Changes in soil properties and plant uptake of heavy metals on selected municipal solid waste dump sites in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

In a study to evaluate the contributions of open municipal waste dump to soil heavy metals contamination and the modification of other soil physical and chemical parameters, soil samples were collected at various depths from the vicinity of major dump sites in Ile-Ife (latitudes 7°27' and 7°32', longitudes 4° 22' and 4° 29'), Nigeria. The samples when analyzed, showed that soils in the vicinity of dump sites had significantly higher pH regime compared to the control soil. Soils of the dump sites were found to be enriched with the heavy metals (Zn, Cu and Cd) more than the adjacent soils (control) but were still within tolerable /critical level with the exception of Pb which had a high value of 109.7 ugg-1 above the critical value of 100 ugg-1. There was significant relationship between the soil heavy metal content and plant uptake. Transfer factor (TF) expressed as the ratio of the heavy metal concentration in plants to that of soil varied significantly amongst the dump sites and also amongst the species of the heavy metals. The ten years old dump sites recorded the highest TF value ranging from 0.29 for Zn to 4.05 for Pb. The study therefore showed that changes in physico-chemical characteristics at dump sites could be attributed to interactions of different soil properties rather a single factor.Key words: Heavy metal contamination, seasonal changes, soil pH, soil texture, specific adsorption mechanism, transfer factor, food chain

Fruit Consumption among Staff of Agricultural Based Institutions

Fruits play a significant role in human nutrition, especially as sources of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. The human diet will be considered imbalanced without the presence of the recommended quantities of vitamins and minerals. Micronutrients necessary for proper development of humans are found only in fruits. This study investigated fruits consumption among staff of agricultural-based institutions in Ibadan, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using stratified random sampling technique considering the three strata of trade unions existing in the Institute. Data collected from 311 members of staff were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression model. The most preferred fruits are plantain (91.3%), banana (89.7%), sweet orange (87.5%) and apple (86.2%). On the other hand, the least preferred fruits are lemon (40.5%) and lime (46.9%). On daily basis, only 21.5% of the respondents consumed sweet orange. The result further showed that 47.9% consumed plantain, sweet orange (38.9%), banana (38.6%) and only 4.8% consumed grape fruit, lemon (5.1%) and lime (5.5%); 2-3 times per week.  Moreover, 67.2% of the respondents purchase their fruits from neighborhood market while only 2.6% patronize grocery stores. The regression result revealed that educational status of the respondents as well as their monthly income significantly (p<0.05) increases fruit consumption. The most limiting constraint to fruit and vegetable consumption was inadequate storage facilities (27.4%). In essence, staff of agricultural based institutions should be sensitized on increasing their fruits consumption. Also, they should be enlightened on appropriate short term storage methods to improve the shelf-life of fruits they purchase for consumption. Keywords: Fruits, consumption pattern, fruit preference, mode of consumption, constraints

Productivity Responses of Spice and Vegetable Crops in Citrus Juvenile Orchard

Citrus is an economy crop usually grown at wide spacings into which staple food can be grown before the canopy closes up. Therefore, field experiments were conducted in 2010 and 2011 at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan to evaluate the response of three spices and one vegetable crop as intercrops with juvenile citrus at different spacing regimes.  Citrus was intercropped with pepper, turmeric, ginger and basil at three inter spacing regimes of 1 m, 2 m and 3 m from the juvenile citrus trees with sole citrus and the sole crop of each of the components as control. The experiment was laid in randomized complete block design in three replication.  Results showed that growth and yield of the juvenile citrus trees were not significantly affected by the component crops except in citrus/turmeric intercrop where significant decrease in plant height was observed in 2010. Basil plant height in the intercrop was significantly higher at 1m and 3m than other intercrops at 10WAP in both years, while pepper and turmeric heights were significantly higher at 3m spacing from the juvenile citrus trees than that of ginger at 20 WAP in 2010. Pepper produced higher number of fruits at 3m in 2010 and 2m in 2011 while that of turmeric was higher at 1m in 2010 and 2m in 2011 than the other corresponding spacing regimes which in turn were higher than the yields under their corresponding sole crops.  Yields of ginger under the spacing regimes were significantly lower than what was obtained in the other intercrops and sole ginger in both years while basil produced higher leaf yield at 2m (269 g/plant) than at 1m and 3m. Pepper, turmeric and basil responded positively in the intercrop with juvenile citrus trees than ginger and can be adopted by farmers. Keywords: Citrus, intercrop, juvenile, spices, vegetable, alley

Evaluation of soil chemical and physical properties at the logged forest at Onigambari forest reserve

S. Soil samples were collected randomly from five locations around the forest at depth of 0- 45cm. Samples of about 500g each were collected in plastic bags and taken to the laboratory for analysis. Results presented shows that sand had the highest % in soil of the area (91.62). Bulk densities were at ranges of (1.43, 1.45 and 1.23g/cm3) at the depth of 0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 respectively. The textural classification for each depth of soil was sandy-loam. Calcium present in the soil ranges between 2.33- 2.60 which is at its lowest and cannot properly support the growth of plant. Magnesium which functions as the central core of the chlorophyll molecule in plant tissue seems to be deficient at each level of the soil depth. Therefore, if Mg is deficient, the shortage of chlorophyll will results in poor and stunted plant growth. Keywords: Decomposed, biomass, bulk density, deficien

How does farmers’ characteristics affect their willingness to adopt agricultural innovation? The case of Biofortified Cassava in Oyo State, Nigeria

Adoption of new technology, especially as it relates to agricultural production has been considered to play an important role in improving food security in developing countries which Nigeria is one. Crop farmers, especially those that cultivate cassava often record high productivity but with increase in deficiencies of essential nutrients such as zinc, vitamin A, Iron among others, causing malnutrition and consequently, poor health of individuals. This study examined perception and determinants of rural farmers’ willingness to adopt biofortified ‘yellow’ cassava in Oyo State, Nigeria. Primary data employed in the study were obtained from 120 respondents which were selected using a multi-stage random sampling technique. Analysis of the socio-economic characteristics showed that the mean age of household heads in the area was 46.06±15.58 years while almost all the farmers had up to 17years of farming experience and above. With respect to the level awareness of biofortified cassava, almost all the respondents were aware of the biofortified cassava. Logit Regression Model result revealed that farmers’ willingness to adopt biofortified cassava in the study area was influenced mainly by gender, source of inputs, marital status, access to extension officer and membership of farmer organization. However, the constraints faced by the respondents reported were: the risks in adoption, access to credit and access to market while the least severe constraints were size of farm, access to information, tradition and extension officer. The study recommends that existing programmes that disburse agricultural input should be increased in the rural areas since the study found source of input to affect the adoption of biofortified cassava. This could be done by including the biofortified cassava stem in the inputs disbursed through the e-wallet agricultural policy.Keywords: Biofortified cassava; perception; willingness to adopt and logit mode

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E virus and the rate of co-infection with other viruses in blood donors in Oyo State, Nigeria: A pilot study

Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) infection is a major public health challenge in developing countries where it has caused large waterborne epidemics. However, the risk of transfusion transmitted HEV through contaminated blood and blood products remains unknown.This cross-sectional study aimed at determining the seroprevalence of HEV among 186 blood donors who visited the University College Hospital blood bank, Ibadan in Nigeria, between January and June, 2018. Five ml of venous blood was drawn from each subject into plain sample bottles. The sera were analyzed for HEV, HCV, HBsAg, HIV and VDRL via ELISA techniques. Our findings showed HEV (4.3%) to be the most prevalent transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs), followed by HIV (3.2%), HBV (3.2%), HCV (2.7%) and syphilis (1.1%). Prevalence rate of HEV/HIV co-infection recorded was 0.54%, HBsAg/HCV co-infection was 0.58% while HBsAg/HIV co-infection was 1.08 %. Also, statistical relationship was observed between HEV and increasing age (P = 0.038). Among the seropositive donors 62.5% reported to have donated blood in the past. In conclusion, the study showed a high seroprevalence rate of HEV among the donors; higher than the other routinely screened viral markers. Blood donors above age 30, which is the age bracket of most donors, have a higher probability of being seropositive. Thus posing significant health risks to blood transfusion recipients. Hence, it is recommended that HEV be routinely screened for along with other viral TTIs