Piles are inflammation of blood vessels which are generally found close to the anal canal. Piles are produce when the anal cushions are disrupted during defecation. The importance of the knowledge of indigenous remedial medicinal plants in curing piles has not been fully acknowledged from rural, folkloric background of Nigerian society. The present study attempt to document indigenous knowledge and curative plants used in the treatment of pile in Akinyele Local Government Area, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Eight villages were purposively selected and respondents stratified into four strata in each of the villages. Semi – structured and open-ended questionnaires was used to obtained information from local herb sellers, hunters, herbalists and aged. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The result showed that a total number of 25 plant species belonging to 19 families, were recorded and enumerated along with their botanical, family and local names. Fabaceae sub family of Caesalpinioidea, Mimisoideae and Palpilinoideae contributed the highest number of 4 plant species used in the treatment of pile. The plant part used includes leave, bark, seeds roots, vines, rhizome, bulbs, cobs, and bunch with high frequency of leaves been used. The method of preparation of recipe, mode of administration, dosage and shelf life of the recipe used for the treatment of piles were discussed. Many of the medicinal plants used in the treatment of piles are rare and found in the wild, the study concludes that there is need for domestication and sustainable conservative efforts from the researchers, government and community to safeguard the loss of these important medicinal plants. There is need for further studies on the phytochemical and pharmacological properties of these plants.

This study was carried out to analyzed the resource-use efficiency of maize production in Lere local government area of Kaduna state. Data were collected from a sample of 100 maize farmers selected through multi-stage sampling procedure using questionnaire and data collected were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics, production function and marginal value productivity analysis. The result showed that 82% were in their working age of between 21-50 years, majority of the farmers 53% were married, 91% had formal education, in terms of farming experience, majority (68%) of the respondent had farming experience that is above one year. The linear function gave the best fit with R2 of 70.2%. Production inputs such as fertilizer and agrochemicals significantly influence maize output in the study area.  Maize production in the study area has an increasing return to scale from the sum of elasticity of production (20.439). Land, labour, fertilizer, seed and agrochemicals were underutilized in maize production. Profit could be enhanced by increasing the quantity used of land, labour, fertilizer, seed and agrochemicals inputs, as well as their timely supply. It is also recommended that  financial support  in term of accessibility to credit facilities at low interest rate be given to farmers to allow them increase output and total revenue.

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Agro-forestry trees enhance food and nutrition security, increase income and help solve land management problems. This study assessed the determinants of farmer’s attitude to plant agro-forestry trees in Giwa Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State. Six (6) districts were purposively selected from the eight (8) districts in Giwa LGA. Two villages were randomly selected from each district to give a total of twelve (12) villages. Ten agroforestry farmers were selected from each village to make a total of 120 respondents. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics - Chi- square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and regression analysis. The results revealed that the mean age was 40.12 years. Chi-square analysis showed that age (χ2=18.487, P=0.001), educational level (χ2=9.656, P=0.04) were significant to farmersꞌ attitude. PPMC showed that income (r=0.181, p=0.049), membership in organization (r=0.214, P=0.02) were significant to farmersꞌ attitude. Regression analysis showed that years of experience (β=0.330, P=0.001) and constraints (β=0.246, P=0.11) were the determinants of farmers attitude. Farmers (59%) have unfavourable attitude towards tree planting. It was concluded that age group, educational level, income and membership in organization are very important and paramount in enhancing planting of agroforestry trees while years of experience and constraints faced by farmers were major determinants of famer’s attitude to planting agro-forestry trees.

Aims: This study examined the contribution of home gardening to household food security in IgabI Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Study Design: The study was designed to collect data from 120 home gardeners using well structured questionnaire and personal interview of the gardeners by the researchers. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria between June to July, 2019. Methodology: Multi-stage, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 120 respondents. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as means, frequency distribution, table, percentage and Likert – scale. Results: The results showed male (65.83%) in their active age (87.50% are within the age range of 21-50 years) and highly educated (92.50%) with good number of years of experience in home gardening, (80% had over 5years of experience) dominated the practice of home gardening in the study area. The study also revealed that they produced many types of crops, about 32. The most popular crops cultivated were; tomato 91.67%),cowpea(87.50%),groundnut(82.50%),okra(75.00%), pumpkin (70.83%), spinach (70.83%) maize(56.67%),millet(56.67%),sorghum(51.67%), pepper (50.00%) and sweet potato (50.00%).The Likert--scale  result showed that all the home gardeners household were food secure and the study established that home gardening does not only  contribute to their house hold food supply but also their income. However the home gardening in the study area is faced with problems such as pests attack and diseases infestation (80.00%) and lack of farm inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and farm tools(75.00 %). Conclusion: The study revealed that home gardening contributed significantly to the household food security. It is therefore important to integrate home gardening into our farming system been a good tool for achieving food security among households and people  should also be sensitize to utilize empty plots  of land around their homestead for home gardens.