This research was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi during 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons to assess the potentials of selected soil conservational practices on soil fertility and yield of maize. The experiment consisted of twelve treatments namely: zero tillage + soybean, zero tillage + cowpea, zero tillage + mulch, zero tillage + maize-only, surface-hoeing + soybean, surface-hoeing + cowpea, surface-hoeing +mulch, surface-hoeing + maize-only, manual ridging + soybean, manual ridging + cowpea, manual Ridging + mulch and manual Ridging + maize-only which were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. Composite soil samples were taken before cultivation and after harvest for physical and chemical soil properties determinations. Plant height, number of leaves, leaf area and seed yield were taken. Data collected were analysed using ANOVA and the significant means were separated using F-LSD. From the study it was observed that tillage and agronomic practices significantly affects soil chemical and physical properties, growth and yield of maize. Manual ridging and surface hoeing enhanced better crop growth and maize seed yield compared to zero tillage practice. Surface hoeing + Soybean produced the highest yield followed by manual ridging + soybean and surface hoeing + cowpea, with improved soil nutrient content. Zero tillage treated plots and surface hoeing +Mulch plot had the least values of maize plant height, number of leaves, leaf area and yield. For sustainable maize production, surface-hoeing and manual ridging tillage methods are hereby recommended. Soybean or cowpea should be inter-cropped with maize, the combination will ensure maintenance of soil fertility and increased yield of maize.

A total of 227 Balami breeds (50 males and 177 females) were randomly sampled from the population of Balami sheep for body characterization. The morphometric trait measured were; body weight (BW), body length (BL), height at wither (HW), chest circumference (CC), head length (HDL), head width (HDW), ear length (EL), horn length (HNL), horn circumference (HNC), tail length (TL),  rump width (RW), rump length (RL),  foreleg (FLG), hind leg (HLG), height at rump (HTR) and neck length (NL). From the morphometric traits morphological indices were calculated such as Length Index (LI), Pelvic Index (PI), Body Index (BI), Proportionality (Ipr), Thoracic Development (TD), BC=Baron Crevet (BC), Compact Index 1 (CI1), Area Index (AI) and Relative Cannon Thickness Index (RCTI). SPSS was used for stepwise regression and Excel was used for calculation of morphological indices. The result of average value of morphological indices for LI, PI, BI, Ipr, TD, BC, CI1, AI and RCTI are 1.65, 73.92, 64.37, 155.22, 1.01, 2.01, 0.01, 653.80 and 676.23 respectively. The result of correlation among morphological indices of Balami showed that LI was significantly (p<0.01) and positively correlate with most of the morphological indices except Ipr and PI . The highest correlation was between TD and BC (1.00) and least between LI and PI (-0.01). There was a significant relationship between body weight and morphological traits with coefficient of determination range from (R2 = 92.61 to 96.60) except the relationship between body weight and body length with coefficient of determination R2=56.30. Information emanating from this study will be useful in classifying Balami sheep into type and function.

This research was conducted at Teaching and Research Farm of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi during 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons to assess the effect of different tillage practices combined with some agronomic soil conservation practices on soil physical properties and maize yield. The experiment consisted of twelve treatments namely: zero tillage + soybean, zero tillage + cowpea, zero tillage + mulch, zero tillage + maize-only, surface-hoeing + soybean, surface-hoeing + cowpea, surface-hoeing +mulch, surface-hoeing + maize-only, manual ridging + soybean, manual ridging + cowpea, manual Ridging + mulch and manual Ridging + maize-only. These treatments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. Data collected were analyzed using ANOVA and the significant means were separated using F-LSD. Tillage and agronomic practices significantly affect soil physical properties and maize seed yield during 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons. Tilled plots lowered surface soil bulk density and increase soil porosity compare to the untilled plots. The magnitude of variations of results obtained however depends on the agronomic practice involved. Tilled plots combined with either soybean or cowpea gave better maize seed yield compare to untilled plots.  Soybean or cowpea should therefore be inter-cropped with maize as the combinations will improve soil fertility and increased yield of maize.