Building Sustainable Business Clusters towards Global Competitiveness: Case Study of Furniture Making along Owode-Ajegunle Axis of Lagos State

To countries like Brazil, Pakistan, India, China and many more, business clustering is not new as it has contributed a lot to their economic development. Agglomeration economies as it is otherwise called by some economists have been identified as one of the ways companies bring out innovative products. Because of its potential to affect competition by increasing business productivity, driving innovation and stimulating new businesses, business cluster is a useful tool to create global competitiveness. Currently at Owode-Ajegunle axis along Ikorodu road, Lagos, Nigeria, small uncoordinated groups of furniture makers can be seen producing their wares along both sides of a long stretch of the road. This paper therefore looks at the current position of this natural occurring, disorganized, identified cluster and what can be done for its improvement and sustainability. As a theoretical paper, theories, past works and experiences from other countries of the world will be explored to see how this proposed cluster can be properly established towards creating global competitiveness in this sector. The paper concludes that since industrial clusters have the capacity to rejuvenate local economies, provide competitiveness and create wealth, the formation of these small roadside enterprises into an organized business cluster will significantly improve efficiency, innovation and quality of products in the furniture industry and that the concerned Government institutions, agencies and parastatals must make collaborative effort by creating a synergy among the enterprises of the identified cluster, towards its sustainability for increased global standards. Keywords: Business cluster, Global competitiveness, Furniture

Spatial distribution of nematodes at organic and conventional crop fields in Cape Coast, Ghana

Globally, plant-parasitic nematodes cause large reductions in crop yields and quality. The conditions prevalent in organic crop production fields can favour or inhibit nematode build-up. An overview of the spatial distribution of nematodes can help the design of targeted, site-specific management strategies. This paper assessed and compared the spatial distribution of nematode population in an organic crop field and a conventional crop field using Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) and ordinary Kriging spatial interpolation techniques. The results show that nematode population is higher on the organic field compared to the conventional crop field. Spatial distribution of nematode population showed a north-south gradient in the organic field but small patches of large population in the conventional field. The two interpolation methods did not show substantial differences in mapping the spatial distribution of the nematode population. It is concluded that nematode control strategies employed on the organic field might be less effective than expected. Both inverse distance weighted and ordinary kriging can be used to map the spatial distribution of nematodes under similar conditions and in a non-complex terrain

Assessment of genetic diversity of Dioscorea praehensilis (Berth.) collected from central region, Ghana using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers

Open Access Article; Published online: 30 Apr 2020Dioscorea praehensilis Berth is one of the wild yam species resistance to many yam disease (yam anthracnose disease and yam mosaic virus) grow in Ghana especially in the cocoa grown regions of the country. It is a crucial crop that has been known to contribute to poverty reduction and food gap. Genetic diversity in this yam species has been discovered to be eroding and neglected. In this study we evaluated the genetic diversity among 43 D. praehensilis collected from Ghana using simple sequence repeat (SSR). Using 11 SSR marker, a total of 99 number of alleles were generated with an average of 8.48 alleles per locus. The mean gene diversity was 0.81, mean polymorphism information content was 0.82 while mean Shannon information index was 1.94. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) revealed a contribution of 40.16% of the first three coordinate axes and grouped the 43 morphotypes into 2 groups while hierarchical cluster through UPGMA revealed the presence of 3 main clusters. Molecular variance (AMOVA) alongside the Fst revealed low genetic diversity and differentiation among accessions and population. Result of this study assess the genetic diversity and will facilitate the use D. praehensilis as sources of resistance gene into yam breeding progra

Farmers' perceptions on varietal diversity, trait preferences and diversity management of bush yam ( Dioscorea praehensilis Benth.) in Ghana

Open Access Article; Published online: 06 Jun 2021Bush yam (Dioscorea praehensilis Benth.) is an important food and cash crop species in some West and Central African countries. Unfortunately, several socioeconomic, cultural, nutritional, and agronomic constraints hinder its cultivation, and thus lead to its underutilization and gradual disappearance. To effectively promote its cultivation and utilization, knowledge of its diversity, distribution, management, and farmers’ varietal preferences is necessary. This study, therefore, used a participatory rural appraisal survey to assess such information in 23 villages from three regions of Ghana. A total of 42 D. praehensilis morphotypes were recorded and grouped in seven classes based on the tuber flesh colour. The Shannon diversity index (H’ = 1.88), equitability (0.65), and Margalef species richness (2.53) revealed the presence of moderate diversity and distribution in the surveyed regions. Farmers’ variety trait preferences included mainly the early maturity (21.1%), smooth tuber texture (16.5%), stability in tuber flesh colour (7.86%), good storage aptitude (7.6%), and high tuber productivity (12.8%). In contrast, D. praehensilis production and utilization rates have declined mainly due to poor culinary quality (39.9%) and poor agronomic traits (20.7%) of most morphotypes. Survey results showed that D. praehensilis is largely an in-situ conserved species in Ghana (60.0%). This study provided an insight on D. praehensilis diversity, distribution and farmers’ varietal preferences in Ghana which will guide its genetic resource conservation and plant breeding interventions

Exploring the bush yam (Dioscorea praehensilis benth) as a source of agronomic and quality trait genes in white guinea yam (dioscorea rotundata poir) breeding

Open Access Journal; Published online: 27 Dec 2021Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is an important food security crop in the tropics and subtropics. However, it is characterized by a narrow genetic base within cultivated and breeding lines for tuber yield, disease resistance, and postharvest traits, which hinders the yam breeding progress. Identification of new sources of desirable genes for these traits from primary and secondary gene pools is essential for this crop improvement. This study aimed at identifying potential sources of genes for yield and quality traits in a panel of 162 accessions of D. praehensilis, a semi-domesticated yam species, for improving the major yam species, D. rotundata. Significant differences were observed for assessed traits (p < 0.05), with D. praehensilis genotypes out-performing the best D. rotundata landraces for tuber yield (23.47 t ha−1), yam mosaic virus (YMV) resistance (AUDPC = 147.45), plant vigour (2.43) and tuber size (2.73). The study revealed significant genotypic (GCV) and phenotypic (PCV) coefficients of variance for tuber yield, YMV severity score, and tuber flesh oxidation. We had also a medium-to-high broad-sense heritability (H2b) for most of the traits except for the dry matter content and tuber flesh oxidation. This study identified some promising D. praehensilis genotypes for traits such as high yield potential (WNDpr76, CDpr28, CDPr7, EDpr14, and WNDpr63), resistance to YMV (WNDpr76, CDpr7, EDpr14, CDpr28, and EDpr13), high dry matter content (WNDpr76, CDpr28, and WNDpr24), low tuber flesh oxidation (WNDpr76, CDpr5, WNDpr31, CDpr40, and WNDpr94) and high number of tubers per plant (WNDpr76, CDpr7, CDpr68, CDpr29, and CDpr58). These genotypes could, therefore, be employed in breeding programmes to improve the white Guinea yam by broadening its genetic base

Multi-trait selection index for superior agronomic and tuber quality traits in bush yam (Dioscorea praehensilis Benth.)

Open Access JournalDioscorea praehensilis Benth. is a semi-wild yam species and a valuable source of resistance trait genes. To access the agronomic and tuber quality performance, eleven quantitative phenotypic traits were used to discriminate and identify promising accessions among 162 accessions of D. praehensilis collected in Ghana. Significant and high genetic variability (p < 0.001) for all eleven quantitative traits was found among the evaluated accessions. Moderate broad-sense heritability (H2) (30–60%) was observed for all the evaluated quantitative traits except the response to YMV and tuber hardness. The accessions were clustered into three groups; each cluster displayed genotypes with good potentiality for the different traits evaluated. Path coefficient analysis revealed positive contributions (p < 0.01) of the number of tubers per plant, tuber length, tuber width, stem internode length, number of internodes, and tuber flesh hardness to the total tuber weight per plant. Through the multi-trait genotype–ideotype distance index (MGIDI), 24 accessions were identified from the 162 evaluated accessions as top-ranking and could be used as progenitors for trait introgression. The results of this study provide insight for future yam breeding and improvement programs in West Africa

In Vitro Production of Clean Planting Material: Setting the Timelines for an Efficient Seed System for Vegetatively Propagated Crops in Ghana

In vitro propagation provides the required micro-climate critical for growth and development of plants. It is used to rapidly multiply vegetatively propagated crops such as yam, cassava, cocoyam, taro and sweet potato. Conventional vegetative propagation has limitations when large numbers of “clean” disease-free planting materials are required. This is because vegetative propagules usually habour disease pathogens namely fungi, bacteria, and viruses from the previous growing season, and the multiplication rates are low, unlike in grains and cereals. Meristem culture in vitro technique coupled with thermotherapy, chemotherapy and cryotherapy, are techniques routinely used to eliminate such pathogens from plant tissues. This results in the production of “clean” disease-free planting materials. This study used meristem and thermotherapy systems where applicable to produce clean planting materials of sweet potato, cassava and yam. Molecular diagnostics and enzymelinked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) based methods were used to index cleaned cultures to certify that the germplasm is clean. Results from this study have indicated that it takes up to 12, 18, and 24 months to generate clean planting materials of cassava, sweet potato and yam respectively. Similar systems are being investigated for taro and cocoyam and preliminary results indicate it takes up to six months to generate clean planting material. This paper reports the detailed timelines in the production of clean planting material using tissue culture techniques up to the time of certification. This information generated is very paramount for a sustainable pre-basic seed production of root and tuber crops in West Africa, particularly Ghana.Key words; Indexing, Meristem, Regeneration, Tissue Cultures, Thermotherapy, Production in vitro de matériel végétal propre: établir les délais pourun système de semences efficace pour les cultures à multiplication végétative au GhanaLa propagation in vitro fournit le micro-climat nécessaire à la croissance et au développement des plantes. Il est utilisé pour multiplier rapidement les cultures multipliées par voie végétative telles que l'igname, le manioc, le taro, le taro et la patate douce. La multiplication végétative conventionnelle a des limites quand un grand nombre de matériel végétal exempt de maladie "propre" est requis. C'est parce que les propagules végétatives habillent habituellement les agents pathogènes de la maladie à savoir les champignons, les bactéries et les virus de la saison de croissance précédente, et les taux de multiplication sont faibles, contrairement aux céréales et aux céréales. La technique de culture in vitro Meristem couplée à la thermothérapie, la chimiothérapie et la cryothérapie sont des techniques couramment utilisées pour éliminer de tels pathogènes des tissus végétaux. Ceci a pour résultat la production de matériel végétal "propre" sans maladie. Cette étude a utilisé des systèmes de méristème et de thermothérapie, le cas échéant, pour produire des plants propres de patate douce, de manioc et d'igname. Des méthodes basées sur le diagnostic moléculaire et sur le dosage des sorbants immuno-enzymatiques (ELISA) ont été utilisées pour indexer les cultures nettoyées afin de certifier que le germoplasme est propre. Les résultats de cette étude ont indiqué qu'il faut jusqu'à 12, 18 et 24 mois pour produire des plants propres de manioc, de patate douce et d'igname, respectivement. Des systèmes similaires sont étudiés pour le taro et le taro et les résultats préliminaires indiquent qu'il faut jusqu'à six mois pour produire du matériel végétal propre. Cet article rapporte les délais détaillés dans la production de matériel végétal propre en utilisant des techniques de culture tissulaire jusqu'au moment de la certification. Cette information générée est primordiale pour une production semencière pré-fondamentale durable des cultures de racines et de tubercules en Afrique de l'Ouest, en particulier au Ghana.Mots clés; Indexation, Méristém, Régénération, Cultures Tissulaires, Thermothérapie

Avaliação em laboratório do uso de sistemas de coberturas alcalinas para prevenção da drenagem ácida de mina

A drenagem ácida de mina (DAM) é um problema ambiental em escala mundial. Ela é proveniente do processo de oxidação química de materiais da mineração que contenham minerais sulfetados expostos a condições atmosféricas com a mediação de bactérias. As águas ácidas geradas nesses ambientes podem comprometer a qualidade dos recursos hídricos. Para tentar conter essa DAM, métodos de prevenção e remediação têm sido aplicados. As coberturas secas têm sido estudadas como alternativa de prevenção, visto que a remediação tem mostrado-se de custo elevado. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o uso de coberturas alcalinas para controlar a geração de ácido proveniente do estéril da mineração de urânio, U, por meio de sistemas colunas de lixiviação. Para isso, foram estudados sistemas de coberturas que têm como agentes de neutralização a lama vermelha, o calcário e a cal. Amostras de estéril e de água foram coletadas na mina Osamu Utsumi, em Caldas, MG. Foram realizadas análises químicas e mineralógicas do estéril, da cal, do calcário e da lama vermelha. Para os testes cinéticos, foram montadas sete colunas de lixiviação: C1(estéril); C2 (estéril + cobertura de lama vermelha); C3 (estéril + cobertura de calcário); C4 (estéril + cobertura de cal); COB2 (cobertura de lama vermelha); COB3 (cobertura de calcário); e COB4 (cobertura de cal). As amostras lixiviadas foram monitoradas por 100 dias. Os resultados mostraram que a cal e a lama vermelha têm maior potencial neutralizador. No entanto, esses agentes neutralizantes oferecem o inconveniente de introduzir material solúvel no lixiviado. Dessa forma, considerando os parâmetros avaliados, foi demonstrado que o uso de mistura de lama vermelha com estéril do Bota-fora 4 (BF4) pode ser uma alternativa viável para o controle de geração de DAM associada à reciclagem de resíduos industriais alcalinos