results revealed that 75.6% of the farmers were in active age of within 25-54 years with a mean age of 45 years. Majority of the farmers were male (93.4%); 58.5% had acquired qua'ranic education and 97.4% were married with many household size of between 7-11 household (46.3%).  The results of gross margin showed that the improved practice made a profit of N65, 931.64k/ha and a return on every naira invested of N2.08, compared with N56, 008.62k/ha and a return on every naira invested of N1.94in the traditional systems.  Result on T-test showed that there is significant difference between profits of some improved practices against farmers practice (p< 0.05). The constraints to production experienced by the farmers were high cost of inputs, insufficient fund, inadequate and untimely delivery of farm input, inadequate collaterals/security, inadequate loan/credit facilities, inadequate storage processing and marketing facilities, pest, and diseases. Other less severe problems identified were Striga infestation, unstable produce price and drought spells.  It was concluded that the technology package is more profitable.  It is recommended that farmers should increase land devoted to Sorghum- legume strip cropping system and government and other agencies like ADPs should address the challenges of shortage of extension services, credit supply to farmers, improve marketing system, input supply and affordable price of input

Complex systems - Simple solutions? The importance of social context for sustainable intensification

Smallholder farming systems in northern Ghana exhibit low adoption rates of measures for sustainable intensification (SI). Measures are only meaningful if they match with people's livelihood strategies, gender roles and human capital (knowledge, habits). Smallholder systems are complex ‘businesses' where intra-household differences in roles, objectives and power positions strongly influence farm management decisions and therewith the adoption behaviour. For the Africa RISING project, we investigated smallholder farm and farmer diversity in northern Ghana with the aim to better understand technology adoption for SI. We generated and combined statistical and participatory typologies to capture local smallholder diversity. We then collected bio-economic information of each farm type to describe and explain the current system as well as to evaluate and explore alternatives for SI using the whole farm model Farm DESIGN. The whole farm modelling was performed at household level since the farm household forms a strong unit of agricultural production, with tight interdependencies in decision making, exchanging and sharing resources like land, tools, labour, capital, inputs (fertilisers, seeds) and outputs (food, income). However, different fields, crops and livestock types are typically managed by different household members with different individual objectives and hence different interests and viewpoints on ‘improved farm technologies'. In our interviews, we hence went beyond the usual consultation of a single ‘representative' household member by interviewing all members with ‘own' fields. We found that technologies for SI had different impacts and received different evaluations by the different household types and household members. The combination of whole-farm modelling and social contextualisation revealed that technologies such as a systematic integration of maize and legumes seem technically simple and economically promising, but are difficult to implement if the crops are traditionally grown by different household members and on different fields. We further identified the need to distinguish between technologies and techniques: While technologies are more technical (inputs, machinery) techniques are more managerial (behaviour change) making them differently attractive and feasible for low and high resource endowed farm types. Analyzing the social context of measures for SI significantly improved our understanding of challenges and opportunities for SI in smallholder systems in northern Ghana

Understanding nutrient imbalances in maize (Zea mays L.) using the diagnosis and recommendation integrated system

Open Access Journal; Published online: 06 Aug 2021Low nutrient use efficiency in maize as a result of imbalanced nutrition has been reported to drastically reduce yield. We implemented a nutrient omission experiment to assess the effect of nutrient application on maize yield and nutritional balance. Maize ear leaves were analyzed for nutrients, to identify nutrient balance status using the Diagnostic and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) approach. Results indicated that omission of N or P resulted in highly imbalanced DRIS indices respectively, and significantly lower grain yield. A strong inverse relationship between K ear leaf content with DRIS index suggests that K application negatively increases K imbalance in many situations. Imbalances of Mg, Ca and Cu were more associated with higher yielding treatments. A Which-Won-Where result show that nutrient imbalances in the diagnosis were systematically frequent when N was omitted. All the diagnosed nutrients were imbalanced even under the highest yielding NPKZn treatment; indicating further opportunity for yield increase with more balanced nutrition. Balanced nutrition of maize in the maize belt of Nigeria should target application of varying rates of N, P, K, Mg, S and Zn, depending on the soil conditions. But, because of complexities of nutrient interactions during uptake, it is hardly possible to realize a balanced nutrition. However, differentiating the application of antagonistic nutrients into foliar or soil-based methods is recommended for a more balanced maize nutrition

Delineation of soil fertility management zones for site-specific nutrient management in the maize belt region of Nigeria

Open Access Journal; Published online: 29 Oct 2020Site-specific nutrient management can reduce soil degradation and crop production risks related to undesirable timing, amount, and type of fertilizer application. This study was conducted to understand the spatial variability of soil properties and delineate spatially homogenous nutrient management zones (MZs) in the maize belt region of Nigeria. Soil samples (n = 3387) were collected across the area using multistage and random sampling techniques, and samples were analyzed for pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), macronutrients (N, P, K, S, Ca and Mg), micronutrients (S, B, Zn, Mn and Fe) content, and effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC). Spatial distribution and variability of these parameters were assessed using geostatistics and ordinary kriging, while principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate K-means cluster analysis were used to delineate nutrient management zones. Results show that spatial variation of macronutrients (total N, available P, and K) was largely influenced by intrinsic factors, while that of S, Ca, ECEC, and most micronutrients was influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors with moderate to high spatial variability. Four distinct management zones, namely, MZ1, MZ2, MZ3, and MZ4, were identified and delineated in the area. MZ1 and MZ4 have the highest contents of most soil fertility indicators. MZ4 has a higher content of available P, Zn, and pH than MZ1. MZ2 and MZ3, which constitute the larger part of the area, have smaller contents of the soil fertility indicators. The delineated MZs offer a more feasible option for developing and implementing site-specific nutrient management in the maize belt region of Nigeria

Search for leptophobic Z ' bosons decaying into four-lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Search for the doubly heavy baryon Ξbc+\it{\Xi}_{bc}^{+} decaying to J/ψΞc+J/\it{\psi} \it{\Xi}_{c}^{+}

A first search for the $\it{\Xi}_{bc}^{+}\to J/\it{\psi}\it{\Xi}_{c}^{+}$ decay is performed by the LHCb experiment with a data sample of proton-proton collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ recorded at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and $13\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$. Two peaking structures are seen with a local (global) significance of $4.3\,(2.8)$ and $4.1\,(2.4)$ standard deviations at masses of $6571\,\mathrm{Me\kern -0.1em V\!/}c^2$ and $6694\,\mathrm{Me\kern -0.1em V\!/}c^2$, respectively. Upper limits are set on the $\it{\Xi}_{bc}^{+}$ baryon production cross-section times the branching fraction relative to that of the $B_{c}^{+}\to J/\it{\psi} D_{s}^{+}$ decay at centre-of-mass energies of 8 and $13\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$, in the $\it{\Xi}_{bc}^{+}$ and in the $B_{c}^{+}$ rapidity and transverse-momentum ranges from 2.0 to 4.5 and 0 to $20\,\mathrm{Ge\kern -0.1em V\!/}c$, respectively. Upper limits are presented as a function of the $\it{\Xi}_{bc}^{+}$ mass and lifetime.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-005.html (LHCb public pages

Search for D∗(2007)0→μ+μ−D^{*}(2007)^0\to\mu^+\mu^- in B−→π−μ+μ−B^-\to\pi^-\mu^+\mu^- decays

The very rare $D^{*}(2007)^0\to\mu^+\mu^-$ decay is searched for by analysing $B^-\to\pi^-\mu^+\mu^-$ decays. The analysis uses a sample of beauty mesons produced in proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$. The signal signature corresponds to simultaneous peaks in the $\mu^+\mu^-$ and $\pi^-\mu^+\mu^-$ invariant masses. No evidence for an excess of events over background is observed and an upper limit is set on the branching fraction of the decay at ${\cal B}(D^{*}(2007)^0\to\mu^+\mu^-) < 2.6\times 10^{-8}$ at $90\%$ confidence level. This is the first limit on the branching fraction of $D^{*}(2007)^0\to\mu^+\mu^-$ decays and the most stringent limit on $D^{*}(2007)^0$ decays to leptonic final states. The analysis is the first search for a rare charm-meson decay exploiting production via beauty decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2023-004.html (LHCb public pages

Phenomenological MSSM interpretation of CMS searches in pp collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV

Searches for new physics by the CMS collaboration are interpreted in the framework of the phenomenological minimal supersymmetric standard model (pMSSM). The data samples used in this study were collected at root s = 7 and 8 TeV and have integrated luminosities of 5.0 fb(-1) and 19.5 fb(-1), respectively. A global Bayesian analysis is performed, incorporating results from a broad range of CMS supersymmetry searches, as well as constraints from other experiments. Because the pMSSM incorporates several well-motivated assumptions that reduce the 120 parameters of the MSSM to just 19 parameters defined at the electroweak scale, it is possible to assess the results of the study in a relatively straightforward way. Approximately half of the model points in a potentially accessible subspace of the pMSSM are excluded, including all pMSSM model points with a gluino mass below 500 GeV, as well as models with a squark mass less than 300 GeV. Models with chargino and neutralino masses below 200 GeV are disfavored, but no mass range of model points can be ruled out based on the analyses considered. The nonexcluded regions in the pMSSM parameter space are characterized in terms of physical processes and key observables, and implications for future searches are discussed