A survey of 20 Fulani households in Zaria and environs revealed that the maximum and minimum herd size of Fulani cattle holdings in Zaria is 69 and 16, respectively, with the mean herd size of 41.5. The cattle stock composition showed a gender imbalance, with a preponderance of female stock than males. On the average, female animals constituted 60 to 75% in each herd type. The young animals contributed about 50% of the herd size, with more females (35%) than males (15%). The proportion of breeding cows in the herd was 44% while the proportion of the breeding bulls was 6%; this showed that the proportion of the males in the herd reduced as they reached breeding age. The mean values for the breeding bulls, breeding cows, young males and females per herd were 2.6, 18.5, 5.7, and 14.7, respectively. There was however, high variability amongst the herd structure attributes with respect to herd size (CV= 36.8%), number of breeding bulls (CV= 40.2%), breeding cows (CV= 49.1%), young males (CV=42.3%) and young females per herd (CV= 44.5%). The bulls in the Fulani herds reached considerable high age (average age at first breeding 4.05 years) before breeding; the mean age of the breeding bulls in the Fulani herds was 5.98 years. Although older bulls of up to 12 years were found in some of the herds, majority of the bulls were within 5 years age bracket. The high percentage of breeding and rearing females in the herd implies that the Fulani herdsmen are conscious of keeping only those animals which are productive for the sake of increasing their herd.
Ficus thoningii which has some traditional medicinal uses was investigated. Phytochemical screening of the stem bark, leaves and roots gave positive results for carbohydrates, glycosides, saponins and alkaloids. Antimicrobial screening of the crude petroleum spirit and methanol extracts showed activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Providencia stauti and Bacillus subtilis but no activity was observed against Salmonella typhi. The crude petroleum spirit extracts of the leaves and stem bark of the plant had minimum inhibitory concentrations at 50 mg/ml while the roots had no minimum inhibitory concentration at the test concentration. The crude methanol extracts of the various plant parts showed minimum inhibitory concentration at 50 mg/ml on all the pathogens tested for.
High humidity, nutritional and environmental conditions involved in hydroponic green fodder (HGF) production increases fungal contamination risk. Chemical fungicides application is limited because of their toxicity to animals. An alternative biotechnological option is the use of mycolytic enzymes such as chitinase and laminarinase. The goal of the present study was to immobilize chitinase and laminarinase on seaweed bagasse as a carrier in order to increase their action time in HGF system, and compare the effect of those enzymes on Fusarium oxysporum viability and HGF growth. Chitinase and laminarinase immobilization on seaweed bagasse was carried out at 4°C and stirred at 250 rpm. Immobilization was assayed at different incubation times (60, 90, 120, and 180 min). Enzymes immobilization kinetics was monitored from protein quantity balance. Enzymatic activity of chitinase and laminarinase were evaluated. Higher immobilization (65 and 84% for chitinase and laminarinase, respectively) was obtained at 120 min of incubation time. Wheat grains in HGF systems under different treatments were inoculated with F. oxysporum at 2×10 4 spores/ (g of seed). Kinetics of growth measured by height of green shoots, as well as wet mass, dry mass of HGF, and fungal viability after 10 days of germination were evaluated. The higher antifungal effect was observed with immobilized enzymes. It was demonstrated that applied treatments did not affect negatively the fodder growth. Moreover, the bagasse presence can improve HGF height. The obtained results demonstrated that seaweed bagasse may be effectively applied as carrier for biologically active substances in HGF system.
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