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No abstract

A two-year field experiment was carried out on the acidic coastal plain sands of South Eastern Nigeria during the year 2009 and 2010 planting seasons to study the effect of lime levels (L = 0, 500 and 1000 kg ha Results also showed that lime at 500 kg ha -1 gave the highest popcorn yields in 2010, a yield increase of 18.03 % above control, whereas there was no yield response to lime in 2009. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that popcorn sown at 80 kg N ha -1 and 500 kg ha -1 rates of lime significantly increased the crop productivity compared to those sown at other N and lime rates. The study demonstrated the effect of lime amendment in reducing rates of inorganic N applied to popcorn especially with resource poor farmers who form the bulk of maize producers in Nigeria.

Activities of the oil and gas (O&G) industry directly influence the natural potentials of the ecosystem and human livelihood. In particular, the impacts of crude oil extraction grossly interfere with the daily economic life of man and the natural environment. This study evaluates people's perception of the implications of crude oil extraction on agriculture and people's livelihood in oil producing rural communities in Nigeria with particular focus on the Niger Delta region, an area where most onshore and offshore crude oil extractions are carried out. The bias in this study came from the fact that crude oil is mainly either extracted or transported across rural communities in the region through water routes and/or arable lands, the population here almost solely depends on natural resourceswater and landfor their daily livelihood. Findings suggest that livelihood sources in the region are under evident direct threat of pollution and other impacts of the O&G industry. Results obtained from the descriptive analysis of 446 respondents indicate a perception of high impact of crude oil extraction on food prices (74.7%), food safety (60.5%), crop yield (48.2%) and animal production (28.3%). The results of the Ordered Probit regression analysis suggest that farmers and fishermen are more vulner able or mostly affected by impacts of crude oil extraction in the region. The study thus opined that adequate mitigation of negative impacts of crude oil extraction would promote improved food safety, affordable food supply and improved household income in oil producing rural communities. Therefore, the O&G industry should intensify its commitments towards mitigating undesirable implications of exploration and extraction activities by O&G companies in the oil producing areas. In a bit to mitigate prevailing livelihood problems in the Niger Delta region, there is a need for O&G companies and government to provide necessary compensations, trainings and other support to help the rural people sustain their livelihood. In addition, all stakeholders in the O&G industry should collaborate with academic and research institutions to promote research in agriculture towards achieving improved food production and food safety in areas affected by impacts of crude oil extraction.

A study was conducted to analyse the mineral constituents of generated F 1 interspecific hybrids of Pennisetum species grown in Nigeria. Non-reciprocal crosses were made involving two elephant grass selections (pollen parents), S.13 and S.15, and five cultivated pearl millet genotypes (female parents) namely Maiwa 25-2, Maiwa 28-1, Maiwa 94-2, Dauro and male sterile Gero A. Genetic incompatibility and poor combining ability in some interspecific crosses among Pennisetum species of Nigerian origin were reported. Crosses between Gero A and the elephant grass selections gave rise to unsuccessful hybrids whereas Maiwa 25-2, Maiwa 28-1, Maiwa 94-2, and Dauro crosses resulted in successful hybrids with promising potentials of improved mineral contents. These hybrids had high phosphorus content and relatively high calcium content above the optimum requirement for dairy production. Amongst the mineral contents determined, magnesium and iron showed the highest (CV = 32.9%) and the least (CV = 11.0%) variations, respectively. The overall results revealed existing genetic potentials in Nigerian pearl millet genotypes to improve (through hybridization) elephant grass in terms of mineral richness as a complement to its high herbage yields. However, strong recommendations for rational ruminant-feeding trials using these promising interspecific hybrids point at further evaluation studies.