AGRICULTURE

A study was carried out to determine the status of some micronutrients in soil under
Citrus orchard at the University of Benin and to show the relationship between the
selected micronutrients and some soil’s properties. At each location, an area measuring 300 m by 200 m was marked out and the area divided into 3 equal parts. Each part made a replicate, soil sample were collected from 0-15 cm, 15 - 30 cm and 30 - 45 cm soil depths. A total of 18 soil samples were collected and analyzed using approved laboratory techniques Sand did not increase with increased soil depths while Silt and Clay increased significantly with increased soil depths. The pH wasmoderately acidic(5.56-5.70). Total nitrogen was generally low, Available phosphorus and organic was below critical level. Exchangeable bases were below critical level except Na and K which were above critical level. There were negative and significant correlation between the micronutrients and Sand, Clay, Silt, Organic carbon,Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, Total nitrogen and available phosphorus. E.C positive and significant correlation with copper but negative and significant correlated with Iron, Manganese and zinc. pH however negative and significant correlated with Copper, Iron, Manganese but positively and significant correlated with Zinc.

Cheese is a dairy product made from pressed milk curds produced mainly from animal milk throughout the world where animal production is available. It is a nutritious food and one of the numerous products from the processing of milk of cows, goats, sheep, buffalos, camels and yaks. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein known as casein. Cheese is an important milk product with milk nutrients having good storage properties with increased shelf life. This study investigated the potential of using different coagulants - vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, and unripe papaya pulp in the production of goat milk cheese. The proximate composition, mineral content, and sensory attributes of Mozzarella and Cream Cheese produced with these coagulants were analyzed and studied in the laboratory. The proximate composition analysis revealed significant differences in the moisture content (MC), crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) among the different treatments for both Mozzarella and cream cheese. Unripe papaya pulp consistently exhibited the highest values for CP and CF in both types of cheese having values 19.34 and 22.99 for Mozzarella cheese and Cream cheese respectively. This could be attributed to the coagulation process and the properties of the coagulants used. The mineral analysis showed significant variations in the calcium, phosphorus, and zinc content of the cheeses while lemon juice coagulant had the highest phosphorus content, the Zinc content varied among the treatments, with also lemon juice coagulant showing the highest values of 0.6467 and 0.6033 for Mozzarella and Cream cheese respectively. These differences are due to the varying mineral compositions of the coagulants used. The sensory analysis revealed differences in the appearance, smell, taste, texture, and overall acceptability of the cheeses. The discussion highlights the substantial impact of coagulant choice on cheese quality, integrating these findings with existing literature. Unripe papaya pulp emerged as a particularly promising coagulant, producing nutrient-dense cheese that meets both nutritional and sensory standards.

uminants depend mostly on all year-round grazing on natural pastures residue. Most of these areas face seasonal dry periods in which the availability of these pasture decreases and also, its quality by a reduction in the content of digestible energy and nitrogen. Ruminant livestock raised in Nigeria tend to reflect the cyclical variation in quality and quantity of these available for ages. Although ruminants are endowed with the ability to convert low quality feed into high quality animal protein and utilize feeds from land not suitable for cultivation of crops, however, the utilization of these low-quality crop residues is hampered by its low protein content, fiber content, digestibility, vitamin and minerals. Biodegradation of crop residues using edible mushroom has been reported to give rise to products with enhanced nutritive values that promote farm animal performance. This study was carried out to determine the effect of biodegradation period on the chemical composition and in vitro fermentation of rice straw with 60% palm oil sludge (POS) in ruminant feeding. Different inclusion rate of palm oil sludge (POS) and rice straw such as 0%RS, 40%RS and 100% RS at different biodegradation periods; 0, 2, 4 and 6 weeks. The substrates used were dried, mixed to inclusion levels (40% rice straw and 60% palm oil sludge), inoculated with fungal (Pleurotus tuber-regium) to aid biodegradation and further milled to uniform power. Chemical composition and in vitro fermentation study were carried out and data analyzed. However, there was no significant difference between the chemical composition, gas volume production and shown by the data analyzed but the post in vitro gas production has significant difference. Thus, this result shows that it can be included in ruminant diets as an increase in crude protein and decrease in crude fiber and methane gas production.

In Nigeria, bananas and plantains are important staple and cash crops. Nevertheless, one of the major constraints to their production is the unavailability of healthy planting materials at planting time. Fortunately, micropropagation using bud manipulation technique could be used to produce large numbers of healthy plantlets in a short time. The response of five Musa cultivars to micropropagation using bud manipulation technique was evaluated in the horticultural Nursery of the Department of Crop Science, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria in June, 2017. Three sword suckers (about 5-40cm in height) of each Musa cultivar were used. Two sword suckers (about 5-40 cm in height) of each Musa cultivar were used. The corms of each cultivar were cut through to remove apical dominance, and were treated with neem leaves extract/fungicide, and allowed to air dry for 72 hours under a shade. This was followed by planting the corms of each cultivar in high humidity plastic propagators. The experiment was laid out in randomised complete block design with three replications. The results indicated that there was no significant difference among the Musa cultivars in their response to micropropagation. The mean number of sprouted shoots per corm for plantain was 3.2-4.3. while banana and hybrid had 1.0 and 1.5 respectively. The mean total number of plantlets produce among plantain cultivar varied from 8.7-14.0, while banana and hybrid banana 3.0. The response of banana and plantain bud manipulation technique depends on the variety, and since the technology is simple and affordable there is hope of high farmer adoption through workshop training and collaborative research with farmers.

Phosphorus (P) is an important element for plant growth and development, However, P availability is strongly influenced by pH in soils. Hence, this study aims at evaluating P sorption as influenced by pH. This study examined some physical and chemical properties of soil as well as in phosphorus sorption capacity at different pH levels. Soil samples were collected from orlu soil series in Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR). Some physical and chemical properties were analyzed using standard procedures in department of soil science and land management resources laboratory, university of Benin. while the influence of pH on sorption was determined by equilibrating the soils with P retention solution containing 1000 mg P L-1 as KH2PO4 adjusted to exactly pH 3.0, 4.6, 7.0 and 8.6 for 24 hours. The P remaining after equilibration was determined using colorimetrically by the nitric vanadomolybdate yellow method using the spectrophotometer at 466nm. The % P retention was calculated from the graph of absorbency against P retention of the standard solution.The result showed that some physical and chemical properties studied were within the normal range suitable for crop production. The result shows that % P sorption varied with depth and was strongly influenced by pH. The P sorption was least at the neutral pH range of 7.0 with a mean value of 12.90 and was highest at very low pH (pH 3) with a mean value of 26.50. It was also high at alkaline pH range (pH 8.6) with a mean value of 13.84 confirming the influence of pH on P sorption in line with several studies stated in literature All the data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using Analysis of Variance of GenStat Statistical Package and means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test of the same GenStat package. It is recommended that farmers in the study area should maintain a neutral pH to minimize P sorption.