The study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of neem and wood ash for the control of insect pests infesting three vegetables in the gardening; okra, spinach and sorrel. The plants were sown in a randomize complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Treatment application starts immediately after germination and continued on 3 days interval. Parameters observed were number of damages and number of insect infestation. These were noted after 6 and 9 weeks of germination. Data collected was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results revealed that there was a significant difference (P>0.05) in the number of damages as well as number of insect pests encountered. Wood ash proved to be more effective in protecting the vegetables against insect pests, since it recorded significant minimum activities of insect pests. Therefore, botanicals such as neem and wood ash could be considered as an effective in alternative method of pest management. The use of biopesticides generally is encouraged since they can proffer solution of controlling insect pest without any environmental concern.
This study compares biogas production from cattle dung, piggery faeces and poultry wastes under different environmental conditions by anaerobic digestion as a means of managing municipal solid wastes and was conducted in the Department of Biological Sciences, Benue State University, Makurdi from 1st August, 2011 to 13th December, 2011. A 6 Kg of each of waste was mixed with four litres of water and loaded into three locally constructed digesters. The biogas produced was measured using water displacement method after every 5 days. The result indicated that piggery feaces gave the highest yield of biogas (1.07 L/kg), followed by cattle dung (0.71 L/kg), with poultry wastes the least (0.42 L/kg) all under direct sunlight. This study shows that piggery droppings are the best substrate for biogas production and the best yield result when the process is carried out under direct sunlight. However, statistical analysis showed no significant difference in the biogas yield of these feed stocks at 5 % level of significance. Anaerobic digestion is recommended to be explored as an environmentally friendly technology for organic waste management.
Harvester ants (Messor) have become a major pest to farmers because they swarm in to houses, farms and injure seeds, seedlings, and fruits, causing great damage to plants that falls within their vicinity. This study compared the efficacy of Azadirachta indica (neem) and Capsicum annuum (chili pepper) powder for the protection of sorghum and millet grains against harvester ants (Messor) at graded levels. Four ants hills (A, B, C, and D) were identified around Adamawa State University Campus.1.0g, 2.0g and 3.0g of each of the treatment including the positive control (Rambo) was constituted in each ant hill on a petri dish and 100 seeds each for the 2 grains were added. A control (untreated) experiment was set up in every ant hill which contains 100 seeds for every grain but no treatment was added. The results revealed the efficacy of the treatments when compared will the untreated control, but Capsicum annuum performed significantly better. Millet grains were also preferred by the ants, as they recorded the highest number of picking. Therefore, a sustainable used of these plant products in the protection of grains in the field from harvester ants is encouraged in order to have a maximum yield.
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