Effect of site characteristics on the productivity and economic returns from cassava legume intercropping in Ghana
October 2009
In a 2-year field study, cassava was intercropped with four legumes (cowpea, pigeon pea, soyabean and Stylosanthes at three locations with different soil and environmental conditions, to determine the effect of site characteristics on the agronomic and economic advantage of the intercrop. The trial was a factorial experiment in a split plot design with three...
Evaluation of groundwater resources potential in the Ejisu-Juaben district of Ghana
October 2009
The increasing stress on freshwater resources due to ever-rising demands and profligate uses as well as growing population of Ejisu-Juaben District is an issue of great concern. The purpose of this study is to make a quantitative estimate of the available groundwater resources in the Ejisu-Juaben district for efficient utilization and management of groundwater resources. The methodology involved the...
Groundwater flow modelling in the upper Anga’a river watershed, Yaounde, Cameroon
October 2009
The Anga’a River watershed is located within the Yaounde IV district, South-east of Yaounde City, Cameroon. The groundwater flow and particle tracking modelling was carried out to determine in detail the groundwater flow and particle migration in the shallow unconfined aquifer of the Upper Anga’a river watershed. The watershed was modelled with a grid of 106 columns x 68 rows with two layers...
Removal of chromium and nickel ions from aqueous solution by adsorption on modified coconut husk
October 2009
The study investigated the adsorption of Cr(VI) and Ni(II) on modified coconut husk (low cost adsorbent) for the remediation of Cr(VI) and Ni(II) from some synthetic industrial waste effluents. The coconut husk was modified by mixing with 0.1 M NaOH and HCl respectively. The effects of varying adsorbent loading, hydrogen ion concentration, contact time and temperature of adsorption were studied....
Taking Care of “Green†Business
September 2009
Benefits of carbon markets to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in harvested wood products: A case study from Saharanpur, Uttra Pradesh, India
September 2009
Harvested wooden handicrafts products have the ability to lock carbon for long time and mitigate climate change. These products are currently eligible for availing benefits from voluntary carbon markets. The market size and opportunities for carbon credits are likely to increase substantially for these products during the post-2012 UNFCCC period. This paper analyses the limitations and opportunities for...
The effect of crude oil on growth of the weed (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.) –phytoremediation potential of the plant
September 2009
The use of grasses for phytoremediation of crude oil polluted soils especially in the tropics is a new area of study with a lot of potentials. The effect of different levels (0.00, 2.50, 5.00, 7.50, 10.00, 12.50 and 15.00%) of crude oil contamination on the growth of Paspalum scrobiculatum, a common weed in Nigeria was investigated. The weed is found growing luxuriantly in crude oil contaminated...
On farm evaluation of the contribution of three green manures to maize yield in the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana
September 2009
Low soil fertility is one of the major factors responsible for low crop yields on small-scale farms in Africa. The use of Chromolaena odorata, Crotalaria junceaand Panicum maximum and their combination with NPK for improving soil fertility and maize yield was investigated in the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana. Each plant material was applied at two application rates, 1 and 3 t ha-1....
Assessment of soil-pollution by slag from an automobile battery manufacturing plant in Nigeria
September 2009
This study assessed heavy metals pollution of soil by slag from an automobile battery manufacturing plant in Nigeria to ascertain the potential danger they pose on the environment. 84 soil samples were randomly collected at 0 - 15 cm and 15 - 30 cm depths from the premises of the plant and an uncontaminated site as control for both dry and wet seasons. Samples were analyzed for lead, cadmium, chromium and...
Use of indigenous knowledge in the management of field and storage pests around Lake Victoria basin in Tanzania
September 2009
Agriculture in Lake Victoria basin (LVB) in Tanzania is predominantly subsistence and is characterised by perennial food deficits, cyclic famines and poverty prompted largely by unreliable rainfall patterns, declining soil fertility and food grains pests and diseases. The pest problem is more pronounced as farmers are yet to fully integrate synthetic pesticides into their insect pest management systems due to...
Fluoride distribution in different environmental segments at Hirakud Orissa (India)
September 2009
Fluoride is a major pollutant originating from aluminium smelting polluting the air, water and soil. An Aluminium smelter has been operating at Hirakud in western Orissa since 1958 producing primary aluminium by Horizontal stud Soderberg Technology. Starting with a capacity of 10,000 T of aluminium per annum in 1959 it has increased its capacity to 1,00,000 T in 2007. A detailed investigation undertaken...
Low cost solar dryer for fish
September 2009
Prawns (Kolambi) were selected as drying material in low cost solar dryer (LCSD). Time required for reducing the moisture content from 75 to 16% were observed in open sun drying and solar drying for its comparison. Salted fish inside the dryer required 8 h in order to dry prawns up to 16.15% while unsalted fish required 15 h to reach moisture content up to 15.15% in open condition. Overall collection...
The impact of municipal solid waste disposal in Ado-Ekiti metropolis, Ekiti-State, Nigeria
August 2009
Soil samples from four public waste dump sites (three samples from each location at 10 m interval) and plant sample (root and leave) from Igbaletere dump site were analyzed for heavy metals such as Cu, Mn, Fe, Cr, Pb, Co, Zn and Ni. On the average, high concentrations of Cu, Mn, Fe, Pb, and Zn were found in the soil samples collected at the centre of the dump sites that is, 231.55, 292.03, 158.55 and 205.40...
Effects of cattle and poultry manures on organic matter content and adsorption complex of a sandy soil under cassava cultivation (Manihot esculenta Crantz.)
August 2009
This study examined the A and B horizons of deep, developed and moderately unsaturated sandy ferrallitic soils amended with cattle and poultry manures under cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) cultivation. Therefore, a plot experiment was carried out by using a randomized complete blocks design in 4 replications and fields treatments which included unfertilized (control) and one dose (10 t/ha) of both manures. The study...
Field evidence of occurrence of groundwater in Gombe formation around Barambu and Gedawo, Northeastern Nigeria
August 2009
The study area lies within the Upper Benue Trough South of Gombe town. Field study was carried out by methods of compass traversing and traversing along stream courses. Gombe formation, exposing 3 sandstone lithofacies comprising the upper, middle and lower members, in this part of the Trough, has a thickness of about 63 m. 2 aquiferous zones occur in the formation. The upper aquifer is found towards the...
Impacts of climate change, variability and adaptation strategies on agriculture in semi arid areas of Tanzania: The case of Manyoni District in Singida Region, Tanzania
August 2009
A study was carried in two villages of Kamenyanga and Kintinku of Manyoni District, central Tanzania. The overall objective of this study was to understand local communities’ perceptions on climate and variability issues and establish its impacts and adaptation strategies within agricultural sector. Both secondary and primary were used. Primary data were obtained using different Participatory Research...
Comparative study of mercury accumulation in some brackish water fishes in a tropical lagoon and its adjacent creek in South Western Nigeria
July 2009
The Hg content of some brackish water fishes, water and sediment in Lagos lagoon and Abule - Agege creek were investigated from February to September, 2004. The pH of the lagoon was neutral however the creek was mildly acidic (6.75) in the dry season. The Hg content of the lagoon ranged from 0.27 - 0.40 mg/l for water and 0.46 - 0.56 µg/g dry wt for sediment lower than the creek range (0.41 - 0.42 mg/l...
Translational Environmental Science and Technology (TEST)
July 2009
Removal of chromium and lead from drill cuttings using activated palm kernel shell and husk
July 2009
Palm kernel shell and Palm kernel husk, two readily available agricultural waste products have been used as low-cost potential adsorbents to remove chromium and lead from drill cuttings. Batch adsorption studies were carried out as a function of parameters such as pH, contact time and carbon dosage. Chromium and Lead removal was found to be pH dependent with the optimum pH for Chromium...
Co-ministering the Environment
June 2009
Arbuscular mycorrhiza contribution to the growth performance and heavy metal uptake of Helianthus annuus LINN in pot culture
June 2009
A greenhouse experiment was conducted to assess the arbuscular mycorrhiza contribution to the growth performance and heavy metals (Cd and Pb) uptake ofHelianthus annuus L. from polluted soils. Cadmium sulfate (CdSO4.8H2O) and lead acetate ((CH3COO)2Pb.3H2O) were applied at the concentrations: Cd- 0,20,40,60,80 mg kg-1 and Pb-0,250,500,750,1000 mg kg-1 in 90 plastic pots filled with 5 kg ...
Lead and zinc concentrations in hair and nail of some Kano inhabitants
June 2009
The advantages of hair and nail tissues analysis over other biological samples are that trace metal concentrations in them are not subjected to rapid fluctuation due to diet, air and water hence a long term stable nutritional status. Lead and zinc concentrations in hair and nail samples were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The mean zinc concentration in hair and nail were 0.695...
A comparative study on indoor air quality in a low cost and a green design house
May 2009
A study on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is important because people spend most of their time inside houses. IAQ was monitored in two different types of rural houses namely a low cost house and a “green” house built with pyramidal shape of roof in the rural area. Carbon monoxide (CO) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) concentrations were measured and analysed indoor and outdoor in both the type of houses. A...
Factors determining the use of botanical insect pest control methods by small-holder farmers in the Lake Victoria basin, Kenya
May 2009
A farm survey was conducted in three representative administrative districts of the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB), Kenya to document farmers’ indigenous knowledge and the factors that influence the use of botanicals instead of synthetic insecticides in insect pest management. A total of 65 farm households were randomly sampled using stratified sampling procedure. The...
Survey of bacterial pathogens on leaves and seeds of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle)
May 2009
Bacterial pathogens of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) were investigated. 50 samples each of leaves and seeds (healthy and diseased) were randomly collected and used for the analysis. Mean bacterial counts obtained were: healthy and diseased leaves; 8.26...
Bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated-oil field drill-cuttings with bacterial isolates
May 2009
The effectiveness of 2 bacterial isolates (Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) in the restoration of oil-field drill-cuttings contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was studied. A mixture of 4 kg of the drill-cuttings and 0.67 kg of top-soil were charged into triplicate plastic reactors labeled A1 to A3, B1 to B3, C1 to C3 and O1 to O3. These were left quiescent for 7...
Hydrodynamic characterization of the Paleocene aquifer in the coastal sedimentary basin of Togo
May 2009
The intense exploitation of shallow aquifers in the coastal basin of Togo provokes a rapid depletion of these reservoirs. The confined paleocene aquifer represents potential reserves that are yet little exploited. This paper presents the hydrodynamic characterization of this aquifer. Piezometric data established from 80 wells fluctuate between 1.17 and 3.42 m; and demonstrate the effect of pumping on...
Seasonal variation in fish abundance and physico-chemical parameters of Lagos lagoon, Nigeria
May 2009
A Study was conducted to determine abundance of fish over two seasons (dry and wet) in Lagos lagoon. Fish sampling was carried out in four selected stations. Physico – chemical characteristics of Lagos lagoon and fish distribution was also studied. The results revealed that Cichlids contributed the highest number of fish in the two seasons. Fish species were more evenly distributed in the dry seasons...
Prizing the Environment
April 2009
An evaluation of a mesophilic reactor for treating wastewater from a Zimbabwean potato-processing plant
April 2009
An evaluation of anaerobic treatment of potato-processing wastewater using an up flow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) reactor at 37°C was conducted. Wastewater from a potato-processing plant in Harare, with an average of 6.8 g COD/l, (COD = chemical oxygen demand) a high concentration of total solids (up to 6725 mg/l) and low pH of 4 - 4.9 was subjected to anaerobic treatment in an UASB reactor. The start up...
Assessment of pollution impacts on the ecological integrity of the Kisian and Kisat rivers in Lake Victoria drainage basin, Kenya
April 2009
Macro-invertebrate assemblages were used as bioindicators to assess the ecological integrity of Rivers Kisat (influenced by urban development) and Kisian (influenced by agriculture) using community attributes and the Index of Biotic Integrity. Six stations, three per river, were selected to correspond to different impact types and intensities along the rivers. Physico-chemical parameters and nutrients were...
Environmentalists without Boundaries
March 2009
Microbiological quality and metal levels in wells and boreholes water in some peri-urban communities in Kumasi, Ghana
March 2009
Many communities in Kumasi, Ghana, are increasingly dependent on boreholes and hand dug wells. The aim of this study was to examine the drinking water suitability of 6 wells and 3 boreholes in peri-urban communities in Kumasi, between December 2003 and January 2005. Total coliforms, faecal coliforms and enterococci were enumerated using the standard most probable number method and membrane filtration methods....
Generation of digital elevation models (DEMS) for gullies in Irele local government area of Ondo-state, Nigeria
March 2009
This study attempts to derive the Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) for gullies at Ode-Irele, Lipanu, Akotogbo and Ajagba town in Irele Local Government Area (LGA) of Ondo-State, Nigeria. Gully morphometric attributes such as surface slope, catchments area, average depth and width as well as cross-sectional area and volume of material/ soil excavated were determined. The DEM for each of the study gully...
Effects of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) on the structure and function of thyroid gland
March 2009
The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of two heavy metals, Cadmium (Cd) and Lead (Pb), on the structure and function of the thyroid gland. Wistar albino rats were chosen for experimental purpose. The animals were fed on diet mixed with given doses of Cd and Pb salts. Blood serum was taken from treated rats recorded decrease in the thyroxine (T4) and the 3, 3′, 5-triiodothyronine...
An evaluation of the effect of land use/cover change on the surface temperature of Lokoja town, Nigeria
March 2009
This research integrated remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identified land use/cover types in Lokoja, including their temporal transformation and association with surface temperatures from the LandSat TM and LandSat ETM imageries of 1987...
Hydrologic properties of grazed perennial swards in semiarid southeastern Kenya
February 2009
Identification of plant resources that persist under grazing pressure, support desirable levels of production and at the same time protect the grazing environment is central to sustainable livestock production. This study assessed the infiltration capacity and soil loss associated with perennial swards subjected to different levels of utilization using simulated rainfall. The hypothesis was tested that grazed...
Improving soil productivity through biochar amendments to soils
February 2009
Biochar based soil management has not being fully exploited in the tropics. In a greenhouse study, two soil types (sandy loam and silt loam soils) and 6 treatments namely: 3t ha-l Biochar, 120 kg N ha-1, 120 kg N ha-1 + 3t ha-1biochar, 4t C ha-1 cattle manure, 4t C ha-1 cattle manure + 3t ha-1 biochar and control un-amended soil were evaluated for soil productivity. The treatments...
Copper, selenium and zinc content of canned and non-canned beverages in Nigeria
February 2009
The levels of copper, selenium and zinc in beverages purchased in Nigeria were studied. Fifty samples of these beverages were digested in nitric acid and were analyzed using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The zinc levels ranged from 0.0 - 1.34 mg/L for the canned and 0.01 - 1.11 mg/L for the non-canned beverages. All had zinc levels below the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5.0 mg/l set by...
Effects of Soy-based allochthonous nutrient inputs on intensively cultured female Clarias gariepinus (Burchell) brooder’s growth performance and on the in-dwelling net microplanktonic populations
February 2009
Portions of soybean meal autoclaved at 116°C and 1.2 kg/cm2 pressure for 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 min were used to compound 4 experimental diets appropriately labeled SB10, SB15, SB20, SB25 and SB30 respectively. The experimental diets were fed...
Electronic Waste and the African Environment
February 2009
1909 – 2009: A Century in the African Bush, from Roosevelt to Obama
January 2009
Biocidal activity of selected plant powders against Tribolium castaneum Herbst in stored groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)
January 2009
The efficacy of powders of plant parts from Telferia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin), Zingiber officinale (ginger), Vitex grandifolia (Vitex) and Dracaena arborea (dragon tree) at 5g, 10g, and 15g/500g seeds was tested using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) against the storage pest Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) in groundnut in the laboratory. At 28 days after application, mean...
Design and techno economic evaluation of biomass gasifier for industrial thermal applications
January 2009
This paper addresses the design, performance and economic evaluation of biomass based open core downdraft gasifier for industrial process heat application. The gasifier is having feed rate as 90 kg h-1 and producing about 850 MJ h-1 of heat. The gasifier has been installed in M/S Phosphate India Pvt. Limited, Udaipur (27° 42' N, 75° 33' E) for heating and concentrating...
Nile perch fish processing waste along Lake Victoria in East Africa: Auditing and characterization
January 2009
Worldwide, fish industry wastes are an important contaminant having an impact on the environment. The recovery of value added products from these residues constitutes an important waste reduction strategy for the industry. In East Africa, Nile perch fish processing into chilled fish fillet for export along Lake Victoria generate large proportions of both solid and liquid wastes....
Comparative study of percentage yield of pulp from various Nigerian wood species using the kraft process
January 2009
Twenty Nigerian wood species namely, Akomu (Pycnanthus angolensis), Ofun (Avicennia germinans), Akun (Uapaca guineensis), Oporoporo (Pterygota macrocarpa), Abura (Hallea ciliata), Masonia (Masonia altissima), Afara (Terminalia superba), Agba (Entada gigas), Mahogany (Khaya ivorensis), Obeche (Triplochiton scleroxylon), Itako (Strombosia pustulata), Odoko (Ipomoea asarifolia),...
Scarcity on a Water Planet
December 2008
Recent data on the prevalence of intestinal parasites in N’Djamena, Chad Republic
December 2008
This cross sectional study assessed the prevalence of intestinal protozoan and helminth infections in N’Djamena, Chad Republic, and determined the main epidemiological transmission factors of these pathogens in order to develop efficient control strategies of intestinal parasites. Four hundred and sixty two randomly selected persons, from eight quarters (administrative districts), of age less than one...
Long term effect of municipal solid waste amendment on soil heavy metal content of sites used for periurban agriculture in Ngaoundere, Cameroon
December 2008
An assessment of the impact of amendment using untreated municipal solid wastes on the trace element contents of periurban areas soils was carried out in Ngaoundere. Waste samples were collected in November and soil samples were collected in November, January, April and July. Heavy metal total concentrations in urban wastes differed significantly among sites and ranged from 0.48 to 7.64 mg/kg for Cd, 38.3 to...
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