Advances in Agriculture and Biology

Addition of urea fertilizer to Crocober Plus Liquid Organic Fertilizer improves growth and yield of corn plants (Zea mays L.)

2025-04-01T09:51:47+00:00

This study aims to determine the effect of adding urea to Crocober Plus liquid organic fertilizer (CP LOF) on the growth and yield of corn. The research was conducted from March to July 2024 on dry land in Aia Pacah, Koto Tangah District, Padang City. The study employed a factorial completely randomized design (CRD). The first factor involved the addition of urea at doses of 0 g/L CP LOF, 5 g/L CP LOF, and 10 g/L CP LOF. The second factor was the concentration of CP LOF at 0 ml/L water, 25 ml/L water, and 50 ml/L water, with three replications. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a 5% significance level, followed by Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test (DNMRT) at the same level. The results showed that the combination of urea fertilizer and CP LOF significantly affected parameters such as plant height, total leaf area, 75% tasseling age, grain weight per sample plant, and 100-grain weight. The addition of 10 g urea/L CP LOF resulted in better growth and yield of corn compared to lower urea doses. The application of 50 ml/L CP LOF increased dry grain yield, reaching 6.33 tons/ha. Further research is needed to explore higher doses of CP LOF to achieve optimal corn yields. © 2024 The Author(s)

Optimizing organic manure and plastic mulching to improve cucumber performance, soil water and thermal conditions of an Alfisol in a humid and tropical region

2025-04-01T10:47:55+00:00

A field experiment was conducted during the 2022 dry season to investigate the effect of organic manure and plastic mulch on soil water and thermal regimes and cucumber growth, yield and water use efficiency at the Teaching and Research Farm, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti southwest Nigeria. The experiment was 2- factorial, laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The organic manure factor consisted of poultry, piggery and no manure while the mulching factor comprised black plastic mulch and no mulch. Soil water content and temperature of the 0 - 10 and 10 - 20 cm layers of the field were monitored while cucumber growth parameters, yield components and water use efficiency data were also collected. Soil temperature was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in mulch treatment compared to no mulch treatment in both 0 - 10 cm surface and 10 - 20 cm subsurface soil layers. Conversely, organic manure did not affect (p > 0.05) soil temperature although it was highest in no manure treatment. Mulching significantly (p < 0.05) increased soil water content while poultry manure treatment had the highest soil water content during the growing cycle. Mulching significantly (p < 0.05) increased the number of leaves, leaf area and vine length of cucumber. Both organic manure and mulching significantly (p < 0.05) influenced leaf temperature, number of fruits but not fruit length, fruit diameter, yield and water use efficiency. Furthermore, the combined application of plastic mulch and poultry manure gave the highest yield and water use efficiency of cucumber. It showed that combined poultry manure and plastic mulch could be an ideal combination for soil and water management and conservation for sustainable cucumber production in this area. © 2024 The Author(s)

Agricultural productivity in developing countries and influence of climate change on agriculture

2025-04-01T11:00:03+00:00

Agricultural productivity is critical to the supply of food and fiber required to support good quality life, more so with increasing World population. In this regard, developing countries are at the risk of food scarcity. The primary objective of this paper was to evaluate the trend of agricultural productivity in Low Income (LI) and Lower Middle Income (LMI) countries in comparison with High Income (HI) countries. A secondary objective was the evaluation of the effect of climate change on agriculture in Nigeria. Metadata was collated on agricultural total factor productivity and per capita income from 1960 to 2000. The data was regrouped into class data of five years interval. The class data was analyzed using means, correlation and regression analysis. The High Income countries had a regular sigmoid curve for agricultural productivity. LMI countries had an undulating regression curve though with a short stable period. The curve for LI countries was unstable. In multiple regression, HI countries recorded a high regression coefficient of 0.97 compared with 0.06 and 0.35 in LMI and LI respectively. The intersection point, i.e. the constant was -0.83. This negative constant supports previous reports on World food crises. The options of cross sectorial policy formulation/implementation, North-South and South-South Cooperation were suggested to ensure that the entire World system works in unison to respond positively to the challenges of food and nutrition security. This is moreso as agriculture in developing countries is mainly nature dependent, hence vulnerable to the effect of climate change. In this regard, the effect of climate change on agriculture in Nigeria was studied, with a situation report and recommendations. © 2024 The Author(s)

Comparative study of biodegradation potential of foreign and indigenous bacteria of pharmaceutical effluent

2025-04-01T11:12:40+00:00

Pharmaceutical effluents, which contain organic compounds and other contaminants, are commonly found in wastewater. The ability of microorganisms to break down particular contaminants and their diversity are key components of this wastewater treatment procedure. A growing problem for the environment and human health is the constant release of these substances into surface waters. This study aimed to evaluate the biodegradation potential of indigenous and foreign bacteria in breaking down pharmaceutical effluents in the Irewolede region of Ilorin City, Kwara State, Nigeria, could break down the effluents. To ascertain the effectiveness of the treatment, the physicochemical characteristics of the pharmaceutical effluent were evaluated both before and after the procedure. Samples were collected from the effluent, and the biodegradation process was monitored using standard microbiological and analytical techniques. Physicochemical properties including total dissolved solids (TDS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), growth (Optical density, OD), pH, and degradation efficiency, were analyzed at the Department of Industrial Chemistry, University of Ilorin. Our investigation revealed that sample A had a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) value of 80.36 followed by sample B, indicating a higher level of organic pollution in sample A, followed by sample B. Pseudomonas putida showed less turbidity in effluent B, while seawater-isolated bacteria produced higher turbidity in sample A and moderate turbidity in sample B. While all bacterial isolates exhibited minimal reductions in BOD, they were effective in reducing TSS and TDS by over 50 %. This suggests that, while BOD reduction was limited, the bacteria could still contribute to the removal of suspended solids and dissolved solids from the effluent. This study demonstrated that Bacillus species, E. coli, K. oxytoca, P. putida, Serratia marcescens, and Staphylococuss aureus are promising bioremediation microbes for purifying pharmaceutical effluents and other organic wastes released into the environment. © 2024 The Author(s)

Assessment of genetic variability for aluminum tolerance in cowpea accessions screened in pots under field conditions

2025-04-01T11:22:46+00:00

Aluminum toxicity is a major factor limiting crop productivity on acid soils, thus limiting food production. This study assessed the level of genetic diversity for aluminum tolerance in cowpea and the inter-character association of important traits for the effective selection of tolerant genotypes. Ten accessions of the crop were screened in pots filled with topsoil employing a 10 × 4 factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The four aluminum treatments imposed were 0, 50, 100, and 200 µM AlCl₃. The study found significant differences among accessions for all traits. Aluminum treatment affected all traits except seeds/plant and seed yield, with significant interaction effects for traits except emergence percentage and plant height. Heritability was high (≥ 60%) for all traits except pods/plant, which had moderate heritability (57.98%). Genetic advance was high (≥ 20%) for all traits except days to flowering (11.08%) and plant height (15.87%), showing moderate values. Based on aluminum tolerance indices, AC03, AC04, AC05, AC06, AC08, and AC09 were classified as highly tolerant, AC02 as moderately tolerant, while AC01, AC07, and AC10 were highly susceptible. Consequently, selection for the traits with high heritability and genetic advance would result in genetic gain and breeding progress for aluminum tolerance in cowpea for acidic soils in Nigeria and other tropical regions. © 2024 The Author(s)

Assessing the effect of carbide waste-contaminated soil on the growth and yield of maize (Zea mays L.)

2025-04-01T11:32:09+00:00

Maize is a critical global staple crop but its productivity is often constrained by soil fertility issues, including waste contaminants. This study investigated the impact of soil contaminated with carbide waste (CW), an industrial by-product rich in calcium hydroxide, probably as a soil amendment to enhance maize growth and yield. Maize was grown in soils amended with 0-160 g/kg of CW in a screen house study replicated 5 times in completely randomized design. Plants (100%) survived at 20 g/kg; 40% at 40 g/kg; and 20% at 60-80 g/kg; with 0% survival under 100-160 g/kg. CW insignificantly (p>0.05) improved plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, leaf size, number of roots and root length at 20 g/kg, and reduced them significantly (p<0.05) at 40-80 g/kg compared to the control. CW also significantly increased vegetative biomass and grain yield at 20 g/kg with significant reduction at 40 g/kg while those that survived at 60-80 g/kg did not produce grains. Grain moisture content increased insignificantly at 20-40 g/kg with ash highest at 40 g/kg. Crude fiber decreased at higher concentrations, and crude protein increased with increasing application level, peaking at 40 g/kg. N, P, K and Ca increased significantly with increasing waste reflecting enhanced nutrient uptake. CW led to grain heavy metal accumulation but below permissible limit in foods. CW at 20 g/kg can be used to enhance maize production while higher concentrations should be avoided as are capable of detrimental effect on the crop with grains’ elevated heavy metal concentrations. © 2024 The Author(s)

Evaluation of agronomic performance and grain yield stability of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes in East Shewa zone, Oromia

2025-04-01T11:40:00+00:00

A field experiment was conducted at Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center, as well as in the Lume and Dugda Districts, during the main cropping seasons of 2022 and 2023. The purpose of this study was to identify stable and high yielder bread wheat genotypes in the East Shewa Zone across three distinct districts. These districts exhibit varying environmental conditions and altitudes, with a diversity of soil types characterized by differing compositions. A total of fifteen genotypes were precisely evaluated utilizing a randomized complete block design with three replications. Analysis of variance revealed significant effects of genotype, environment, and their interaction on grain yield. Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) analysis indicated that the environment significantly influenced yield, accounting for 48.78% of the total variation, followed by genotype (23.89%) and genotype × environment interaction (16.19%). The first two interaction principal components (IPCA-I and IPCA-II) explained 44.6% and 27.7% of the genotype × environment interaction, respectively, and were used to assess stability. Based on stability parameters (ASV and GGE-Biplot) and mean grain yield, genotypes G-6, G-1, and G-5 were identified as stable and high-yielding candidates for potential release. AMMI and GGE-biplot analyses revealed specific adaptation patterns among genotypes, with some performing better in particular environments. These findings highlight the importance of multi-environmental trials for accurate genotype evaluation. Given their yield and stability, genotypes G-6, G-1, and G-5 were promising resources for improving bread wheat productivity in East Shewa Zone and similar agro-ecologies. We recommend further validation trials and farmer participatory evaluations to ensure acceptability and performance under on-farm conditions. Additionally, these superior genotypes could be used as parents in future breeding programs. © 2024 The Author(s)