Assessment of factors influencing the saving culture among rural households in Ibarapa East Local Government of Oyo State, Nigeria

The study determined the saving culture of rural households in Ibarapa East Local Government of Oyo State. A multi-stage sampling technique was  used to select 200 respondents for the study and questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. Descriptive statistics and Probit regression were used to analyse the data. The result shows that the mean household size was 7, an indication of a relatively large average  household size. The result of Probit regression shows a positive relationship between the income of respondents and their participation in commercial banks. However, participation of the respondents in Bank of Agriculture (BOA) is very low due to their poor awareness of the program. The result also reveals that distant to commercial banks, collateral and high interest rate hampered the respondents’ access to loan. The study recommends that activities of unorganized rural bank should be strengthened by the Government. Microfinance banks should also extend theiroperational unit to rural areas to bridge the gap between the formal and informal rural financial institutions. The convectional/commercial banks as well, should extend their operation unit to rural communities. Keywords: Saving Culture, Conventional banks, Keynesian’s hypothesis, Probit regression, Rural banking polic

Interaction between phosphorus fertilizer and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculants on yield components of cassava in northern Guinea savanna alfisols of Nigeria

Field experiment was carried out in the Northern Guinea Savanna agro-ecology of Nigeria to examine the interaction between Phosphorus (P) fertilizer and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal (AMF) inoculants on cassava yield components. The experiment was laid in a split plot design with P fertilizers as main plot and AMF inoculants as subplots. There were three rates of P (0, 17.5, and 35 kg P2O5 ha-1) and three levels of AMF inoculants (Control, Glomygel and Mycodrip). The result showed a significant interaction between P and AMF in root/shoot ratio and mycorrhizal response ratio. Highest root/shoot was recorded with combination of 17.5 P2O5 ha-1+ control which depict increased sink strength. However, at 0 kg P2O5 ha-1, Glomygel and Mycodrip were 65.5% and 21.5% respectively greater than control. Mycorrhizal response was also shown to be highest with application of 0 kg P2O5 ha-1 + Glomygel showing much influence of the inoculants where no P was applied. Single effects of P and AMF showed that dry yield components were significantly (p<0.01) increased. The root dry weight was increased by 3.21 and 5.16 t ha-1as a result of application of 17.5 kg P2O5 ha-1 and 35 kg P2O5 ha-1respectively over application of 0 kg P2O5 ha-1. Glomygel and Mycodrip inoculants recorded 28% and 4% total plant dry yield increment respectively over control. This study shows that both P and AMF increased dry yield of cassava in Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria. The reproducibility at scale and in time is required for proper recommendation.Keywords: AMF inoculants, Cassava, Alfisol, Mycorrhizal response, P fertilizers

Response of grain legumes to rhizobial inoculation in two savanna soils of Nigeria

Three inoculation trials with soybean, cowpea and groundnut were conducted on Eutric Cambisols (EC) and Rhodic Nitisols (RN) in a greenhouse. Five rhizobial inoculants: MAR 1495, TSBF Mixture, Legumefix, HiStick and IRJ 2180A were tested on each crop to determine their response to soil type and ability to form symbiotic relationship with the crops. Generally, response to inoculation was found to be significantly higher (P < 0.05) in EC than RN. In soybean and groundnut trials, highest nodulation in both soils was recorded by strain MAR 1495 followed by TSBF Mixture and these were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than other inoculants and control. A similar trend, though only in EC, was observed in N uptake and in nitrogen fixation but no significant difference was observed in dry matter yield. Cowpea trials did not show response to inoculation nor was there difference between the soils. Instead, control treatment surpassed all the inoculated treatments in nodulation at P < 0.05. Nitrogen uptake and N2 fixation of control also surpassed those of inoculated treatments. Rhizobia strains MAR 1495 and TSBF Mixture showed similar ability to improve the productivity of soybean and groundnut thus can be used as common inoculants for the two crops

A post-tsunami assessment of coastal living resources of Langkawi Archipelago, Peninsular Malaysia

Rapid and detailed post-tsunami surveys carried out in the Langkawi archipelago in January 2005 showed that the coral reefs dOld_ID not suffer any significant structural damage. Nevertheless, there were signs of recent sediment resuspension at the sites studied. The diversity and abundance of coral reef fishes and invertebrates were low. However, this was not attributed to the tsunami effect but rather to the present environmental conditions. The extent of damage at the villages of Kubang Badak and Kuala Teriang may indicate that intact coastal ecosystems such as mangroves have the potential to protect lives and property during natural disasters

A novel two – factor high order fuzzy time series with applications to temperature and futures exchange forecasting

High order fuzzy time series forecasting methods are more suitable than first order fuzzy time series forecasting methods in dealing with linguistic values. However, existing high order methods lack persuasiveness in dealing objectively with multiple – factor fuzzy time series, recurrent number of fuzzy relationships, and assigning weights to elements of fuzzy forecasting rules. In this paper, a novel two – factor high – order fuzzy time series forecasting method based on fuzzy C-means clustering and particle swarm optimization is proposed to resolve these drawbacks. Fuzzy C-means clustering is utilized in the fuzzification phase to objectively partition the universe of discourse and enable processing of multiple factors. Then, particle swarm optimization is utilized to assign optimal weights to elements of fuzzy forecasting rules. Daily average temperatures of Taipei and Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) are used as benchmark data. Average forecasting error performance of 0.85% was obtained for Taipei Temperature forecast. Mean squared error performance of 199.57 was obtained for Taiwan Futures Exchange forecast. The forecasting results showed that the proposed method has higher forecasting performance than other existing methods.Keywords: fuzzy time series, fuzzy c-mean clustering, particle swarm optimization, forecasting, fuzzy relationship

Proximate and mineral composition of Tamarindus indica linn 1753 seeds

Physical parameters and nutrient contents of the whole seeds and seed nuts of Tamarindus indica L. 1753 were determined. Crude protein was between 21.25–22.20%, carbohydrate ranged from 8.9-17.10%, crude fibre was 2.33–3.82 %, crude lipid 6.94-11.43 %, in seed nuts and whole seeds respectively. Moisture contents were higher in the seed nuts 19.90 %. Removal of the seed coat increased the mineral elements in the seeds. Sodium to Potassium ratio (Na/K) was 0.1 and 0.09 while Calcium to Phosphorus ratio (Ca/P) was 0.39-1.24, with calorie values of 2 10.90 and 122.41 kcal/100g for whole seeds and seed nuts respectively. The length of pod (LOP) was 7.30 ± 1.31 cm (n=50), breadth of pod (BOP) was 3.05 ± 1.20 cm. T. indica seed nuts were found to be potential sources of mineral elements while the whole seeds were richer in other proximate components with the exception of moisture and ash contents. Keywords: Tamarindus indica, proximate composition, mineral composition, whole seed, seed nut

Effect of aqueous tamarind pulp extract on semen quality and testicular morphometry of Noiler Cocks in a hot dry environment

The effect of aqueous tamarind pulp extract on semen quality and testicular morphometry of Noiler cocks in a hot dry environment was studied. Tamarind fruit was soaked at concentrations of 20, 30 and 40 g per litre of water for 24 hours and then sieved to obtain the tamarind pulp extract (TPE). Twelve Noiler cocks, 28 weeks of age and of similar initial body weight were divided into four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design with three replicates per treatment. Drinking water containing 0, 20, 30, and 40 g TPE/L was offered ad-libitum and designated as T1, T2, T3 and T4 respectively. A total of 144 semen samples were collected by abdominal massage technique and semen volume, colour, pH, motility and concentration were determined. Data on testicular morphometry and gonadal sperm reserve were also collected on all the cocks. Result showed that the semen volume was 0.22, 0.28, 0.42 and 0.40ml for control, 20, 30 and 40g/L TPE respectively. Cocks given 30 g/L TPE had the highest (P&lt;0.05) mass activity (4.39) and motility (87.11%). Percentage of abnormal sperm cells was lowered by TPE. Means for testicular parameters were all similar across the dietary treatments. Paired testicular sperm reserves were 5.07, 5.08, 4.88 and 4.63 (×109) for 0, 20, 30 and 40g/L TPE respectively. The study concluded that aqueous tamarind pulp extract does not influence the gross testicular morphometry of cocks but exerts its effect on semen volume and sperm motility. Noiler cocks reared under a hot dry environment and given 30 g/L TPE will have improved semen quality

Profile of limb amputations in UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital, South- Western, Nigeria

No Abstract

Evaluating groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) performance due to genotype and phosphorus source on p-poor alfisols in two Nigerian agro-ecologies

Legumes require substantial quantities of phosphorus (P) for effective growth and yield. Under deficient conditions, P fertilisation will improve these. Field experiments were conducted in 2016 cropping season, at two Nigerian agro-ecologies, to evaluate effects of genotype and P source on yield of groundnuts grown on P-poor soils. The experiments were conducted at two experimental sites of the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (Minjibir and Samaru). The treatments consisted of 16 groundnut genotypes and three P sources. The P source was laid out in main- and genotype in sub-plot of a split plot design with four replicates. Data on pods, haulms and chlorophyll content (CC) were observed. There was no significant (P&gt;0.05) difference between the genotypes in terms of pod yield, although higher pod yield was recorded at Samaru than Minjibir. SAMNUT 22 recorded the highest haulm yield (27.85 g plant-1) among all the genotypes, while SAMNUT 21 (18.57 g plant-1) and SAMNUT 24 (18.18 g plant-1), which were statistically similar, recorded the least haulm yield. Highest CC was recorded in SAMNUT 23 (40.39 mg plant-1), which was at par with ICGV-IS 07083 (39.06 mg plant-1) while Kwankwaso had the lowest (34.18 mg plant-1) CC. Higher CC and haulm yield were recorded at Minjibir than at Samaru. The P source significantly contributed to dry haulm (P&lt;0.05) and pod (P&lt;0.01) yields, but not in terms of CC (P&gt;0.05).Keywords: Alfisols, genotype, haulm yield, Nigerian agro-ecologies, pod yield, P poo

Removal of pollutants from abattoir wastewater using a pilot-scale bamboo constructed wetland system

Wastewater from abattoir sources in urban areas can adversely affect the environment and cause health problems. This research investigated the ability of a bamboo constructed wetland system (BCWS) using Bambusa vulgaris, to treat wastewater from abattoir by removing nutrients and organics. This study adopted pilot scale reactors with bed dimension of 1 m length x 1 m width x 1 m depth to simulate a horizontal sub-surface flow constructed wetland and planted with six strands of bamboo plants. Parameters analyzed include the nutrients (in the form of phosphate and nitrate) and the organics (in the form of Chemical oxygen demand, COD and Biochemical oxygen demand, BOD). The effluent analysis that were carried out within a 28-day retention period showed that there was a very good decrease in the nutrient pollutant parameters; phosphate (99.6 %), nitrate (98.5 %). The organics showed a lesser performance with a 39.3 % removal efficiency for COD and 49.9 % removal efficiency for BOD. Bamboo can be used in a BCWS for low cost green technology in urban areas and can be improved upon by increasing the number of bamboo shoot in order to have a larger root syste