International Journal of Agricultural Sciences

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 3 (1), pp. 351-356, January, 2013 © International Scholars Journals   

Full Length Research Paper

Back to tradition: taboos in bioconservation in Nigeria

Gbadebo Jonathan Osemeobo PhD

Department of Biological Sciences, Bells University of Technology, PMB 1015 Ota, Ogun State Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. 

Received 09 July, 2012; Accepted 03 January, 2013

Abstract

Massive deforestation has eroded sustainable sites for in situ conservation in Nigeria. Sacred groves promised as alternative sources of high quality germplasm for conservation.  This study examined the role of taboos as dependable instruments for conserving biodiversity in sacred groves in the country. Data in this study was collected through a cross sectional survey involving a face to face questionnaire interview of key stakeholders of sacred groves in southern Nigeria. Results of data analyses indicated that: (i) the establishment and management of sacred groves thrived under the traditional belief systems which were off shoots of the traditional religion; (ii)  traditional belief systems created fears on the people not to violate regulations on groves because of negative repercussions; (iii) the groves were significant sources of income to the land holding communities;  (iv) efficient management systems were put in place in terms of infrastructures, patrols, monitoring and sanctions) ; (v) taboos failed as instrument of conservation in community forests where the traditional belief system was not recognised by heterogeneous members of the community. It is recommended that the Ministries of Environment at State and Federal levels should carry out inventories and ecological surveys of sacred groves and support the groves to conserve rare keystone species.

Key words: Taboos, sacred groves, conservation, traditional belief systems. 

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 3 (1), pp. 363-372, January 2013 © International Scholars Journals 

Full Length Research Paper

Natural and anthropogenic determinants of water quality changes in a small tropical river basin, SW India

Maya K., Remya S. I., Baburaj B., Baijulal B., Lekshmi I., Nisha U. R., Sangeetha J. and Padmalal D.*

Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram - 695031, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]  

Received 21 July, 2012; Accepted 02 January, 2013

Abstract

Water quality of surface and subsurface sources of densely populated regions of the world has been undergoing marked changes over the past few decades consequent to rapid economic development and /or urbanisation. Lack of adequate base-line data on the status of water quality is a major setback challenging wise use and management of these life sustaining systems. The situation is rather alarming in the small rivers of many tropical countries as these systems are more responsive to economic developments. In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to examine the chemical quality of the various water sources in a small river basin in the south western coast of India- the Neyyar River Basin (NRB) in Kerala State- as an example. The region including the basin area of Neyyar is undergoing fast economic development since early 1970’s.  A total of 17 chemical parameters (pH, EC, DO, alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, Ca, Mg, Na, K, total hardness, NO₂-N, NO₃-N, P-inorg, SiO_2, TSS and TDS) has been studied in the different water sources such as river (Reservoir, Mainstream and Estuary), irrigation canals (Left and Right Bank Canals), wells and springs of the NRB during summer season, which is the drinking water deficit period in the region. The study reveals that except pH and DO of a few samples, all the other water quality parameters are well within the water quality standards set by various national and international agencies.  A comparative evaluation of the hydrochemical parameters of NRB with that of the other important minor and major rivers shows that except chloride, all the other parameters are recorded in lower concentrations in NRB as well as the other small mountainous rivers in the south-western coast of India.

Key words: Surface and subsurface water sources, water quality, small catchment rivers, South-western coast of India.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 3 (1), pp. 357-262, January, 2013. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Agarwood resin production and resin quality of Gyrinops walla Gaertn

S. M. C. U. P. Subasinghe¹ and D. S. Hettiarachchi²

¹Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.

²School of Pharmacy, Curtin University, Australia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Received 31 August, 2012; Accepted 07 January, 2013

Abstract

Agarwood is a resin produced by certain species of family Thymalaeaceae due to a self-defence mechanism. Most species of Aquilaria and a few species of Gyrinops, Aetoxylon and Gonystylus are capable of producing agarwood. Gyrinops walla, a member of the family Thymalaeceae is recorded only in the wet zone of Sri Lanka and very rarely in southwest India, has not been previously studied to identify its ability of producing agarwood. Therefore the present study was the first ever to conduct and identify the production of agarwood in G. walla and the quality of its resins. Six G. walla trees growing in two distinctive areas of the wet zone of Sri Lanka were used for the present study. All six trees had natural wounds occurred sometime before the sample collection due to abrasions or fallen branches. The dark coloured tissues of the affected areas were carefully collected without cutting the trees and resins were extracted by solvent extraction method. The extracted resins were analysed using gas chromatography to identify the different compounds. Finally these compounds were compared with that of selected Aquilaria species. The results revealed a strong similarity of resin compounds of G. walla with that of Aquilaria species which are commercially used to collect agarwood. Further studies should be conducted to identify the effects of artificial resin induction methods on G. walla that are already used on Aquilaria species.

Key words: Gyrinops walla, Aquilaria, agarwood, retention indices. 

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 3 (1), pp. 373-378, January, 2013 © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Profitability drive against risk: the case of grasshopper collection business in Maiduguri, a semi-arid zone of north-eastern Nigeria

Sharah H. A.

Department of Crop Protection, University of Maiduguri, P. M. B. 1069 Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

Received 27 July, 2012; Accepted 05 January, 2013

Abstract

This research was conducted in Maiduguri (1°5 N and 13° 10NE), on edible Sahelian grasshopper species such as Nomadacris spp., Kraussaria spp. Ornithacris spp. collection business. The objective of this study was to find out the reasons behind the involvement of male collectors in such a risky night expedition. Collection were made from the bush in the night using light traps, sweeping, packing and bagging into 50 kg polythene bags, which are then conveyed to the markets by road to Maiduguri for whole-sale. Fifty questionnaires containing fifty questions each were administered. These were distributed to fifty respondents to answer during the twelve months of the research. The twelve months was meant to cover the period of abundance (October to May) and scarcity (June to September) as the rains commences. During the rainy season, cost per bag of 50 kg of fresh grasshoppers ranged between N4, 000 to 11,000 mean of N7375. Daily collection ranged from 1 to 8 bags per night shift per person, depending on hopper abundance and density at the sites, time spent at the collection point, number of cooperate collectors and the availability of empty bags for packaging. Collection time begins as from 6 pm to 6 am (night collection) to enable them bring their catches to the markets in the morning, where they sell their catches early and move on to another businesses. This was a male (96%) dominated business, with only two (4%) (female pioneer collectors), who later withdrew due to hazards and fear of rape at night. Profit obtained by each collector was N6856.25 per bag per trip. The research has shown that all the respondents have alternative jobs to fall back to during the periods of hopper scarcity and because of the uncertainty in the availability of these insects all the time.

Key words: Harvesters, light trapping, joblessness, profitability, poor remuneration, poverty alleviator, risk, hazards.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 2 (12), pp. 379- 383, January, 2013 © International Scholars Journals 

Full Length Research Paper

Effectiveness of leaf essential oils of Cymbopogon citratus and Ocimum urticifolium in controlling Phytophthora infestans Mont. damaging Irish potato in Ruhengeri (Rwanda) 

Kabera Justin¹, Ugirinshuti Viateur²*, Ntahonshikira Charles³, Nteziryayo Emile⁴ and Niyondora Martin⁵

¹Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IRST), Unit of Natural Products, P. O. Box 227 Butare, Rwanda.

²Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IRST), Unit of Biotechnology, P.O. Box 227 Butare, Rwanda.

³Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (ISAE), Department of Microbiology, P. O. Box 3971 Kigali, Rwanda.

⁴Institute of Higher Education (INES/ Ruhengeri), Department of Biotechnology, P. O. Box 155 Ruhengeri, Rwanda.

⁵Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IRST), Unit of Biotechnology, P. O. Box 227 Butare, Rwanda.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Received 9 October, 2012; Accepted 02 January, 2013

Abstract

An assay of antifungal activity of essential oils of Ocimum urticifolium and Cymbopogon citratus was conducted to assess their potentials in controlling potato mildew in Irish potato. The disc diffusion method was used to evaluate the zone of fungal growth inhibition while the oil-supplemented medium was used to evaluate the antifungal activity of these essential oils at various concentrations. These essential oils were used to cure the infected plants as ex situ investigation. The results revealed that the essential oils exhibit fungicidal activity against P. infestans at higher concentrations. In vitro antifungal activity was recorded with the minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 200 to 10 μl/l and from 600 to 400 μl/l for the essential oils of O. urticifolium and C. citratus, respectively. The essential oil of O. urticifolium was more efficient than the essential oil of C. citratus and the ex situ investigation succeeded in curing infected plants. The eugenol and citral were described to play the major role in imparting the antifungal activity to this oil. The fungistatic effect against P. infestans was observed. These results indicate the possibility of exploiting O. urticifolium and C. citratus in fighting P. infestans which causes heavy losses of Irish potato.

Key words: Cymbopogon, Fungicidal effect, fungistatic effect, Irish potato, leaf essential oils, minimum inhibitory concentrations, Ocimum, Phytophthora infestans. 

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 2 (12), pp. 330- 336, December, 2012. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper 

Recovery of ¹⁵N labelled rice and soybean residues by maize grown on an inceptisol of Malang, Indonesia

Anis Sholihah¹*, Sri Rahayu Utami², Sugeng Prijono² and Eko Handayanto³ 

¹Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Malang Islamic University, Jl.M.T. Haryono 193 , Malang 65144-Indonesia.

²Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya University, Jl.Veteran, Malang 65145- Indonesia.

³The International Research Centre for the Management of Degraded and Mining Lands, Brawijaya University, Jl. Veteran, Malang 65145, Indonesia.

Received 23 October, 2012; Accepted 19 December, 2012

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the N recovery of ¹⁵N labelled crop residues (rice straw=RS; soybean=SY) with ¹⁵N isotope dilution technique on growth of maize. The ¹⁵N labelled crop residue from the rice and soybean crops that were grown in glass-house under three ¹⁵N concentrations, that is, 0.625 mM N (N1), 2.5 mM N (N2) , and 10 mM N (N3) supplied as CO(¹⁵NH₂)₂, in 30 cm diameter plastic pots containing 5 kg of quartz sand. Eight weeks after planting the above-ground biomass was pruned and oven dried at 60°C for 48 h and analyzed for polyphenol, lignin, N, C, C/N and % ¹⁵N-abundance. The seven treatments (six types of crop residues and one treatment with no added residues) were arranged in a completely randomized block design with four replicates. The maize was plant pots containing 10 kg of soil and placed in a glass-house. The varying supply of ¹⁵N concentrations resulted in varying quality of crop residues. The amounts of mineral N in the soil supplied with crop residues were significantly greater than in the control at 2, 4 and 8 weeks. The amounts of mineral N in soils amended with residues of SY and RS with a 10 mM N supply were significantly (P<0.05) greater than those grown with 2.5 mM and 0.625 mM N supplies during the incubation time. The N recovery by maize shoot from residues with 10.0 mM N was greater (80.86% on average) than that from residues with 2.5 mM N (70.06% on average) and that from residues with 0.625 mM N (58.43% on average). On average, the %N recovery of crop residue N by maize estimated by the ¹⁵N method was 10.73% more than that estimated by the difference method. 

Key words: Soybean, ¹⁵N labelled, N recovery, rice straw, N mineralization.