Research Papers/Topics in Agricultural And Bioresources Engineering

Techno-economic study of a Biomass Briquetting Unit

The present study analyses the ongoing efforts to solve the fuel crisis of The Western India Plywoods Ltd (WIP), a large wood-based panel industry in Kerala via fuel briquettes from wood wastes generated from its own various manufacturing units with a well proven technique called biomass briquetting. Saw dust and other wood wastes and residues from all types of primary and secondary wood processing operations are generally bulky in nature and are therefore expensive to store and transport. Al...

Evaluation of the Growth and the Nutritional Status of the Leaves and Roots of Moringa oleiferaunder the Influence of Organomineral Amendments in Humid Tropical Region

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of organomineral fertilizer on the growth and mineral composition of Moringa oleifera organs. The experiment included three doses of cow dung, three doses of mineral fertilizers and two doses combining mineral fertilizers and cow dung. Soil samples and samples of M. oleifera organs were analyzed. Results revealed the contribution of fertilizer to improve soil chemical properties, except pH. The best vegetative development was obtained with the d...

Characterization of briquettes produced from four lignocellulosic material admixtures using a hydraulic briquetting press (HBP)

The physical characteristics and combustion performance of briquettes produced from four lignocellulosic materials and its admixtures using a 5-ton HBP with a rectangular mould had been carried out.  The sole materials evaluated include sawdust, waste paper, cow dung and rice bran and its admixtures in the following proportions: Sawdust: paper (2:1), rice barn: paper (2:1), cow dung: paper (2:1), Rice bran: sawdust: paper (1:1:1) investigating the bonding properties of paper. The result show...

Modification and performance evaluation of a dual-function okra processing device

The performance evaluation of a dual-function device for slicing and drying Okra developed at the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu Nigeria was carried out and reported.  The device was designed to slice and dry okra in one single-sequence operation.  To evaluate the devices, some physical characteristics (the axial length, mean equivalent diameters and sphericity) of okra samples were measured to determine blade distance and other machine considerations.  The results showed that the...

Performance evaluation of three coconut cracking devices and comparison with conventional cracking technique

Performance of three coconut cracking devices; punch-split, impact-split, hydraulic-split were carried out and their comparison with conventional (hand cracking technique) evaluated. Each cracking technique was evaluated for capacity, efficiency, ergonomics, and time required to crack a unit of different coconut grades.  The results showed that the average cracking efficiency for punch-split was 87.09 percent with a range of 86.76 to 95.00 percent, impact-split efficiency varied from 83.33 ...

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Insecticidal Efficacy of Some Indigenous Plant Species against Flea Beetles on Okra

Abstract Leaves and stems of castor oil plant (Ricinus cummunis), Barbados nut plant (Jatropha curcas) and Goat weed (Ageratum conyzoides) were investigated in the field during the 2018 cropping season at Umudike against Okra flea beetles, Podagrica spp (P. uniforma and P. sjostedti) for their insecticidal efficacy. NH47-4 Okra variety was used in the trial. The experimental design was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with seven treatments and four replicates. Results showed that the ...

Biochemical and biometrics characterization of five varieties of Pistacia vera L. grown in Maoussa experimental station (northwest of Algeria)

Both biometric behavior study and fruit biochemical analysis of five varieties of Syrian Pistacia vera introduced in Algeria in 1998 and raised in semi-arid bioclimatic stage (common Maoussa, Mascara, Algeria) led to a qualitative comparison. Based on the pistachio descriptor criteria established by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute in 1997, characterization and descriptor of female varieties of pistachio were performed. The obtained results allow the better choice of sp...

Comparative Study of The Emergence and Growth of Young Seedlings of Five Varieties of Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) of Syrian Origin

The present work is to study the emergence and growth of seedlings of five pistachio varieties that are: Batouri, Achouri, Neb-Djemel, Adjmi and Bayadhi. The study was conducted in a greenhouse temperature and photoperiod were controlled. The seeds are germinated in pots filled with peat without going through the damp cold stratification at a temperature of 4ºC. The results obtained showed that growth parameters (length and diameter of the plants) revealed significant tests while other p...

Evaluation de la réponse du maïs (Zea mays L.) installé entre les haies de Tithonia diversifolia à Lubumbashi, R.D. Congo

Assessment of the response of maize (Zea mays L.) planted between hedgerows of Tithonia diversifolia in Lubumbashi, DR Congo Objective: Two trials were carried out over time at the Centre de Recherche Agroalimentaire (CRAA) and aimed at evaluating the behavior of maize cultivation in hedgerows of Tithonia diversifolia (Mexican sunflower). Methodology and results: The experimentation design was a completely randomized, the distances from maize planting lines to the T. diversifolia hedge ar...

Feeding Everyone: Solving the Food Crisis in Event of Global Catastrophes that Kill Crops or Obscure the Sun

Mass human starvation is currently likely if global agricultural production is dramatically reduced for several years following a global catastrophe: e.g. super volcanic eruption, asteroid or comet impact, nuclear winter, abrupt climate change, super weed, extirpating crop pathogen, super bacterium, or super crop pest. This study summarizes the severity and probabilities of such scenarios, and provides an order of magnitude technical analysis comparing caloric requirements of all humans for f...

Alternative Foods as a Solution to Global Food Supply Catastrophes

Analysis of future food security typically focuses on managing gradual trends such as population growth, natural resource depletion, and environmental degradation. However, several risks threaten to cause large and abrupt declines in food security. For example, nuclear war, volcanic eruptions, and asteroid impact events can block sunlight, causing abrupt global cooling. In extreme but entirely possible cases, these events could make agriculture infeasible worldwide for several years, creating...

Integrative Risk Management for abrupt catastrophes destroying 10%- 20% of global food supply

"Global Catastrophic Risks” collectively have ~1 in 10 probability of occurring per decade. With the possible exceptions of China, USA and South Korea, current resilience, financial systems and relief capacity are designed to mitigate only limited food price increases (such as in 2008 which was caused by impacts totalling

Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions for Alternate Food to Address Agricultural Catastrophes Globally

The literature suggests there is about a 1 % risk per year of a 10 % global agricultural shortfall due to catastrophes such as a large volcanic eruption, a medium asteroid or comet impact, regional nuclear war, abrupt climate change, and extreme weather causing multiple breadbasket failures. This shortfall has an expected mortality of about 500 million people. To prevent such mass starvation, alternate foods can be deployed that utilize stored biomass. This study developed a model with litera...

Feeding Everyone if the Sun is Obscured and Industry is Disabled

A number of catastrophes could block the sun, including asteroid/comet impact, super volcanic eruption, and nuclear war with the burning of cities (nuclear winter). The problem of feeding 7 billion people would arise (the food problem is more severe than other problems associated with these catastrophes). Previous work has shown this is possible converting stored biomass to food if industry is present. A number of risks could destroy electricity globally, including a series of high-altitude e...


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