Reprocessing of NaOH Black Liquor for Pre-treatment of Agribiomass

Shah Tawaf Ali, Ullah Raheem, Mustafa Muhammad and Rashida

Page No: 1-10

Anaerobic fermentation is a promising technology to convert agriculture waste biomass into useful bioproducts. However, to speed up and improve this process, the agriculture biomass needs pretreatment to remove the lignin from their cell wall acting as a barrier making them easily digestible in the anaerobic fermentation. In this study, 2% NaOH in water bath heating at 50ᵒC for 120 minutes was evaluated to check the removal of lignin and examining of the biogas yield from the wheat straw (WS) anaerobic digestion. For the next treatment cycle, the NaOH black liquor was separated using pH based precipitation and filtration method. The NaOH black liquor slurry was used in 2 more subsequent recycling process to check the capability for lignin removal from the WS.

The first NaOH cycle of pH precipitation and filtration method yields 51.4% WS lignin reduction. In the next successive cycles of the NaOH filtration samples (F2 and F3), the lignin from the WS was reduced by 43-33.3%. However, the pH precipitation samples (P2 and P3) retained the delignification potential with the addition of complementary NaOH for the next successive cycle. In general, the NaOH treatment demonstrated a 250-300% improvement in the biogas yield. The findings of this study considered that the black liquor of NaOH can be used multiple times for pretreatment prupose. The process improved the digestion process even with mild heating. Recycling of NaOH black liqour through filtration is practically simple becuase of less water and chemical consumption for the lignin removal from waste biomass before anaerobic fermentation.

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Assessing the utilisation of Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) by smallholder farmers in Vuravhi Communal Lands of Chivi District, Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Kugedera A.T.

Page No: 11-15

The aim for this study was to document the utilisation of Marula by smallholder farmers in Vuravhi Communal Lands. Ninety participants from five villages were interviewed between August and September 2014. Data was analysed using Minitab version 14 and SPSS version 16 to obtain graphs. Local communities in Chivi derived many benefits from Marula including poles and fodder during drought periods. Raw fruits and nuts were the main products harvested by people in Vuravhi Communal Lands.

Farmers consume ripe fruits as eaten raw (48.9%), produce Marula wine (75.6%), nuts (54.4%), use tree parts as medicine (27.8%) added to porridge as juice (22.2%), making jam (11.1%) and making soda (15.6%). The tree is also used as shade (20.8%) in arable lands and to store maize plant residues for animal feed later in spring. Marula has also medicinal uses, leaves and fruits were browsed by livestock. The study also encourages domestication and management of Marula trees naturally since there is potential to improve human livelihoods.

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Chemical Treatment of Broiler Chicken Litter: Effect on the Production of Environmentally Hazardous Phosphorus

Rashid A., Banday M.T., Adil S., Khan A.A. and Afzal Y.

Page No: 16-18

The soluble phosphorus run-off and eutrophication of water bodies because of application of poultry litter to agriculture fields is a serious concern. Therefore, a study was undertaken to alter the soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) level of poultry litter by its chemical amendment with alum and calcium carbonate. 240 day old Cobb broiler chicks were distributed randomly into 4 treatment groups of 4 replicates having 13 chicks each. In control group (T1), no chemical was added to litter; however, in other groups, litter was treated with alum @ 25g/kg (T2); calcium carbonate @ 50g/kg (T3) and combination of 25g aluminum sulfate and 50g calcium carbonate/kg (T4).

The results indicate that there was 72.80 % reduction in SRP level in the litter material amended with alum (T2) followed by 68.42 % reduction in T4 group where combination of alum and calcium carbonate was used. 4.38 % reduction was observed in calcium carbonate group (T3) when compared to the control. In conclusion, alum was found highly effective in reducing the SRP level of poultry litter which in turn can help in reducing the eutrophication of water bodies.

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Effect of Auxin (NAA and IBA) concentration on in vitro rooting of microshoots in three elite Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) Genotypes

Gerema Amente

Page No: 19-24

Conventional propagation method where nodal sections with two or three nodes or sets are used as planting material, has a wide-range of limitations. Micro propagation is the only practical means of achieving rapid, large-scale production of disease-free quality planting material as seed canes of newly developed varieties in order to speed up the breeding and commercialization process in sugarcane. Thus, the experiment was carried out with the objective of studying the effect of growth regulators in vitro rooting of shoot cultures of three elite sugarcane genotypes. An experiment on in vitro rooting was laid out in completely randomized design with 3x5x3 factorial treatment arrangements. Data was subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and significant means were separated using Duncan's multiple range tests. Half MS semi solid medium containing 3.0 mg/l NAA induced the highest rooting with mean root number per shoot of 14.93 for Q200. For co-0238, half MS medium supplemented with 5.0 mg/l NAA induced the highest rooting response with mean root number per shoot of 18.40.

Similarly, ½ MS medium supplemented with 1.5 mg/l IBA in combination with 3.0 mg/l NAA induced highest rooting response with 16.50 mean root number per shoot for Q217. In conclusion, this study can be used for rapid in vitro rooting of these three elite sugarcane genotypes.

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Evaluation of two Yield estimation methods in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) in Makurdi, Benue state, Nigeria

Ugbaa Macsamuel Sesugh, Ekeuro Godspower Chibuike, Iyorkaa Nater and Omoigui Lucky Osabuohien

Page No: 25-28

An experiment was conducted to evaluate two yield estimation methods in cowpea. It was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design comprising of a factorial combination of three cowpea genotypes (UAM09 1051-1, IT99K -277-2 and IT99K -573-1-1) and two yield estimation methods (estimation of yield by area of quadrant-eyaq and estimation of yield by area of net plot-eyanp). The result showed that yield estimation method had high significant influence on seed yield in Kg/ha.

The interaction between genotype and yield estimation method also had a significant influence only on seed yield in Kg/ha. Among the yield estimation methods, eyanp was found to record significantly higher seed yield in Kg/ha. The interaction between eyanp and IT99K-573-1-1 showed the highest seed yield/ha. The superiority of eyanp over eyaq is an indication that eyanp provides a higher level of accuracy in yield estimation, hence its use should be encouraged.

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Effect of Honeybee Foraging Activity on the Yield Enhancement in Helianthus Annus Linn

Bisarally Pavan Kumar and Sagar H.

Page No: 29-33

Agriculture is the backbone of tropical countries. There is growing evidence globally that improved pollination practices can help support higher yield and reduced variability for a wide range of insect pollinated crops. Honeybees are used to pollinate some tropical food crops, but they are less commonly used for field crops, in part because of uncertainty as to whether the potential benefits are justified by the costs. This uncertainty comes from a lack of studies conducted at the appropriate scale. By our study, not only non-irrigated land, but also the irrigated land can increase their crop yield and overall income.

Present study deals with the increasing of the yield/production per acre in a given specific area. Among pollinators, honeybees were the main taxon impacting sunflower yield. Sunflower plant density was a strong determinant of yield with higher numbers attracting increased numbers of honeybees. Using pollinator and wind exclusion, quantification is of the relative contributions of self-pollination (∼40%), insect pollination (∼35%) and wind pollination (∼20%). Our results show to the best of our knowledge the first evidence of the key role of honey bees as potential pollinators in sunflower production at field scale in real farming conditions which was increased by the steep 40% in the honey bee rich land compared to the land devoid of honey combs. This proves to be one of the best methods for natural yield enhancement of the per-acre yield and taking up apiculture as the value added allied agricultural subordinate.

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Comparative Analysis of the Nutritional Qualities of some Catfishes from Nun River, Bayelsa State

Okogbue B.C., Seiyaboh E.I. and Joseph M.A.

Page No: 34-41

The proximate composition of fish is divided into various components to reveal the nutritional status and dietetic benefits of the food ingredient. The assessment of the proximate composition of some catfish species was carried out for seven species belonging to five families of taxonomic order, Siluriformes. Some fishermen from the fishing camp located in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area (LGA) were engaged to collect different species of catfish from the Nun River between Ekowe and Okoungbene communities. The fish samples were prepared for proximate analysis which was conducted on some species namely: Malapterurus beninensis, Bagrus bayad, Arius heudeloti, Schilbe intermedius, Clarias anguillaris, Heterobranchus birdosalis and Gymnallabes typus.

Clariid species, Clarias anguillaris and Heterobranchus birdosalis recorded the highest values in the moisture, crude protein (CP), lipid and ash contents and they were significantly different from other species analyzed. CP values of 12.57 % and 11.35 % were recorded for the Heterobranchus and Clarias species respectively. H. birdosalis was richest in moisture (81.10 %) and CP while C. anguillaris recorded the highest in lipid and ash contents at 9.76 and 4.05 % respectively. Other species such as the Arius and Bagrus species followed after the Clariids with 11.55 % and 11.06 % CP respectively. The latter group could also be further researched for improved aquaculture developmental protocols to boost catfish diversity.

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Evaluation of soil macro-nutritional status and yield contributing attributes for sustainable sunflower production in coastal region of Bangladesh

Islam Md. Shariful, Alam Md Ittafak, Uddin Md. Nizam, Biplob Md Hasinur Jaman and Sharif Md. Shaon

Page No: 42-49

The study was conducted for determination and evaluation of macro-nutritional status in the coastal region of Bangladesh for sustainable sunflower (cv. Hysun-33) production. The initial electrical conductivity value was 0.8, 3.1 and 4.5 dS m-1 for Dumki and Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali, and Taltoli of Barguna district, Bangladesh respectively. Soil and plant samples were analyzed for total nitrogen, available phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulpher and sodium. These soils are poor in organic matter and nitrogen contents. The amount of nutrients was significantly decreased in post harvest soils compared to that of initial soils indicating that sunflower is a nutrient exhausting crop. The high K+/Na+ ratio was found within plant leaves and stem and the ratio was decreasing with increasing the soil salinity. There were no significant changes of yield among the saline and non-saline areas.

The highest germination, plant height, head diameter, thousand seed weight and yield (2.81 t ha-1) were found in the moderately saline Kalapara soil than Dumki (2.68 t ha-1) and Taltoli (2.57 t ha-1) soil. Soil nutritional status and yield contributing data indicated that balance fertilization as well as integrated plant nutrient system (IPNS) needed to be applied for sustainable sunflower cultivation in coastal areas of Bangladesh.

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