Farmers’ Adaptation to Covid-19 Pandemic in Akwa Ibom State

The study focused on how farming communities cope with the COVID-19 pandemic in Akwa Ibom State. Specifically, how farmers are affected by the pandemic, their coping strategies, contributions of extension service towards their adaptation, and the support they need to better adapt to the pandemic were examined. A multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 300 respondents across the agricultural zones in the study area. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data obtained from the respondents through a well-designed questionnaire. The majority of the respondents have experienced limited access to agricultural inputs (87.9%), limited access to the market (79.6%), unavailability of the labour force at critical times of agricultural production and harvesting (68.7%), health risk and fear (72.6%), increased transportation cost (87.4%), unavailability of facemasks and hand sanitizers (89.1%), dwindling and uncertain finances (92.4%). Majority of the farmers asserted that they had to rely more on the radio (87.6%), religious leaders (67.2%), community leaders (65.4%), and extension agents (45.3%) for COVID-19-related information. They depended more on herbs and traditional medications (72.4%) and had to trek long distances to market farm produce and get inputs (69.7%) to cope with the impact of the pandemic. Contributions from extension services reported by the respondents were majorly from text messages and phone calls. The majority of the respondents solicited regular assessment of COVID-19 impacts in their communities to identify other specific challenges and needs of farmers for a better and timely response

Effect of moisture content on some mechanical properties of mucuna bean

Some mechanical properties of mucuna bean seed were studied at different moisture levels to provide relevant data for development of cracking machine for the seed. The frictional coefficient of the seed on five structural surfaces (plywood, aluminum, glass, steel, and wood) was determined using the incline plane method. The mechanical properties were determined using a Universal Testing Machine. The coefficients of friction of the seed on the respective structural surfaces were observed to have increased with increasing moisture levels. The force to crack the seed on its major axis decreased from 1595.1 to 244.9N as moisture level increased from 4.79 to 18.53% (dry basis), with a similar trend also observed on the minor axis. The deformation on both axes decreased as moisture level increased. The stress on the major and minor axes respectively increased from 2.79 to 21.61 N/mm2 and 5.12 to 21.01 N/mm2, as moisture level decreased. The force required to crack the seed and energy to break on both axes decreased as moisture level increased. The stress on the major and minor axes increased with moisture level. Regression equations were used to establish relationships between the properties measured and the moisture level of the seed

Heat transfer correlations and pressure drop dynamics of palm fibre wetting media for evaporative cooling at different air flow rates

© 2023 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2023.07.008The thermal and flow resistance properties of wetting pads play a key role in how effective direct evaporative cooling (DEC) systems Perform. To make an informed decision, it's crucial to study the heat transfer properties and airflow resistance manifested in pressure drop for various types of wetting media. An experimental study was conducted to determine pressure drop and heat transfer correlation constants at three airflow rates for palm fruit mesocarp fibres (PFMF) wetting media. Heat transfer and pressure drop equations were fitted with generated data to obtain correlation constants. The wetting media were effective to lower the ambient temperature at an average depression of 6.6 to 8.2 °C and increase the relative humidity of the inlet air at an average value of 25.54 to 39.32%. PFMF had a low-pressure drop per unit length, ranging from 5.29 to 7.62 Pa/m, which makes it an appealing alternative to other wetting media. New correlation constants generated for pressure drop and heat transfer data fit well with high coefficient of determination (R2) values. The average cooling efficiency ranged from 56.43 to 65.27%, while the average Merkel number was 0.16 to 0.19. The Nusselt number increased with the Reynolds number and showed a laminar flow. Amaranths stored in DEC produced respiratory heat ranging from 290.86 to 336.53 mg/kg/h for all air velocities. Considering the respiratory rate within the range of cooler temperatures, it is recommended to use the DEC only for short periods or for pre-cooling of vegetable storage.Peer reviewe

Analysis of the influence of outdoor surface heat flux on the inlet water and the exhaust air temperature of the wetting pad of a direct evaporative cooling system

© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.120292The study investigates the interconnectivity between the inlet water temperature, wind flow rate, and storage water heat flux with the performance of biomass wetting pads in direct evaporative cooling under the external ambient condition of Sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, a standalone direct, evaporative cooling system with an upper water storage tank exposed to wind flow was locally developed and evaluated with jute, palm fruit mesocarp and wood charcoal as biomass cooling pad at three air velocities and constant pad thickness and three different air flow rates. The results indicated that increasing the heat flux around the water tank and decreasing the relative humidity of the inlet air through the wetting pad will lower both the inlet water and pad exhaust temperatures. The water demand was higher in palm fruit mesocarp fibre at airflow rates of 3 m/s, while at 4 and 4.5 m/s, it was higher in wood charcoal, and the value ranged from 9.64 × 10 −4 to 1.46 × 10 −3 kg/s. Except for jute fibre at 4 m/s, higher humidity difference or low cold room temperature did not translate to higher evaporative cooling effectiveness or efficiency. However, the lower inlet water temperature significantly affected the evaporative effectiveness. This shows the possibility of free moisture transfer into the cold room from the pad materials at increased air flow rates that helped boost the exhaust air's humidity. The average evaporative efficiency for the three pads ranged from 56.4 % to 80.96 %. The values for the enlargement coefficient ranged from 5 to 6.82, while the temperature thermal stress ranged from 24.37 to 28.66 °C.Peer reviewe