Abstract The savanna biomes are characterised by a coexistence of two antagonist – woody plants and herbaceous plants in defiance of competing theories. Scientific efforts to understand this unique coexistence are still largely inconclusive; various theories have been proposed, but no unanimous theoretical framework exists to date. Among these theories, the root niche-partitioning model offers the most popular, yet the most controversially debated viewpoint. It argues that this coexistence...
ABSTRACT Cancer incidences are on the rise in Namibia, because of late diagnosis, cancer cases often have poor prognosis and treatment options are limited especially in resource poor rural settings. Ethnomedicinal plants present a treatment option which is used in such settings, is accessible and inexpensive. However evidence on safety and efficacy of these traditional medicinal plants is lacking, which prevents mainstream use. This study evaluated two Namibian indigenous plants, Schinzioph...
ABSTRACT This study was undertaken to determine the performance and meat sensory attributes of broiler chickens fed with Pearl Millet (Pennisetumg laucum) as a replacement for maize, as well as the potential of tanniferous Acacia karroo (A. karroo) leaf meal as an additive on broiler leanness. The optimum level at which maize can be replaced by pearl millet was also determined. Nutritional compositions of pearl millet and A. karroo leaf meal were determined using the standard Association of...
ABSTRACT Globally, floodplains have experienced floods of different magnitudes at different times. As such the inundations of floodplains affect agricultural activities and such impact is evident. In Namibia, the Zambezi Region has experienced high variability in rainfall patterns, extreme rainfall and flood in space (spatial) and time (temporal) more than any other region as a result of climate variability. The non-flooded landscape units consequently become the only available opti...
ABSTRACT This study was undertaken to analyze resource productivity in ornamental plants production within Jos metropolis of Nigeria. The study covered Jos North and Jos South local government areas. The specific objectives include: identifying the effect of socio-economic factors on resource productivity, determining costs and returns, and resource productivity in ornamental plants production. An extensive literature review was carried out to provide an indepth knowledge of the study. The cl...
ABSTRACT Flours were produced from unripe plantain fruit, okara, and Detarium microcarpum and analysed for selected properties. Plantain flours were supplemented with 5% levels of Detarium microcarpum and okara flours as dietary fiber sources and the effect on blood glucose and serum cholesterol levels of albino rats evaluated using bioassay. Plantain flour showed the highest (p
ABSTRACT This work examines the access and use of information communication technologies (ICT) among rural farmers in Enugu State. It is the contention of this study that there is a lacuna between access and usage of ICT among the rural farmers in Enugu state and generally in Nigeria. This study applauds the impact of ICT in enhancing the agricultural productivity in Nigeria especially as it concerns the rural communities. However, this work is designed to ascertain types of ICTs available to...
Abstract The Iceland Basin in the N. Atlantic has attracted considerable recent attention because the spring bloom in this region acts as the most powerful biological carbon pump anywhere in the world oceans. Furthermore, the link between primary productivity and herbivory by the calanoid copepod, Ca/anus finmarchicus provides the trophic link between primary producers and the important commercial fishery for Atlantic Cod. However one result of ocean warming is that the distribution of t...
ABSTRACT: The anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect of the methanolic extract of Stellaria media (L.) Vill leaf was studied using albumen-induced paw oedema and formalin-induced paw lick in rats as the anti-inflammatory test models; acetic acid-induced writhing, hot plate and tail flick tests in mice as the analgesic models. Three groups of five rats or mice each were administered orally with the leaf extract of S. media at 100mg/kg, 300mg/kg or 500mg/kg body weight respectively. A fourth gr...
ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to assess the economic performance of tobacco processing industry in Western and Kwara States of Nigeria. After a brief discussion of the development of tobacco industry in Nigeria, some technical aspects of tobacco leaf production, cigarettes manufacture, and blackfat manufacture were discussed. Three firms were selected for the study. These are Nigerian Tobacco Company Limited, Philip Morris (Nigeria) Limited and Premier Tobacco Company Limited. The d...
ABSTRACT This study examined the effect of health and nutrition on labour productivity of farmers in South-western Nigeria. Within this geo-political zone of the country, primary data was collected through a field survey of 470 rural farmers. Descriptive statistics, Anthropometric measures of nutrition (BMI and DDS) and the Tobit model were used to show the effect of nutrition and health on the productivity of farmers. Estimated results show that body mass index (BMI) and dietary diversity sc...
ABSTRACT The study was carried out at Spes Bona 207 farm in Hochfeld district, and Neudamm 63 farm in the Khomas Hochland district, Highland savanna in Namibia. The objective of this study was to investigate the rehabilitative effects of mechanical and chemical methods of bush control of an invasive bush species Acacia mellifera for achieving long term rehabilitation of degraded highland savanna rangelands in Namibia. At farm Spes Bona, three belt transects (50 x 5m2 ) were laid in chemical ...