394 research outputs found
Development and Evaluation of a Manual Multi - crop Planter for Peasant Farmers
Farming today has gone beyond subsistence farming that produces for the farmer and his
household. Research shows that the consumption of grains or cereal crops is at an alarming
rate in the world, so to encourage small farm holders a manually operated multi-crop hand
push planter with changeable metering devices for cowpea, maize and soybean was
designed, fabricated and evaluated to improve planting efficiency and reduce drudgery
involved in manual planting method. The laboratory and field tests were conducted to
determine weight of seeds discharged from the planter, seed percentage damage, field
capacity, average depth of placement of seeds in furrow, average inter-row spacing of seeds
and the emergence of the seedlings. Results revealed that the planter had field efficiency and
field capacity of 76.3% and 0.39 ha/hr with seed rate of 0.25 kg/ha, 0.18 kg/ha and
0.21kg/ha respectively for cowpea, maize and soybean. Percentage difference between the
seed damage of 3.54%, 2.32% and 1.32% of cowpea, maize and soybean respectively
obtained was from an average spacing of 40.8cm and depth of 3.98cm. The single-row
multi-crop planter is very simple to use and it is maintenance free, except for the bearings
which needs to be lubricated from time to time to allow the planter's ground wheel to move freely. For this design, the drive shaft directly controls the seed metering mechanism which eliminates completely attachments such as pulleys, belt systems, and gears thereby eliminating complexities which increase cost, and increasing efficiency at a highly reduced cost which is the focus of this project work. The planter can be easily maintained without any technicality and all materials used for the fabrication are locally available in the case of worn - out parts
Effect of manure compost on heavy metal translocation and bio-concentration factors in soils from an old municipal dumpsite
A study was conducted with Leucaena as the test crop to investigate the bioavailability of heavy metals (chromium and nickel) from dumpsite soil treated with manure compost. The application of manure increased number of leaves and plant biomass, compared to unamended controls. Generally, heavy metals were higher in the plant root than in the shoot. But application of manure decreased Cr concentration in the root below the control; contrarily, Ni was increased in roots of manure treated than control plants. Cr in the shoot did not differ significantly among the treatments, but increase in manure levels further decreased Ni concentration in the shoot, compared with the control plants. Metal translocation factor (TF) >1 was noted for Ni only in the control plants, but manure application decreased Ni translocation. Chromium translocation was generally <1. Bioconcentration factor (BCF) was generally <1, but higher for Ni than Cr. Hence, Leucaena might be suitable for phytoextraction of nickel, but application of manure could make Leucaena suitable for phytostabilization in a contaminated soil.Kehinde Olajide Erinle, Tolulope Yetunde Akande, Joseph Urhie, Tope Daniel Bitir
Streamlining policies for enhancing rice production in Africa: Past experiences, lessons learnt and the way forward
There is a consensus that African development confronts several challenges, which include alleviating widespread poverty and unemployment, providing basic foods for the people, containing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, eliminating gender disparities and ensuring sustainable management of natural resources. In order to overcome theproblem of food supply, investment policies have focused on certain commodities. Rice (Oryza sativa) has been at the centre of particular policy attention in West Africa since the 1970s, following the formation of West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA). Even though substantial investments and policy actions have been undertaken, the results belied the efforts made and expectations nursed. Africa today still depends on rice imports at a scale never imagined and domestic rice production programmes have been largely unsuccessful. The question is: What went wrong? Why has Africa been unable to produce enough rice to stem imports? Why did the initial investments in irrigation schemes and programmes fail? Now that attention is on expanding rice cultivation to other parts of Africa, what policy imperatives are essential to ensure sustainable rice production? This paper examines these issues by drawing experiences from several countries across West Africa. The overall objective is to provide appropriate policy framework for the expansion and sustainable production of rice to new areas in Africa. Specifically, the paper examines some of the policies pursued in the past in a number of countries and the reasons for their ineffectiveness. Drawing on the benefits of past experiences, the paper makes proposals forimproved policy environment to support the new initiatives to increase rice output in the continent
The AgResults Nigeria Aflasafe TM Challenge Project: 2019 Annual Report
This report documents the key activities that were carried under the AgResults Aflasafe Pilot Project during the 2018/ 2019 maize-growing season on the verification process to trigger premium payments for successfully harvested and aggregated Aflasafe™-treated maize
Electric field response of strongly correlated one-dimensional metals: a Bethe-Ansatz density functional theory study
We present a theoretical study on the response properties to an external
electric field of strongly correlated one-dimensional metals. Our investigation
is based on the recently developed Bethe-Ansatz local density approximation
(BALDA) to the density functional theory formulation of the Hubbard model. This
is capable of describing both Luttinger liquid and Mott-insulator correlations.
The BALDA calculated values for the static linear polarizability are compared
with those obtained by numerically accurate methods, such as exact (Lanczos)
diagonalization and the density matrix renormalization group, over a broad
range of parameters. In general BALDA linear polarizabilities are in good
agreement with the exact results. The response of the exact exchange and
correlation potential is found to point in the same direction of the perturbing
potential. This is well reproduced by the BALDA approach, although the fine
details depend on the specific parameterization for the local approximation.
Finally we provide a numerical proof for the non-locality of the exact exchange
and correlation functional.Comment: 8 pages and 8 figure
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
ACCOUNTING REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS’ COMPLIANCE IN NIGERIA
This paper is an attempt to investigate the rate of compliance of public institutions with the
framework stipulations of accounting regulations in Nigeria. Series of accounting Regulatory
Provisions guiding preparation and presentation of financial reports in public institutions were
examined. Descriptive statistical methods - Simple Percentage Method (SPM) and Chi-square
were used on 50 Respondents from Ministry of Finance and the Office of Accountant General of
the State of Osun in Nigeria. The paper revealed that there is a positive relationship between
regulatory framework and financial reports preparation and presentations in Osun State. The
study recommends that Proper trainings on public sector accounting and establishments of
performance evaluation of employees should be put in place in order to make public institutions
account more effective in the State of Osun
The prevalence of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and its relationship with diet and obesity among public school teachers in Abeokuta, south-west Nigeria
Background: Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is a common chronic disorder in the high-income countries; and thought to be rare in low- and middle-income-countries. Lifestyle and diets have been suggested among others, as risk factors contributing to the development and severity of GORD. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of GORD and its association with dietary items and obesity among public school teachers in Abeokuta, south-western Nigeria.Methods: School teachers from 24 randomly selected public schools in Abeokuta were involved in the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on respondents’ bio data, food frequency and Carlson-Dent scores were calculated for each respondent. A score of 4 and above on the Carlsson-Dent questionnaire was considered diagnostic of GORD. Each respondent had his or her weight, height, waist circumference and hip circumference measured. Body mass index and waist-hip ratio were calculated for each respondent.Results: A total of 550 teachers participated in the study. The prevalence of GORD was found to be 13.8% among the teachers. There was a significant association between chocolate consumption and frequency of GORD (p=0.01). There was no association between consumption of soft drinks (p=0.673), kola nut (P=0.451), beer (p=0.674), bitter kola (0.425), groundnut (0.442), cowpeas (p=0.442), walnut (p=0.905), gari (p=0.931), fufu (p= 0.249) and lafun (p=0.480) and the frequency of GORD. Similarly, no association was found between obesity (BMI, p=0.738), waist-hip ratio (p=0.56) and the frequency of GORD.Conclusion: GORD is common among public school teachers in Abeokuta with a prevalence of 13.8%. Except for consumption of chocolate, no association was found between frequency of GORD and consumption of majority of the dietary items considered in this study
Manual Multi - crop Planter for Peasant Farmers
Farming today has gone beyond subsistence farming that produces for the farmer and his
household. Research shows that the consumption of grains or cereal crops is at an alarming
rate in the world, so to encourage small farm holders a manually operated multi-crop hand
push planter with changeable metering devices for cowpea, maize and soybean was
designed, fabricated and evaluated to improve planting efficiency and reduce drudgery
involved in manual planting method. The laboratory and field tests were conducted to
determine weight of seeds discharged from the planter, seed percentage damage, field
capacity, average depth of placement of seeds in furrow, average inter-row spacing of seeds
and the emergence of the seedlings. Results revealed that the planter had field efficiency and
field capacity of 76.3% and 0.39 ha/hr with seed rate of 0.25 kg/ha, 0.18 kg/ha and
0.21kg/ha respectively for cowpea, maize and soybean. Percentage difference between the
seed damage of 3.54%, 2.32% and 1.32% of cowpea, maize and soybean respectively
obtained was from an average spacing of 40.8cm and depth of 3.98cm. The single-row
multi-crop planter is very simple to use and it is maintenance free, except for the bearings
which needs to be lubricated from time to time to allow the planter's ground wheel to move
freely. For this design, the drive shaft directly controls the seed metering mechanism which
eliminates complete attachments such as pulleys, belt systems, and gears thereby
eliminating complexities that increase cost, and increasing efficiency at a highly reduced
cost which is the focus of this project work. The planter can be easily maintained without
any technicality and all materials used for the fabrication are locally available in the case of worn-out parts
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