Recognising the Key Role of Agriculture In Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: Challenges And Prospects In Nigeria

The issue of food security has in recent times attracted a lot of scholarly debates in Nigeria. In spite of different methodologies utilised by the governments in addressing the challenge, the issue still persists. Results further revealed that the agricultural sector has not performed palatably in its quest for ensuring sustainable development. Suffice to note that agriculture should be given its rightful place if the country wants to experience development that will be said to be sustainable. In addressing this, the second Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) become handy because of its emphasis on eradicating hunger, which can only be achieved when the role of agriculture is recognised in the nation. It is on this premise that this paper examined the key role of Agriculture in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 in Nigeria. This is a conceptual paper that relies on an extensive review of related literature. The findings show that the agriculture sector faces many challenges, making it quite difficult in achieving its main goal which is ensuring an adequate supply of food in all parts of the country. In specificterms, the current insurgency in Northern Nigeria has been one of the major factors which have further destabilised the lopsided agricultural sector in the country. The paper recommended among others that investment in the agricultural sector should be given top priority by the Federal, State and Local Governments so that the continuous dependence on imported products will be reduced, as well as to relieve dependence on the oil sector for economic growth

IN VIVO AND IN VITRO EFFECTS OF ARTEMISININ GROUP OF DRUGS ON TRYPANOSOMOSIS IN MICE

This study was done to study the effect of artemisinin groups of drugs on mice experimentally infected with the protozoan Trypanosoma brucei and on Trypanosoma brucei invitro. Commercial artesunate and artemether were used with diminazene aceturate serving as control. It was discovered that artemether administration resulted into seven days of aparasitaemia of trypanosomosis in vivo and reduced motility of the trypanosomes in vitro. There was synergistic effect in the action of artesunate and diminazene aceturate. In vitro analysis gave a similar result in that the trypanosome were found to be sensitive to artemether  with an MIC of 0.6µl,  artesunate with berenil combination and the artemether treatment group 2.5µM. The implication of these results is discussed and advice is given on the potential adaptation of artesunate for treatment of trypanosomosis and planting of Artemisia annua tree in the country.Â

The Effect of Temperature on Nutrient Removal from Wastewater by Selected Fungal Species

The main goal of wastewater treatment is to safeguard the environment by preventing the pollution of receiving water bodies. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of temperature in nutrient removal by four test fungal species (Fusarium sp, Absidia sp, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus) in synthetic wastewater at different incubation temperatures of 25oC, 30oC, 35oC and 40°C. After inoculation with each test isolate, aliquot samples were taken prior inoculation and every 24 h, for 96 h for the estimation of phosphate, nitrate and pH in the wastewater, using standard procedures. After 96 h incubation, the percentage phosphate concentration removal ranged between 29.17 %-36.17 %, 26.17 %-35.75 %, 8.01 %-37.94 % and 11.19 %-42.65 %, in the presence of the Fusarium sp, Absidia sp, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus, respectively. Optimum temperature for phosphate removal was observed at 30°C -40°C. After 96 h incubation at 25oC, the phosphate concentration was very high with most of the isolates. In the case of nitrate, highest removals of 42.89 % and 82.07 % were obtained at 35°C in the presence of the Fusarium sp and Aspergillus flavus. In the presence of the Absidia sp and the Aspergillus niger, maximum removals of 21.21 % and 30.59 %, respectively were observed at 25°C, after 96 h incubation. The study was revealed the effect of temperature in the removal of phosphate and nitrate from wastewater by the test fungal species

Development of Longitudinal Split Failure in White-Rotted Aspen (Populus Tremuloides Michx.)

Longitudinal splits and associated smooth fracture planes were often noted along the growth ring boundaries of aspen, Populus tremuloides Michx., which were impact-loaded on the tangential plane, after decay by Trametes versicolor (L.: Fr.) Pilat, and Bjerkandera adusta (Willd.: Fr.) Karst. To characterize this failure pattern, scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy were employed. Results showed that this failure is a result of longitudinal fracture lines that cut through the parenchyma cell-wall layers (transwall failure) and opened the lumens. These parenchyma cells were preferentially invaded by fungal hyphae early (weight loss = 10%) in the degradation process. Prominent on the fracture planes was evidence of parenchyma cross walls perpendicular to the fiber axis, fungal hyphae, and associated hyphal sheaths. Localized fracturing along the parenchyma cells suggests that fungal invasion and degradation patterns influence the development and morphology of longitudinal fracture in wood

Socioeconomic effects of Oyo state government COVID-19 palliatives on tomato smallholder farmers

Open Access ArticleThis study interviewed 197 farmers that benefitted from the government palliative in the form of tomato farm inputs to help farmers contain the negative effects of COVID-19 of hunger, food insecurity, and poverty. Demographic features show that the average family size was 6, average age of the beneficiaries was 43, gender of the household heads shows that the beneficiaries have 67% males and 33% females. Production features show that 28% of the tomato farmers intercropped their tomato with other crops, 40% of them went through government training, and 25% of them accessed credit to take of their farms. Farmer to farmer was the main source of information (77%). Using the Likert Scale characterization shows that 74.6% of the farmers believed that the palliative increased their yield, 81.2% agreed that the palliatives just reduced hunger in their household, while 86.3% agreed that there was an increase in their farm income as a result of the intervention. Logit regression results reveal that Farmer’s Age, Farm Income, Loan Access, and Tomato Yield are the factors that significantly increased perception of tomato farmers on hunger reduction. Farm Income and Loan Access factors have a positive coefficient which is significant at the 1% level, while Farmer’s Age and Tomato Yield have positive coefficients but is significant at the 5% level. Association Membership negatively and significantly reduced farmers’ perception of hunger reduction at the 5% level of probability while farmer-to-farmer information sources significantly reduced it at a 1% level of probability; meaning that only government extension agents and the media positively influenced information transfer on the government palliative efforts. The study recommends that government assistance should be extended to other resource-poor farmers and that getting access to loans should be made easier for farmers by the government

MODELING THE PERFORMANCE OF A BAOBAB SEED DECORTICATOR USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

Decortication of baobab seed manually after soaking or roasting is time consuming, labour-intensive and uneconomical. The demand for baobab kernel as a source of protein is increasing for use as supplement for animal protein ration, for edible oil consumption and for other industrial uses. To ameliorate this problem, a baobab seed decorticator has been developed. This study therefore focused on the effects of process parameters; moisture content of seed, speed of decorticator and concave-shaft clearance on percentage clean kernel (Pck), percentage broken kernel (Pbk), percentage whole seed (Pws) and decorticating efficiency (DE), using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). In designing the experiments, Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was selected. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was carried out to evaluate and select the appropriate dependent (Pck Pbk, Pws and DE) and independent variables using both the F and P-values calculated at 95% confidence level (a=0.05). Mathematical models relating the process parameters to the responses were developed. The developed models were validated by comparing the predicted and actual experimental values. The selected quadratic models were adequate for predicting the performance of the developed decorticator. It was observed that a decrease in percentage clean kernel recovery would result if concave-shaft clearance and moisture content were increased. Likewise, the concave-shaft clearance had the highest positive effect while moisture content had the highest negative effect on percentage of broken kernel. All the three factors (process parameters) had positive effects on decorticating efficiency

Design, fabrication and evaluation of fish meal pelletizing machine

A 113.1kg/h fish meal pellet processing machine which produced 4mm diameter pellet, with an average length of 6mm was designed and fabricated. Design values of 210 was used for the maximum angle that the hopper wall formed with the vertical in the discharge zone, a critical stress of 1.3kPa of the ground particulate materials, and a density of 2.4521kg/m3 of the particulate materials, were used to obtain a hopper smallest outlet diameter of 12.7cm with a capacity of 24,118cm3 which proved efficient for the pelletizing machine. Two 3-cm diameter shafts carried the speed reduction gears with the perforated disc attached to the roller cutters on one end, while at the other end a 5hp motor was connected to the speed reduction gear by pulleys with diameters of 6cm and 12cm respectively. The speed reduction was 1:5 over a motor speed of 2000rpm. The fish meal pelletizing machine utilized 4kg of ingredients to produce 3.77kg pellets at an efficiency of 94.2%. The percentage loss due to unprocessed ground particulate materials was 5.8%.The moisture content of the fish meal pellets after 7days of drying in open air was 26.5% (wet basis). When tested for floatation, the pellets stayed afloat for 9 days, while the un-dried pellets only remained afloat for 2days. A combination of the weight of the twin roller cutters and the addition of some starch to the ground particulate materials assisted the compacting and gelatinization of pellet formed. This machine will be useful to medium and small scale aquaculture farmers and also reduce the need for foreign sources of fish meal in the aquaculture industry, thus conserving foreign exchange.Keywords: Ground particulate materials; mixing; compacting; gelatinizing; pelletizin