Influence of plant prunings on soil properties and yield of yam minisett

The importance of the application of agroforestry prunings on improvement of the soil organic matter cannot be overemphasized. The study focused on the influence of plant prunings on soil properties and yield of yam minisett. There is no doubt that effective production of seed yam through minisett technique requires adequate plant nutrient to be available in the soil. The study revealed that application of agroforestry prunings improved soil exchangeable K. The study showed that the plant prunings of Gliricidia sepium seem to be the best of the prunings used in this study in terms of total yield (t/ha), nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium addition to the soil. The resulting effect of this is improvement in the yield of yam minisett

The Church And Repositioning The Maternal Care In Africa: A Project Of The Millennium Development Goals

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Faith in the One God in Christian and African Traditional Religions: A Theological Appraisal

The Second Vatican Council has led the contemporary Church out of the desert of an arid doctrinal point of view, which sometimes rejects all questions and any kind of critical research. In contemporary Christian Catholic theology, any critical research or questioning is no longer seen as lack of faith in God and the Church, but as the part of the Anselmian programme of theologizing as an act of faith seeking to understand the depth of the mystery of God in salvation history. In the search for the mystery of God in salvation history, how should the African Christians understand the relationship between revelation of the one God in the Christian and African Traditional Religions? In response to this critical question, this paper examines the Christian revelation of the one God in the Bible, on the one hand, and the knowledge of God in African Traditional religions on the other hand. Finally, it draws a theological appraisal

STAFF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA.

Abstract The study examined the relationship between staff development programmes and service delivery in Imo State Public Library, Owerri. The study was guided by three research questions and three null hypotheses. A census study technique was adopted to cover the entire population of 42 library staff. A correlation research design was adopted for study, while rating scale was used as data collection instrument. The data collected were analyzed using Pearson (r) statistics to answer the research questions. The hypotheses were tested using t-test statistics of simple linear correlation at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between in-service training in use for staff development and service delivery in Imo State Public Library, Owerri; that there is a positive very high extent of relationship between mentoring programmes in use for staff development and service delivery and also that there is a positive very low extent of relationship between the extent of practice of continuing education programme and service delivery. The researcher recommended that Public library management in Nigeria should go beyond the conventional methods of providing in-service training for library staff and look towards the virtual aspect of staff development as this is the best way to acquire and share knowledge globally; that public libraries should effectively evaluate their mentoring programmes and provide them with feedbacks in order to ascertain their effectiveness in terms of the impact of the programmes job performance (service delivery) of the library staff and also that public library management should, as a matter of necessity, place more emphasis on staff acquisition of skills and knowledge in Information and Communication Technology and other related areas to enable them cope with the challenges occasioned by ICT integration in library services and operations

Trees for Shelter: The Implications in Agroforestry System

The objective of this study was to determine the horizontal and vertical variations in soil penetration resistance (PR) observed at tree-scale in silvopastoral plots that were grazed by sheep with and without trees. Sycamore trees (Acer pseudoplatanus L) were planted in the spring of 1988 at 10 m x 10 m spacing (100 stems/ha) at Glensaugh NE of Scotland on plots replicated over three blocks in Randomized Complete Block design on a predominantly rye grass (Lolium perenne L) pasture. Included in the design were pasture plots without trees (Control). The experiment is grazed by sheep yearly from April to October. Soil PR was measured in Mega Pascals (MPa) around two randomly selected trees in each plot in 8 directions of the compass - N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W and NW at 1 m intervals starting at 0.5 m from the tree base to mid point of the separation distance (4.5 m) between the trees. The soil PR data were measured at 3.5 cm soil depth intervals at points around the tree up to depth limit of 21.0 cm. This gave six depth intervals of d1 (3.5), d2 (7.0), d3 (10.5), d4 (14.0), d5 (17.5) and d6 (21.0). In the Control plots, soil PR was measured as in the Sycamore plots around two hypothetical tree positions chosen randomly in each plot. The soil PR was found to decrease significantly within the horizontal distance of 4.5 m from the tree and depth for up to d3 (10.5 cm) only in the grazed Sycamore plots. Soil penetrometer resistance was found to increase significantly within the vertical distance of 0-14 cm of the soil around the tree in grazed Sycamore and Control plots. Beyond this soil depth, soil PR was no longer significant in these treatments

Soil Nutrient Redistribution Pattern About the Tree in a Silvopastoral System

The objective of this paper is to report the effect of animal-tree interactions on soil nutrient redistribution pattern in a grazed silvopastoral experiment site at Glensaugh, in NE Scotland. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L) tree species were planted in square lattice arrangements at 5 m x 5 m, spacing (400 stems/ha) on plots replicated over three blocks in Randomized Complete Block design on a predominantly rye grass (Lolium perenne L) pasture which was grazed by sheep yearly from April to October. Included in the design were grazed pasture plots without trees (Control). Soil samples were collected from around two randomly selected trees in each plot in four directions N, E, S and W at 1 m interval starting at 0.5 m from the tree base up to mid point of the separation distance between trees. In the Control plots, soil samples were collected as above from two hypothetical tree positions chosen randomly. The analysis of variance result showed that soil total N, %C and Organic matter (OM) increased significantly with horizontal distance from the tree in the grazed Scots pine plots whereas soil nutrients did not vary significantly with horizontal distance from the tree in the Control plots

Effect of Fertilizer Level and Intercropping with Bambara Nut (\u3cem\u3eVigna subterranea\u3c/em\u3e) on the Growth and Herbage Yield of Maize

The low fertility status of most tropical soils has hindered maize production as maize has a strong exhausting effect on the soil. It has been generally observed that maize fails to produce good grain in plots without adequate nutrients (Adediran and Banjoko 2003). Legumes generally are able to fix nitrogen to the soil which the companion crop could benefit from, but usually the nitrogen fixed occurs in insufficient quantities for marginally nitrogen sensitive crops such as maize and hence the required use of fertilizers. Inorganic fertilizers exert strong influences on plant growth, development and yield (Stefano et al. 2004). The use of legumes in mixed cropping systems is one of the traditional soil-fertility maintenance strategies. Legume-cereal intercropping often increases the quantity and quality of residues, which could improve livestock production considerably in addition to benefits in soil fertility but may decrease the yield of the companion cereal crop (Nandi and Haque 1986). Although the beneficial effects of intercropping legumes have been demonstrated by intercropping cereals with a few legumes such as cowpea, lablab, soybean etc, the same cannot be said for all legumes. This study aims at investigating the effect of fertilizer levels and intercropping with bambara nut (Vigna subterranean L.Verdc) on the growth and yield of maize for use as forage

Effect of Plant Spacing on the Growth and Yield of Forage Plant, Maize, Intercropped with Cowpea (\u3cem\u3eVigna unguiculata\u3c/em\u3e sub spp. \u3cem\u3esesquipedalis\u3c/em\u3e)

Feed constraint is the most important impediment to improved livestock production in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries (Agyemang 2003), as a result of seasonal shortages in the quantity and quality of forage from natural pastures that supply most of the feed for animals due to the prolonged annual dry season. Appropriate technologies to improve the performance of the local animal breeds and feed resources under the traditional system are generally lacking. Maize forms a major part of the cereal crops consumed by man and the residues serve as a source of fodder for livestock (Asawalam and Adesiyan 2001). Demand for maize has led farmers to reduce planting spacing. When crops are grown sole, spacing and planting pattern differ from when intercropped. Maize is known to be a very heavy soil nutrient utiliser and usually produces low yield in situations of low soil fertility and poor agronomic practices. Intercropping maize with legumes has shown prospects for improving maize crop yield and this would result in a reduction in the use of high cost synthetic fertilizers. The cowpea is an example of such legume and little work has been done on plant spacing for this crop in an intercropping system with maize. Plant spacing is an important agronomic attribute as it has effects on light interception which is the energy manufacturing medium of green parts of the plant (Ibeawuchi, et al. 2008)

Sexual Behavior and Abuse: A Case Study of University Undergraduates in Tertiary Institutions in Imo State, Nigeria

Introduction: In young people including adolescents, risky sexual behavior has been recognized as an important health, social and demographic concern in the developing world. Aim: To assess sexual behaviors and their association with current and life-time occurrence of sexual abuse among female undergraduates in tertiary institutions in Imo State, Nigeria. Methodology: This was a school based cross sectional study involving 600 female students selected from tertiary institutions in Imo State Nigeria, using the multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using a semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using a data software (EPI-INFO version 3.3.2). Descriptive variables were presented using summary indices, frequency tables/percentages, and graph while associations between variables were done using the Chi-square and binary regression. A p-value of 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean age of the students was 21.73.2 years. About 65.2% of the respondents have initiated sexual intercourse and of this proportion, 75.6% were sexually active in the last one year preceding survey. The mean age at initiation of sexual debut among the students was 18.93.8 years and the commonest form of sexual act practiced was penile/vaginal sex. About 15.2% of the students had been currently abused. Predictors of current sexual abuse were; ever had sexual intercourse (OR.4.63), being within 14-19 years of age at first sexual initiation, (OR: 0.42), had first sexual exposure with a casual partner (OR: 12.38), and being sexually active in the last 1 year preceding study, (OR: 2.16). Conclusion: Risky sexual behaviors were prevalent and were found to influence the occurrence of sexual abuse, among the students. Thus, there is need to institute appropriate prevention strategies to limit risky sexual behaviors and it consequences among adolescents and young adults

Taking up the cudgels against gay rights? Trends and trajectories in African Christian theologies on homosexuality

Against the background of the HIV epidemic and the intense public controversy on homosexuality in African societies, this article investigates the discourses of academic African Christian theologians on homosexuality. Distinguishing some major strands in African theology, that is, inculturation, liberation, women’s and reconstruction theology, the article examines how the central concepts of culture, liberation, justice, and human rights function in these discourses. On the basis of a qualitative analysis of a large number of publications, the article shows that stances of African theologians are varying from silence and rejection to acceptance. Although many African theologians have taken up the cudgels against gay rights, some “dissident voices” break the taboo and develop more inclusive concepts of African identity and African Christianity