Sorghum Forage Farming for Crisis Resolution and Food Security in a Changing World: A Preliminary Study of Taraba State Nigeria Sorghum Production, Prospects and Problems

Taraba State is endowed with natural resources; vast lands, water resources, animal resources and human resources. However, amidst plenty, food insecurity and incessant crisis ravage the government efforts to sustainable agricultural and economic development. This paper discusses the nexus between Climate vagaries and skirmish leading to shift in crop yields. It assesses grain yield variation, problems and prospect across the local governments in Taraba State. Apart from personal observation and focus group discussion, the paper relied mainly on secondary data that were generated through the analysis of relevant data from government and non-governmental agencies. Rainfall and agronomic data were collected from Upper Benue River Basin and Ministry of Taraba Agricultural Development Program (TADP) respectively. These were collated and analyzed using standardized anomaly index and linear regression in SPSS environment. The study fails to reject the null hypotheses that no relationship exists between the average annual rainfall and quantity of sorghum produced annually. It recommends application of biotechnology using (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) for animal feeds and food crop diversification to cushion the ever increasing demand for forage that often vortex crisis in the state. SFF can stand heavy grazing reduce roaming encourage ranching eliminate crisis.

A study design to evaluate folkloric medicinal plants in a mouse model for allergic asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory respiratory disease with increasing incidence worldwide. Acute attacks account for 10 percent of admissions to the a Port-of-Spain General Hospital's A&E Department in Trinidad. In Barbados the incidence in children is between 12 and 16 percent. The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines recommend the use of inhaled corticosteroids and beta-blockers for disease management. We have found high levels of noncompliance (40 percent) at the major chest clinic in Trinidad due to unavailability of inhalers at the clinic's pharmacy and high cost at private pharmacies. A recent report in Trinidad showed a high prevalence of usage of medicinal herbs (86 percent) for chronic diseases in a surgical outpatient group. Such data support the imperative to determine the efficacy of these plants. Numerous medicinal plants have folkloric use in the treatment of asthma and wheezing. We have chosen a few local species including Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk, Cecropia peltata (L.), Eryngium foetidum (L.), Lippia alba (N.E. Brown) and Sambucus simpsonii (Rehder) to determine their pharmacological efficacy in reducing respiratory inflammation in a mouse model for allergic asthma

The need to monitor the usage of traditional herbal remedies

In the Caribbean, remedies made from Chenopodium ambrosioides are commonly used internally to treat many medical conditions such as: asthma, dysentry, fatigue and worms. The bioactive component found in the oil of this plant is ascaridole, which causes severe gastro-intestinal discomfort if used excessively. Other hazardous plants include Datura stramonium and Abrus precatorius. It is, therefore, imperative for awareness programs to be set up to educate the population about the use of herbal remedies. Assistance from the Chemistry, Food and Drugs Division of the Ministry of Health in Trinidad and Tobago is needed to formulate guidelines for the proper use of of herbal remedies by patients. A database of tropical poisonous herbs should be made available to hospitals and other health facilities around the country. It is imperative for physicians to ask about their use of herbal supplements and remedies as they are ideally situated to give good counseling and to even help in integrating herbal modalities into conventional care

Existence of a silent gene for pseudocholinesterase in a Trinidad population

Although the values reported were higher than those reported for Caucasians, differences in dibucaine number for pseudocholinesterase values among the three ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago, were not significant. Eight individuals had intermediate dibucaine numbers values between 40 and 70; one of them was African, 3 were East Indians, and 4 Mixed. Two of the mixed group were of Portuguese lineage and had significantly lower dibucaine numbers and enzyme concentration. Two sisters of East Indian origin had an inestimable dibucaine number and their pseudocholinesterase values were just detectable, suggesting the presence of a 'silent gene' for pseudocholinesterase. These studies, which are being extended, suggest that the dibucaine number should be estimated prior to succinylcholine administration in patients in Trinidad and Tobago who are at risk of apnoea