cow dung

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a vital staple crop in many tropical regions, valued for its carbohydrate-rich tubers and economic importance. Bag propagation, which uses polythene bags filled with soil, has become a viable substitute that improves plant establishment, makes fertilizer management easier, and permits controlled growth conditions. This study evaluated effects of cow dung on bag propagated yams growth and yield performance. A private farm in Ogida, Benin City was the experimental site. Two treatments (control and cow dung) utilized in the experiment were laid out as a paired plot. Cured cow dung manure was applied at planting. Data collected on the number of leaves, vine length, and stem diameter were collected and recorded at intervals whereas tuber weight, vine weight, and number of leaves were collected at harvest and recorded. Data collected were analyzed as unequal variance t-test. Results revealed that cow dung significantly enhanced the vegetative growth of yam plants, particularly during the early and mid-growth stages. Variables such as vine length (p ≤ 0.05) and number of leaves (p ≤ 0.05) showed statistically significant increases compared to the control. The most notable impact was observed in tuber weight, where cow dung application led to a highly significant increase (p ≤ 0.05), with mean tuber weight rising from 0.25kg (control) to 0.7 kg (cow dung) an increase of approximately 180%. In conclusion, cow dung was effective and is a sustainable fertilizer for bag-propagated yam, enhancing growth variables and yield while probably improving soil fertility and structure for long-term agricultural productivity.

Poor waste management practices have led to significant environmental pollution, with methods like landfilling, burning, and open dumping, contributing to air pollution and public health hazards. Over time, innovative approaches have been developed to tackle these issues. One such approach is anaerobic digestion, which relies on microbial degradation of organic waste material in the absence of oxygen. The feasibility of generating biogas from combining cow dung and tiger nut waste through anaerobic digestion was investigated. The materials were mixed in a 5:1 ratio with distilled water, and the pH was adjusted from 4.7 to 6.7 using NaOH. Biogas collection was conducted using a water displacement method with a graduated cylinder. The experiment spanned six days, during which the initial properties of the feed, including volatile solids (14.31%), total solids (14.57%), water content (85.43%), pH (6.7), ash content (0.26%), nitrogen (8.64%), potassium (298 mg/kg), phosphorus (76.28 mg/kg), and ammonium (0.08 mg/kg)
were recorded. Biogas volume changes were monitored and recorded daily. The results showed the progressive increase in the volume of biogas produced until the last day of retention. The results demonstrated that anaerobic digestion is an effective method for biogas production, providing a potential solution for improving waste management practices and reducing environmental pollution.