Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research

Aims: This study examined the contribution of home gardening to household food security in IgabI Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Study Design: The study was designed to collect data from 120 home gardeners using well structured questionnaire and personal interview of the gardeners by the researchers.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria between June to July, 2019.

Methodology: Multi-stage, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 120 respondents. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as means, frequency distribution, table, percentage and Likert – scale.

Results: The results showed male (65.83%) in their active age (87.50% are within the age range of 21-50 years) and highly educated (92.50%) with good number of years of experience in home gardening, (80% had over 5years of experience) dominated the practice of home gardening in the study area. The study also revealed that they produced many types of crops, about 32. The most popular crops cultivated were; tomato 91.67%),cowpea(87.50%),groundnut(82.50%),okra(75.00%), pumpkin (70.83%), spinach (70.83%) maize(56.67%),millet(56.67%),sorghum(51.67%), pepper (50.00%) and sweet potato (50.00%).The Likert--scale  result showed that all the home gardeners household were food secure and the study established that home gardening does not only  contribute to their house hold food supply but also their income. However the home gardening in the study area is faced with problems such as pests attack and diseases infestation (80.00%) and lack of farm inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and farm tools(75.00 %).

Conclusion: The study revealed that home gardening contributed significantly to the household food security. It is therefore important to integrate home gardening into our farming system been a good tool for achieving food security among households and people  should also be sensitize to utilize empty plots  of land around their homestead for home gardens. 

Root restriction on the first stage of seedling growth decreases post-transplant biomass accumulation. Several studies in different vegetables and ornamental plants have suggested that this restriction would be overcome by means of a single 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) spray. Based on this, the aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of both pre-transplant single BAP and dopamine (a cytokinin antagonist) sprays on the growth of Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera) plants grown in 200 plug cells tray^-1, during different times of the annual cropping period. The responses of dopamine-sprayed plants were not completely similar to those previously reported. The different physiological processes studied in dopamine-sprayed plants through some growth parameters showed that dopamine affected mainly the rate of leaf appearance, which in turn positively affected both individual and total leaf area expansion. Dopamine-sprayed plants showed a higher leaf source, which allowed them to accumulate a higher biomass on both a fresh and dry weight basis during the initial vegetative growth stages. The effects of both BAP and dopamine were partially related to the environmental conditions during the experiments.

The study was conducted to manage mango pests with maintaining fruit quality through fruit bagging technology. This research was executed from April, 2019 to August, 2019 for ensuring safe mango production with minimum use of pesticides. The fruits were bagged at the age of 45 to 50 days with different types of bags. Four treatments viz: No bagging (control), Brown paper double-layered bag; White paper single-layered bag; Transparent polythene bag were included. Apparently, brown and white paper bag showed maximum fruit weight (557.90 g and 498.67g), fruit length (10.77 and 10.67 cm), fruit diameter (24.90 and 24.67 cm) and pulp weight (465 and 453 g) respectively, compared to control treatment while polythene bag gave the minimum result. Meanwhile in bagging fruit chemical parameters of ascorbic acid, reducing and non reducing sugars, total sugars, total soluble solids, percent of citric acid and β-carotene were improved over polythene bag and control. The fruit color was non-persistent in brown paper bag. The sensory attributes of color and flavor in fruits of brown bags were improved over control. Fruit retention was significantly enhanced with brown paper bag (88.67%), white paper bag (87.00%) and control (82.33%) compared to polythene bag (61.33%). Fruits with brown paper bag gave the highest shelf life up to 12.67 days with the lowest weight loss and good physical appearances as against 10.67 days of control fruits. The infestation of fruit fly also had reduced by pre-harvest fruit bagging. These results indicate that fruit bagging can enhance fruit quality and shelf life of mango cv. BARI mango-4 through reduction insect-pest attack.

Currently in Mexico there are few studies on agronomic management in olive production. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate three rejuvenation pruning intensities (25, 33, 50% and Control “traditional pruning”) in olive tree cv Manzanilla under hot and arid environment of Mexico. The experiment was carried out during four consecutive years from 2016 to 2019 at National Research Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock (INIFAP) in the Experimental Station Coast of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The experiment was carried out on 25-year-old olive orchard cultivar Manzanilla, planted at distance of 8 x 8 m (156 trees ha^-1) and under surface irrigation. The variables evaluated were: vegetative parameters (wood weight, canopy diameter and plant height), olive yield and fruit characteristics (fruit weight and pulp-pit ratio). The experiment was organized as a randomized complete block design with five replications. Our results showed statistical differences (P<0.01) in all parameters evaluated with exception of fruit characteristics. During the rejuvenation process of the olive tree the treatment that obtained the higher yield was pruning with 25% intensity removing one trunk per year, which obtained an average yield in four years of 39.2 kg tree^-1, while in the control treatment the yield was of 34.1 kg tree^-1. Thus, it is possible to rejuvenate an olive orchard in four years without to affect olive yield.

There is urgent need for increased institutional investment in ameliorating the adverse effects of pandemics among rural households. These effects are multi-faceted with governmental and other concerned agencies ignoring the socio-economic outcomes among rural households. The number of confirmed cases of Covid 19 patients in Nigeria rose from an index case on 27^th February to 30,476 by 10th July 2020. About 82 Million Nigerians live in poverty. With a score of 27.9, Nigeria is ranked 93^rd out of 117 countries on the 2019 Global Hunger Index. The objective of this review is to access the opportunities and challenges of agricultural extension and advisory services among rural farm households in Nigeria during pandemics. Data for the study were sourced from the World Health Organization, Food and Agricultural Organization, National Centre for Disease Control and other scientific documents. The identified impact of pandemics among rural households included increase in vulnerability, shortage of farm labor and worsening healthcare system etc. Dissemination of information in real time, encouraging healthy agricultural production system, providing market linkage for rural farmers, and effective interface with government were the major opportunities for rural advisory services. Extension must overcome the challenges of low utilization of modern technology by rural households, increasing housing deficit and poor infrastructural development in rural communities. The review recommends that more efforts should be targeted at ensuring that while the extension system is provided with all they need for optimal provision of services; policymakers are to develop more interest for rural development.