Asian Journal of Research in Agriculture and Forestry

This study evaluated the effects of fertilizer on growth, yield and the nutritive value of three varieties of huckleberry (“White stem”, “Bamenda” and “Foumbot”). The treatments were NPK (20:10:10) at levels 0, 100, 150, 200Kg/ha and 10 Mg/ha poultry manure and the experiment was a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The Kjeldahl procedure was used for crude protein determination. The lipid content was determined with the soxlet reflux heat extraction method. The ß-carotene content was determined using spectrophotometry. Results indicated that plants supplied with 200 Kg NPK/ha fertilizer treatment had the highest plant height (66 cm) and leaf number (242) in “White stem” and “Bamenda” varieties respectively and these were significantly different from the control (P = 0.05). Leaf area was highest in “Foumbot” variety (343.1 cm²). The longest tap root length and number of primary lateral roots were noted particularly in “White stem” control plants and this was significantly different (P = 0.05) from plants supplied with fertilizers. Plants supplied with 10 Mg/ha poultry manure recorded the highest total yield for “White stem” (44.83 Mg/ha) while plants supplied 200 Kg NPK/ha had maximum yield for the “Bamenda” and “Foumbot” varieties (36.96 and 31.84 Mg/ha respectively). The “White stem” variety had the highest crude protein (303.8 mg/100 g) and ß-carotene content (1.9 mg/100 g); “Bamenda” variety had the highest total lipid (8.15%), and crude fibre (14.15%) contents, while total ash was highest in “Foumbot” (16.54%). Appropriate fertilizer levels would considerably improve huckleberry yield as well as improve income of vegetable farmers.

Riparian vegetation has been depleting in the many river basins of Bangladesh. Consequently, this study assessed the tree species composition, structure and diversity of the midstream area of the Halda River in Bangladesh. Twenty two quadrats (20 × 20m in size) were sampled. A total of 414 individual tree stems of ≥10 cm DBH of 36 tree species belonging to 31 genera and 15 families were enumerated. Density, Basal area and volume of the tree species were measured. Different diversity indices, i.e. Shannon-Wienners Diversity Index, Simpson's Dominance Index, Pielou’s Species Evenness Index, Margalef's and Menhinick’s richness index were calculated. Fabaceae was the most represented family with nine species, followed by Moraceae, Meliaceae and Anacardiaceae. Density, basal area and volume of the trees were 470.45 stem/ha, 19.09m²/ha and 139.42m³/ha, respectively. Samanea saman was found to be dominant, showing a maximum IVI, followed by v, Mangifer aindica, Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Artocarpus heterophyllus. The findings of the study will be helpful for the posterior researchers in their research work and their future tree based planning programs and conservation. So it is recommended that greater emphasis should be taken to proper management and conservation against over extraction and illegal felling for the maintenance of existing tree species composition and density.

This study was conducted at Kamalganj Upazila of Moulvibazar District in Bangladesh during January to September 2015 to explore the impact of homestead agroforestry on the socio economic condition of the respondents and to explore their relationships with the selected characteristics of the respondents. Face to face interview was performed with 135 respondents to collect the data with the help of questionnaire. Eight different characteristics of the farmers namely; educations, farm size, homestead size, annual income, annual expenditure, savings, knowledge on homestead agroforestry, socio-economic class of the respondents showed significant positive relationships with the numbers of diversified plant species, while negative relationship of diversified plant species was observed with age and family size. Agro forestry based practices plays a vital role to uplift the socio-economic classes of the respondents. For uses of agroforestry products, annual savings and expenditures the highest decisions comes from females 45% and 41% followed by male 38% and 39% respectively. In other cases also female participation is greater than male respondents. Results conclude that homestead agroforestry is a unique area for maintaining both plant diversity and productivity for farmers’ livelihood in the studied area.

Maternal effects were assessed by germinating seeds sourced over multiple years from the same cloned mother trees, comparing germination capacity and rate between crop years. The relationships between climatic variables, seed characteristics and germination capacity were determined, and thermal time parameters were used to predict seed dormancy release and germination under the climatic conditions in the year after seed collection. There were significant differences in seed weight (P < 0.05), seed length and embryo occupancy (both P < 0.001) among crop years. Temperature during the seed development period explained 70% of the variation in seed weight and 63% of the variation in embryo occupancy. Germination capacity was significantly (P <0.001) different among crop years, among temperatures and among chilling durations, and thermal time requirements for germination increased from older (2007) to younger (2012) seeds. The mean base temperature without chilling was 7.1°C, while after chilling it was 4.6°C and 3.6°C for four and eight weeks chilling respectively. The mean thermal time to 50% germination without chilling was 135.1°Cd, while after chilling it was 118.3°Cd and 154.0°Cd for four and eight weeks chilling respectively. This experiment demonstrates that year-to-year differences in the environment experienced by mother trees during seed maturation can affect seed germination characteristics.

The study was conducted to provide information on the level of consumption and income from palm wine and other industrial beverages in Cross River State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 82 sampled palm wine retailers in three geopolitical zones in the State. Semi-structured questionnaire, personal observations and focus group discussions were used to obtain data from retailers. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result of the study showed that consumption level of palm wine per day in the zones were in the order, Northern (33.3 L) > Central (24.8 L) > Southern (19.4 L). However, the consumption levels of palm wine from the Central and Southern Zones were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from each other. The Consumption level of other alcoholic beverages; Harp, Goldberg, Origin, Dry gin, Heineken, Stout, Gulder, and Star per day in the zones were in the order Northern (23.9 L)> Central (20.4 L) >Southern (17.6 L). The income level from palm wine was N1845.54, N1538.40 and N837.60 from the Northern, Central and Southern Zones, respectively. Total Performance Index based on taste, availability, and cost shows that mean daily consumption level of palm wine was higher than all the other alcoholic beverages in the study area. The study recommends that Government and other development stakeholders on economic and environment should play greater role in promoting potential entrepreneurship in palm wine as a viable alternative source of livelihood through creation of awareness and better incentives for sustainable management of this natural forest resource.