Short Communication: Efficacy of bush pepper (Piper guineensis) in the control of mold fungus in stored maize (Zea mays l.) Seeds

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Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Residential Power Backup Gasoline Generators in Nigeria

This study involves life cycle cost analysis of portable gasoline generator brands mostly used for home power back up in Nigeria to guide the citizens’ choice during acquisition. A total of two thousand six hundred and twentyelectric power generating sets sampled from seventeen cities in Nigeria were evaluated by direct  observation/descriptive experimental design. The evaluation parameters include initial or procurement, operation and maintenance costs, fuel consumption rate, operation period and residual value. Results showed Tiger, Sumec, Elemax, Elepaq and Jinjing as the most patronized brands of portable gasoline generators for home power back up in Nigeria major cities while 0.8 and 2.2KVA constitute the most used power ratings of the generators. Also 0.8KVA Sumec and 2.2KVA Elemax were revealed as most cost effective due to their comparative low life cycle cost of N26, 810 and N39,820 respectively.Keywords: Gasoline generator, life cycle cost, power back up, power outag

Factors Affecting Microfinance Banks Credit Supply to Farmers in Imo State

The study examined the factors affecting microfinance banks credit supply to farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. Specifically the study identified the socioeconomic characteristics of the beneficiaries; the amount of credit supplied to the farmers and identified the constraints affecting the performance of microfinance banks in lending to agriculture in the study area.Data were collected with the aid of two sets of structured questionnaire administered to 136 loan beneficiaries and 26 microfinance banks using purposive and simple random techniques. Data collected were analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics and multiple regression models. The result indicated that the mean of the credit supplied by the microfinance banks to the farmers was N163,212.50. The result of the multiple regression showed that variables for average farm income, loan period, gender and distance were significant at 1% and 5% levels and are important factors affecting supply of credit by microfinance banks in the study area. It is concluded that there is need for microfinance banks to help look into conditions for granting loans to farmers, so that the poorest of the poor will be able to take advantage of the productivity enhancing technologies that abound in agriculture. Keywords: Microfinance, farmers, lending, credit

Chemotaxonomic Significance and Environmental Implications of the Phytochemical Constituents of four Mussaenda L. (Rubiaceae) taxa in Nigeria

This work investigated the phytoconstituents of some Mussaenda taxa (Rubiaceae) collected from Nsukka (Derived Savanna) and Uyo (Tropical Rainforest) ecological zones of Nigeria to establish their contribution as possible taxonomic and environmental monitoring markers. Fresh leaf samples used in this study were collected from plants of the same age, air-dried, and made into powder for further use. Histochemical and phytochemical tests were carried out by following the standard procedures. Results of the comparative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, phenols, hydrogen cyanide, reducing sugars, soluble carbohydrates, saponins, steroids, terpenoids, and tannins in varying proportions. Results of the phytochemical constitute analysis revealed the presence of the cystoliths from the M. elegans (MEL) and M. erythrophylla (MER) which were absent in Mussaenda “ Doña Aurora” (MDA) and Mussaenda “Doña Luz”(MDL). Further, the presence of the Raphides was unique to MEL while Gum and mucilage were reported only in MDA. Quantitatively, MEL had the highest value of terpenoids (650.88 mg/100g) while MDA had the highest values of phenols (899.27 mg/100g), alkaloids (311.01 mg/100g), reducing sugars (967.35 mg/100g), steroids (2.89 mg/100g), soluble carbohydrates (27.68 mg/100g) and tannins (393.16 mg/100g), and MDL was richest in glucosides (339.64 mg/100g), flavonoids (69.34 mg/100g) and hydrogen cyanides (1.34 mg/100g). The cluster analysis based on obtained phytochemical data revealed three (3) distinct clusters with MEL in cluster 1; MDA and MDL in cluster 2 while cluster 3 had MER.  The evolutionary closeness of the two infraspecific and exotic species (MDA and MDL) were confirmed and their taxonomic relationship with the indigenous infrageneric taxa (MEL and MER) was established. The results also highlight the opportunity of employing plant metabolomics in ecological studies and environmental monitoring.&nbsp

Loan Accessibility and Repayment Performance of Livestock Farmers under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund in Southeast, Nigeria

The study analysed livestock farmers’ accessibility and repayment performance to lending institutions under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund in Southeast, Nigeria. Two states (Ebonyi and Imo states) were purposively chosen as   representative of the five Southeast states. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered on 195 loan beneficiaries that were selected through simple random sampling technique. Descriptive statistics, logit and multiple regression analysis techniques were used in data analysis. The result showed that the lending institutions were able to meet 53.7% of the credit demand of the farmers, while their repayment performance was 90.1%. The logit analysis showed a “Percentage Correct” of 71.8% with age, marital status, educational level, farming experience, collateral value and total income as significant factors influencing accessibility to credit demand. The multiple regression analysis on factors influencing the farmers’ loan repayment showed that amount borrowed, age, educational level, household size, livestock value and total income  as significant variables at 5% level of probability influencing their loan repayment. The Federal Government of Nigeria is advised to fashion and enforce a programme for livestock development under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund that will guarantee credit to livestock farmers. This will assist in enhancing the farmers’ accessibility to the much needed credit thereby making animal protein available at reasonable prices to people. Keywords: Livestock, Loan Accessibility, Repayment Performance, Credit Guarantee, Southeast

Proximate and Sensory Evaluation of Different Zobo-Moringa Blends Packaged in Tea Bags

Different blends of Roselle calyx and Moringa leaves (90:10%. 80:20%, 70:30%, and 50:50% respectively) were used in processing the novel instant “Zobo-moringa mix” by drying, grinding and mixing of Zobo calyx, moringa leaves, ginger, cloves and orange flavour. Various recipes were formulated using linear programming, after which sensory evaluation was carried out to obtain an acceptable formula. Dried Moringa leaves were added at different proportion by varying the amount of Zobo calyx used. All samples were packaged in teabags. Proximate analysis was carried out on the samples. The results of the proximate analysis showed that the proximate composition of the samples was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in protein and it increases as the proportion of Moringa increases from 2.325% to 28.05%. For the crude fiber, there was a decrease in its composition from 14.00% to 5.70% as the proportion of Moringa increases. It is significantly low in carbohydrate from 59.98% to 29.62% as the proportion of Moringa increases. The results of the sensory evaluation of the samples showed that the samples into which Moringa were incorporated were generally more accepted than the conventional Zobo sample (control)

A PRELIMINARY COMPARISON OF MITOCHONDRIAL D-LOOP REGION OF FUNAAB ALPHA AND NIGERIAN INDIGENOUS CHICKENS

Nigerian indigenous chickens possess immunity from endemic diseases and have a better survival rate than commercial hybrid strains under local production conditions. FUNAAB Alpha chicken was developed by improving Nigerian indigenous chickens through crossbreeding and selection. This study compared the mitochondrial d-loop of FUNAAB Alpha and Nigerian indigenous chickens to check likely genetic erosion and loss of diversity in development of FUNAAB Alpha breed. Blood samples were collected from Nigerian indigenous (n=23) and FUNAAB Alpha (n=20) chickens sampled from farms and houses in Ogun state, Nigeria. The Hypervariable 1 (HV1) of the mitochondrial d-loop region was amplified and sequenced. Single nucleotide polymorphisms present in HV1 of chickens were identified using Clustal W. Genetic diversity of the region was determined using DnaSp v5 while selective forces acting on the chickens were predicted using HyPhy software implemented inside MEGA 6 software. Phylogenetic relationship among FUNAAB Alpha, Nigerian indigenous and other chicken breeds was determined using MEGA 6 software. Five polymorphisms were identified in FUNAAB Alpha chickens while twelve were identified in Nigerian indigenous chickens. All the polymorphisms identified in FUNAAB Alpha chickens were also observed in Nigerian indigenous chickens while seven polymorphisms were unique to Nigerian indigenous chickens. Higher diversity indices were observed in Nigerian indigenous chickens (number of haplotype: 4; haplotype diversity: 0.743±0.012; nucleotide diversity: 0.014±0.0013 and average number of nucleotide differences: 4.332) compared with FUNAAB Alpha chickens (number of haplotype: 2; haplotype diversity: 0.485±0.001; nucleotide diversity: 0.008±0.0001 and average number of nucleotide differences: 2.424). Positive selective forces were acting on FUNAAB Alpha chickens while negative selective forces were acting on Nigerian indigenous chickens. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that FUNAAB Alpha chickens clustered with Nigerian indigenous and South American chickens. It can be concluded that there was likely genetic erosion and loss of diversity in development of FUNAAB Alpha breed. Breeding programmes aimed at improvement of genetic diversity and reduction of genetic erosion should be applied in subsequent improvement of FUNAAB Alpha chickens

Assessment of measures of adiposity that correlate with blood pressure among hypertensive Africans

Background: Studies differ on which anthropometric measure of adiposity shows good correlation with cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we evaluated the effects of common epidemiological measures of adiposity as a correlate of elevated blood pressure in an African population.Methodology: The study was carried out between June 2009 and December 2011 at the medical out-patient department of a tertiary healthcare center in Nigeria. Correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between blood pressure and body mass index (BMI), waist to height ratio (WHtR), and waist circumference (WC).Results: A total of 1,416 Hypertensives comprising 1090 (77%) adult females recruited over two and half years. Women were significantly older (49.2±8.1 vs. 48.0±10.0 years, p=0.039) and shorter (1.6±6.3 vs 1.7±6.8 meters, p&lt;0.0001) when compared with men. Blood pressure parameters were comparable between women and men. Approximately 1 out of 5 participants had good blood pressure control with no gender difference. Anthropometric measurements showed that 446(32%) were overweight, 404(29%) obese and 40(3%) were morbidly obese. Compared with their male counterparts, females were significantly more likely to be obese (P&lt;0.0001). Similarly, 51.6% of the subjects had abdominal obesity, with female preponderance (P&lt;0.0001). Likewise, a greater proportion of women had substantially higher measured waist circumference risk. Compared with other measures of adiposity, body mass index correlated best with diastolic blood pressure in both gender (P&lt; 0.05).Conclusion: This study adds to the evidence that obesity is a major cardiovascular risk factor. BMI, as a measure of adiposity, was found to correlate best with blood pressure. These findings support other observations in other populations that BMI rather than waist to height ratio (WHtR), and waist circumference (WC) is a better correlate of hypertension