ABSTRACT. Water stress is one of the abiotic stress factors that affect establishment, growth and yield of crop. Therefore, a screen house study was carried out to determine the effect of water stress on growth and yield of Okra and Jute mallow. 7 litre capacity each bucket was filled with 10 kg of soil and arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates. There were four irrigation regimes based on field capacity; 100% FC (control), 75% FC, 50% FC, and 25% FC Seeds from local source were sown at the rate of three seeds per pot and later thinned to two seedlings per pot two weeks after sowing (WAS). Data on growth parameters; plant height, stem girth and number of leaves were collected at two week interval up to 10 WAS while total fruit yield and biomass yield, for okra and jute mallow respectively, were determined at harvest . Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the means were separated using least significant difference at p<0.05. Okra growth and fruit yield were significantly (p<0.05) affected by field capacities; 75% FC produced significantly (p<0.05) tallest plant at 10 WAS (25.3 cm) while 25% FC gave shortest plant height (13.9 cm). Number of leaves at 10 WAS followed similar trend as plant height. Irrigation regimes did not significantly (p<0.05) affect fruit yield however, 75% FC recorded highest fruit yield than other field capacities. At 10 WAS, jute mallow plant height under 100, 75 and 50% FC were significantly (p<0.05) tallest height than at 25% FC. Stem girth followed the same trend as plant height. However, at 10 WAS, 75% FC produced significantly (p<0.05) higher number of leaves and biomass yield than other treatments. It could be concluded from the study that 75 % FC was best for growth, fruit yield and biomass yield of okra and jute mallow production.

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Soil is the main reservoir of water and nutrients, and thus controls the availability of most essential plant nutrients for crop growth and establishment. Therefore, a study was conducted at

Harnessing the high macronutrient in poultry manure (PM) for enhanced biochar yield (BY) and quality through blending with Gmelina arborea sawdust (SD) or Tithonia diversifolia shoot (TD) at slow pyrolysis (350 °C) heating regimes (HRs) was the focus of this work. Twelve biochars were produced from SD and TD with or without PM at three slow pyrolysis HRs of 5, 10 and 20 minutes in completely randomized design with three replications. Dominant biochar parameters contributing to BY and ash content were reported. Results indicated PM spiking and HR significantly (p < 0.001) improved BY and nutrient quality irrespective of plant biomass type. The BY increased by 107% (5 min HR) and 79% (10 min HR) with PM spiking while ash content increased with increasing HR by 599 and 305% following PM spiking in TD and SD respectively. 20 and 10 minute HRs enhanced N and P contents in SD and TD biochar respectively. PM spiking and increasing HR from 10 to 20 minutes reduced biochar organic C by 159% in TD biochar. Reduced organic C, C/N and C/P dominantly influenced BY and ash content. PM when appropriately bulked with SD and TD produces higher BY and quality under slow pyrolysis condition.

Background Soil degradation remains a serious threat to agricultural production. With increase downpour due to climate change effect, more farmlands are exposed to erosion. Therefore, ecologically sound strategies for erosion control are indispensable to farmers, to boost agricultural productivity. Results A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents for this study, and descriptive and inferential statistics were adopted to determine the farmers’ perception of the awareness, adoption and use of vetiver grass technology in controlling erosion in the study area. A total of four hundred valid questionnaires were subjected to analysis and the result shows that most of the farmers (29%) were between the ages of 41 and 50 years and the average age of the respondents stood at 45.5 years, implying that the farmers were in their productive and active age. Most of the respondents were male and married with an average household size of 5.2. Large number (76%) of the respondents had formal education, which the level ranged from primary to post-secondary education. Large proportion of the respondents engaged in private business as secondary occupation with an average income of $84.6 per cropping season. The effectiveness of vetiver grass adoption and use was significantly influenced by age (P < 0.1), gender (P < 0.01), marital status (P < 0.05), level of education (P < 0.01) and income of the respondents (P < 0.05). Most of the respondents within the ages of 41–50 years were aware of the erosion control potentials of vetiver grass and adopted the grass because it was cheap and affordable, easy to cultivate and maintain, and readily available and perceived to possess the potential effectiveness to control erosion. Conclusion Stakeholders are enjoined to increase the awareness of the vetiver grass for increased adoption and utilization, as many farmers were ignorant of the vetiver grass technology for erosion control in the study area.

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