Assessment of Land Use and Vegetative Cover in Kano Metropolis (from 1975-2015) Employing GIS and Remote Sensing Technology

This study applied GIS and remote sensing technology to assess agricultural land use and vegetative cover in Kano Metropolis. It specifically examined the intensity of land use for agricultural and non agricultural purpose from 1975 – 2015. Images (1975, 1995 and 2015), landsat MSS/TM, landsat 8, scene of path 188 and 052 were downloaded for the study. Bonds for these imported scenes were processed using ENVI 5.0 version. The result indicated five classified features-settlement, farmland, water body, vegetation and bare land. The finding revealed an increase in settlement, vegetation and bare land between 1995 and 2015, however, farmland decreased in 2015. Indicatively, higher percentage of land use for non agricultural purposes was observed in recent time. Conclusively, there is need to accord surveying the rightful place and priority in agricultural planning and development if Nigeria is to be self food sufficient. Keywords: Geographic Information System, Agriculture, Remote sensing, Land use, Land cove

Detection of parasites from the external body surface of cockroaches in femal hostels of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria

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Agricultural Sector Policy Periods and Growth Pattern in Nigeria (1960–2020): Implications on Agricultural Performance

This study examined agricultural policy periods in Nigeria (1960–2020) and the sector’s growth pattern during the period. Three specific policy periods were introduced: the independence and first decade (1960–1969), oil boom and policy reconstruction (1970–1985), and policy stabilization era (1986–2020). Trend analysis was carried out to establish the pattern of agricultural output during these policy periods. The overall share of agriculture to Nigeria GDP has a steady downward trend in the first policy period (1960–1969). However, the agricultural sector of Nigeria significantly contributed to its GDP, especially in the early 60’s. The country experienced stagnated pattern of growth in the agriculture sector within the oil boom and policy reconstruction period. There was an increasing trend in the era of policy stabilization (1986–2020) associated with the availability of a national policy document on agriculture which propelled the rolling out of various programmes and strategies targeted at massive agricultural production

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Awareness and Choice of Indigenous Practices in Adapting to Climate Change and Variability in Northern Ghana

Farmers in Northern Ghana adapt to the adverse effects of climate change using traditionalpractices. However, farmers’ awareness of these practices is a spring-board to their choicesof available indigenous climate related adaptation strategies. This study examined farmers’awareness and usage of indigenous adaptation strategies using the Heckman Two-Stage Sample Selection Model. Questionnaire was administered to 285 randomly selected households to determine the factors influencing farmers’ awareness and choice of indigenous adaptation strategies. The empirical results showed that majority of farmers are aware of and employed soil related indigenous adaptation strategies. Education, membership of farmer-based organisation, farmer-farmer extension contacts and farming experience significantly determine farmers’ awareness of indigenous adaptation strategies. Farmers’ level of education, farming experience, farmer-farmer extension contacts, membership of farmer group, labour hours and age significantly influenced farmers’ choice of indigenous climate related adaptation strategies.Based on these findings, it is recommended that farmers should endeavour to form groups toserve as a platform to share knowledge on indigenous farming practices for effective climatechange adaptation

CERES-maize model for determining the optimum planting dates of early maturing maize varieties in northern Nigeria

Open Access JournalField trials were carried out in the Sudan Savannah of Nigeria to assess the usefulness of CERES–maize crop model as a decision support tool for optimizing maize production through manipulation of plant dates. The calibration experiments comprised of 20 maize varieties planted during the dry and rainy seasons of 2014 and 2015 at Bayero University Kano and Audu Bako College of Agriculture Dambatta. The trials for model evaluation were conducted in 16 different farmer fields across the Sudan (Bunkure and Garun—Mallam) and Northern Guinea (Tudun-Wada and Lere) Savannas using two of the calibrated varieties under four different sowing dates. The model accurately predicted grain yield, harvest index, and biomass of both varieties with low RMSE-values (below 5% of mean), high d-index (above 0.8), and high r-square (above 0.9) for the calibration trials. The time series data (tops weight, stem and leaf dry weights) were also predicted with high accuracy (% RMSEn above 70%, d-index above 0.88). Similar results were also observed for the evaluation trials, where all variables were simulated with high accuracies. Estimation efficiencies (EF)-values above 0.8 were observed for all the evaluation parameters. Seasonal and sensitivity analyses on Typic Plinthiustalfs and Plinthic Kanhaplustults in the Sudan and Northern Guinea Savannas were conducted. Results showed that planting extra early maize varieties in late July and early maize in mid-June leads to production of highest grain yields in the Sudan Savanna. In the Northern Guinea Savanna planting extra-early maize in mid-July and early maize in late July produced the highest grain yields. Delaying planting in both Agro-ecologies until mid-August leads to lower yields. Delaying planting to mid-August led to grain yield reduction of 39.2% for extra early maize and 74.4% for early maize in the Sudan Savanna. In the Northern Guinea Savanna however, delaying planting to mid-August resulted in yield reduction of 66.9 and 94.3% for extra-early and early maize, respectively

Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of copper(II) Schiff base adducts of some p-substituted aniline Schiff bases

The synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of Cu(II) complexes of some p-substituted aniline Schiff base ligands have been carried out. The Schiff bases were obtained from salicylaldehyde and o-vanillin. The Cu(II) complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity measurement, infrared and electronic spectral data. The complexes were obtained either as metal chelates [Cu(L)2] or Schiff base adducts (CuCl2.2LH).xH2O. The metal chelates were non-electrolytes while the Schiff base adducts exhibited 1:1 or 2:1 electrolytes in methanol. The Cu(II) complexes exhibited slight antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli ATCC® 8739™*, Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus ATCC® 6538™*, Bacillus subtilis subsp. spizizenii ATCC® 6633™* and Candida albicans ATCC® 2091™*. The complexes exhibited significant antifungal activity.                     KEY WORDS: Metal Chelates, Schiff bases, Adducts, Cu(II) complexes, Salicylaldimines   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2021, 35(1), 33-42. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v35i1.

Analysis of genetic diversity in accessions of Irvingia gabonensis (Aubry-Lecomte ex O'Rorke) Baill

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was used to assess genetic diversity and relationships among 15 accessions of Irvingia gabonensis collected from Cameroun, Gabon, and Nigeria. Twelve AFLP+3 primers produced 384 polymorphic fragments. Average genetic distance (AGD) between the 15 accessions was 58.7% (32-88%). AGD and range of genetic distance among accessions from Cameroun, Nigeria and Gabon were 62% (53-76%), 52% (32.3 – 84.8%) and 50% (45- 53%), respectively, indicating more genetic diversity in Cameroun than Nigeria and Gabon. The unweighted pair-group method of the arithmetic average (UPGMA) and principal coordinate analysis (PCO) showed a clear distinction between the Gabon and Nigeria accessions into two separate clusters, with accessions from Cameroun overlapping them. Principal coordinate analysis (PCO) indicated a closer relationship between accessions from Cameroun and Gabon. In general the Cameroun germplasm appears to be a bridge between the genetically isolated Nigeria and Gabon accessions. This overlap of Gabon and Nigerian accessions by the accessions from Cameroun may be an indication that Cameroun is the center of diversity of I. gabonensis and also the primary source of original materials grown in the other countries. More collection in Cameroun is necessary to ensure the optimum collection and preservation of the existing genetic diversity in I. gabonensis.Keywords: Irvingia gabonensis, Accession, amplified fragment length polymorphism, genetic diversit

Effect of HIV/AIDS Prevalence on Farm Income of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kogi State, Nigeria

The study was on effect of HIV/AIDS prevalence on farm income of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study described the socio-economic characteristics of PLWHA who are small scale farmers, determined the factors affecting the farm income of PLWHA, and identified the major problems encountered by PLWHA in the study area. A simple random sampling method was used. Three health care facilities and one community based organization were selected. Thirty (30) PLWHA-small scale farmers were randomly selected from each of the facilities making a total of 120 respondents. Data were gathered through questionnaire administration. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and mean score were used for data analysis. The results showed that 45.8% of the respondents were widow with non-formal education and a household size of 6-10. 60% of the respondents were full time farmers with farming experience of 11-15 years. Age, technology adoption and labour lost as a result of HIV/AIDS were significant variables affecting the farm income of PLWHA. Labour lost had a negative coefficient while age and technology adoption were positively related to farm income. The major problems encountered by PLWHA who are small scale farmers include low earnings, stigmatization, discrimination, inadequate capital, and lack of credit facilities. The study recommends that government should take necessary measures to control the spread of the disease. Also, soft loan should be made available and accessible to PLWHA who are small scale farmers

An Assessment of Institutional Importance of Climate Change Adaptation in the Volta River Basin of Northern Ghana

Climate change affects a lot of sectors including agriculture. Several measures are being adopted to avert the impacts associated with it. Water resources in semi-arid areas are not excluded. The study, conducted in Lawra District of Upper West region of Ghana was undertaken to identify and assess the adaptation strategies adopted by settlers along and in the Volta River Basin as well as to analyse the level of agreements among the institutions that are helping farmers to adapt to climate change impacts. This study used a mixed method including focus group discussion and a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain information from 160 farming households in 8 randomly selected communities in the Lawra district. Results revealed three classes of adaptation strategies which include environmental, cultural/agronomic and economic strategies. Majority (65%) of the settlers adopted the environmental practices, whiles 52% of the respondents also adopted the cultural/agronomic practices and less than half of the respondents (31%) adopted the economic practices. We viewed that adoption levels, though more than half of the respondents adopted the environmental and cultural strategies, are still not encouraging given the magnitude of interventions related to water management. The results also reveal that community watchdogs, climate change, agriculture and food security platforms and non-governmental organisations are the three most important institutions working to improve farmer resilience to climate change. Therefore the results could restimulate policy implementation with the overall aim of increasing adoption levels of the strategies. Only when this is done, will a significant step have been taken towards saving our water resources from climate change impacts

Sustainable Urban Regeneration of Blighted Neighborhoods: The Case of Al Ghanim Neighborhood, Doha, Qatar

At a time when urban expansion and regeneration are being prioritized, many cities are undergoing significant widespread urban decay. Planning issues, such as the regeneration of historical areas and the redevelopment of blighted neighborhoods, have prompted a complex agenda to be put in place for urban planning practice. The most significant district is the city's core. It is a crucial indicator of the city's success because it contains the Central Business District (CBD) and housing. However, due to poor governmental attention, many city cores are experiencing new development, subsequently overwhelming the old neighborhoods. Consequently, old areas are witnessing urban disfigurement and fast deterioration in their physical and visual characteristics. This research utilizes urban regeneration to address the city's core challenges to help achieve sustainable development. To test the sustainability framework, the researchers used Qatar's local case study of the Old Ghanim neighborhood, one of Doha's oldest districts. As a result of the original population's relocation to suburban developments, the district has deteriorated, lacking street activity and increasing indigent public space. The researchers examined the literature on urban regeneration, conducted site visits and observations, reviewed and described case study limitations, and identified factors that contribute to the creation of a sustainable neighborhood, based on urban qualities such as integrated networks and walkable streets, open and green public spaces, and the regeneration of the old urban fabric. As a result, they intended to address a theoretical and practical gap in current local knowledge, and they additionally intended to provide a helpful tool for urban regeneration specialists. The researchers proposed a conceptual framework for rejuvenating neglected neighborhoods and ideas for ensuring urban cohesion, which is critical for improving the lives of individuals in these areas.This publication was made possible by the NPRP grant (NPRP 12S-0304-190230) from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopu