Asian Journal of Research in Agriculture and Forestry

Aim: This paper aimed to discuss the development efforts of the Municipality of Malvar towards the achievement of its vision to be Organic Capital of Batangas.

Methodology: It made use of secondary data from Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office and Municipal Agriculture Office and qualitative methods of observation and interview from different stakeholders such as farmers, municipal agriculture officer, municipal environment and natural resources officer, partner-nongovernment organization, and community residents. Then, an analysis based on organic agriculture sustainability metrics was provided.

Results: As a result, the intensified waste management program had made segregation and collection of biodegradable wastes easier, thus shredding of wastes was made easier also. These shredded biodegradable wastes would be used to feed the African Night Crawler that produced vermicast which would be available as organic fertilizer and later on foliar and insecticide once fermented. The biogas facility, on the other hand, was expected to produce methane gas to promote and adopt organic farming technologies and transfer of technology on renewable energy. Last was the adoption of agro-silvo-pasture technology through planting long term cash crops and raising livestock. Indeed, there was a successful transition from inorganic to organic.

Conclusion: The making of the Organic Capital of Batangas could be realized because of the following factors: First is the strong political will of the LGU to implement the vision; second is the appropriateness of the projects that geared towards the attainment of the vision; third is the participation of the different stakeholders in the implementation of the projects. Thus, the intensified solid waste management of MENRO has resulted to successful vermin-composting producing organic fertilizer subsidy to farmers; biogas technology facility that also produces organic fertilizer for the agro-silvo-pasture technology.

This study assessed forestry extension service delivery among forest farm communities in Plateau State, Nigeria with the aim to identify the forestry extension services available to rural farmers; examine the level of farmers’ satisfaction with forestry extension service delivery and identify the perceived constraints to forestry extension service delivery in the study area. The population for this study consists of all the rural forest farm families in Plateau State. Due to the enormity of the population, a sample size of 214 respondents was selected. Multi stage sampling technique was used in the selection of sample for the study. Primary data were generated through the use of structured questionnaire and interview techniques. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics as well as likert scale. Results revealed the mean age of the farmers to be 39 years. Majority (61.0%) of the respondents were males with most (85.0%) of them married. Majority (53%) of the respondents had primary education with an average farm size of 2.5 hectares. mean household size 9 persons with majority of them (87.0%) deriving their income from agriculture. Agreater percentage (93.0%) of the respondents acquired their farmlands through inheritance. The mean annual income of the farmers was ₦ 82,742. Forestry extension services available to farmers in the study area include; information on forestry laws, awareness campaign against bush burning, distribution of horticultural seedlings, audio-visual shows, method/result demonstration, information on improved forest management practices, training on raising of seedlings, etc. Farmers expressed dissatisfaction with the level of forestry extension service delivery in the study area. The perceived constraints to forestry extension service delivery in Plateau State includes; lack of funding of extension services and inadequate number of extension agents. The study recommends increase in funding of the Agricultural Development Programmes to alleviate the problems of inadequate staff and insufficient training.

With decrease in wood from the forest, non-wood fibres have attracted interest in the production of pulp and paper products in recent times due to their short growth cycles, moderate irrigation and fertilizer requirements as well as their low lignin content. The use of these plants will aid sustainable development in the pulp and paper industry. This study investigated leaf dimensions and fibre characteristics of Agave sisalana and how the leaf dimensions relates to its fibre characteristics. Leaves were collected from three sisal plant stands in Oyo State, Nigeria. The plant whorl was divided systematically into bottom, middle and top from which five leaves were randomly collected from each whorl position. The fibres of the leaves were extracted from which 2cm of fibres were taken from three positions on the leaf (top, middle and base). Extracted fibres were macerated and 3375 fibres were measured. The result shows that Agave sisalana leaves collected at the top had the longest length and was also widest at the base and middle. The average fibre length was 1.69 mm, while the fibre diameter, lumen width and cell wall thickness of Agave sisalana were 16.98 µm, 12.33 µm and 2.32 µm respectively. The slenderness ratio averaged 99.4 while the coefficient of flexibility averaged 72.61. The highest value of the runkel ratio of Agave sisalana was 0.42. There was significant negative correlation between leaf characteristics and fibre characteristics. Young sisal (Agave sisalana) leaves produced the best fibre characteristics suitable for the production of high quality paper.

Aims: This study was carried out to evaluate the response of seeds and seedlings of Irvingia gabonensis to different lengths of storage at room temperature and pretreatments.

Study Design:  Randomized Complete Block Design was used.

Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was carried out at the nursery of the Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.

Methods: Mature fruits of I. gabonensis were obtained from its area of natural range in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Depulped seeds were subjected to different lengths of storage and pretreatments. The different lengths of storage were Fresh, 7days, 14days, 21days and 28days represented as LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4 and LS5 respectively. Pretreatments were control, steeping in water at room temperature, soaking in hot water and scarification represented as PT1, PT2, PT3 and PT4 respectively.

Results: In LS1, germination began under PT1, PT2 and PT4 at 20, 19 and 21 Days after Sowing (DAS) respectively producing 90%, 100% and 100% germination respectively. Under LS2, seeds subjected to PT1, PT2 and PT4 germinated at 23, 24 and 23 DAS giving 90%, 90% and 80% germination respectively. At LS3, germination began in PT1, PT2 and PT4 at 26, 27 and 26 DAS producing 60%, 90% and 60% germination. However, seeds subjected to PT3 did not germinate throughout duration of experiment. Although, Analysis of Variance revealed significant difference at certain assessment period for seedling growth variables, there were no marked differences.

Conclusion: Seeds of Irvingia gabonensis can be successfully stored for up to four weeks at room temperature without a significant loss in viability although germination percentage would reduce with increasing length of storage. Soaking I. gabonensis seeds in water at room temperature can be adopted for pretreating its seeds prior to sowing although untreated seeds still produced good germination.

This study evaluated the early germination and growth variables of Irvingia gabonensis under organically primed and thermally amended soil media. Six media were prepared from Gmelina plantation topsoil by amendment with poultry waste (T2), river sand (T3) and combusted forest floor litters for 5 (T4), 10 (T5), 15 (T6) and 20 (T7) minutes respectively to contrast a control topsoil (T1). Soil media were analyzed for critical nutrient properties and engaged in the germination and early growth trial of Irvingia replicated three times, and arranged in a completely randomized design. Data collected were analyzed with ANOVA and significant means separated with the Duncan multiple range test. The results showed that Ca/Mg ratio was widest for T3, least CEC (13.2 meq/100 g soil) by T7 and slightly acidic pH (H₂O) for T1 and T2 while T3, T4, T6 and T7 were alkaline. Germination at 6WAS was T4 (100%)> T1=T2=T5 (85.71%) > T3 (71.43%) > T6 (42.86%) > T7 (0%). The growth variables of seedling varied significantly (P<0.05) with T3 and T4 comparing favorably in collar diameter (4.50x10-1± 0.05 mm) and leaf area (35.08±4.85 mm²) although T3 recorded the highest stem height (117.79±0.42 mm). The study recommends the use of least thermally modified media (T4) and primed topsoil-riversand (T3) for fast germination in view of conserving food reserve for the critical early growth period of I. gabonensis in pursuit of its domestication in nutrient degraded soils.