Meaning of Climatology

What is Agro-climatology?

Climatology is the study of climatic (metereologigical) phenomena(Rain, drizzle, snow, ice, hail, sunlight, dust, few etc. Agro-climatology therefore can be defined as the study of metereological phenomena bearing on Agriculture in the field, green houses or sheds.

Definition of Terms

Atmosphere

This is defined as the space between the earth and the celestial zone. It is estimated to be about 760km above sea level.

Metereology

It is the study of phenomenon other than cloud observed in the atmosphere or on the surface of the earth which consists of precipitation.

Rain

This is an aggregate of liquid particles falling through the atmosphere.

Humidity

This is the visible gaseous form of water. It is the presence of moisture in the atmosphere. It may be expressed as relative humidity and absolute humidity

Absolute humidity is the total mass of water in a given volume of air  while Relative humidity is the actual moisture content of a sample of gas expressed as a percentage of gas contained in the same volume of saturated air at the same temperature.

Terminologies in Forestry

Tree: Any woody specie above 6m is considered a tree. Though this term is used interchangeably with shrub . Species such as Irvingia gabonensis(Ogbono) is commonly referred to as a tree. But that is a wrong concept it does not grow higher than 6m. While Milicia excelsa is considered a tree because it grows higher than 6meters.

shrub: Any plant 5m and below. They are medium sized trees. They can be distinguished from trees by their multiple stems and shorter height and are usually lower than 6meters.

Herbs: Any plant below 3m. The term is commonly used for plants with savory and aromatic properties such afromomium melegueta.

Afforestation: The process of planting trees in an area not previously occupied by trees. This term is commonly used to mean planting of trees in an area that has no tree cover.

Reforestation: The act of planting trees in an area previously occupied with trees. Reforestationnis usually carried out in a place that have decreasing number of trees.

Deforestation: The act of clearing an area of land occupied by trees.

Felling: The process of cutting down trees. This should not be confused with falling which means falling down. Felling is used only when it involves cutting of trees.

Seedlings: A growing plant

Wilding: an offshoot of particular specie growing without the assistance of man. This is normally found around the mother tree.

Polypots: This is used to mean any container used to raise seedling either polybags, claypots or cups.

Germination trays: This simply means any container used to germinate seeds before transferring into polypots. This is usually done with seed that very small in size.

Nursery: This is a place that is set aside for raising of seeds before transferring to the Field.

TO BE CONTINUED.
Feel free to comment

USES OF Lemon grass

Lemon grass is a very important medicinal plant in Nigeria today . it is very useful in the treatment of some very common sickness.
 what is Lemon grass
The scientific name of  Lemon grass is Cymbopogan citratus 
it is a tufted perennial grass with numerous stiff stems arising from the rhizomatous root stock. the stout culms bear linear dropping leaves (50-100cm) gradually tapering to a long membranous acuminate tip. the leaves are yellowish green and coriacious with a serrate margin. the leaves have a resemblance with Elephant grass.
A decoction of lemongrass leaves  can be used in the treatment of malaria. its leaves are used to make tea which can relieve stomach and gut problem. it can also be used as an anti depressant. 
Its oil can be applied directly to the skin to treat headache, stomach ache.
Lemongrass might help prevent the growth of some bacteria and yeast. Lemongrass also contains substances that are thought to relieve pain, reduce fever, stimulate the uterus and menstrual flow, and have antioxidant properties

Why i love green

Green is a very common and wonderful colour looks nice on everything.
 

1. green signifies balance and harmony. it is the great balancer of the heart and the emotions, creating equilibrium between the head and the heart. 
2. Green is also the color of growth, the color of spring, of renewal and rebirth.
3. green is the colour of nature and as they say when you are close to nature you are close to God
4. green is the most common colour all over the world. 
5. green is healthy. 
6. Green is good for the health. the green pigment in plants(chlorophyll) is important to our health. it blocks carcinogenic effects within the body and protects DNA from damage caused by toxic molds like aflatoxin — very similar to way in which chlorophyll-rich chlorella has anticancer effects. it speeds up wound healing, improves liver detoxification,  digestion and weight control protects skin.
   .
   These are just a few reasons why i love green. you can add more.

Solanum torvum: its benefits

the yoruba call it Ikanyanrin. it is also comon called bush garden egg.

The plant is usually 2 or 3 m in height and 2 cm in basal diameter, but may reach 5m in height and 8 cm in basal diameter. The shrub usually has a single stem at ground level, but it may branch on the lower stem. The stem bark is gray and nearly smooth with raised lenticels. The inner bark has a green layer over an ivory color (Little and others 1974). The plants examined by the author, growing on firm soil, had weak taproots and well-developed laterals. The roots are white. Foliage is confined to the growing twigs.

The twigs are gray-green and covered with star-shaped hairs. The spines are short and slightly curved and vary from thick throughout the plant, including the leaf midrib, to entirely absent. The leaves are opposite or one per node, broadly ovate with the border entire or deeply lobed. The petioles are 1 to 6 cm long and the blades are 7 to 23 by 5 to 18 cm and covered with short hairs. The flowers are white, tubular with 5 pointed lobes, and grouped in corymbiform cymes. They are shed soon after opening.

The fruits are berries that grow in clusters of tiny green spheres (ca. 1 cm in diameter) that look like green peas. They become yellow when fully ripe. They are thin-fleshed and contain numerous flat, round, brown seeds (Howard 1989, Liogier 1995, Little and others 1974).

chemical constutuents

ruits contain sterolin (sitosterol-d-glucoside) and 0.1% gluco-alkaloid solasonine (Chopra et. al., 1992). Steriodal sapogenins - sisalagenone and torvogenin have also been isolated from fruits (Rastogi & Mehrotra, 1993). Leaves contain steroidal gluco-alkaloid, solasonine; steroidal sapogenins, neochlorogenin, neosolaspigenin and solaspigenin. They also contain triacontanol, tetratriacontainic acid, 3-tritriacontanone, sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol (Ghani, 2003).

USES

In Nigeria planted around homes to prevent attack from snakes. The green fresh fruits are edible and used in Thai cuisine, as an ingredient in certain Thai curries or raw in certain Thai chili pastes (nam phrik). The plant is sedative, diuretic and digestive; used in the treatment of cough. Leaves are used as haemostatic. The fruits are eaten as a vegetable; good in enlarged spleen. The Marma take boiled fruits with rice at night for 2-3 days to expell thread-worms. Roots are useful in poulticing cracks in the foot heels. the leaves can be applied to wounds, cuts abscesses and swollen buboes. the leaf sap is useful for burns and as eye instillation to sedate epileptcs and most importantly the plant is a remedy for women's abdominal pains.

dried seeds

Pepperfruit : its benefits

Scientific Name : Dennettia tripetala

Family : Annonaceae

Description :  Pepper fruit tree, is a well-known Nigerian spicy medicinal plant. It is an indigenous

medium sized or small woody shrub. It is commonly found in the rain-forest and occasionally in the savanna. The tree grows up to 12m-15m in height and 0.6m in girth, with a dense compact crown. The wood is soft, white coloured and prone to termite attack. It has a fibrous bark which has a strong

scent. The leaves are 3 – 6 inches long by 1.5–2.5 inches broad, elliptic to ovate, shortly acuminate broadly connate to rounded at the base. The flowers are light brown outside, reddish inside and usually in small clusters on the young or older wood. The fruits are green at first but eventually turns reddish pink when ripe with finger-like carpel constricted between the seeds.The wood is white

and soft which yields a good fuel wood. It is a pungent, pepperish, spicy medicinal plant that is characterised by greenish appearance when unripe but tends to be reddish or pinkish in colour when ripe. Pepper fruit tree thrives mainly in the Savannah and rainforest zones while the fruit usually ripens between April and May.

Benefits:  Pepper fruit seeds are essential for preparing food for newborn mothers immediately after childbirth as the spice aids uterus contraction. Pepper fruit can be used together with, piper guinense, utazi for hot soup preparations for new mothers. The fruit reduces the risk of blindness caused

by glaucoma. Edible mature pepper fruit is mostly chewed raw but can also be used for food preparations and for preparing herbal medicines. Both the fruits, leaves, roots and barks of the Dennettia tripetala plant are distinguished by their strong pungent, spicy and pepperish taste, fragrance and aroma (Achinewhu et al, 1995). Both the fruits, leaves and roots of the pepper fruit are useful for medicinal purposes Iwu (1989). Moreover, Egharevba et.al. (2015) also support that this fruit is effective for ethnomedical (traditional medical) purposes. Pepper fruit contains both volatile and essential oils. The taste, aroma and pungency of this fruit are as a result of its constituent of volatile and essential (oleoresins) oils.

This peppery taste tends to stimulate people when they chew it. The leaves, fruits and roots of the pepper fruit can be used for producing herbal medicines for treating gastrointestinal diseases such as stomach upset, diarrhoea, vomiting and worm infestation.

MARCOTTING: What is marcotting

MARCOTTING

What is marcotting?

Marcotting also known as air layering is a type of  plant propagation that involves rooting of part of a stem while it is still attached to the parent plant. It is a type of vegetative plant propagation.

 Why marcotting

Most trees especially fruit trees are seasonal fruits (they fruit seasonally) and so are sometimes hard to propagate when they are not in season.  Air layering reduces the how long trees last before they can fruit (i.e with air layering, the trees take shorter time to fruit).

Materials needed

11.    Sawdust 

     2. Tape

3 3.     Meter rule

4  4.     Twine

5   5.     Transparent water proof

How to carry out air layering.

1.     Choose a fully matured tree

2.     Select the stems suitable for it(younger stems are  the best).

3.     Choose the part of the stem (5 cm to the tip).

4.     Cut a ring of the bark (about 10 cm).

5.     Scrape the bark very neatly.

6.     Add the saw dust. Note: it must be moist. (i.e it must have been soaked for at least seven days.

7.     Cover it with the transparent water proof and tie tightly with the twine.

8.      Allow for a few weeks. It should look like this.

Advantages of air layering.

1.     They reduce the gestation period of fruit trees.

2.     They help in propagating plants without cutting off the branch.