<div>The study examines the effect of economic and agricultural diversification on economic growth in Nigeria. The objectives were to determine the effect of government agricultural spending on Nigeria&rsquo;s Gross Domestic Product. Data were collected from secondary sourced using the time series data which was extracted from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) annual Statistical Bulletin for the period and The Nigeria Bureau of Statistic annual reports. Data were analyzed using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach or Bound Test Method. The findings revealed that Government agricultural expenditure does not have a significant effect on Gross Domestic Product. The investigation suggested that the government at all level should increase their budgetary allocations for agriculture and also develop a functional agricultural long-term blueprint to improve the sector.</div>

<div>Effect of Economic and Agricultural Diversification on the Economic Growth in Nigeria</div>

Background: The range of synthetic medications and growth promoters fed to broilers is expensive, negatively impacts the health of the birds and has long-term side effects. Refocusing their efforts, poultry farmers are looking for herbal extracts that have therapeutic properties and may be used safely to boost productivity. This study was conducted to assess the effect of Garlic (Allium sativum), Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) on the growth performance of broiler chickens.

Methods: One hundred and forty day old broiler chicks were distributed randomly into seven treatment groups viz., T0 (Control: basal diet), T1 (basal diet + 0.5% Garlic), T2 (basal diet + 0.5% Ginger), T3 (basal diet + 0.5% Cinnamon), T4 (basal diet + 0.25% Garlic + 0.25% Ginger), T5 (basal diet + 0.25% Garlic + 0.25% Cinnamon), T6 (basal diet + 0.25% Ginger + 0.25% Cinnamon) having 70 chicks in each group with 10 replicates.

Result: &nbsp;The results (0-6 weeks) of present study indicated that supplementation of 0.25% garlic and 0.25% ginger to the basal diet of broilers (T4) significantly improved overall average daily gain (ADG), better feed conversion ratio (FCR) and broiler performance efficiency index (BPEI) and body weight (BW) of broilers followed by diet supplemented with combination of 0.25% ginger and 0.25% cinnamon (T6) were better than control as well as other groups. Highest profit per bird (Rs. 25.17) and benefit cost ratio (1.59) was observed in T4 followed by T6. It can be concluded that dietary supplementation of garlic (0.25 %) along with ginger (0.25%) has the potential to improve growth performance of broiler chickens.

Growth Performance, Quantitative Analysis and Economics of Broiler Chickens as Influenced by Herbal Dietary Additives as Alternative Growth Booster

<div>Background:&nbsp;Productivity of cowpea in our country is very low. So, there is need to take proper agronomic practices to enhance the productivity of cowpea and foremost important among them is foliar application of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients exploiting genetic potential of crop. This is considered to be an efficient and economic method of supplementing part of nutrient requirement at critical growth stages of the crop. Foliar application is credited with the advantage of quick and efficient utilization of nutrients, elimination of losses through leaching, fixation and regulating uptake of nutrients by the plant. In view of above consideration, the experiment entitled &ldquo;Influence of foliar application of different organic sources on growth, yield and quality of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) under varying levels of fertilizer&rdquo; was conducted with objectives to study the effect of different levels of fertilizer on growth, yield and quality of cowpea, to study the effect of foliar application of different organic sources on growth, yield and quality of cowpea, to study the interaction effect of different levels of fertilizer and foliar application of organic sources and to study the economics of different treatments. 
 
Methods:&nbsp;The field experiment was conducted at Agronomy Farm, College of Agriculture, Dapoli, Dist. Ratnagiri (M.S.) during Rabi 2019-20. Field experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design. The fertilizer levels comprised of three levels viz., F1: 100% RDF, F2: 75% RDF and F3: 50% RDF and foliar application consisted of five different organic sources viz., S0: Control, S1: Panchagavya @ 3%, S2: Vermiwash @ 10%, S3: Cow urine @ 5% and S4: Vasant urja @ 0.5%. There were 15 treatment combinations replicated three times. 
 
Result:&nbsp;It can be concluded that for growing cowpea, it should be supplied with 100% RDF and sprayed with panchagavya @ 3% or cow urine @ 5% foliar application, so as to obtain higher yield and economic returns.</div>

Effect of Foliar Application of Different Organic Sources and Levels of Fertilizer on Growth Attributes, Yield Attributes, Yield, Quality and Economics of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.)

<div>Background: Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] is one of the most important cultivated legume crops with high nutritive value and agricultural importance. The productivity of blackgram is not adequate to meet the domestic demand of the growing Indian population. Consequently, there is an urgent need for enhancement of productivity through proper agronomic practices. With this background, a research experiment was conducted in a farmer&rsquo;s field at Pudhupalayam, Coimbatore to investigate the effect of foliar application of PPFM, plant growth regulating compounds and nutrients on growth, yield attributes, yield and economics of irrigated blackgram.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: A field experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications during 2019 (kharif and rabi) season. The treatments include 100% recommended dose of NPK along with foliar application of diammonium phosphate (DAP), brassinolide (Br), salicylic acid (SA) and pink pigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFM) with different concentration (1%, 2%, 1 ppm, 2 ppm, 50 ppm, 100 ppm, respectively) in addition to control. PPFM and PGRs were sprayed at 30 and 45 days after the sowing of blackgram.&nbsp; 
 
Result: The experiment results of the two seasons study revealed that the application of 100% RDF + PPFM @ 2% recorded higher growth characters viz., plant height (cm), number of branches plant-1, leaf area index and yield attributes viz., number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1, pod weight (g), pod height (cm), 100 seed weight (g) and yield viz., grain yield (kg/ha), straw yield (kg/ha) and harvest index (%). As well as the same treatment recorded higher net return and B:C ratio. Correlation and regression analysis also indicated that the yield attributes had a positive impact on the grain yield with a magnitude of 1.91 and 1.67, respectively. Therefore, application of 100% RDF+2% PPFM spray can be recommended as the best technology to improve the yield and economics of blackgram.</div>

Effect of pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs, PGRs and Nutrients on Growth, Yield and Economics of Irrigated Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper]

An experiment was conducted during 2009-2011 at College of Agriculture, Vellayani to evaluate growth, productivity and economics of amaranthus as influenced by the performance of bio-organic composite manure along with microbial consortium. Organic sources used for the preparation of bio organic composite manures were coir pith compost, poultry manure, neem cake, groundnut cake, ash, rock dust and microbial consortium. Composite organic manures analyzing at least 3% N and N: K ratio of 1:0.5 was selected for further study. Five mixtures (OM3, OM5, OM9, OM11, 0M13) satisfying the selection criteria were identified for the investigation. The results of growth characters revealed that T1 (coir pith compost &ndash; 50g, ground nut cake &ndash; 35g and ash &ndash; 15g) recorded the highest number of leaves per plant and highest dry matter production (25.6 plant-1 and 1481.92 kg ha-1 respectively) and highest leaf:stem ratio of 2.47 was registered in T5 (poultry manure- 50g, ground nut cake &ndash; 30g, rock dust- 19g and microbial consortium &ndash; 1g). Among the treatments maximum yield was obtained for the treatment T5 and it was on par with T1 and T2 (poultry manure- 50g, ground nut cake &ndash; 30g, rock dust- 20g). The study on economics shows that T5 registering net returns of Rs 130800/-per ha was the most economical treatment with B:C ratio 2.2.&nbsp;

Comparitive analysis of performance of bio-organic composite manures on growth, productivity and economics of amaranthus

<div>Background: In pigeonpea, nipping is a common process which induces sprouting of secondary and tertiary branches and increases the number of pods/plant. Nipping is tedious process and requires more number of labours. Hence, it is advised to use growth retardant for better source- sink relationship and better fruit retention in pigeonpea. Chlormequat Chloride is well known growth retardant and is quickly metabolized by plants, animals and soil microbes compared to other growth retardants. Current study was planned to know the effect of growth retardants and planting geometry on yield and economics of pigeonpea genotypes. 
 
Methods: Experiment conducted during 2014-2015, comprised of twelve treatments and laid out in split-split plot design with three replications. Treatments were comprised of two genotypes [BSMR-736 and TS-3(R)], three planting geometry (90 &times; 20 cm, 120 &times; 20 cm and 150 &times; 20 cm) and three nipping practices (without nipping, with nipping and growth retardant chlormequat chloride spray @3ml/l).&nbsp; 
 
Result: Pooled data of two years indicated that planting geometry of 120 &times; 20 cm was significantly higher in grain yield (2408 kg/ha) over others. Spraying of growth retardant chlormequot chloride recorded the highest yield (2368 kg/ha) over nipping at 50 DAS (2138 kg/ha) and without nipping (2091 kg/ha). Net returns and B:C ratio were obtained significantly at highest level with the planting of BSMR-736 genotype at 120 &times; 20 cm along with spraying of chlormequot chloride at 70 DAS. Phosphatase and dehydrogenase activities were un-affected by the spray of chloromequat chloride.</div>

<div>Productivity and Economics of Pigeonpea Genotypes as Influenced by Planting Geometry, Growth Retardant&nbsp;</div>

<div>A field experiment was carried out during kharif season of 2016 and 2017 at an experimental farm of MACS Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, India to study the influence of foliar application of nutrient on growth, yield, economics, soil nutritional status and nutrient uptake of soybean crop. An experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) comprising of three replications and nine treatments. Recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) was applied as basal application to all treatments. Seven treatments consisted of different doses of nutrients as foliar application at pod initiation stage. Water spray at pod initiation stage and RDF alone were treated as control. The results revealed that, growth attributes, nodulation and its weight, morpho-physiological parameters, yield and its attributes, nutritional parameters and economics significantly differed by various foliar nutrition treatments except control and RDF + water spray. RDF + Urea 2% (3098 kg ha-1) gave significantly higher seed yield over control (2704 kg ha-1) and RDF + water spray (2686 kg ha-1) but was at par with RDF + DAP 2% (3050 kg ha-1), RDF + MOP 0.5% (2992 kg ha-1) and RDF + Molybdenum 0.5% (2955 kg ha-1). The increase in seed yield with foliar application of 2% Urea along with RDF was 14.57% over control and 15.34% over RDF + water spray. Higher net returns (Rs. 49,006/- ha-1) and benefit: cost ratio (2.23:1) was obtained in treatment RDF + Urea 2% followed by RDF + DAP 2% foliar spray. Availability of N, P and K was significantly higher with treatment RDF + Urea 2% foliar spray over control and RDF + water spray. N and P uptake by soybean plants was significantly higher in treatment RDF + 2% Urea over RDF + water spray and RDF alone (control).</div>

<div>Influence of Foliar Application of Nutrient on Growth, Yield, Economics, Soil Nutritional Status and Nutrient Uptake of Soybean</div>

<div>Background: Worldwide environmental pollution has called for overwhelming concern of researchers and stakeholders in the last twenty years because of the menace it unlashes on man&rsquo;s life. The aim of this research work is to ascertain the causation among economic advancement, Carbon emission, energy consumption and taxation. The study focused on the Nigerian economic and the period under review is thirty-three (33) years.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: Test was performed to explain the accurate transmission among the dependent and the independent variables. This study employed Granger estimation to ascertain the direction of the connection amongst the variables.&nbsp; &nbsp; 
 
Result: Results revealed that tax has unidirectional connection with economic advancement. The result also showed that Carbon emission has unidirectional relationship with economic growth. The result further revealed that energy consumption has a unidirectional association with taxation. This study suggests that economic growth does not affect energy consumption, taxation and carbon emission. This study recommended that for future study, intending researchers should use fuel consumption to proxy energy consumption. The study also recommended that the Nigerian government should increase tax paid by oil companies in order to curtail their excesses and generate more revenue.</div>

Dynamic Relationship between Environment, Taxation and Economic Growth in the Saharan Africa: Case Study of Nigeria

Background: Clusterbean is one of the most important crop of arid and semi-arid region of India. It is mainly grown for vegetable, manure, fodder and seed purpose. Seeds of clusterbean contain galactomann (stored in endosperm) which has industrial uses, thus making it the major cash earner crop. Various biotic and abiotic stresses affects the crop during its growth stages. Among biotic stresses, weeds are the major one affecting the crop growth and yield. Due to initial slow growth of the clusterbean intense crop-weed competition takes place upto 20-30 DAS and if weeds are not managed properly there will be a severe yield reduction. Under Haryana conditions only manual weeding is recommended which is time consuming and expensive hence there is need to exploit other methods of weed control. Therefore, present study was conducted to study the effect of mechanical methods of weed management on growth, yield and economics of clusterbean. 
 
Methods: A field experiment was conducted during kharif season 2018 to study the effect of mechanized weed management practices on growth, yield and economics of clusterbean at Regional Research Station, Bawal (Rewari), CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. Experiment was performed in randomized block design with ten treatments and three replication. 
 
Result: It was found that among various weed management practices, two mechanized weeding with power weeder at 20 DAS and 35 DAS under 60 cm row spacing resulted in significantly higher plant height, leaf area index, dry matter accumulation, seed yield and its attributes in comparison to other treatments and it was statistically at par with mechanized weeding at 20 DAS and 35 DAS with tractor drawn cultivator. The weeding with tractor drawn cultivator was found to be most economical with maximum net returns (Rs. 36076 ha-1) and B:C (2.37) in comparison to other treatments followed by weeding with power weeder that fetched net return of Rs. 35868 ha-1 with B:C of 2.25. Therefore, two times interculture with power weeder or tractor drawn cultivator found beneficial and economical for farmers.

Growth, Yield and Economics of Rainfed Clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) as Influenced by Various Mechanized Weed Management Practices

<div>Background: Fat and oil are commonly used in poultry diets to increase energy density and also to increase the palatability of feed, feed efficiency and for deposition of fat in broilers. Thus a study was proposed to find the effects of dietary replacement of saturated fatty acid rich palm oil (PO) by omega-3 rich rapeseed oil (RO) on growth performance and economics in broilers. 
 
Method: The growth performance feeding trial was conducted in 160 day-old broilers (vencobb 400) with four treatment groups (G1, G2, G3 and G4) with four replicates of ten chicks each. The basal diet (R1) was prepared with palm oil included at the rate of 1.5, 3, and 4.5 per cent in pre-starter, starter and finisher ration, respectively and fed to G1. The other treatment groups G2, G3 and G4 received R2, R3 and R4 experimental rations respectively. The experimental rations R2, R3 and R4 were prepared with rapeseed oil replacing 25, 50 and 100 per cent of palm oil which was included in R1. 
 
Result: The broiler ration prepared with rapeseed oil at 50 and 100 per cent level (G3 and G4) replacing palm oil showed increased body weight gain (P&lt;0.01) and better feed conversion ratio (P&lt; 0.05) than G1 group. There was no significant difference in the feed intake among the different treatment groups. Profit per kg live weight in G3 (Rs.12.06) and G4 (Rs.11.14) was more than G1 (Rs.8.21) and G2 (Rs.6.57). The supplementation of omega-3 rich rapeseed oil had significantly improved the performance of broilers.</div>