Factors that Influence Household Demand for Locally Produced Brown Rice in Ghana

Brown rice has a higher nutrient content than milled rice. This study determines the factors that influence the demand for local brown rice. The study achieves this by investigating the patterns of consumption of brown rice, attributes of the product that influence its consumption, factors that affect its consumption and the institutional support in the rice industry. Primary data on the attributes, factors and patterns of consumption of brown rice was obtained from respondents in the Volta and Greater Accra Regions using semi-structured questionnaire. Information on the functions of identified local institutions was obtained from the institutions. The data was analyzed using simple descriptive statistics, Tobit model and the Chi-square test. The results of the study showed that taste is the major attribute that influence people to consume brown rice. Brown  rice consumers are mostly those who have brown rice as a traditional diet. One of the attributes of brown rice that is keen as far as its consumption is concerned is its healthful benefits. The results of the Tobit regression model showed that the price of brown rice and the technical attributes of both brown rice and white rice (colour, taste, nutritional value, texture) and socioeconomic characteristics particularly (income) explain the share of brown rice in total rice consumption. Awareness creation of brown rice was found to be through friends and relatives. Acceptability ratio was found to be low.  The results obtained from the chi-square test indicate that the local institutions that were important in brown rice development were the University of Ghana Agric Research Station (UGARS), MoFA, GTZ, JICA, ACDI/VOCA, AgSSIP, FINATRADE, USAID, GAWU, MFCS Ltd., and FBOs. It is therefore recommended that the media should be used more in the awareness creation of brown rice. Advocacy groups should do more in order to sensitize people on the healthful benefits of brown rice. The research also showed that most of the service organizations perform their functions effectively and therefore the government should continue to partner the donor agencies to enhance cooperation among brown rice promoters. These institutions are to cooperate with each other in order to enhance their operations. The Local Governance institutions such as Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies should provide support to the Department of community development, cooperatives and advocacy groups to lift up the campaign. Keywords: brown rice, consumption pattern, nutritional content, demand, awareness creation, demand

Insecticide use pattern on tomatoes produced at Yonso community in the Sekyere West District of Ashanti Region, Ghana

The study investigated the farming practices of tomato growers that might lead to insecticidal contamination of tomato fruits produced. An interview guide was used to collect data from 100 tomato growers, selected using the snowball non-probability sampling technique, at Yonso in the Sekyere West District of the Ashanti Region. The data were collected on the type of insecticide used, the rate of insecticide used in the spray mixture, the sources of insecticides, and the waiting period allowed after last insecticide application and harvest. The chi-square test was used to establish whether there was any relationship between education and insecticide usage. The study showed that more males (82%) than females (18%) were into tomato cultivation, and that about 58 per cent of the respondents, who had attained secondary/technical level of education, used the recommended insecticides (Karate, Diazinon, and Sumithion) to produce tomatoes. Such insecticides are known to be less persistent on the fruit and, thus, could degrade easily. However, 42 per cent of them used insecticides not recommended for vegetables. These included Polytrine, Delphos, Thiodan, Thionex, Cypercal, Dursban, and Fastac. The non-recommended insecticides were the persistent ones that did not degrade easily and, thus, might leave residues on the crops harvested. The farmers applied the insecticides when they detected pests (52%), when the appearance of the plant changed (20%), when infestation was more pronounced (18%), and during transplant (10%). However, most respondents who used the recommended insecticides (69%) did not use the recommended dosage in the spray mixture, and some did not abide by the pre-harvest intervals. However, this study did not determine the rate of breakdown of the insecticides. The study also showed that respondents relied on information on the choice and usage of insecticides from sources, such as agro-chemical sellers (44%), fellow farmers (35%) and personal discretion (8%), other than from extension officers (13%) who were the experts in the field

Development of a rapid, reliable and quantitative method: "SPOTi" for testing antifungal efficacy

A reference method for the antimicrobial susceptibility testing of common fungal pathogens such as dermatophytes, is currently lacking. In this study, we report the successful adaptation of solid agar-based spot culture growth inhibition assay (SPOTi) for dermatophytes, currently being used as a gold-standard in the anti-tubercular drug discovery field. The fungal-SPOTi assay correlated with the disc-diffusion method, and is validated using mycelial plugs. We propose the fungal-SPOTi as a high-throughput alternative to the disc-diffusion and broth micro-dilution anti-fungal assays to screen novel anti-fungals

Academic Libraries in Ghana and Their Strategies for Coping with the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In March 2020, institutions of higher education shut down in compliance with the directives of the President of Ghana to curb the spread of COVID-19. In July 2020, when the lockdown restrictions were eased, universities resumed teaching, learning, and research in order to continue the second semester of the 2020/2021 academic year. Universities and their libraries immediately adapted to online teaching and the delivery of services and resources to their patrons even though most of them were largely unprepared for this ‘new normal’ experience. This paper adopts the qualitative research design which comprised documentary evidence of experiences of ten public and private universities libraries in Ghana with regard to their resources, services, facilities and staff as well as impact on library users during the pandemic. Findings reveal the strict compliance of the COVID -19 protocols and sanitation practices, the increased use of online databases, social media interventions and virtual training among others. The different strategies adopted by university libraries in Ghana are worth sharing and lessons learned provide a unique opportunity for academic librarians to rethink their key roles and core values in supporting the teaching and learning of their institutions during this very challenging time and the future

DNA molecules and human therapeutics

Nucleic acid molecules are championing a new generation of reverse engineered biopharmaceuticals. In terms of potential application in gene medicine, plasmid DNA (pDNA) vectors have exceptional therapeutic and immunological profiles as they are free from safety concerns associated with viral vectors, display non-toxicity and are simpler to develop. This review addresses the potential applications of pDNA molecules in vaccine design/development and gene therapy via recombinant DNA technology as well as a staged delivery mechanism for the introduction of plasmid-borne gene to target cells via the nasal route

Evaluating the level of physical transformation of houses in gated communities in Ghana

The upsurge of real estate housing within Accra has resulted in all manner of gated communities springing up across the city scape. These seek to provide housing services to the desperate urban dweller. The quality of their services has however been brought to question due to lack of a proper regulatory body to oversee their work. Recent studies indicate the emergence of physical transformations. This research sought to investigate the conditions and reasons underlying these housing transformations. A case study approach, with a mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods were adopted in determining the conditions of the houses. The relative important index was also used in ranking the various factors that led to these physical transformations. The study revealed that 41% of the houses have undergone transformations with external works, fenetrations, and mechanical and engineering services being most parts affected. Major reasons given for transformation were poor ventilation and lighting. The study recommends amongst others that the government should institute a special regulatory body backed by law with regular assessment from the occupants in order to check the performance of real estate developers.Keywords: Gated community, real estates, physical transformation, housin

Incidence and severity of cassava mosaic disease in farmer’s fields in Ghana

A survey of cassava mosaic disease (CMD) was carried out in Ghana from 2007-2008 to assess CMD incidence, infection type, severity and adult whitefly population. A total of 136 farmers’ fields across major cassava producing areas in the Brong Ahafo, Western, Northern, Ashanti and Volta regions were assessed. CMD was prevalent in most of the 136 fields surveyed. Frequently encountered local landraces were susceptible to the disease. CMD incidence reached 100% in farmers’ fields. Mean disease incidence ranged from 46% in the Ashanti region to 90% in the Western region of the country. CMD incidence averaged 66.0%, with cutting-borne infection and Whitefly-borne infections being 54.0% and 12.0%, respectively. CMD shoot symptom severity ranged from 2.0 to 3.7 in the farmers’ fields, with a mean of 2.9. Mean adult whitefly population was 0.47. The high prevalence of CMD requires a concerted effort in the management of CMD in the country

Induction of Isochromanones by Co-Cultivation of the Marine Fungus Cosmospora sp. and the Phytopathogen Magnaporthe oryzae

Microbial co-cultivation is a promising approach for the activation of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) that remain transcriptionally silent under artificial culture conditions. As part of our project aiming at the discovery of marine-derived fungal agrochemicals, we previously used four phytopathogens as model competitors in the co-cultivation of 21 marine fungal strains. Based on comparative untargeted metabolomics analyses and anti-phytopathogenic activities of the co-cultures, we selected the co-culture of marine Cosmospora sp. with the phytopathogen Magnaporthe oryzae for in-depth chemical studies. UPLC-MS/MS-based molecular networking (MN) of the co-culture extract revealed an enhanced diversity of compounds in several molecular families, including isochromanones, specifically induced in the co-culture. Large scale co-cultivation of Cosmospora sp. and M. oryzae resulted in the isolation of five isochromanones from the whole co-culture extract, namely the known soudanones A, E, D (1-3) and their two new derivatives, soudanones H-I (4-5), the known isochromans, pseudoanguillosporins A and B (6, 7), naphtho-γ-pyrones, cephalochromin and ustilaginoidin G (8, 9), and ergosterol (10). Their structures were established by NMR, HR-ESIMS, FT-IR, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopy, polarimetry ([α]D), and Mosher’s ester reaction. Bioactivity assays revealed antimicrobial activity of compounds 2 and 3 against the phytopathogens M. oryzae and Phytophthora infestans, while pseudoanguillosporin A (6) showed the broadest and strongest anti-phytopathogenic activity against Pseudomonas syringae, Xanthomonas campestris, M. oryzae and P. infestans. This is the first study assessing the anti-phytopathogenic activities of soudanones

Diversity analysis of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam) germplasm from Burkina Faso using morphological and simple sequence repeats markers

Collecting and characterizing plant material has been basic for crop  improvement, and diversity has long been seen as vital for rational management and use of crops. Thirty (30) morphological characters and thirty (30) simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to assess the diversity among 112 sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam) cultivars in Burkina Faso and to develop a core collection. Eight morphological  characters were able to differentiate the 112 accessions and to identify 11duplicates while 28 SSR markers were more informative in discriminating the accessions and to identify five duplicates. The diversity assessment using the two approaches revealed high diversity with a coefficient of 0.73 using the phenotypic data, while moderate diversity with a coefficient of 0.49 was obtained using the SSR markers. These results show no correlation between the two approaches (with dissimilarity index of 0.95). A core collection was constituted using the SSR based data while the eightdiscriminative phenotypic descriptors will be used in the identification of cultivars. Key words: Accessions, genetic diversity, germplasm, molecular markers, morphological characters, simple sequence repeat, sweet potato