EjiroAkponah.
Glycophosate herbicide is one of the most widely used herbicides by farmers because of its efficacy. However, little is known about its possible long term effects on important soil microflora. To investigate this, mesocosm study involving four cell, Cell I, II, III, and IV contaminated with the herbicide at concentrations of 5, 20, 50 and 0 % v/v respectively were studied between October, 2016 to March, 2017. Soil samples analysed weekly from respective cells to determine the effect of herbicide on overall heterotrophic bacterial and fungal populations, and specifically on Nitosomonas, Nitrobacter and actinomycetes populations, qualitatively and quantitatively with time. The results showed that total heterotrophic bacteria counts (THBC) and actinomycetes counts decreased with time and concentrations for the first 28 day as compared to the control before attaining steady increases. However, beyond day 90, THBC and actinomycetes counts in control cell (Cell IV) were lower than all other cells with the exception of Cell III (P ? 0.5). The total fungal counts (TFC) were not significantly affected except for Cell I that had higher TFC than other cells at day 180 (P ? 0.5). Populations of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter witnessed a progressive decrease with time and concentrations as compared to uncontaminated soil (P ? 0.5). The following genera of bacteria, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Acinectobacter, Micrococcus, Alcaligens, Achromobacter and fungi, Rhizopus, Trichoderma, Penicillium and Aspergillus were isolated. Actinomyces and Nocardia were the actinomycetes isolated. Though bacteria and fungi in soil generally recovered from the effect of glyphosate application in the long term following initial population decline except at the highest concentration of 50 % v/v, Nitrosomonas and Nitobacter (nitrogen fixers) specifically never recovered. This portend serious problem for nitrogen fixation in soil.
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Kpahé Herbert Michael Kanh, Didier Paulin Sokouri, Mamadou Diop, Mame Nahé Diouf, Abdoulaye Dieng and Assanvo Simon-Pierre N’guetta.
Animal breeding is a major activity in the rural economy of the Kolda region. However, it is subject to many constraints such as climatic hazards, seasonal variations, grazing pressure and mortality caused by diseases, in spite of the relative abundance of pastures in this area and the adaptation to the environment of the livestock mainly composed of NDama cattle. These constraints influence greatly the productivity of the livestock. This study aims to document the demographic parameters, the structure of the population and estimate the productivity of the cattle population in the region of Kolda (High Casamance). It is based on retrospectives investigations, the structure of the population and the demographic events related to this population. The survey was conducted from November 20, 2016 to December 15, 2016. A total of 47 farms were visited and 2688 animals were registered. The results revealed a low productivity due to the late age of the first calving, the long inter-calving periods, which leads to very low growth rates. The exploitation rates more or less moderate allow the sustainability of the livestock. Improving the productivity of cattle herds in the Kolda region requires improving farm management through adequate health monitoring, meticulously controlled breeding and the provision of high-quality food able to increase zootechnical performances.
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Tamiru Urgesa and Lensa Urgesa
The poultry population of Ethiopia is almost entirely composed of indigenous chicken, and recent estimates showed that 78.85%, 12.02%, and 9.11% are indigenous, hybrids, and exotic poultry, respectively. Poultry plays important roles in terms of generating employment opportunities, improving family nutrition, and empowering women. The growth of the poultry population over the year has almost stagnated because of high poultry mortality and the limited expansion of commercial poultry production. Therefore, this trend was initiated to analyze the trends of poultry population growth and distribution in Ethiopia. Data on annual poultry population growth and distribution in Ethiopia for the period of 2008 to 2021 were collected from the Central Statistical Agency (CSA). A trend test was carried out using the non-parametric Mann-Kendall’s trend test packaged in XLstat. The outcome of this trend indicated that the poultry population increased significantly in some regions.However, the distribution of poultry populations across the region is not uniform. The Oromia region has the most poultry, followed by Amhara, the South Nation and Nationality People of Ethiopia (SNNP), and Tigray.This is due to the availability of commercial poultry farms. Therefore, the future study should pay attention to the expansion of large-scale commercial poultry farms across the regions and the introduction of exotic poultry breeds.
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