13 research outputs found

    Prospects for Multi-Functional Utilisation of Bamboo in Nigeria

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    The industrial utilisation of bamboo is expanding globally as a result of its role in climate change mitigation, adaptation and development.  Bamboo has more than 1,500 industrial applications and the uses are expaanding. In Nigeria, the prospects for multi-functional utilisation is high and increasing as a result of  the high dependence on importation of raw materials and the serious ecological and land degradation taking place in most parts of the country. Bamboo will find ready use in the wood and wood products sector of the economy as Nigeria currently depends on importation of plywood, particleboard and more recently  seasoned planks.  In the textile industry the low cotton production and productivity will encourage industrial textiles production from bamboo while the near total dependence on imported long fibre pulp will promote bamboo utilisation in the pulp and paper industry.  Bamboo utilisation in housing construction is likely to look up as a result of the current housing problems in both urban and rural areas and the high level of development in engineered bamboo production globally.  In Nigeria, bamboo utilisation will increse significantly in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries with adequate promotion of investment in these sectors. In line with the plans of international communities, thedevelopment and use of bamboo briquettes in place of firewood and wood briquettes coupled with establishment of bamboo plantations on degraded lands will significantly promote production and multifunctional utilisation of bamboo locally. Keywords: pharmaceuticals, bamboo, textiles, charcoal, environmental conservation

    Impact of Privatization of Primary Pulp and Paper Mills on Performance of the Pulp and Paper Sector in Nigeria.

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    The integrated pulp aand paper mills established in Nigeria were privatized in the mid 2000 as a result of lack of adequate funds to import requisite raw materials and generally because of their non performance.  The Nigeria Paper Mill commenced rehabilitation immediately after privatization and started production in the 2009. The two other mills are yet to start production.   While Nigeria Paper Mill has rehabilitated its paper machines, it is currently producing kraft paper within 60-250gsm range using recycled paper. The mill has been able to reduce national dependence on kraft paper importation, although, its customers are agitating that it should add long fibre pulp to the recycled waste paper pulp in order to increase the strength of its products. The deficit turn-over of the non production of the three pulp and paper mills between 2006-2009 to the economy was 153.05 billion naira.  This is estimated to rise to 180 billion in 2015 as a result of the increasing cost of long fibre pulp and the anticipated rise in demand for paper as a build up to the 2015 general elections.  The major problems the mills may likely continue to face even after becoming fully operational are dependence on imported long fibre pulp and chemicals, epileptic energy supply, thereby increasing costs of production.  These are likely to forestall the gains of the privatization exercise among which are deepening of local market, technology transfer, employment generation and reduction in cost of paper products locally.  Thus, government  has significant role to play in monitoring the post privatization activities at the mills and in providing suitable environment for profitable operation of the mills by finding sustainable solution to the problems of long fibre pulp sourcing within the polity. Keywords: privatization, turn over, long fibre, rehabilitation, energy.

    Comparative Analysis of Wood Properties of Afzelia africana and Anogeissus leiocarpus Growing in Nigeria.

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    Afzelia africana and Anogeissus leiocarpus are two timber species growing in Nigeria. The two species are used in the construction industry. While A. africana is regarded as a high grade wood species, A leiocarpus is referred to as a medium wood species. This study was carried out to determine the heartwood, sapwood and bark proportions of the two species along with their wood densities and alcohol benzene soluble extractable contents. The ages of the trees used in the study varied from 34 to 52 years in A. africana and 35 to 57 years in A leiocarpus. The heartwood ratio in A africana ranged from 44.6% to 75.9% with a mean of 60.9%.  The sapwood proportion also varied from 32.5% to 43.6% ,with a mean of 28.76%. The bark ratio varied from 5.8% to 12.24% with a mean of 10.20%.  The heartwood content of A. leiocarpus was a paltry 6.12% while the proportions of the sapwood and bark were 87.80% and 10.77% respectively. The mean densities of the two wood species were 716kg/m3 in A. africana and 731kg/m3in A. leiocarpus. The mean alcohol benzene soluble extractable content was 2.64% in A. africana and 1.82% in A. leiocarpus. The result obtained indicated that A. africana will be more durable and can be use without treatment in most applications while A. leiocapus may require adequate preservative treatment in situations where it will be used for outdoor purposes, most especially when it is to have contact with the ground in service. Keywords: heartwood, sapwood, bark, density, extractives

    Citrus Fruits Value Chain Development in Nigeria

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    Citrus is one of the world’s most important economic fruit crops. It belongs to the group of fruits that includes oranges, lemon, limes, grape fruits and tangerines. Many citrus fruits are generally eaten fresh.  Oranges and grapefruit juices are popular breakfast beverages, but more astringent citrus such as lemons and limes are used for garnishing or in cooked dishes.  Citrus fruits are also made use of in production of squashes, citrus fruit powders, marmalade and other flavouring agents. After the extraction of the juice from the fruit, the resulting fruit pulp is a possible livestock feed and the rind oil is an expensive commodity in the international market.  Citrus seeds are also known to contain sweetening agents, which are being studied as probable sugar substitute.  Citrus peels can be used for the production of citric acid, lactic acid, feed yeast and vinegar. The leaves, flowers, peels, fruits and dried bark of citrus have important medicinal values.  The dried bark of citrus is a raw material for the production of insecticides. Citrus has also found use in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and soap industries. Citrus is grown globally with the largest commercial cultivation in Brazil and China. The 2007 Food and Agricultural Organization’s report rated Nigeria as the 9th citrus producing country with annual average production capacity of about 3,325,000 tonnes. However, citrus fruits produced in Nigeria are mostly consumed locally without much value addition. In an effort to promote increased production and processing of tropical fruits in the country, the Federal Government banned the importation of packed juice in 2002 and then launched a Presidential Initiative on Tropical Fruits Production in 2005. This paper examines the citrus value chain in Nigeria, efforts towards the development of citrus value chain, challenges and strategies for harnessing the potentials of citrus fruits for economic development of the country. The paper identifies lack of value addition as the major constraint in harnessing the citrus potentials in Nigeria. Other challenges identified include post harvest losses due to poor road network, lack of infrastructure for storage and preservation, lack of improved varieties, poor R&D funding and poor handling of the fruits during harvesting and transportation.  Strategies for effective development and utilization of citrus potentials in Nigeria were identified to include establishment of cold storage infrastructure across the country to reduce post harvest losses, adequate funding of Research for the development of improved varieties, establishment of citrus orchards, establishment of processing clusters and dedicated development of citrus value chain in Nigeria. Nigeria’s immense potentials in citrus production if well harnessed, will position the country in the lead in world trade production of the commodity and can save the country up to $480 million in import bills. KEYWORDS: Fruits, citrus, post harvest losses, value chain, processing cluster

    Tillage Effects on Maize Performance and Physical Properties of a Sandy Soil

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    The effects of six tillage methods on soil physical properties maize (Zea mays L.) germination, growth and yield were evaluated in field experiments during 1995 and 1996 cropping seasons. The selected treatments represented both conventional and conservation tillage practices common within the study area. The soil quality parameters analysed included moisture content, bulk density, porosity, shear strength and cone index. Results showed significant (

    The Challenge of Optimizing Use of Wood in Tackling Climate Change in Nigeria

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    The effects of climate change are fast becoming a reality globally.  The greenhouse effect caused by increasing atmospheric CO2 is expected to lead to increase in mean temperature at a rate of 0.1 to 0.4oC per decade during the half of the century.  Forests are part of the global efforts being deployed to address climate change in terms of mitigation through reforestation, afforestation and by reduction in the rate of deforestation and forest degradation.  The global forests currently store approximately 286GT of carbon.   Wood is a major product of atmospheric carbon harnessed by the tree through photosynthesis. A growing tree on an average absorbs an equivalent of 1, ton of CO2 for every m3 of its growth while producing an equivalent of 0,7 ton of O2.  After the trees are harvested, they provide wood products which continue to store the carbon in service.  In addition, wood provides a very good alternative to other building raw materials as a result of its low embodied energy.   When wood is used to produce energy through combustion, the energy produced is effectively stored solar energy and the amount of energy emitted is not more than those previously stored, making the process carbon neutral.  Despite the very important role of forests and wood in climate change mitigation, the process is not very effective in Nigeria in view of high rate of deforestation and low capacity utilization in the nation’s forest industry. For the Nigerian forest industry to be able to contribute effectively to climate change mitigation, there is need for massive reforestation, afforestation, plantation establishment and retooling in the industry. Keywords: climate change, Afforestation, embodied energy, carbon, mitigatio

    Development of a small scale orange juice extractor

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