MARKETING OF FERMENTED CASSAVA FLOUR IN AKINYELE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE

The study was carried out in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State on marketing of fermented cassava flour (lafun) with the objective of examining the socio-economic characteristics of cassava marketers, determining the profit margin, ascertaining effect of some variables influencing the supply of cassava flour and identifying associated constraints. Primary data used for the study was collected from 80 respondents using simple random sampling technique. The empirical evidence from the analy- sis shows that the traders are predominantly female (70%) and mostly married (62.5%). The study further reveals that the marketing of lafun is a profitable venture at both the wholesale and retail levels with a profit of N6,890.32 per month. The quantity of cassava supplied was significantly determined by transportation cost (P0.01), marketing experience (P0.05), years of education (P0.10) and cost of storage (P0.05).The markets were observed to face transportation, storage and packaging problems. As trans- portation cost increased, the quantity of lafun supplied to market was also found to increase. The study recommends the assistance of government in the provision of infrastructural facilities

Development of an Autonomous Vehicle for Smart Irrigation

Creating a reliable means of supplying water for irrigation in regions with little or no rainfall across a year is a form of precision agriculture. The compounding problem, however, is the inability to efficiently and conservatively manage the external water source to irrigate the soil. Most times, the amount of water supplied exceeds what crop roots need. To this end, An Autonomous Vehicle for Smart Irrigation System was developed to provide water, herbicide, pesticide, and water to agricultural cultivation to meet the demand for root crops crop roots. This project captures the design, simulation, development, and performance evaluation of the application of Autonomous Vehicles for Smart Irrigation using an Intelligent reprogrammable controller. The soil moisture sensors measure and transmit in real-time, the value of specific soil nutritional requirements to a receiver the autonomous vehicle dispense based on the requirement of soil nutrients to a specific location. With the use of transceivers, these moisture levels are then transmitted to an autonomous vehicle which is set in action when the moisture values are lower than what is required for the growth of the crops. The stress analysis of the Autonomous Vehicle was also carried out to optimize the working operation of the Autonomous Vehicle

Gender differences in the perception and handling of occupational stress among workers in commercial banks in Ibadan, Nigeria

Occupational stress is common among workers in many organizations, especially individuals that work in extremely rigorous and demanding institutions like the bank. Thus, the study was aimed at investigating gender differences in the perception and handling of Occupational stress among bank workers in Ibadan metropolis. The theory of job demands-control (support) was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Data was obtained through quantitative research methods, in detecting the levels of stress within the organization, the perceptions of workers concerning their jobs and working environments, stress management techniques and job control. Purposive sampling method was used to select 300 respondents from 15 commercial banks within Ibadan metropolis. Findings from the study showed that there is gender difference in the way bank workers handle occupational stress and the coping mechanisms adopted. In testing the hypotheses, with a t-value 3.205, it was identified that male and female workers perceived stress similarly while the t-test results showed that respondents did not have adequate control over their jobs although in comparing the both genders, the males had more control over their jobs than female workers. In view of these findings, the paper recommends thatbanking institutions should create and encourage their workers to participate in recreational activities and events. The paper also recommends that bank workers should seek social support from friends and family members as coping mechanism rather than succumbing to negative coping mechanisms like smoking and consuming alcohol