In vivo evaluation of garlic (Allium sativum) extract in the control of potato late blight disease caused by phytophthora infestans

 In vivo study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of foliar application of garlic extract and two chemical fungicides (ridomil and z-force) in the reduction of late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans, increase of potato biomass and total tuber yield in natural field condition. The field experiment was conducted in Machambe village, Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State. Certified seeds were obtained from the National Root Crop Research Institute, Kuru, Plateau State, Nigeria. Potato seeds were grown in four row plots, 30-meter-long with spacing of 70cm between rows and 30cm within rows. Experiment was laid out in a Complete Randomized Block Design (CRBD) with four replications. Foliar sprays of 0.4 g/l Ridomil, Z-force and garlic extract respectively, at a 3day interval soon after first visible symptoms appeared to reduced disease incidence and resulted in higher biological and tuber yield compared to control (unsprayed plots). Ridomil and garlic extract were most effective in minimizing the disease incidence and producing better biological yields (33.95g and 31.02g) and tuber yields (15.93t/ha and 14.99t/ha) respectively. Control plot produced the least biological and tuber yield of 23.92g and 11.95t/ha respectively. There was no significant difference at P<0.05 between the tested treatments. There was significant difference in disease incidence reduction at (P<0.05) by the extract and chemical fungicides. Late blight incidence reduction effect of garlic extract was slightly higher than that of Z-force fungicide. Therefore, the evaluated plant material (garlic extract) could serve as an alternative to chemical fungicide in the control of late blight disease in potato.

Sustainable manufacturing of consumer appliances: reducing life cycle environmental impacts and costs of domestic ovens.

AbstractElectric ovens are among the least energy efficient appliances, with the efficiency of only 10%–12%. With new policy instruments in Europe requiring energy reduction, manufactures are seeking to develop more efficient domestic appliances. The aim of this paper is to aid sustainable manufacturing of an innovative, highly-efficient oven (HEO) by evaluating its life cycle environmental impacts and costs in comparison to conventional ovens. The results suggest that the HEO has 9%–62% lower environmental impacts than conventional ovens with the equivalent savings in the life cycle costs ranging from 25% to 61%. Replacement of conventional ovens by HEO in Europe (EU28) would save 0.5–5.2 Mt of CO2 eq. and the life cycle costs would be lower by €0.5–1.96 billion (109) per year. At the household level, energy consumption would be reduced by up to 30% and consumer costs by 25%–50%. These results suggest that policy measures should be put in place to encourage the uptake of energy efficient ovens by consumers