Optimum production plan for maize-based crop farmers in Niger State, Nigeria

The study tried to address optimum production plan for maize-based crop farmers in Niger State, Nigeria. Primary data were collection with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was used in selecting a total of 133 farm households engaged in maize-based crop production. The results showed that maize-based arable crop production in the study area is predominantly male activity, with a mean age of 37 years. The average household size of the respondents was 5 persons. Majority (86.46%) of the farmers had one form of formal education ranging from tertiary, primary, secondary and adult education. Also, 81.95% of the farmers earned less than ₦100,000 per annum from off-farm activities. An average farmer had 20 years of farming experience and cultivated 1.88 ha of land. Linear programming solution prescribed maize/soybeans on 1.1988 ha and maize/cowpea on 0.0468 ha respectively in the optimum farm plans for the farmers. It also indicated gross margin could be increased from ₦120,122.73 ha−1 in the existing crop production plan to ₦211,555.70 ha−1 in the prescribed optimum crop production plan. It was concluded that production inputs were not optimally utilized and that crop mixtures were in a better competitive position than sole crop to increase the farmers’ income in maize-based crop production systems in Niger State. It was recommended that farmers should produce crop mixtures maize/soybeans and maize/cowpea based on their hectarage allocation as prescribed in the optimum farm plans and that farm advisory services should give attention to optimum cropping patterns towards promoting increased agricultural productivity among farmers.Keywords: linear programming, sole crop, crop mixtures, incom

Regenerative Metaplastic Clones in COPD Lung Drive Inflammation and Fibrosis

The hallmark features of COPD (inflammation, fibrosis, and mucus hypersecretion) are driven by distinct pathogenic progenitors which pre-exist as minor populations in healthy lungs but dominate in the disease state relative to normal lung stem cells. © 2020 Elsevier Inc.Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive condition of chronic bronchitis, small airway obstruction, and emphysema that represents a leading cause of death worldwide. While inflammation, fibrosis, mucus hypersecretion, and metaplastic epithelial lesions are hallmarks of this disease, their origins and dependent relationships remain unclear. Here we apply single-cell cloning technologies to lung tissue of patients with and without COPD. Unlike control lungs, which were dominated by normal distal airway progenitor cells, COPD lungs were inundated by three variant progenitors epigenetically committed to distinct metaplastic lesions. When transplanted to immunodeficient mice, these variant clones induced pathology akin to the mucous and squamous metaplasia, neutrophilic inflammation, and fibrosis seen in COPD. Remarkably, similar variants pre-exist as minor constituents of control and fetal lung and conceivably act in normal processes of immune surveillance. However, these same variants likely catalyze the pathologic and progressive features of COPD when expanded to high numbers

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Adoption of Improved Rice Varieties among Small- Scale Farmers in Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract The study broadly aims at providing information on the adoption of improved rice varieties among small-scale farmers in Katcha Local Government Area of Niger state, Nigeria. The study was conducted in 2007 cropping season. Data were generated from a sample of 100 farmers using questionnaire. Results indicated a high rate of awareness of improved rice varieties. The main sources of information were radio and extension agents. The major reasons for non-adoption of improved rice varieties are that they are expensive and non- availability of the input. The study recommends policies that would strengthen the existing media and extension services. Also, improved rice varieties and other input that could enhance farmers output be made available to the farmer at affordable prices