Asian Research Journal of Agriculture

The production of sugarcane is increasing in Nigeria nowadays. Juice extracted from sugarcane can be used extensively in manufacturing brown sugar, industrial sugar and bioethanol fuel through the process of fermentation; hence, the need to develop a machine that can extract juice from sugarcane effectively. This work involves the design, fabrication and performance evaluation of sugarcane juice extractor. The machine was designed to extract juice from sugarcane at small scale level suitable for small and medium scale sugarcane processors. The prototype machine was designed, fabricated and assembled in the Department of Agricultural and Bio-resources Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The machine consists of rollers, gears, cane guide, juice collector, frame, and prime mover. The developed machine was evaluated using koma variety of cane and obtained an output capacity of 148.2 kg/h and extraction efficiency of 67.44%, respectively at a speed of 30 rpm. The production cost stood at N 90,000 which is affordable and therefore recommended for small scale processors.

The assessment of agricultural vulnerability to flood in Ngaski Local Government Area of Kebbi State, Nigeria was carried out. The study made use of ASTER data of 2017 with spatial resolution of 30m, topographical map at a scale of 1:50,000, monthly rainfall data for 35 covering the study area and soil map at a scale of 1:50,000. Thematic maps for soil, rainfall and elevation were produced converted to raster data in GIS environment. Each data set in a single map was given weight by pair-wise comparison; reclassification of each map was done based on the weights generated from the pair-wise comparison of each dataset. The results showed that the rainfall recorded in the study area ranges from 950mm to 1150mm and this is categorized between high and very high under the pair-wise comparison rating. The elevation is such that parts of the study area had high elevation that ranges between 226m and 255m and low elevation that ranged between 125m and 167m giving room to flooding. The soil types in the study area are such that encourage flooding coupled with high amount of rainfall on one hand and the high and low elevations experience across the study area. For the farmers to sustain agricultural activities as a result of flooding, they practiced mixed farming, shifting cultivation, terrace farming, fallow and arable farming. The above farming systems were practiced by the farmers to alternate, avoid or take advantage of the floods. In conclusion, the study recommends the use of more resistant seedlings and crops to flooding, channelization of the river should be carried out by the government to reduce the level of flooding across the study area among others.

The economy of Ethiopians depends chiefly on agriculture. The major staple grains are the most important field crops and the chief element in the diet of most Ethiopians. Maize is the largest and most productive crop in Ethiopia. In 2007/08, maize production was 4.2 million tons, 40 percent higher than teff, 56 percent higher than sorghum, and 75 percent higher than wheat production. Postharvest losses are major problem in enhancement of maize production. The main controlling mechanism to avoid these losses is using appropriate grain storage. As FAO introduced  stated household metal silo is a key post-harvest technology in the fight against hunger and for food security. The house hold air tight metal silos generally hold between 100 and 3 000 kilos. The objective of this activity is to minimize post-harvest losses of maize grains by introducing this airtight silos in selected wordea’s of the region.

Different air tight silos were manufactured according the SDC Manual for Manufacturing Metal Silos for Grain Storage in MAMRERC workshop. Preliminary test was conducted to check air leakage and strength of welding of the silo. Farmers were selected based on the willingness and resource they have. Weight loss, relative humidity, temperature, moisture content, count breakage from 1000kernel and insects occurred and farmer’s perception was collected in compiring with tradition silo and plastic bag.

From these the air tight silo has low weight loss form 125gm initially and after recorded for six months the weight reduces to 122.6, 114.35, and 112.25gms respectivly.  The moisture of maize grain decrease  from 13% have different in the three containers 26.48, 28.72 and 27 and difference of  -0.52, 1.72, and 0 and average Relative humidity's are 7.96, 4.96, and 3.96 for metal silo, traditional Gottera and plastic bag respectively.  The counted and damaged from 1000 kernels are high in plastic bag and traditional silo. the farmers perception in relative advantage and characteristic of the silo are good.

Introduction: Combining ability studies in sweetpotato marketable root yield were carried out using ten sweetpotato varieties and their F₁ hybrids in Cylas formicarius endemic (Omu Aran) and free (Ibadan) environments during 2012 cropping season.

Study Design: The genetic material used for this experiment was from the germplasm                collection of the Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. This material               comprised of 10 varieties of sweetpotato: 5 orange fleshed, 3 white fleshed and 2 yellow             fleshed.

Place and Duration of Study: The field trial was carried out in C. formicarius endemic (Omu Aran) and Non-endemic (Ibadan) environments both in South West Nigeria during the raining season of 2012.

Methods: Collected data were subjected to diallel analysis using Griffing (15) approach in method I (parents, crosses reciprocals together), Model I (fixed effects). Both general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining abilities (SCA) were computed using PBTools, version 1.4. for the 10 parents and their F₁ hybrids with respect to C. formicarius.

Results and Discussion: The result obtained from this study showed that some parents were tolerant to C. formicarius, but level of tolerance varied probably due to differences in genetic background among the parental population or time of planting. Hybrids from the parents resisto, TIS 87/0087 displayed high performance in term of C. formicarius tolerance. These parents and their hybrids appeared to have gene pools for C. formicarius tolerance that can be manipulated and used to develop promising hybrids in South west, Nigeria.  

Aims: In this experiment, evaluation of intake, digestibility and growth performances of local growing bulls by feeding Jumbo-green, Para and German grass based on Index (M_f) of Maize are considered and ranked this fodder accordingly.

Study Design:  Completely randomized block design.

Place and Duration of Study: Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI), Savar, Dhaka, between July 2016 and September 2016.

Methodology: Biomass production efficiency (Xddm), animal production efficiency (Xap), CH₄ emission deduction efficiency (X_CH4) and benefit to cost efficiency (Xbc) was considered to identify the biological characteristics of four fodders. Statistical analysis was done through SPSS-17 to evaluate the intake, digestibility and growth of animal. Rank of each fodder was calculated through the equation of Maize index (Mi) = (Xddm + Xap + X_CH4 + Xbc)/4.

Results: Aggregation of four arithmetic average efficiency; Jumbo-green, Para and German got 0.42, 0.40 and 0.72 point out of 1.0 point of Mi, respectively. Among four fodders German grass performed best in terms of average daily gain (107 gm/d) and feed conversion ratio (46.9) compared to maize silage (64 gm/d & 58.4, respectively). Weight loss of bulls fed Jumbo and Para has occurred unexpectedly.

Conclusion: In combination of mathematical calculation and statistical evaluation, the rank of four fodders measured as Maize>German>Jumbo-green>Para.

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer rates on the growth and yield tomato at Northwestern Zone of Tigray during 2016-2017 cropping season under irrigation condition. It  is  the  most  cultivated  and  high  market  value  of  vegetable crops  in  Tigray  Northern Ethiopia. However, tomato production is limited due to low fertility of soil and inappropriate fertilizer rate. Six different levels of nitrogen (0, 23, 46, 69, 92 and 115 kg N /ha) and six different levels of phosphorus (0, 46, 69, 92,115 and 138 kg P₂O₅/ ha) were used and laid out in randomized complete block design with three replication. (Melkasalsa) tomato variety was used as a testing variety. The current findings showed that the highest marketable tomato fruit yield (61.16 t/ha) were obtained in 115 kg N/ha (250 kg urea/ha) and 92 kg P₂O₅ (200 kg Di Ammonium Phosphate DAP /ha).  But, the profitable yield obtained was at N₂P₂ (46 kg N & 69 P₂O₅ kg ha^-1) that is 100 kg/ha of Urea combined with 150 kg/ha of DAP yield was obtained 48.25 t ha^-1 and the profit was 235502 birr per ha with the maximum Marginal Rate of Return of 26.16%. Therefore, 100 kg/ha of urea with 150 kg/ha of DAP was recommended for the growers to improve tomato fruit productivity in the study area.

The study analysed the poverty status and the determinants among farmers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Primary data were collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire and a total of 267 respondents were chosen using a multi-stage random sampling technique. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, poverty index (Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT), logit regression, and correlation matrix. The headcount index of the pooled data indicated that 49 percent of the respondents in the study area was poor with poverty severity and poverty gap indices of 0.15 and 0.25 respectively. The depth of poverty was higher and severe among the female homestead gardeners in Tyhefu and farmers with less than 2ha of farmland. The logit regression revealed that years spent in school, household size, size of cultivated farmland, extension services, and being a member of an association have a significant influence on the likelihood of being poor. Only the age of the respondents was not significant. The study therefore recommends that institutions in charge of credit facilities, education, and extension services be strengthened to give farmers meaningful wellbeing.