In Ngandajika (Democratic Republic of Congo), farmers still prefer to grow local varieties, accusing improved varieties of being susceptible to disease, demanding nutrients, and requiring excessive labor. They also criticize these varieties for having large rachises and few grains, requiring labor-intensive shelling, without considering several advantages offered by different improved varieties, such as earliness, yield, and the quality of by-products, including flour consistency. Local varieties are less productive (yield less than 1 ton of maize grain/ha) than improved varieties, whose production exceeds 1.9t/ha when manually weeded and hoeed three times, namely 15, 30, and 45 days after sowing. In the strategy to increase the yield of maize cultivation, the Musangana variety, which is one of the most cultivated varieties, was chosen and the impact of the frequency of manual weeding on the growth and dry grain yield of maize during the 2021-2022 growing season was evaluated; the trial was conducted in the open field at the MPOYI group under a Latin square design comprising four complete random blocks and comprising 4 elementary plots representing the experimental treatments. The treatments consisted of (T0) treatment not receiving weeding, (T1) treatment receiving weeding once, (T2) treatment receiving weeding twice and (T3) treatment receiving weeding three times. The results show a higher yield (1.9t/ha) of dry grains of maize with manual weeding having received weeding three times during the entire growing cycle, followed by 1.5t/ha obtained with those of manual weeding having received weeding twice during the entire growing cycle and 1.1t/ha with manual weeding having received weeding once during the growing cycle. The lowest average is 0.3t/ha on the manual weeding not having received weeding during the entire growing cycle.

Professional Roadside sweeping is associated with significant exposure to dust and vehicular emissions. Port Harcourt, the industrial and economic hub of Nigeria’s oil-rich Rivers State is a nidus for such environmental pollutants. Assessing the functionality of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems in such personnel will be quite revealing. Thus, this study assessed the cardiovascular and pulmonary functions of Professional Road Sweepers in Port Harcourt (PRS-PH). Using the multistage approach, including the purposive and snowball sampling techniques, the present study sampled a total of one hundred subjects (comprising 50 female road sweepers and 50 female non-road sweepers) who were within the ages of 18 and 60 years and residents of the area for five (5) years and above. Following standard methods, the digital spirometer was used to assess the lung functions (Forced Vital Capacity (PVC), Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1), FVC/FEVI ratio) of Professional Road Sweepers in Port Harcourt Metropolis. The result indicated significant (p<0.05) difference in the blood pressures of the exposed group with respect to that of the unexposed group. The study revealed significantly (p<0.05) raised levels of Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1), and FEV1/FVC ratio. This outcome is suggestive of a possible restrictive lung disorder in the road sweepers; In conclusion, the results of the study reveal a risk of cardiopulmonary disorders among the road sweepers. These findings will offer valuable insight and raise awareness and establish comprehensive measures that could protect these essential workers from cardiorespiratory hazards associated with their occupation.

The supply and bioavailability of mineral elements in heavily weathered soils are limited and continuously declining, leading to low agricultural production; hence the need to find sustainable alternatives to maintain the fertility of various soils. The objective of this study was to evaluate the change in the chemical properties of soils induced by the addition of Bradyrhizobium japonicum in soybean cultivation across three types of soil in the Haut-Katanga province. Two soil samplings were conducted to carry out this study. The first was done before the start of the trial; and the second during the experimental phase at the flowering stage of the soybeans. This experiment was conducted using a split-plot design, replicated three times. The collected soil samples were subjected to chemical analyzes. According to the results obtained, the changes in chemical properties were significantly different between the soil types. On one hand, a negative change was observed in the eutric Cambisol, namely a decrease in organic matter, total nitrogen, available and total phosphorus, as well as magnesium; on the other hand, a positive change was observed in the two Ferralsols (acric and xanthic), namely an increase in several chemical properties, except for ammoniacal nitrogen which decreased. Regardless of the soils, the addition of external strains led to a decrease in available phosphorus, while only the USDA 142 strain induced similar effects to the control on the increase of K as well as CEC. This has demonstrated the importance of soybean inoculation with Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains as an alternative option to improve crop productivity in acidic soils.