The nature and trends of agricultural research development in Africa : an informetric study

The study recognizes Agriculture as the mainstay activity of most economies in Africa and analyses research nature and trends in the discipline by using descriptive informetrics and focusing on seven indicators, by using the AGRICOLA and ISI-E databases from 1991 to 2005. We observed that research output in the discipline is much higher in South Africa and Kenya, and research collaboration is greater than non-collaborative research output and collaboration is less among African countries. The most popular research domains were found to exist in environmental science, soil science, plant/crop production and [agricultural] economics. Helpful conclusions and recommendations for an Agricultural policy, capacity and research orientation have been made

Isolation and Characterization of Mosquitocidal Bacillus Thuringensis, Analysis of Its Crystal Proteins and Plasmid

Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm output. Agriculture sector employs nearly 58% of India’s workforce and constitutes 22% of total Indian economy. With sowing and building up at a rapid pace for the majority of crops, crop production is also anticipated to increase by 2.5 % during the next financial years to come. The growth in the GDP of agriculture and allied sectors is anticipated at 3.2% during the financial year 2009, as stated by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). India is the largest producer in the world of milk, cashew nuts, coconuts, tea, ginger, turmeric and black pepper (Agribusiness in India, 2009). Our country is the second largest producer of wheat, rice, sugar, cotton, silk, peanuts and the third largest producer of tobacco. India is the largest fruit producer, accounting for 10% of the world fruit production. It is the leading producer of bananas, sapotas and mangoes (Indian agriculture ,2008) Out of 750,000 identified species , about 10,000 species of insects are important as pest throughout the world. Over 1,800 species of weeds out of the known 30,000 cause serious economic loss. About 15,000 species of nematodes produce more than 1,500 serious deleterious effects on plants. Over 1,00,000 species of pests destroy food which could be food for 135 million people. The word pest has no biological meaning. Pests are organisms that diminish the value of resources in which we are interested. In India, crops are affected by over 200 major pests, 100 plant diseases, hundreds of weeds and other pests like nematodes, harmful birds, rodents and the like. About 4,800 million rats cause havoc in India. Approximately, 30% of Indian crop yield potential is being lost due to insects, disease and weeds which in terms of quantity would mean 30 million tones of food grain. The value of total loss has been placed at Rs 50,000 million, represents about 18% of the gross national agriculture production. (Manncsa, 2009)

Degradation of Agroresiduces with Value Added Products by Solid State Fermentation with Calocybe Indica

Mushrooms are biotechnological produced food products from ligninocellulosic, the economic value of these has expanded all over world in the last two decades. The utilization of the insoluble lignocellulosic substrates by edible mushrooms depends upon the production of a wide array of lignocelllulolytic enzymes cellulose, hemicellulose, ligninase by the fungal mycelium which is a crucial part of the colonization process and is an important determinant of mushroom yield. Therefore, to exploit the potential of locally in vitro studies were carried out on the effect of supplementation on mycelial growth and enzymes production of Calocybe indica during solid state fermentation of wheat straw. (Shammi kapoor et al., 2009). The cultivation of edible mushroom is a prime example of how low-value waste which is produced primarily through the activities can be converted to a higher value commodity useful to mankind. India is blessed with varied agroclimate, abundance of agricultural wastes and manpower making it most suitable for the cultivation of all the types of temperate, subtropical and tropical mushrooms (FAO, 1997). Lignocelluloses wastes (LCW) refer to plant biomass wastes that composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Lignin degradation by white rot fungi has been extensively studied. The huge amounts of residual plant biomass considerable as “waste” can potentially be converted into various different value added products including biofules, chemicals cheep energy source for fermentation improved animal feeds and human materials (Howard et al., 2003). A number of agro industrial residues are thrown away as wastes or under utilized; more than half of the total production of plant residues mainly straw, leaves and forest wastes remain unused. The waste materials are partially burnt or disposed on land and composed (Kirk and Moore, 1972; Zadrazil, 1977, 1980). Some of the agricultural wastes are used as animal feed and raw materials in industries. One of the useful outlets for these raw materials is to utilize them as a substrate for growing edible mushroom which are in great demand in India. Ligninolytic enzymes are primarily involved in lignin degradation in oxidative reactions that are mainly free radical driven in the presence (or sometimes absence) of mediators. The main enzymes involved are lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase and laccase (Hao et al., 2006; Mtui and Nakamura, 2007, 2008; Mtui and Masalu, 2008). Advances in industrial biotechnology offer potential opportunities for economic utilization of agro-industrial residues. Biodevelopment of biowastes provide a wide range of affordable renewable value-added products from LCW (Pandey et al., 2000; vanWyk, 2001; Howard et al., 2003). Lignocellulosic enzymes, mainly from fungi and bacteria, are important commercial products of LCW bioprocessing used in many industrial applications including chemicals, fuel, food brewery and wine, animal feed, textile and laundey, pulp and paper and agricultural (Howard et al., 2003). The benefits of using waste residues as lignocellulosic feedstocks will be to introduce a sustainable solid waste management strategy for a number of lignocellulosic waste materials; contribute to the mitigation in greenhouse gases through sustained carbon and nutrient recycling; reduce the potential for water, air and soil contamination associated to broaden the feedstock source of raw materials for the bio-ethanol production industry (Champagne, 2007). The current supplies from LCW based oil crops and animal fats account for only approximately 0.3%, biodiesel from algae is widely regarded as one of the most efficient ways of generation biofuels and also appears to represent the only current renewable source of oil that could meet the global demand for transport fuels (Schenk et al., 2008). Biohydrogen production from agricultural residues such as olive husk pyrolysis (Ca lar and Demirba, 2002); conversion of wheat straw wastes into biohydrogen gas by cow dung compost (Fan et al., 2006); bagasse fermentation for hydrogen production (Singh et al., 2007) generate up to 70.6% gas yields. System optimization for agrowaste-based hydrogen production seems to be the ideal option for clean energy generation. Hydrogen generation from inexpensive abundant renewable biomass can produce cheaper hydrogen and achieve zero net greenhouse emissions (Zhang et al., 2007)

Mapping research areas and collaboration in the College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa

This paper examines the research output of the College of Human Sciences (CHS) at the University of South Africa (UNISA) with a view to determining the subjects or topics of research focus as well as the pattern and extent of research collaboration within the college. Using informetric approaches and more specifically the content analysis, the study employs various analytical technologies including UCINET for Windows, Microsoft Excel, Pajek, TI and TextStat to analyse data that was extracted from the University’s institutional research management system (IRMA). Results indicate that the research focus of the college is largely on HIV/AIDS; the most productive department was Christian Spirituality; the actual research output of the college is below the expected output; research is largely conducted singly as opposed to collaborative research; and that external research collaboration is common. Conclusions and recommendations for further research are provided

Can informetrics shape biomedical research? A case study of the HIV/AIDS research in sub-Saharan Africa1

Biomedical research is burgeoning as new dangerous diseases and healing methods emerge. Informetrics defined as methods or a research field that uses mathematical and statistical techniques and/or models to examine patterns that show up not only in publications but also in many aspects of life, as long as the patterns deal with information, are widely applied in the evaluation of research performance, among others. Informetrics measures can be divided into descriptive and evaluative measures, commonly referred to as production (publications) count and citation analysis respectively. Whereas the former has continued to gain popularity in sub-Saharan Africa, especially with regard to the assessment of research output of researchers, the latter is rarely applied. The paper focuses on the research evaluation, methods of research evaluation, and the pros and cons of using informetrics techniques to evaluate research performance. Further, the paper addresses the application of informetrics to examine whether or not informetrics can be used to shape biomedical research, with special reference to HIV/AIDS research in sub-Saharan Africa. In that regard, the paper reports on an informetrics perspective of the relatedness of opportunistic diseases and other factors (i.e. risk factors, pre-disposing factors, other sexually transmitted diseases, and the other tropical diseases) to:• Demonstrate the use of informetrics techniques in assessing the relatedness of a disease to the pathogens that are  associated with it.• Reveal that informetrics can be used to support and/or inform medical opinions regarding the relationship/influence of certainfactors/diseases with/on a given disease, e.g. HIV/AIDS.This paper concludes that the application of informetrics, using various techniques or methodologies associated with it, to shape research in different fields/disciplines, is feasible.Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Informetrics, Bibliometrics, Research evaluatio

CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES ON OPEN ACCESS: THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA PERSPECTIVE

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, through the Division for ICT, Science and Technology, and in partnership with donors and other multi stakeholders, has played a significant role at national and regional level in facilitating development and fine-tuning of policies to improve the use of ICT application and promote knowledge access for socio-economic development in Africa. In addition ECA as an Open Access publisher contributes to a wealth of knowledge detailing on important research or decisions that have been made on the economic and social developmental aspects in Africa. This has been made available through the ECA Institutional repository currently containing 17,000 metadata records with about 11,000 linked digital files. Furthermore, ECA has established the Access to Scientific Knowledge in Africa initiative (ASKIA), a framework for bringing together scientific and socio-economic information for the African community over an interactive online portal acting as a one-stop shop to such knowledge and associated information. Different modalities are proposed in achieving the goals of ASKIA taking into consideration the information needs of users, opportunities brought by new technologies and the global trends on knowledge exchange and dissemination. Capacity building to strengthen institutional capacities to capture, manage and disseminate local content is an integral part of the programme

Mapping media and information literacy skills during and after COVID-19, with special reference to online education, and commerce and trade

This paper examines literature from the COVID-19 period (2020-2022) to outline prevalent themes and essential competencies in the post-COVID era. Employing informetrics within a quantitative research approach, the study scrutinizes Scopus database data using COVID-19, e-learning, e-commerce, and media and information literacy terms. Results reveal a surge in scholarly focus on e-commerce, online learning, e-health, and ICTs, including social media. Identified were 355 media and information literacy terms, with digital, information, health, and media literacy at the forefront. Moreover, 244 corresponding competencies and skills were noted. The study emphasizes the necessity for comprehensive media and information literacy programs, diverse competencies, and stakeholder engagement in fostering a digitally literate society. Prioritizing skill development for navigating digital landscapes is vital amid the fourth industrial revolution, laying the groundwork for adept usage of media, information, and digital realms

Analytical model development and experimental investigation of process model size effects in microforming

With the emergence of micromanufacturing technologies, a critical need to develop process models that can accurately predict the required parameters, such as process forces, has arisen. As with the manufacturing processes themselves, macroscale process models can not effectively be used at the microscale due to size effects, i.e. changes in material and process parameters with miniaturization. Size effects with respect to material properties and frictional conditions have been demonstrated in past research. This dissertation demonstrates the existence of size effects due to process model assumptions and specimen deformation. The new models were evaluated by comparing the predicted results to both experimental and finite element simulation results. These new models showed significantly improved predictions of the peak forces for the microscale processes investigated. This is significant because sheet metal forming processes such as bending and extrusion are ideal fabrication techniques for mass production of parts at very competitive unit costs

The Impact of Bank Brand Image on Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: A Case of Kenya Commercial Bank

In the competitive banking industry, the impact of bank brand image on the attitudes and behaviors of customers become an important issue. For banks today, the strength and marketing power of an institution’s brand is rapidly becoming one of the critical levers for differentiation and success. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship among bank brand image, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. The researcher purposely selected one institution, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to conduct the research. The results reveal that bank brand image has positive effects on customer satisfaction and loyalty. It means that a positive bank brand image not only increases customer loyalty directly, but it also improves customer satisfaction through the enhancing of perceived service quality, which in turn increases the loyalty of customers. Bank brand image indeed serves as a lead factor in enhancing service quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. This study proposes that bank managers should strive to create and maintain the positive bank brand image in order to enhance customer satisfaction, and loyalty. Keywords: Bank brand image, Customer satisfaction, loyalt

Information and Communication Technologies for Agriculture (ICT4Ag) in sub-Saharan Africa: A bibliometrics perspective based on web of science data, 1991–2018

The purpose of this study was to assess research articles published on ICT4Ag in subSaharan Africa, with a view to determining the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the agricultural sector in the region. The agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most important sectors that have greatly benefited from the application of ICTs. Research on the application of ICTs is rapidly expanding and therefore requires synthesis to gauge the extent of publication, the subject focus of the research on ICTs for agriculture (hereafter simply referred to as ICT4Ag), and the trend of publication and countries contributing to research on ICT4Ag in sub-Saharan African countries. Relevant data were obtained from the Web of Science (WoS) citation databases using a search query, which combined a variety of agricultural terms and several key, words that constitute ICTs. It was found that ICTs are largely applied for communication and dissemination of agricultural information to and among stakeholders, including farmers and extension workers. Areas of application involve land use, crops [production], animal husbandry, conservation, [soil and crop]  management, and climate change. In terms of the broad disciplinary context, the application of ICTs in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa occurs mostly in agronomy, environmental sciences, and dairy and animal science. Although only a few specific names of ICTs were found in the literature on agriculture, ICT-led activities and applications such as remote sensing, GIS, computer programs, software, Landsat, and information systems, among others, provided insight into not only the areas but also the nature of ICT  application in agriculture in the region. The internet, radio, computers and mobile phones were among the few types of ICTs that featured in the ICT4Ag literature and are, therefore, deemed to be the commonly used in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Concerning the foreign countries that have collaborated with sub-Saharan Africa in ICT4Ag research, the USA, France and England featured the most, thereby signalling the continuation of colonial legacies in the region. Furthermore, the pattern of collaboration may signal the nature of knowledge and innovation diffusion for ICT4Ag in sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, results reveal a diversity of areas of ICT application in agriculture in the region. The study makes recommendations for further research in other geographical regions for comparison purposes; a study to explore other bibliographic databases such as Scopus; and a study to assess the impact of the ICTs on agricultural performance of the affected countries. Key words: Sub-Saharan Africa, Information technologies, Innovations, ICTs, ICT4Ag, Agriculture, Farming, Bibliometric