African Journal of Agriculture

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (11), pp. 001-010, November, 2024. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Review

Exploring Investment Potential in Tomato Processing Industries in Kano, Northern Nigeria

Adegbola JA, Awagu F, Adu EA, Anugwom UD, Ishola DT, and Bodunde AA

Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute, PMB 3032, Kano, Nigeria

Accepted 20 July, 2024

Abstract

This review delves into tomato processing into different products using tomato paste as a base. It discussed tomato production in Nigeria and the glut that’s a regular phenomenon during tomato seasons. Again, it talks about the wastages that occur because of the glut and also because of the inherent nature of tomato which predisposes it to perish after harvest when left in its natural state. Also, it discusses the necessary steps to undertake in production of processed tomato, advantages and disadvantages of processed tomato, and gave in-depth step by step processing procedures for the production of different tomato products. Furthermore, it dwelled on issues relating to packaging of finished tomato products, packaging development consideration, types of packaging, production capacity, marketing of tomato products, requirements for setting up a small scale processing centre, analysis of investment in tomato paste processing, hygiene in tomato processing, and product registration. Conclusively, it maintained that establishing tomato processing centres by investors would help create wealth and employment and in the long run help nip tomato wastages in Nigeria in the bud.

Keywords: Tomato, Wastages, Packages, small scale, Tomato paste.

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (11), pp. 001-009, November, 2024. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Analyzing the Variations in Food Consumption Between Rural and Urban Households in North-Central Nigeria: Insights from a Micro-Econometric Approach

Obayelu, A. E.*, Okoruwa, V. O. and Oni, O. A.

Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Accepted 21 May, 2024

Abstract

This paper examines whether there are differences in food consumption patterns between the rural and urban households in the North-central Nigeria using food consumption data obtained from households’ seven days memory recall. While analytical tools like the descriptive statistics were used, the nature of data on fruits and vegetable with a lot of zero consumption led to the employment of the double-hurdle model. The results of the descriptive statistics revealed heterogeneity in consumption and expenditure patterns across households in rural and urban areas. While the urban residents purchase 37.9% of the food they consume, families in rural areas purchase only 26.6%. The most commonly consumed foods among urban populations included rice, fat and oil, bread, soft drink, sugar and milk, while those in rural areas was substantially different and included yam and cassava flour. Urban households in both states consumed more rice, fat and oil, bread, soft drink, sugar and milk with less yam and cassava flour compared to the rural households. Households’ decision to participate in fruits and vegetable food group from double-hurdle model was based on their income, location, membership of cooperative group and access to refrigerator. The actual consumption was based on income and their membership of social group. There is the need to increase households’ income and access to fruits and vegetable preservation facilities to facilitate the consumption of the food items.

Key words: Consumption, zero food consumption, food consumption differential, double-hurdle.
 

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (10), pp. 001-006, October, 2024. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Mitigating Unexpected Challenges in Biofuels: Analyzing the Interconnections Among Fuel, Food Security, and Forest Conservation

Clayton W. Ogg

US Environmental Protections Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., EPA West 4339T, MC 1809T, Washington, DC 20460. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 202-566-2315. Fax: 202-566-2339.

Accepted 16 July, 2024

Abstract

Biofuel policies involve a convergence between, policies to protect ecosystems and reduce greenhouse gases and policies to support food security and agricultural income. Beginning in 1985, agricultural programs shifted dramatically from being a major cause of environmental damage to providing a strong leverage which encouraged the most environmentally beneficial practices. Biofuel programs are erasing some of those gains. Careful review of the literature indicates that biofuel incentives considerably increase both food prices and destruction of the world’s tropical ecosystems, even though funding organizations have been slow to document the latter. Attempts to frame the policy issues as a pursuit of “biofuel sustainability” apparently understate environmental and food security challenges and could undermine over 2 decades of efforts to make farm programs more equitable, market oriented and environmentally friendly.

Key words: Biofuels, deforestation, water quality, food prices, equity.
 

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (10), pp. 001-011, October, 2024. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Analyzing the Welfare Implications of Electricity Outages: A Contingent Valuation Approach Focused on Households in Kampala, Jinja, and Entebbe Suburbs

Eseza Kateregga

Makerere University Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economic Policy and Planning, P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda. E-mail: [email protected].

Accepted 19 July, 2024

Electricity power outages have been quite rampant in Uganda since the early 1990s.The water hyacinth, faults in the transmission and distribution systems, other generation related faults and the everincreasing demand for electric energy in the face of a given load capacity, are factors that have been responsible for the numerous outages experienced by both commercial and domestic power consumers. Inconveniences that result from such power cuts are likely to differ across consumers depending on the types of consumption requiring power in different time periods. In this study, we use the contingent valuation method to elicit outage costs for electric energy consumers in 3 Ugandan suburbs. We subjected respondents to 8 descriptions of outage scenarios. We used payment cards and open-ended questions to elicit outage costs that accrue from each type of outage. Willingness to pay (WTP) means and medians for each outage type was estimated following the Ayer et al. (1955) estimation procedure and the implied aggregate outage costs calculated. The effects of socio-economic factors on responses from the open-ended questions were explored using Tobit model with sample selection effects. We find that electric energy as the main source of cooking fuel in the household, income and substitution costs were significant determinants of open-ended WTP.

Key words: Willingness to pay, electricity outage costs.
 

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (9), pp. 001-009, September, 2024. Available online at https://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajaoas/table-of-contents © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper
 

The Role of Pellet Fertilization in Enhancing Wheat Yield and Agronomic Traits

Jeiran Eyvazi¹, Hamid Irannejad¹, Mohammad Hussein Kianmehr¹, Mohammad Esmaeili², Qolam Ali Akbari1 & Richard N. Onwonga³

¹Department of Agronomy, University College Aboureihan, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran,

²Agricultural Research Center of Kheiabad, Zanjan, Iran

³Department of Land Resource Management and Agricultural Technology, University of Nairobi

Accepted 12 August 2024

Abstract

Increased use of fertilizer nitrogen (N) in agricultural production continues to raise concerns, because of the risk of surplus N leaving the plant-soil system and thereby causing environmental contamination. Therefore, decreasing nitrate leaching from crop production fields, such as in wheat fields, is of considerable importance. Against this backdrop, a field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of pellet fertilizer, produced by mixing urea and dry cow dung manure, on wheat yield and its components. The study was carried out, during the 2007-2008 wheat-growing season, at the experimental farm of Zanjan Agricultural Research Center in Iran. The experimental layout was a randomized complete block design replicated four times. The pellet fertilizer was produced by mixing urea (50, 100 and 150kg N/ha) with dry cow dung (100, 200 and 300 kg/ha i.e. twice the rate of urea). The mixture was ground and compressed by closed die method at three levels (167, 223 and 279 mp) of compressive forces, giving a total of ten treatments including; treatments nine of pellet fertilizer plus a control treatment with 150kg N ha-1. The biological yield, grain yield, number of spikes per square meter, number of grains per spike, grain weight, harvest index, and grain protein content was calculated. Treatment T7 significantly produced better harvest index, higher number of spikes/m2, highest 1000 grain weight, the maximum biological yield, the maximum grain yield and highest grain protein content per hectare. The use of pellet fertilizer is therefore a better alternative to uncoated urea due to its slow and continuous nutrient release for plant uptake at different stages of its growth.

Key words: Biological yield, dry cow dung, urea, grain protein content, Wheat, Grain yield.

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (9), pp. 001-011, September, 2024. Available online at https://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajaoas/table-of-contents © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Characterization and Mechanical Evaluation of Starch/Natural Rubber Biocomposites with X-ray Diffraction and Crosslink Density Assessment

Uzoh Raymond D.¹*, Buba Ardo A.² and Osemeahon Sunday²

¹Chemical Science Technology, School of Science Technology, Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria.

²Chemistry Department, School of Physical Science, Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH), Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria.

Received 11 October, 2023; Accepted 4 July, 2024

Abstract

Starch fillers were extracted from three plant sources namely amora tuber, Tacca lentopeteloides; sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas; yam starch, Dioscorea rotundata and their particle size, pH, amylose, and amylopectin percentage decomposition determined accordingly. The starch was introduced into natural rubber in liquid phase (through gelatinization) by the latex compounding method and compounded according to standard method. The prepared starch/natural rubber composites was characterized by Instron Universal testing machine (UTM) for tensile mechanical properties. The composites was further characterized by x-ray diffraction and crosslink density analysis. The particle size determination showed that amora starch granules has the smallest particle size (156 × 47 μm) followed by yam starch (155 × 40 μm) and then sweet potato starch (153 × 46 μm) with the biggest particle size. The pH test also revealed that amora starch has a near neutral pH of 6.9, yam 6.8, and sweet potato 5.2 respectively. Amylose and amylopectin determination showed that yam starch has a higher percentage of amylose (29.68), followed by potato (22.34) and then amora starch with the lowest value (14.86) respectively. The tensile mechanical properties testing revealed that yam starch produced the best tensile mechanical properties followed by amora starch and then sweet potato starch. The structure, crystallinity/amorphous nature of the product composite was confirmed by x-ray diffraction, while the nature of crosslinking was confirmed by swelling test in toluene solvent using the Flory- Rehner approach. The increasing values of crosslink density in the starch/rubber composite is a clear evidence of good interfacial adhesion between the starch fillers and the rubber, hence good dispersion of starch fillers in the rubber. This research has rendered a workable strategy for enhancing interfacial interaction between a hydrophilic filler (Starch) and hydrophobic polymeric matrix (natural rubber) yielding moderately good tensile mechanical properties with prospects for the rubber processing industry. The studied fillers can partially replace carbon black as natural rubber fillers with reduced cost, no risk to human health and also an environment friendly approach.

Key words: Natural rubber, fillers, starch, amylose, amylopectin, crosslink density, mechanical properties.