Asian Journal of Research in Agriculture and Forestry

The study examined the perception of forest stakeholders on the ban on logging in Cross River State, Nigeria. The research was carried out from October, 2014 to January, 2015. Data was collected through the administration of structured questionnaire to 351 respondents that were randomly selected from four forest stakeholders, including: forest communities, Forestry Commission staff, timber dealers and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) on environment. One local government area was selected purposively, from each of the three senatorial districts of the state. Findings shows that majority (86.9 percent) of the respondents were males, in the age brackets of 30-50 years, while 8.5 percent were in the age brackets of 20-29 years of age. Most of the respondents (62.4 percent) had secondary education, while farming, civil service, trading and logging, constitute 81.8 percent of the respondents’ occupation. Findings revealed that majority of the respondents from forestry commission (100 percent), timber dealers (100 percent), forest communities (98.3 percent) and NGOs (96.2 percent) were aware of the ban on logging. Most of the respondents from forestry commission (42.3 percent), timber dealers (41.4 percent), forest communities (45.0 percent) and NGOs (38.5 percent) agreed that the reason behind the ban on logging was to protect and conserve the State’s remaining forests. Findings revealed that the ban on logging did not reduce timber exploitation as claimed by 65.4, 74.3, 55.5 and 61.5 percent of the respondents from forestry commission, timber dealers, forest communities and NGOs respectively. Furthermore, 65.4, 95.7, 87.8 and 53.8 percent of the respondents from the stakeholders affirmed that prices of sawn wood increased during ban. Result also indicated that there was a significant increase (P< 0.05) in the prices of sawn wood during the ban. Majority (96.2, 61.4, 86.9 and 61.5 percent) of the respondents attested that some people who depend on logging activities, lost their means of livelihoods and majority (92.3, 85.7, 91.3 and 96.2 percent) of the respondents agreed that taskforce members were corrupt. Again, majority of the respondents from forestry commission (69.2 percent), timber dealers (90.0 percent) and forest communities (59.0 percent) agreed that they want the ban on logging lifted.

Non-Timber Forest Products are important sources of income that can supplement farming and/or other activities to the rural dwellers. In spite of this, its potential to improve the standard of living and generate income to rural dwellers has not been known in Awka-North Local Government Area. The study was carried out from January to August, 2017. The study identified the variety of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) available to rural households, the level of income generated by households from these available Non-timber forest products and constraints to Non-timber forest products collection in the study area. Three towns; Achalla, Amansea and Mgbakwu were selected using multi-stage random sampling technique. A total of 100 copies of structured questionnaires were administered to obtain information from respondents who engaged in NTFPs based activities in the selected towns. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and 5-point Likert Type Scale. The study revealed that fish, snail, bush meat, spices, firewood, fruits, seeds and nuts, vegetables and honey are the Non-timber forest products available to the rural dwellers. Monthly income of ₦61,000 and above was generated by the rural dwellers who engaged in NTFPs sales. Lack of marketing, bush burning, deforestation, NTFPs scarcity, over exploitation, transportation, bad road network, distance from forest, market price of other products and unfavourable government policies are the constraints confronting the respondents in the collection of Non-timber forest products in the study area.

Nonlinear functions of body weight at different age intervals were used to estimate the growth pattern in New Zealand White and California rabbits. Gompertz and Logistic functions of 3 and 4 parameters were fitted to Age-weight data matrix. Age-weight records of New Zealand White and California rabbits from birth were monitored to 56 days to estimate the average growth curve for each breed. The weight difference between breeds was consistently in favor of California rabbits as compared to New Zealand White. It was concluded that the Gompertz and logistic models were both parsimonious and adequate in describing the growth patterns of New Zealand White and California rabbits in the tropical conditions of Nigeria.

Aims: The study explored the role of Komolchari Village Common Forest (VCF) of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh in the development of the socio-economic condition of the local communities and their perceptions about VCF conservation and management.

Study Design: The research is conducted through rigorous literature review and semi-structured household interview of the associated communities of the study area.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was done in three villages around Komolchari VCF from February 2014 to January 2015. It is located in sadar upazila of Khagrachhari hilly district.

Methodology: We selected the households through simple random sampling. The households were categorized into three groups based on their socio-economic status. Results were presented together as there were no significant differences between datasets obtained from the three  villages.

Results: Agriculture is the major occupation of the poor, whereas medium and rich peoples were doing business and service. Forest products i.e. fuel-wood, pole, bamboo, wild fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants are regularly collected by the poor in a higher amount than that of medium and rich socio-economic groups. The study indicated 74% of the poor households extracted their necessary fuel wood from the VCF. Forest dependency showed that 31% households receive more than 40% of total annual income from the VCF. Traditionally, the VCF has been managed by the communities, but presently they formed a organization for management. Interventions of government and non-government organizations rose mass awareness about forest, biodiversity, and environment, which made them feel responsible for VCF management and conservation. Thus, 85% people expressed their interest to participate in the conservation initiatives.

Conclusion: Poor dwellers are more dependent on the Komolchari VCF as they extract more forest resources than the higher income groups. Thus, poor might be the major target group for further development to reduce their forest dependency.

Plant breeding program depends on its ability to provide farmers with genotypes with guaranteed superior performance (phenotype) in terms of yield and/or quality across a range of environmental conditions. To achieve this aim, it is necessary to have an understanding of the model suitable for or leading to a good phenotype. In this study, two cases of scenarios were considered to have a clearer view of the performance of Genotype by Environment Interaction on the following four models; Additive Main Effect and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI), Finlay Wilkinson (FW), Genotype and Genotype by Environment Interaction (GGE) and Mixed Model. We experiment the inference behind the violation of the assumption of normal distribution by observing the data contamination of two case scenarios (Lowest and Highest outlying observations). It was observed on the two data Types of Balance and Unbalance designs with different Levels of generations. We achieved that by comparative performance of the data contamination techniques under the two case scenarios; Case I scenario was done for Lowest Outlying Observations where 50%, 100% and 500% data contamination on the First Quarter (P1), Mid quarter (P2) and Last Quarter (P3). We then deduced from the result of the model evaluation that, at each levels of data contamination for Balance and Unbalance design, Mixed model was the ideal model for  interaction. Case II scenario was done for Highest Outlying Observations where 50%, 100% and 500% data contamination on the First Quarter (P1), Mid quarter (P2) and Last Quarter (P3) were examined on each levels of generations. We then observed from the result of the model evaluation that, at each levels of data contamination for Balance and Unbalance design, Mixed model also outperformed the other three models.