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Trace elements phytoavailability depends on the physical and chemical propertiesof soil. At the Crocker range of West Coast Sabah, Malaysia, the Pandasan paddyvariety can be cultivated as flooded rice paddies or upland rice on acidic soil.Pandasan paddy samples were collected in Kiulu subdistrict from traditionalfarmer at two different locations. Available sources of trace elements were fromweathering, fertilizers and pesticides. Soil and plant samples were collected aftertwo months of seed sowing and during harvest season which was five months oldfor heavy metal analysis by inductively coupled plasma optical emissionspectrometry (ICP-OES). Translocation factor of arsenic from root to grainindicated this trace element was very mobile in Pandasan paddy cultivated at drysoil compared to wet soil followed by zinc. Although, cadmium was not detected inpaddy cultivated at flooded field for both, soil and plant, cadmium was detected insoil and plant roots cultivated in dry condition. Enrichment factor results suggestedthat Pandasan plant cultivated on dry soil was only a good bioindicator for leadand zinc. Pandasan grain was rich with iron followed by zinc. Selected heavymetals accumulation in Pandasan grain cultivated in flooded field did not exceededthe permissible limit of Malaysia Food Regulation 1985. However arsenic andplumbum concentration in Pandasan grain harvested from dry soil exceeded thepermissible limit of Malaysia Food Regulation 1985. Health risk of heavy metalstoxicity can be reduced if Pandasan paddy is cultivated in flooded field comparedto dry soil.

Agroforestry is a key indicator in terms of socioeconomic level towards developing countries especially to rural communities for sustainable development. Generally, agroforestry practices are valued environmentally, economically and socially. However, a key problem within recent literatures in relation to agroforestry practices is lack of awareness and knowledge among local community in rural areas. The aim of this study was to identify the contribution of agroforestry practices towards socioeconomics of communities in Merotai Besar, Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia. The data collection was conducted by questionnaire, which was randomly distributed to 250 respondents from five (5) villages namely Merotai Besar, Simpang Tiga, Kijang, Langsat and Iban. Majority of respondents strongly agreed that agroforestry practices could provide food resources for the wellbeing of rural communities. More than half of the communities in Merotai Besar area practiced agrisilvicultural system. A small number of residences in the study area also practiced agrosilvopastoral and silvopastoral systems. In spite of the fact that 93.2% of respondents were practicing agroforestry, they lack awareness that they were practicing agroforestry. This was due to poor dissemination of agroforestry information. This paper suggests that policy makers should encourage stakeholders to provide training and skills development centre to enhance the community's knowledge. Furthermore, it is necessary to encourage active community-based management practices within respective villages for sustainable economic development and to ensure prosperity for all. In conclusion, agroforestry practices can expand the socioeconomics level to reduce poverty of rural communities in Tawau area.

To increase awareness of Tetrapleura tetraptera potential uses, enhance its utilization and promote its domestication as a fruit trees, a potential use of organic manure as soil amendment in afforestation, reforestation, agroforestry, fruit tree orchards, and bio-energy plantations cannot be over emphasized. Therefore, the study to determine the efficacy of organic manure (sole application and its interaction) on the   growth of Tetrapleura tetraptera under a screen house condition was carried out in Federal College of Forest, Ibadan located within the government Reserve Area (GRA) Jericho Ibadan.  The experimental design was a 2 x 8 factorial arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with seven (7) replicates each making a total of 112 experimental samples. The treatments used were as follows: vermicast at two levels (20t/ha, 40t/ha), oil palm bunch at two levels (20t/ha, 40t/ha), interaction of vermicast and oil palm bunch (1:1, 1:2 and 2:1) and Control (no amendment). Data on plant height number of leaves, collar diameter and dry matter yields were generated and subjected to analysis of variance and significant means separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at 5 % level of significance. The results shows that, the collar diameter  of Tetrapleura tetraptera increased (P=0.05) with the sole application of oil palm bunch at 40t/ha with a mean value of 2.16mm , however, this increase can also be comparable to the sole application of oil palm bunch at 20t/ha  with a mean value of 2.04 mm. Oil palm bunch at 20t/ha   recorded the highest plant of Tetrapleura tetraptera with a mean value of 18.00 cm while the interaction of VC+OB (2:1) and VC 40t/ha are also relatively comparable to the control (no amendment) to improve the plant height. The highest leaves number was observed when oil palm bunch 20t/ha was used as an amendment with a mean value of 14.0 while the lowest number of leaves was recorded with the interaction VC+OB 1:1 with a mean value of 12.0. From the results obtained, oil palm bunch residue as an organic fertilizer improves the growth of Tetrapleura tetraptera.

Background and Objective: Unproductive soil has been a major problem to farmers, recent interest in the use of a stable organic manure (biochar) as soil amendment and poultry manure to increase soil fertility is also increasing. Hence, the experiment was conducted to assess the condition of poultry manure and biochar on the growth and yield of tomato. Materials and Methods: A greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Federal College of Forestry Ibadan, using polyethylene bag with 5 kg soil collected at two (2) soils depths, 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm depth at the botanical garden, Federal College of Forestry Ibadan. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) with four replicates. The treatments used were poultry manure (5t/ha), biochar (10t/ha), mixture of poultry manure and biochar (1:1) and control (no amendment).The tomato seeds (UC82B) were sourced from NIHORT, Ibadan and raised in a germination basket. Data were collected weekly on plant height, collar diameter and number of leaves, 50% days to flowering and yield of tomato plants from two weeks after transplanting (WAT). Data collected were analyzed statistically using ANOVA while means were separated using LSD (p<0.05) where applicable. Results: In 0-15 cm soil, the growth variables (plant height, number of leaves and collar diameter) increased with various treatments used. The highest tomato height was observed with the application of biochar (10t/ha). All the treatments applied affected the number of tomato leaves at all weeks after transplanting (WAT) with poultry manure 5t/ha having the highest number of leaves at 7WAT, while collar diameter was significantly affected by various treatments from 2 to 5 WAT, with the mixture of P.M + BIO (1:1) recording the highest value and the control plot recorded the least values in all weeks. However, in 15-30 cm soil, there was  significant difference in the number of leaves of tomato among all the amended soil from 5 to 7 WAT, the highest tomato leaves were obtained when the soil was amended with poultry manure (5t/ha) and can be compared with other treatments. Interaction of poultry manure and biochar(1:1) and poultry manure 5 t/ha resulted in highest height of tomato plant from 3-7 WAT as compared to the control that had the least value but were not significantly different from the sole application of  biochar 10t/ha. Interaction of poultry manure + biochar (1:1) and poultry manure (5t/ha) gave the highest tomato flowering and fruits. Conclusion: Based on this result, biochar and poultry manure when added to soil, boosted the mineralization of the soil after amendment.