Asian Journal of Advances in Agricultural Research

The study examined effect of occupational hazards on poverty status of cassava processors in the study area. Specifically, the study profiled the cassava processors based on their poverty status and determined the factors influencing it. It identifies the general processing activities, the occupational hazard associated with cassava processing and safety measures used.

A multistage sampling technique was applied. Three local governments areas (LGAs) were purposively selected based on large cassava producers and processors in the area. Two wards each from the LGAs, forms the second stage and the processors were selected using. In all, 215 cassava processors from the study area were used for the study. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Ordinary least square regression analysis. The result showed that the mean age of the cassava processors is 48 years. It also revealed that majority of the cassava processor in the study area were women (86.51%) and married (77.21%). The mean household size in the study area was7 persons and it implies that the cassava processors had fairly large household size. The average years spent in school was 7 years. The regression analysis result revealed that poverty status of the cassava processors is influenced by household size (5%), work experience (10%), cost of treatment for eye irritation (5%) and general cut (1%). Inhalation of smoke ranked highest among the occupation hazard identified while the least rank in this category was damage done to the lungs due to inhaled smoke. The use of sun hats/ caps to prevent excessive heat ranked highest amongst the safety measure adopted to combat the occupational hazard.  It was recommended that extension agent should further enlighten and orientate the processors on the importance of using safety guards such as foot wear so as to prevent snake bite, use of modern methods of processing cassava that will minimize or eradicate the identified hazards in the study area.

A field experiment was conducted at the Agronomy field of central research farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from June 2014 to December 2014 to study the influence of nitrogen on growth and seed quality of T. Aman rice variety with interaction effects between nitrogen doses and T. Aman rice varieties. The experiment consisted of two factors such as nitrogen fertilizer and variety. these were as follows: Factor A: Nitrogenous fertilizer (6 levels) viz. N₀- controlled, N₁- 50% less than BRRI recommended dose, N₂- 25% less than BRRI recommended dose, N₃- BRRI Recommended dose, N₄- 25% higher than BRRI recommended dose, N₅- 50% higher than BRRI recommended dose and Factor B: T. Aman rice (3 varieties) viz. V₁ – BRRI dhan44, V₂ - BRRI dhan54, V₃ - BRRI dhan56. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replications. Nitrogen was assigned to main plots and variety to sub-plots. In case of different levels of nitrogen, the treatment N4 (25% higher than BRRI recommended dose) showed good morphological growth and also produced good quality seed than other treatments which is also true for variety V1 (BRRI dhan44). The interaction of N₄V₁ (25% higher than recommended dose with BRRI dhan44) treatment is suitable for producing better plant growth and seed of T. Aman rice. The study was concluded that higher dose of urea than BRRI recommendation dose with BRRI dhan44 variety produced good quality seed.

The National Crops Varieties and Livestock Breeds Registration and Release Committee in Nigeria is domiciled in the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Moor – Plantation, Ibadan, Nigeria. The Director/Chief Executive Officer of NACGRAB doubles as the Registrar of National Crops Varieties and Livestock Breeds Registration and Release Committee. Before the Promulgation of Decree 33 of 1987, there was no national institutional mechanism for the validation of claims by individual or institutions on the development of new crop varieties or institutions on the development of new crop varieties or livestock breeds. However from 1937 to 2013, thirty-six (36) different crops were released and / or registered in Nigeria. The ones previously released before Decree 33 of 1987 were retroactively registered in 1991. If the thirty-six (36) crops are grouped into nine (9) sub-divisions, we have root and tuber crops (72), legumes (82), cereals (248), vegetable crops (33), fruits, beverages and tree Crops (37), oil crops (7), spices crops (5), Latex crops (17) and fibre crops (15). The total number of released materials, as of 2013 were 516 crop varieties, however, there exists some gaps to be addressed.

The study examined the key gene Dishevelled (Dvl or Dsh) in Wnt (Wingless and INT-1) signaling pathways. The gene (Dvl) was characterized in the flat fish Paralichthys olivaceus for its expression pattern structure and phylogenetics at the Ocean University of China in Qingdao, China in 2018. Three gene paralogues (Dvl1, Dvl2 and Dvl3) of the Dvl family were cloned in P. olivaceus and a N-terminal DAX domain, a central PDZ domain and a C-terminal DEP domain were discovered in all three protein paralogues. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Dvl genes in P. olivaceus are most closely related to those in marine teleosts Larimichthys crocea and Stegastes partitus, followed by those in Cynoglossus semilaevis. For each Dvl gene, the genes in teleosts fall into a clade independent from the ones in other vertebrates, suggesting that the duplication of Dvl genes occurred prior to the divergence of vertebrates. The temporal expression patterns of the three Dvl genes were characterized during the embryonic development of teleosts. In P. olivaceus, all three Dvl genes remain at low expression levels during the early stages of development until gastrula stage, when the expression of Dvl1 was significantly up-regulated. The research revealed vastly different temporal expression patterns of Dvl genes and suggested that the structure of Dvl proteins is conserved, but the expression patterns of Dvl genes vary significantly among different classes.

Tractor wheel slippage is a critical parameter for fuel consumption and field performance and should not exceed 15%. Several attempts have been made to study the wheel slippage of the agricultural tractor in order to minimize it to acceptable levels during the tillage operations. There are many different types of implements for soil tillage, each one of them affects the wheel slippage in a different way. Moreover, several studies have found many operating conditions that can affect the wheel slippage significantly such as: soil moisture content, tillage speed, ballast weights and the type of implement used for tillage. This article reviews the relationship between them which gives possibility for further research to focus on the potential solutions to decrease the tractor driving wheel slippage which can positively affect the fuel consumption. Increase the additional mass of the tractor, decrease the air pressure in the tires, avoid tilling the soil that is too wet or too dry and, choose the right implement, speed and depth can decrease the tractor driving wheel slippage.