Volume 52 (2019): Issue 1 (March 2019)

Wood shavings is the most common material used as litter in commercial broiler production in many areas in Nigeria. It is, however, becoming scarce and expensive. Therefore this study was conducted to determine and compare the effects of other bedding materials on organ weights, meat quality, footpad and breast dermatitis of Marshall broiler chickens under hot humid climate. One hundred and eighty broiler chicks of mixed sexes (Marshal strain) were randomly assigned to three treatments of wood shavings (WS), maize cobs (MC) and chopped Panicum maximum (PM) as bedding materials replicated four times with 15 birds each in a Completely Randomized Design. Feed and water were provided to birds ad libitum throughout the study. Data were collected on the relative body and organ weights, meat quality, breast and footpad dermatitis. The results showed that footpad and breast lesion of the birds were not significantly influenced (P > 0.05) by different litter materials. Similarly, most of the organ weights, including spleen and bursa of Fabricius were not influenced by litter materials. However, the relative weight of thigh of the birds reared on PM and MC were similar but higher (P < 0.05) than those raised on WS. The intestinal weight of the birds raised on PM was significantly higher than those of the other treatment groups whose weights were similar. Birds reared on chopped PM had higher (P < 0.05) relative weight of liver than those reared on MC. There was no significant (P > 0.05) effect of bedding materials on meat quality. It was concluded that chopped PM could serve as a replacement for WS as a bedding material for broiler chickens under hot humid climate.

Fish smoking is widely used in the fish processing industry, especially in the post-harvest catfish product due to its simple operating technique. The objective of this study was to optimise the tray loading capacity of a smoking kiln for catfish. A mixture design was employed to investigate the effects of varied fish size (0.25, 0.30 and 0.35 kg) component tray loading on the loading capacity, drying rate and moisture ratio during smoking process. The results showed that the loading capacity of the kiln was between 190 and 198 pieces of fish at minimum and maximum 50 and 52 kg. High moisture ratio was observed at equal size combination at low drying rate. The catfish weight mixtures of 0.25, 0.30 and 0.35 kg used to evaluate the kiln load capacity optimization were significant (P < 0.05). The smoking kiln worked optimally at catfish size (50, 50 and 0 %) with maximum desirability of 0.63 resulted in weight of fish loaded of 51.30 kg, moisture ratio of 0.21 and drying rate of 0.5 kg⁻¹ h. This study brings new knowledge about the loading capacity and confirms that the smoking kiln is an acceptable technology for processing fish.

Despite global concerns on environment particularly, issues on deforestation, there is a lack of quantitative information on deforestation drivers. The study investigates the role of farm households in deforestation process in Nigeria. Household survey data were obtained from 300 farm households with the aid of personally administered questionnaire through a multistage sampling technique. The data were used to answer a question on how farmers contribute to deforestation process in Nigeria. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Probit regression model. The results show that 64 % of the farmers gain access to cultivate already opened forestland through uncoordinated harvesting of forest trees while others still maintain sustainable forest land use practice – agroforestry. Sex (P < 0.05; β = 2.34), land security (P < 0.01; β = 2.94), personal preference for tree on farm land (P < 0.05; β = −2.45), and non-farm income (P < 0.05; β = 2.50) are factors influencing land use pattern among farm households. The study revealed that most farmers cultivate open forestland, but their continuous cultivation further enhanced forestland use change. The study concludes that rural farm households though one of the agents of forestland use change were found as opportunist and not mostly the primary agent initiating forestland use change in Nigeria. The study negates the conception of several past studies.

The decline in youth population and the upsurge in ageing farmer population have resulted in low agricultural output and per capital productivity in rural Nigeria, which is a threat to the national food security. High school students’ perception of agriculture and factors influencing their willingness to study agriculture in tertiary institutions were therefore investigated in this study. Information from 285 science students in high schools was analysed using descriptive statistics, Likert scale and logistic regression. Age of the students was 15.30 ± 1.17 years with almost equal distribution of both sexes. About half (50.5 %) of them wanted to study medicine where as only 4.6 % of the respondents were willing to study agriculture in the university. A higher percentage of female students (57.6 %) were willing to study agriculture in tertiary institution than their male counterparts (42.4 %). A higher percentage of students from public schools (51.4 %) were willing to study agriculture whereas 48.6 % of those from private schools were willing to do so. The students were undecided about the contribution of agriculture to national development but strongly disagreed that agriculture gives less income than other professions. Major motivating factors that can stimulate the respondents’ willingness to study agriculture were career awareness program in agriculture, practical knowledge of agriculture and agricultural excursion. The likelihood of a high school student’s willingness to study agriculture increased significantly with having a father who primarily practised agriculture and supports agricultural education, attending a school where crude implements are not used, visit to a mechanized farm and the youth’s willingness to own a farm in the future irrespective of the course of study, while attending a private school will decrease it. In conclusion, high school students had average perception of agriculture and were not willing to study agriculture in tertiary institutions. Suggestions are presented on how to change this negative attitude towards this vital branch of science.