N and Longitude 5 0 13'E, 350m above sea level) to study the effect of cow-dung, nitrogen and weed interference on the elemental sulphur content of onion (Allium cepa L.). The treatments consisted of three levels of cow-dung (0, 15 and 30 t/ha), three levels of nitrogen (0, 50 and 75 kg/ha) and three weeding regimes (weedy check, 4 and 6 weeks after transplanting) laid out in a randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The elemental sulphur content (mg/g) of the onion bulb, was studied. The result showed significant (P < 0.05) effect of cow-dung, nitrogen and weed interference on the elemental sulphur content of onion. Highest level of sulphur content were obtained with 15 t/ha cow-dung, 75 kg/ha nitrogen and 4 WAT weeding regime. Based on the finding of this study, it could be concluded that for optimum onion production in the Sokoto Rima Fadama, a combination of 15 t/ha cow-dung, 75 kg/ha nitrogen coupled with the 4 WAT weeding regime is the most suitable.

IT90K-l372-1-2, IT90K-82-2 and Bahaushe (local). The legume genotypes and reference millet crop (ZM-01-58) were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. N difference method and the difference between N 2-fixed and N exported in grain at harvest were used to estimate N 2-fixed and N balance respectively. The biomass yield (2.9 to 5.23 t ha-1) in cowpea cultivars were significantly (P<0.05) higher than in soybean (0.95 to 1.5 t ha-1). Above ground cowpea biomass (vine plus litter) accumulated up to 81.03 kg N ha-1 which differed significantly from the 33.13 kg N ha-1 observed in soybean. N 2-fixed that ranged from 42.27 to 59.07 kg N ha-1 in soybean cultivars was generally higher than those of cowpea. All the soybean cultivars recorded significantly (P<0.05) higher grain N than the cowpea. This explains the high percentage nitrogen harvest index (NHI) (64.33 to 70.22 %) and negative N balances (-9.47 to-1.2 kg N ha-1) obtained in all the soybean genotypes. On account of the large above ground biomass and N content, positive N balances and low percentage N H I, cowpea appeared to perform better in contributing to soil N the following year.

No abstract

Low protein intake and rapid human population growth in addition constitute a major problem facing developing countries. To solve this problem of lack of adequate intake of animal products and to increase the output by majority of Nigerians, there is the need to improve poultry and poultry products production by putting a lot of effort in the production of highly reproductive animals becomes very important. The aim of this work is to compare the performance of four breeds of broiler chickens fed a popular commercial Diet in Kuta. One hundred and twenty, day-old chicks of different breeds, and thirty each (Arbor acre, Marshal, Anak, Cobb) were selected and randomly allotted to four treatments with three replicates each in a completely randomized experimental design. Result from the experiment revealed that there was no significance (P< 0.05) difference among the treatments in terms of water intake, feed intake body weight gain and feed conversion efficiency. Anak and Cobb breeds has the highest numerical values for the most of the performance indices measured such as average weekly feed intake (1425.60g, 1272.60g), total feed intake (4714.3g, 4509.8g), average weekly water intake (4046.40ml, 4317.00ml), total water intake (12698.7ml, 14527.6ml), average weekly body weight gain (298.51g, 348.13g), and feed conversion ratio (4.87, 3.67). This research show that the Cobb breed have superior performance compare to other breeds on the same feed and under same environmental condition in Kuta. This implies that the production of the four mentioned breeds can perform in Kuta but the feed is more favourable to Cobb breed.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of fermented and toasted Albizia lebbeck seed meal (FTALSM), on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of broiler chickens at the starter and finisher phases. One hundred and fifty (150) day old chicks (Abo acres) were used for this study and were divided into five treatments (with three replicate each containing 10 birds) using a completely randomized design (CRD) for eight weeks. The treatments were five diets containing 0% (control), 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of fermented and toasted Albizia lebbeck seed meal (FTALSM), respectively and were tagged Diet 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The diets were formulated to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous. The feed intake at the starter phase was significantly higher (p<0.05) in Diets 3 and 4 which had 10 and 15% inclusion of FTALSM, respectively. Diets 2, 3 and 4 also differ significantly (p<0.05) in final body weight and total weight gained from the control diets. The results at the finisher phase indicated that, there were significant differences (P<0.05) in all the parameters measured except for mortality. Birds fed Diet 2 performed significantly better in weight gain (1453g) and feed intake (3087.25g) compared to the control group. Birds on the control and Diet 2 had similar feed efficiency, the values were however, better than those on the other treatments. The results of nutrient digestibility showed birds fed Diet 5 (20% FTALSM) recorded significantly (P<0.05) low digestibility values in all parameters measured. The results showed that fermentation and toasting reduced phytase, oxalate and cyanide by 41.87, 26.67 and 99.94 % respectively. It can be concluded therefore, that FTALSM can be included up to 15 % in broiler chickens starter diets and 5 % in the finisher diet for optimum growth performance.