Replacement adoption: a case of varietal substitution among farmers asopting Sawah rice production technology in Nigeria and Ghana

This paper examined the incidence of replacement adoption through varietal substitution among farmers adopting Sawah-ecotechnology rice production technology in Nigeria and Ghana. A simple random sampling was used to select 80 farmers in Nigeria and 70 farmers in Ghana. Data were collected in June 2010 with a structured questionnaire in villages where Sawah rice production technology had been introduced. In Nigeria, 30 % of the farmers practice varietal substitution with the use of WITA 3, while in Ghana 40% practice varietal substitution using jasmine and sycamore. The results from the Probit model showed that significant variables include yield (t = 4.12) participation in on farm demonstration (t = 2.77) contact with Sawah agent (t = -1.93), varietal adaptability (t = -2.29), market price (t = 2.50), lodging proneness (t = 2.45), age (t = -3.35) and farming experience (t = 2.49) in Nigeria and Ghana. It therefore implies that the issues of varietal substitution must be viewed within the prevailing socio-economic and farming system milieu of farmers in order to enhance continuous adoption and sustained profit from Sawah technology.S.Afr. Tydskr. Landbouvoorl./S. Afr. J. Agric. Ext., Vol. 39 Nr 2, 2011: 79 – 9

Development of Automobile Gaskets from Local Fibres

Moringa oleifera Lam. is a multipurpose tropical dry habitat tree used throughout history for its ‘medicinal\', nutritious, water purification and several other properties. Propagating Moringa spp. by seeds is now becoming difficult due to the over-utilization of the plant, most importantly the seeds, which are currently in greater demand chiefly for oil production used for lubricating and powering machines, and in the cosmetic industry. The other means of breeding is by normal vegetative propagation that employs stem hardwood as long as 2m. This is threatening its production as well since greater amount of propagules is often wasted. Stem maturity, that is, age of cuttings (i.e. hardwood, semi-hardwood and softwood) and stem-cutting length were thus studied to examine their significance on sprouting using a 3 x 4 factorial experiment in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in two blocks. Split, split-plot analysis was conducted using time as a sub-subplot. Factors examined were the number of sprouted stem-cuttings and shoots as well as shoot length for a period of ten weeks with cuttings planted in natural soil in polythene bags. Hardwood cuttings sprouted best having the highest mean value for the number of shoots produced followed by semi-hardwood cuttings all of length 30cm. Based on the present investigation, it has been found that instead of employing the conventional seeds, which are in short supply and longer stem cuttings for the propagation of Moringa spp. worldwide, hardwoods or semi-hardwoods as short as 30cm can now be employed to ensure their sustainability. Keywords: Hardwood, Moringa oleifera, semi-hardwood, softwood, sprouting, stem-cuttings, vegetative propagation. Journal of Science & Technology (Ghana) Vol. 28 (3) 2008: pp. 152-15

Pulp and Paper Potentials of Plantain Pseudostem

Homogenized pastes were prepared by adding top-bond white glue as binder to natural fibrous material prepared out of different proportions of bamboo (Ozizentera arbonica), coconut husk (Cocus nucifera), sponge (Acanthus montanus) and wood (cordial). Test samples were prepared from dried cast samples for creep and hardness tests. The results of the analysis were used to determine the material that has close properties to the commercially sourced gasket used as control. The overall assessment of the compatibility and suitability tests confirmed the possible applicability of the materials as gasket in fuel pump, carburetors and in engine oil pumps. The locally produced materials have been tested and found suitable as substitute to the conventional material in this order: Coconut husk mixed with sponge (Ch+Sp) in uniform proportion; Coconut husk (Ch) alone without any mixture, and the mixture of the four fibres (Ba+Ch+Sp+Wd). Keywords: Gasket, Agricultural woody fibres, Creep and Hardness. Journal of Science & Technology (Ghana) Vol. 28 (3) 2008: pp. 159-16

Worth assessment of information and their access points by small scale Cassava farmers in Nigeria

This study determined the access, worth assessment and use of information by small-scale farmers in Oyo State. The study described socio-economic characteristics of small-scale cassava farmers; ascertained information access point preferences and analyzed information worth assessment. A multi stage sampling was used to select 360 respondents and data were collected through pre-tested and face validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.88. The results show that majority of the cassava farmers (76.4%) had low access to information and 85.6% rated cassava innovation packages as of low worth. The most frequently used access point is oral communication (83%), which was also rated highest in motivation ability (77.7%), regularity (96.3%) and relevance of information (83.4%). Radio was rated as the most persistent (68.5%). social participation, farm size and use of hired labour had a statistically significant effect on access to information (p<0.01). Religious participation, average income and social participation also had a statistically significant effect on information worth assessment (p<0.05). The study recommends that local farmers’ groups identified as information providers should be recognized and used in complementing conventional extension efforts. This will improve access, worth assessment and consequently use of improved cassava information by small-scale cassava farmers in Oyo State.S.Afr. Tydskr. Landbouvoorl./S. Afr. J. Agric. Ext., Vol. 39 Nr 2, 2011: 69 – 7

DESIGN AND OPERATIONS CHALLENGES OF A SINGLE TOGGLE JAW CRUSHER: A REVIEW

A review on the design and operations challenges of a single toggle jaw crusher is presented. Strength and fracture toughness of the material to be crushed are intrinsic properties that determine the time and energy required to crush the material. Economy of the crushing process is partly dependent on the angle of nip. Productivity of the crusher can be improved upon by increasing the eccentricity of the eccentric shaft, use of reversible jaws, bush bearing and easily adjustable toggle plate. Vibrations and fatigue cracks in the crusher frame will be nipped in the bud through structural analysis at design stage. Determination of the optimal angle of inclination of the toggle plate, development of jaws with varying wear rate along the crushing chamber, and development of comminution energy models that take into cognizance relevant crushing parameters for simulation and optimization of the crushing process are some areas that require close attention.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v36i3.2

Assessment of a treatment guideline to improve home management of malaria in children in rural south-west Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many Nigerian children with malaria are treated at home. Treatments are mostly incorrect, due to caregivers' poor knowledge of appropriate and correct dose of drugs. A comparative study was carried out in two rural health districts in southwest Nigeria to determine the effectiveness of a guideline targeted at caregivers, in the treatment of febrile children using chloroquine.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Baseline and post intervention knowledge, attitude and practice household surveys were conducted. The intervention strategy consisted of training a core group of mothers ("mother trainers") in selected communities on the correct treatment of malaria and distributing a newly developed treatment guideline to each household. "Mother trainers" disseminated the educational messages about malaria and the use of the guideline to their communities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Knowledge of cause, prevention and treatment of malaria increased with the one-year intervention. Many, (70.4%) of the respondents stated that they used the guideline each time a child was treated for malaria. There was a significant increase in the correct use of chloroquine from 2.6% at baseline to 52.3% after intervention among those who treated children at home in the intervention arm compared with 4.2% to 12.7% in the control arm. The correctness of use was significantly associated with use of the guideline. The timeliness of commencing treatment was significantly earlier in those who treated febrile children at home using chloroquine than those who took their children to the chemist or health facility (p < 0.005). Mothers considered the guideline to be explicit and useful. Mother trainers were also considered to be effective and acceptable.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The use of the guideline with adequate training significantly improved correctness of malaria treatment with chloroquine at home. Adoption of this mode of intervention is recommended to improve compliance with drug use at home. The applicability for deploying artemisinin-based combination therapy at the community level needs to be investigated.</p

Short Communication: Comparative effect of snail shell, limestone and oyster shell as sources of dietary calcium on performance and egg quality characteristics of laying

egg production, internal and external qualities of eggs of hens. The 6-week feeding trial consisted of fifty-four 35-week old Isa brown layers allotted to three dietary treatments with three replicate of six birds per replicate and two birds per cell using a completely randomized design (CRD). Birds in treatment I, II and III had diet containing oyster shell, limestone and snail shell as the major source of calcium respectively. The birds had ad libitum access to feed and water. Calcium source did not significantly (p&gt;0.05) affect the albumen weight, albumen height and yolk weight There was also no significant (p&gt;0.05) difference among the three diets with respect to feed intake, feed conversion ratio, hen-day production, egg weight, egg height, egg width, shell weight, shell thickness. The Haugh unit of the diets containing oyster shell, limestone and snail shell were significantly (p&lt;0.05) different with mean values 77.9, 82.8 and 87.7, respectively. The use of oyster shell, lime stone or snail shell as a major source of calcium did not influenced the overall internal external qualities of the egg produced.Key words: Laying hens, oyster shell, limestone, snail shell, egg qualit

Biochemical composition of Sorbus fruits and its change during ripening

Biochemical composition of fruits of Sorbus species and cultivars was determined. It was ascertained that the mean content of sugar in fruits in the years of investigation reached 5.5-7.4%, dry solubles - 18.0-24.2%, titrable organic acids – 1.5-3.8%, ascorbic acid – 22.3-98.3 mg%, carotenoids – 4.0-22.2 mg%. The content of investigated compounds changed during fruit ripening which was high for carotenoids, dry solubles and total sugar in the middle of September. However the content of ascorbic acid and titrable organic acids was highest in the middle of August and later decreased. Differences between genotypes were established. Meteorological conditions influenced the amount of the chemical compounds in fruits. Some genotypes distinguished by stability of investigated properties: the same or almost the same amount of sugars in different years of investigation was determinate for “Granatnaya”, dry solubes – for Elite Nr. 10, “Granatnaya”, titrable organic acids – for S. aucuparia SA-26 and S. aucuparia SAG-36, ascorbic acid for S. aucuparia SAG- 36 and “Krasavitsa”, carotenoids – for “ Coral Beuty”. The most valuable Sorbus species and cultivars according to the biochemical composition were selected. Fruits of Elita No 10 had highest sugar content, dry soluble and carotenoids. The highest content of ascorbic acid was found in “Coral Beauty”, S. asserteauiana and S. aucuparia SA-26 fruits. Key Words: Sorbus; carotenoids; ascorbic acid; sugar, titrable acids; dry solubles Moor J. Agric. Res. Vol.4(1) 2003:90-9