Indonesian Journal of Agricultural Research

Effect of Fulani Herdsmen Grazing Activities on Food Crop Production among Farm Youth in Nigeria

Kolawole Adelekan Adeloye, Dixon Olutade Torimiro, Kazeem Babatunde Oladejo — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This study investigated the effect of herdsmen grazing activities on food crop production among farm youth in Nigeria. Data were collected from 120 farm youth through a structured interview schedule with a multi-stage selection process. Data analysis was done using appropriate statistics. The results reveal mean age and experience in farming of the youth were 29.03± 1.9 years and 11.11 ±7.22 years, respectively. Many (69.2%) of them were male with at least 77.5% having primary school education, and 60.88% had experienced the occurrence of Fulani herdsmen grazing activities in the past three years. In addition, 98.3 percent experienced a high effect of Fulani herdsmen grazing activities on their food crop production. Verbal warning (mean = 2.96) ranked highest among coping strategies adopted by farm youth, followed by local security (mean = 1.94) among others. At p<0.01, the perception of the grazing activities (r = 0.595), experience in farming (r = 0.411), and coping strategies (r = 0.446) had a substantial association with the effect of the Fulani herdsmen grazing activities on food crop production. The study then concluded that the Fulani herdsmen grazing activities had a high effect on the food crop production of the farm youth.

Effects of Harvest Time and Storage Form on Insect Population and Damage of Maize

Sharon G. Asare, S. A. Kwarteng, B. S. Owusu, P. K. Baidoo — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0700

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of harvest time and storage form on population levels of insect pests and their damage on stored maize. Maize was cultivated on a total land area of 19 x 23m² during the major season (April to August 2020) and minor season (September to December 2020). Maize was harvested at three stages; early harvest, mid harvest and late harvest. Harvested maize was stored in three ways; husked, de-husked and shelled. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to the data through Sisvar version 5.6. Insect pests that were sampled during the study were Sitophilus zeamais, Cathartus quadricollis, Carpophilus dimidiatus and Tribolium castaneum. Carpophilus dimidiatus were sampled from treatments during the major season whereas Tribolium castaneum was sampled during the minor season. Sitophilus zeamais and Cathartus quadricollis were sampled in both seasons. In the major season, late harvest shelled maize (LHS) recorded 689% more S. zeamais numbers as compared to early harvest husked maize (EHH). Mid-harvest husked maize (MHH) had 307% less number of S. zeamais compared to LHS in the minor season. Late-harvest shelled maize (LHS) had the highest percentage insect damaged kernels (86.94%) in the major season.

Grow-out of Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) fish (Perciformes, Cichlidae) on Local Feed in an Above-ground Tank Culture System in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Sat, 26 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0700

Acquiring land that meets the required standards for lowland ponds is becoming an increasing problem in the city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and fish farming in above-ground concrete tanks is emerging as an alternative. The objective of this study was to follow the evolution of pre-growth of Oreochromis niloticus Linnaeus, 1758 in an above-ground concrete tank culture system using feed based on local agricultural by-products available in Kinshasa. A total of 198 fries were distributed in 3 tanks and fed three times a day. The experiments were conducted for 60 days between August and November 2021. The results obtained indicate a better survival rate (T1 = 75.75±4.32%; T2 = 60.6±9.76% and T3 = 83.33±4.96%). Feed T1 (mean weight = 33.15±2.78 g) and T2 (28.44±3.76 g) had a positive impact on fish weight growth. The cost of producing one kilogram of a feed ration varied depending on the ingredients used. It cost 2,843 FC to develop the T1 feed, 951 FC to produce the T2 feed and 5.000 FC to afford the T3 commercial feed sold in Kinshasa. Ration T2 is the one that gave a better compromise of price and quality by promoting good fish growth at a lower cost (1,692 Congolese Francs) than the other two feeds. These observations sufficiently show that during the experiment, the experimental structure (concrete tank) did not have negative effects on the zootechnical performance of the fry of the fish species studied. The economic aspect of the use of feed rations by fry showed the merits of rearing fish using local agricultural by-products rather than commercial feed. This study showed the merits of setting up an above-ground concrete tank fish farm to overcome the difficulty of acquiring land to meet fish farming requirements.

Effect of Soil Texture on the Productivity of Two Shallot Varieties

Razali, Zulkifli Nasution, Rahmawaty, Chairani Hanum — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0700

The Lake Toba Catchment Area (LTCA) has long been known as a producer of shallots in North Sumatra. The Samosir variety is the mainstay local variety of the farmers. Due to the lack of quality seeds and disease attacks on the Samosir variety, farmers began to cultivate the Bima Brebes variety. This study aims to prove the difference in productivity of shallot varieties Samosir and Bima Brebes cultivated in the LTCA region by considering soil texture as a factor affecting productivity. This study was conducted in 6 shallot producing districts included in the LTCA. For analysis, 30 samples were selected based on the level of shallot productivity, with details of 10 low category production (< 4.5 tons/ha), 10 medium category production (4.5-7.5 tons/ha), and 10 high category production (> 7.5 tons/ha), along with the results of soil texture analysis. Correlation analysis was conducted to find the type of soil fraction that influenced productivity. ANCOVA to analyze the relationship between soil fraction and shallot productivity in each variety and analyze the difference in the productivity of Samosir and Bima Brebes shallots. The results showed that the sand fraction had an effect on shallot productivity in LTCA. The shallot cultivation land in LTCA has a sand fraction of 69-76% (sandy loam texture), where the greater the percentage of sand fraction, the higher the productivity of both shallot varieties. There was no difference in the productivity of Samosir and Bima Brebes shallots varieties. Bima Brebes variety can be a substitute seed for shallot cultivation in LTCA.

Analysis of Biosecurity Application in Broiler Chicken Farms in North Sumatra

Ma’ruf Tafsin, Nevy Diana Hanafi, Achmad Sadeli, Tuty Elvi Farida — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0700

Biosecurity is very important in broiler chicken farming. The right biosecurity application will create optimal performance. This research was conducted in three districts of North Sumatra province, namely Deli Serdang, Serdang Bedagai and Simalungun with purposive sampling methods. Number of samples used by 104 respondents. This research was conducted to find out the level of application of biosecurity and health conditions in the maintenance of modern broiler chickens. The data used in the study used primary data obtained from filling out questionnaires and discussions with farmers. The parameters used use the Likert scale with integers of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 for each answer. There are three categories in the application of biosecurity, namely pre of entry, point of entry and post of entry. Disease conditions that often appear during the maintenance of broiler chickens related to the performance obtained by respondents. The results of the statistical analysis illustrate that the level of application of pre-entry biosecurity (P<0.05) describes 67% of the significant results of 6 questions, the point of entry (P<0.05) shows 100% insignificant results from 6 questions and post of entry (P<0.05) shows 43% significant results from 7 questions on closed house and open house systems. The results of data obtained from cases of diseases that are often a problem in broiler chickens more cases of enteritis (digestive) disease by 27.9% and CRD by 25% of the total respondents.