Efficacy of plant extracts in the control of rodent infestations and their effects on the nutritional contents of sweet potato tuber

The use of plant extracts has been described as credible alternative to synthetic insecticides in the protection of field crops. This research work was conducted at Teaching and Research Farm, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology during the planting seasons of 2015 and 2016 to determine the efficacy of plant extracts – Tephrosia vogelii, Moringa oleiferia, Petiveria alliacea and Annona squamosa in the control of rodent infestation. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design and each treatment was replicated three times. Synthetic insecticide (Lambdachyalothrin) and control were included in the experiment for comparison. Data were collected on plant stands attacked, vine length, yield and nutritional components of sweet potato tuber. The result showed that plant extracts treated sweet potato plants had significant lower rodent infestations when compared with unsprayed plant stands. Also, applied treatments had no negative effect on the vine length meanwhile yield obtained from botanical insecticides treated plants was two times higher than that of untreated plants which had the least tuber yield (0.90 t/ha). The tested plant extracts significantly improved the proximate contents of the harvested sweet potato tubers. Therefore, these plant extracts can be used in the field management of rodent infestation without any adverse effects on the nutritional components of the sweet potato tuber

The Effect Of Supervision Performance On Fishing Ship Obedience In North Minahasa

Supervision of fishing vessels is one of the efforts to prevent violations in the fishery. The level of compliance of fishing vessels in accordance with the laws and regulations is influenced by the performance of fishery supervisors who act as the spearhead of surveillance activities because of their authority in issuing operational letters. The purpose of this study is to optimize the supervision of marine resources and fisheries in North Minahasa so that it is expected that the level of violations that occur can decrease and state losses can be prevented. The methodology used is (1) Descriptive analysis and calculation of the average weighting of the value of each factor that affects the performance of supervisors; (2) Spearman Rank Analysis to determine the level of relationship of each factor that affects the supervisor's performance level; (3) Analytical Hierarchy Process (PHA) method to improve the performance of fishery ship supervisors in North Minahasa which can also be applied in supervisory units or other regional working areas. From the results of this study can be stated the level of performance of fisheries supervisors in North Minahasa is good. Improving the performance of fishery boat supervisors in North Minahasa can be done by improving the seriousness of performance that can be done by awarding; improved proficiency that affects the quality of inspection results and improvement of facilities and infrastructure that is able to improve the speed of inspection results.Keywords:  Ship obedience; Supervisory performance; StrategyAbstrakPengawasan kapal perikanan merupakan salah satu upaya mencegah terjadinya pelanggaran bidang perikanan. Tingkat ketaatan kapal perikanan yang sesuai dengan peraturan perundang-undangan dipengaruhi oleh kinerja pengawas perikanan yang berperan sebagai ujung tombak kegiatan pengawasan karena wewenangnya dalam mengeluarkan surat laik operasi. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengoptimalkan pengawasan sumberdaya kelautan dan perikanan di Minahasa Utara sehingga di harapkan tingkat pelanggaran yang terjadi dapat menurun dan kerugian negara dapat tercegah.  Metodologi  yang digunakan  adalah  : (1) Analisis deskriptif   dan   perhitungan   rata-rata   bobot   nilai   masing-masing  faktor yang berpengaruh terhadap kinerja pengawas; (2) Analisis Rank Spearman  untuk mengetahui  tingkat hubungan dari masing-masing  faktor yang berpengaruh  terhadap  tingkat  kinerja  pengawas; (3) metode Proses Hierarki Analitik (PHA) untuk meningkatkan kinerja pengawas kapal perikanan di Minahasa Utara yang juga bisa diterapkan di Satuan Pengawas atau Wilayah Kerja daerah lain. Dari hasil penelitian ini dapat dinyatakan tingkat kinerja dari pengawas perikanan di Minahasa Utara adalah baik. Peningkatan kinerja pengawas kapal perikanan di Minahasa Utara dapat dilakukan dengan cara meningkatkan kesungguhan kinerja yang bisa dilakukan dengan pemberian penghargaan; peningkatan kecakapan yang berpengaruh terhadap kualitas hasil pemeriksaan dan peningkatan sarana dan prasarana yang mampu meningkatkan kecepatan hasil pemeriksaan.KATA KUNCI: Ketaatan kapal; Kinerja pengawas; Faktor Internal dan EksternalÂ

Isolation, Identification and Antibiotic Resistance Profile of Public Health Threat Enteric Bacteria from Milk and Dairy Products Retail in Abakaliki, South-East, Nigeria

Milk and foods made from milk is manufactured into more stable dairy products of worldwide value, such as butter, cheese, ice cream, and yoghurt. Consumption of contaminated milk or dairy products by pathogens causes human gastrointestinal infection, which leads to diarrheal disease in human and hospitalization or death in severe cases especially among elderly and children. An assessment of milk and dairy products was designed to determine the microbiological quality of milk and dairy products consumed in Abakaliki, Nigeria. Culture techniques were used for isolation of enteric bacteria from retail dairy products and disk diffusion method were used to determine the Antibiotic Resistance profile of isolates. Bacteria pathogens isolated were characterized and identified using morphological and biochemical techniques. SPSS and Chi-square test were used for the analysis of the study, P-value of 0.02 indicates a significant difference between the bacteria pathogens counts. A total of 161 pathogenic bacteria were isolated from 100 dairy products. Salmonella spp heard (26.1%), Escherichia coli (44.1%) and Shigella spp. (29.8%). All identified isolates were found to be 100% susceptible to ciprofloxacin and gentamycin, with 66.7% for ofloxacin. Augmentin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol and spectinomycin was 100% resistant. Data obtained confirm that milk and dairy products retailed in Abakaliki pose a serious public health threat to consumers due to the presence of pathogenic bacteria. Standard and good storage conditions, as well as environmental and personnel hygiene should be practiced to prevent contamination of milk and dairy products for the safety of consumers

Factors influencing involvement of peri-urban farmers in mini-livestock farming in south-western Nigeria

The study focused on factors influencing involvement of peri-urban farmers in mini-livestock farming in South-Western Nigeria. Specifically, the peri-urban farmers’ socio-economic characteristics were described, their level of involvement in rearing mini-livestock were determined and constraint associated with mini-livestock farming were examined. 182 respondents were interviewed through the use of structured interview schedule and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Data analysis was carried out using frequency counts, percentage, and factor analysis. The results of the study showed that more males were involved in mini-livestock rearing than females, while the mean age of a farmer was 46 years. Majorities were literate and information sourced from fellow farmers was most common and reliable source of information accessible by the respondents, while there was low extension contact. Problems confronting the respondents include inadequate credit facilities, untimely supply of inputs, improper management skill and low extension contacts. Results of the factor analysis revealed eleven factors which contributed to farmers’ involvement in mini-livestock farming. These include community influence, farmland acquisition, characteristics of mini-livestock, personality factor, and economic status. Other factors were capacity building, household composition, Contents lists available at Sjournals Journal homepage: www.Sjournals.com Original article S.I. Ogunjimi et al. / Scientific Journal of Review (2012) 1(3) 58-69 59 external orientation, farm characteristics, social group orientation and communication tool. The study concluded that policy making on mini-livestock development should focus at enhancing the socio-economic status of peri-urban farmers through improved to access to credit facilities and capacity building through training on improved management practice. This could have a profound influence on increased production, sustainable livelihood and alleviation of poverty among the populace

Livelihood diversification amongst pastoralists and conflict with arable crop farmers: empirical evidence from Kwara State, Nigeria

The study identified causes of conflicts, settlement pattern of pastoral farmers and analyzed the influence of livelihood diversification on conflicts between pastoralists and indigenous crop farmers. Using multistage sampling procedure to select 280 respondents, data were collected by means of structured interview schedule and analyzed by frequency distribution, Pearson Correlation and one-way ANOVA. Results show that high pressure on land (WMS = 4.87) and unfavourable land tenure system (4.56) mainly caused the conflicts. Crop and pastoral farmers had an average farm size of 2.9ha and 1.7ha, respectively. Majority (75.5%) of pastoralists were engaged in crop production, while only 12.1% of crop farmers were involved in livestock rearing. Also, 57.9% and 32.9% amongst crop farmers and 14.2% and 15.0% amongst pastoral farmers were involved in trading and commercial (vehicular) transport business, respectively. Furthermore, 16.4% and 7.9% of the pastoralists lived in mud and block- walled houses with corrugated iron sheets, respectively. Transformational approach was identified as most acceptable solution of conflict resolution by both crop and pastoral farmers. There was a significant difference between farm size (F=9.33) and educational level (F=8.93) of crop and pastoral farmers. There was also a significant relationship between cause of conflicts and pastoralists’ livelihood diversification (r=0.74) and number of years’ of pastoralists in settlement (r=0.29). The study concluded that increasing involvement of the pastoralists in crop production, involvement in other employment opportunities and erection of permanent building structure ignited unhealthy rivalry between the two groups