Nutritional Evaluation of Honey Bee Slum gum Meal as Replacement for Maize in the Feed of Growing Rabbits

As part of the efforts in developing alternative feed ingredients for feeding rabbits a feeding trial was conducted to investigate the nutritional potential of Honey Bee slum gum meal (HBSM) on the performance characteristics of growing rabbit. Thirty (30) growing rabbit of 7 weeks of age were weight-balanced and divided into three (3) dietary treatment groups of 10 rabbit each in a completely randomized designed experiment. Diet 1 had 0% inclusion of HBSM while 25 and 50% maize in diets 2 and 3 were replaced by HBSM respectively. Rabbits received feed and water ad libitum during the 12 weeks of the experiment. The final weights decrease linearly (P<0.05) as the level of inclusion increases (1663.20g 1630.00g and 1458.40g for rabbits on treatments 1, 2 and 3 respectively). Rabbit on diets 1 and 2 had higher (P<0.05) daily weight gains (13.59g and 13.15 respectively) compared with rabbits on diet 3 (11.1g). The digestibility of nutrients were not affected (P>0.05) by the dietary treatments. The values obtained for final weight, carcass weight, abdominal fat, kidney, liver and lungs were significantly (P<0.05) affected by dietary treatment. HBSM can be used as an alternative for substituting maize in growing rabbits diets up of 25% beyond which depression in performance is observed. Key words: Honey slum gum meal, Digestibility, Final weight, growing rabbits

Performance Characteristics of Broiler Chicken (Gallus gallus ) Fed Rice (Oriza sativa) Bran with or Without Roxazyme G2G

Abstract: A study was conducted on the effect of roxazyme G2G on the nutritional value of rice bran in order to reduce the cost of feeding broiler chicken. Eight week feeding trial was carried out study using day old Anak Strain of broiler. Four groups of fifty birds each were fed two diets that contained 10 and 20% rice bran with or without Roxazyme G2G in a factorial design. Data were collected on performance, nutrient utilization, carcass characteristics and intestinal tract length. At starter and finisher phases Significant (p<0.05) depression were observed in Average Daily Gain (ADG) when rice bran was increased from 10 to 20% in the diets (25.60 and 40.20 g versus 22.10 and 36.10 g, respectively). This effect was reversed when enzyme was added. Increasing the rice bran from 10 to 20% reduced (p<0.05) feed cost but increased production cost which was reversed when diet was supplemented with enzyme. Birds fed 20% rice bran had lower (p<0.05) live weight and nutrient utilization than those fed 10% but which were improved when enzyme was added. Diets had no effect on feed intake and mortality. Gizzard weight and gastro-intestinal tract length of birds fed 20% rice bran were higher (p<0.05). It was concluded that 10% rice bran can be included in broiler diets but may be increased to 20% when roxazyme G2G is added

Livelihood Diversification and Settlement Patterns among Agro-Pastoralists in Ibadan/Ibarapa Agricultural Zone, Oyo State, Nigeria

This study assessed livelihood diversification and settlement patterns among agro-pastoralists in Ibadan/Ibarapa Agricultural Zone, Oyo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 106 agro-pastoralists, while data were collected with the aid of pre-tested and validated interview guide. Data were subjected to descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean) and inferential (chi-square) statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results revealed that the mean age of respondent was 43 years, and that 60.4% of the respondents were sole owner of their cattle. The major livelihood activities were sale of cattle, crop farming and sale of milk/milk products. Findings also showed that many of the agro-pastoralists practiced either the transhumance (25.5%) or semi-transhumance (55.7%) settlement patterns. It was further revealed that the respondents benefited from equitable access to land, expansion of business trade and market integration. Some of the challenges faced by the agro-pastoralists include; cattle defecating on streams and roads (78.3%), extensive sedentarization (80.2%), farmland invasion by cattle (85.8%), and overgrazing on fallow lands (80.2%). Chi-square analysis revealed that there were significant associations between settlement patterns and livelihood diversification; selling of milk and milk product (χ2 = 12.248, p≤0.01), cultivation of crops (χ2 = 15.362, p≤0.01), petty trading (χ2 = 7.957, p≤0.05) and commercial selling of livestock (χ2 = 9.456, p≤0.05). It was concluded that the transhumance or semi-transhumance settlement patterns adopted by the agro-pastoralists had positive influence on their livelihood diversification into different activities.  It is therefore recommended that agro-pastoralists should diversify into more income generating livelihood activities

ASSESSMENT OF RURAL CHILDREN’S INVOLVEMENT IN FISHERY ACTIVITIES IN OGUN WATERSIDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

The study assessed rural children’s involvement in fishery activities in Ogun waterside Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Eighty rural children were sampled from four fishing communities across two wards in the LGA through the use of multistage sampling technique. Data were collected with structured interview schedule. The study identified fishery activities involved in by rural children, determined their level of involvement, identified their educational activities and also identified reasons for children’s involvement in fishery activities. The results indicated that majority of the rural children were male (71.25%) with mean age of 14 years, Christians (61.25%) and had large household sizes between 6 and 10 persons (77.50%).Smoking of fish (96.25%), fish catching (93.75%), firewood gathering (92.5%) and selling of fish (88.75%) were some of the fishery activities involved in by rural children. The study also revealed that high level of involvement was observed with fish processing and fish marketing activities. Despite children’s involvement in fishery activities, their educational activities were not affected. The results of Chi-square analysis also showed significant associations between rural children’s involvement in fishing activities (χ2 = 210.772, p<0.05), fish marketing activities (χ2 = 163.547, p<0.05) and their educational activities. The study concludes that if children’s level of involvement in fishery activities is low, their educational performance will not be affected. It is therefore recommended that children’s involvement in fishery activities should only be tailored towards socializing the children and not for children to be exploited through child labour.     &nbsp

SOCIETAL AWARENESS OF THE CHILD’S RIGHTS ACT AMONG RURAL AND URBAN DWELLERS OF OGUN STATE

Protecting the rights of children has become important to local and international agencies of government and non-governmental organizations. This led to the formulation of laws that provided for and protected the rights of the child. Such laws include the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Nigeria’s Child’s Rights Act (CRA) and the Child’s Rights Law of Ogun State. However, the provisions of these documents seem to be inefficient in curbing the violation of child’s rights due to the high prevalence of street hawking, raping, corporal punishment, etc among children in Nigeria and Ogun State in particular. Hence, this study sought the societal awareness of CRA in rural and urban areas of Ogun State. About 243 rural and urban residents were interviewed through multistage sampling techniques with the aid of questionnaires and interview schedules administered on the different groups of respondents. The result showed that 69.14% of Ogun State residents were aware of the CRA. It further revealed that awareness of CRA was higher in urban than rural areas. Awareness of CRA was primarily sourced through the radio (42.86%) and television (42.86%). Radio and awareness campaigns were the most common sources of awareness among rural (51.76%) and urban (65.06%) residents respectively. The study recommended that government agencies and non-governmental organizations should sponsor more programmes that will be specifically directed to raising residents’ awareness of CRA in rural areas of the state. 

Awareness and adoption levels of improved smoking oven among fish processors in Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria

This paper investigated awareness and adoption levels of improved smoking oven among fish processors in four fishing communities along Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 153 respondents who were engaged in fish smoking. Data collected using structured interview guides were subjected to descriptive and inferential analyses. Results revealed that majority of the respondents were young, married women with average fish smoking experience of 22.6 years. Majority (90.8%) of them were solely engaged in fish smoking while 9.2% combined fish smoking with other income-generating activities. All the processors used traditional smoking oven (drum, box and mud ovens). More than 66.0% of the fish processors were not aware of improved fish smoking equipment. Lack of awareness, inadequate access to the technologies, low relative advantage and lack of maintenance services and high cost of procurement were responsible for low adoption levels of improved smoking oven. Irregular visits of extension agents to the study area had negative impact on the adoption of improved traditional smoking ovens. Proper dissemination of innovations developed on improved fish processing equipment to the active fish processors in Lagos State using available communication channels is hereby advocated. &nbsp

Willingness to Venture into Agriculture-related Enterprises after Graduation among Final Year Agriculture Students of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

This study examined willingness to venture into agriculture-related enterprises after graduation among final year agriculture students of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) by randomly sampling 120 final year students from the three agriculture colleges in the university with the aid of structured questionnaires. Data collected were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed that higher proportions of the students were males (53.6%), Christians (74.1%), with mean age of 24.08±2.37 years and had parents who were well educated. Majority (85.7%) were willing to venture into agriculture-related enterprises with livestock production enterprise (67.7%) been the most preferred enterprise. Major reasons for students’ willingness were identified to include students’ desire to be job creators and self employed, lucrative nature of agriculture and encouragement received during training. Lack of credit loan facilities for agriculture graduates and unavailability of infrastructural facilities such as storage, processing and marketing accesses were major reasons hindering students’ willingness to venture into agriculture-related enterprises. Chi-square analysis showed a significant association between students’ marital status (χ2 = 14.368, p<0.05) and their willingness to venture into agriculture-related enterprises after graduation. This study concluded that Nigerian agriculture can still contribute significantly to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. For sustainable development to take place, this study recommended that affordable credit loan facilities should be made available to agriculture graduates as this will sustain their willingness to venture into agriculture-related enterprises

Performance of rabbits on exclusive day and/or night feeding regime in the derived savannah zone of Nigeria

ABSTRACT: This study was carried out using Twenty four growing rabbits with an average initial weight of between 667 -676 g. The rabbits were randomly allocated into three groups of eight rabbits each, with each rabbit serving as a replicate in a completely randomized design experiment. The rabbits were fed conventionally on concentrate (l00g) and fresh forages -Aspilia africana-Tndax procumbens (200g) per animal per day. The first group which served as the control were provided with feed and water ad libitum while the second group (day feeding) were fed once during the day (08:00 hrs) and provided with only water at night. The third group (night feeding) were fed once in the evening (06:30 hrs) and provided with water during the day. The experiment lasted for eight weeks. Parameters recorded were temperature and humidity of the rabbitary, rectal temperature of the rabbits, feed intake and left over, water consumption, weight gain as well as the pulse rate of the rabbits. Rabbits on exclusive night feeding had final weights (1.62 kg) comparable (P>0.05) with the control (1.58 kg) that were fed ad-libitum (day and night) and higher (P<0.05) than the weight of rabbits (1.48 kg) fed exclusively during the day. Feed wastage was much lower (P<0.05) in rabbits fed exclusively at night. The relative organ weights shows that the kidney, spleen, and intestinal weights were not affected (P>0.05) but there were differences (P<0.05) in weights of lungs, heart and liver for the feeding regimes. It can be concluded that feeding rabbits at night is better to take advantage of their nocturnal habit. This will encourage the participation of individuals whose schedules are busy during the day in rabbit meat production thus making more rabbit available for consumption

Awareness of Cassava Peel Utilization Forms among Cassava Processors in Rural Communities of Southwest, Nigeria

Significant quantities of generated peels are been thrown on dumping sites in southwest, Nigeria thereby constituting a source of environmental pollution. This study assessed the awareness of cassava peel utilization forms among cassava processors in rural communities of southwest, Nigeria. Interview guide was used to elicit information from 200 cassava processors through a multistage sampling technique. Data were analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. Result revealed that majority of the cassava processors were women (76.5%), married (75.0%), and members of cassava processing associations (89.5%) with 73.0% having at least primary education. The mean age and cassava processing experience were 53.01 and 22.76 years respectively. About 23.0% of the processed cassava tubers constituted peels. The study also revealed that 50% of the cassava processors discarded peels as waste, 26% sold generated peels while 24% fed the peels to their livestock. Also 93.5% of the cassava processors were not aware of any cassava peel utilization technology. Chi-square analysis revealed that significant association existed between existing practice on cassava peel utilization (χ2=17.341, p<0.05) and cassava processors’ awareness of cassava peel utilization forms. The study concluded that substantial quantity of peel been generated is discarded as waste due to lack of awareness of cassava peel utilization technologies in the study areas. The study therefore recommended that improved technologies on the utilization of cassava peel should be popularized through result demonstration among cassava processors in southwest, Nigeria

Statistical Analysis of Citizen’s Personal Income Tax Compliance in Lagos State, Nigeria

This study focused on tax compliance in Lagos State, Nigeria among employees that are gainfully employed. A survey design was adopted for collecting data with a self - designed questionnaire administered among residents of Shomolu Local Government Area. The instrument was validated by experts and through a pilot study and the Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient was 0.834. A two - stage sampling technique was used to select 344 respondents of which 318 were completed, returned and used. The data thus collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlation and Chi-square tests with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The result showed that tax compliance was 74.9% and there is significant positive relationship between taxpayers’ tax compliance (TTC) and the revenue generation (RG) in Lagos (p < 0.05), tax morale (TM) (p < 0.05) and taxpayer’s confidence in legal system (TCL) (p < 0.05). However, a significant negative relationship exists between taxpayers’ tax compliance (TTC) and tax rate (TR) (p < 0.05). It is therefore concluded that a high tax morale and high taxpayers’ confidence in the legal systems will enhance their tax compliance which in turn will lead to higher revenue generation in Lagos. It was recommended that Government should boost the morale of tax payers through accountability and efficient utilisation of taxpayers’ fund in providing qualitative education, free and affordable healthcare and good roads; implement the available laws to enhance taxpayers’ confidence in the legal systems and reduce existing tax rates to enhance tax compliance among the citizenry. Keywords: Tax Compliance, Tax Morale, Revenue, Taxpayers’ Confidence, Spearman’s correlation DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-22-14 Publication date: November 30th 201