Abstract The element of risk taking in entrepreneurial orientation reflects calculated and manageable risks. Risk taking is a dominant attribute of entrepreneurship as the higher the risk-taking orientation, the higher a firm’s profitability and growth. This purpose of this paper was to establish the influence of entrepreneurial risk taking and firm performance of agro processing small and medium enterprises in Kenya. The study findings revealed that risk taking has a positive impact on fi...
Abstract In semi-arid regions, climate change has affected crop growing season length and sowing time, potentially causing low yield of the rainfed staple crop pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) and food insecurity among smallholder farmers. In this study, we used 1994–2023 rainfall data from Namibia’s semi-arid North-Central Region (NCR), receiving November–April summer rainfall, to analyze rainfall patterns and trends and their implications on the growing season to propose climate ...
Abstract: Renewable eco-friendly options for crop protection are fundamental in achieving sustainable agriculture. Here, we demonstrate the use of a biodegradable lignocellulosic banana-paper matrix as a seed wrap for the protection of potato plants against potato cyst nematode (PCN), Globodera rostochiensis. Potato cyst nematodes are devastating quarantine pests of potato globally. In East Africa, G. rostochiensis has recently emerged as a serious threat to potato production. Wrapping seed ...
Abstract: There is tremendous growth of data generated from different industries, i.e., health, agriculture, engineering, etc. Consequently, there is demand for more processing power. Compared to computer processing units, general-purpose graphics processing units (GPUs) are rapidly emerging as a promising solution to achieving high performance and energy efficiency in various computing domains. Multiple forms of parallelism and complexity in memory access have posed a challenge in developin...
In this study, three distinct and unique modes of greenhouse drying are introduced: solar, solar-exhaust gas, and exhaust gas modes of drying. The effect of drying black nightshade seeds in the three modes was studied, using germinability as a measure of quality. In solar mode, seeds were dried from a moisture content of 89.34% (db) to 7.13% (db) with the greenhouse dryer room air temperature range of 14.82-58.46°C and relative humidity of 9.40-88.03%. In solar-exhaust gas mode drying was pe...
Abstract: The current study aimed to use, besides solar, waste heat from exhaust gas of a diesel engine operated for milling of grain, to dry black nightshade seeds. Assessment of thin layer models for simulating drying kinetics of black nightshade seeds was performed in a solar-exhaust gas greenhouse dryer operated on solar; solar-exhaust gas; and exhaust gas modes. In solar mode, seeds took 11 hours to reach a final moisture content of 7.13% (db) from an initial one of 89.34% (db). In solar...
Abstract: In this study, the use of supplemental heat energy from exhaust gas of a stationary diesel engine was assessed to explore a new method of drying black nightshade seeds in a solar-exhaust gas greenhouse dryer. The energy recovery potential of a hybrid recuperative heat exchanger (HRHE) was demonstrated with the objective of utilizing the recovered energy from an engine on milling operations to heat a fluid stream of drying air. The results show that 4.45 kW of thermal energy was avai...
The soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines, is the most damaging pathogen of soybeans in the United States. To assess the severity of nematode infestations in the field, SCN egg population densities are determined. Cysts (dead females) of the nematode must be extracted from soil samples and then ground to extract the eggs within. Sucrose centrifugation commonly is used to separate debris from suspensions of extracted nematode eggs. We present a method using OptiPrep as a density gra...
We describe a microfluidic platform that can be used to study the hydroponic growth of Arabidopsis plants with high-resolution visualization of root development and root-pathogen interactions. The platform comprises a set of parallel microchannels with individual input/output ports, where 1-day old germinated seedlings are initially placed. Under optimal conditions, a root system grows in each microchannel and its images are recorded over a 198-h period. Different concentrations of plant g...
A variable amplitude and frequency of mechanical vibrating container working on cam and follower mechanism have been established. This study carried out a performance evaluation on the utilization of the established vibrating container for potential application in slowing down sprouting in yam. The vibrating container is electrically operated and a variable speed electric motor of 15, 000 rpm was selected for the machine. The performance parameters of the established mechanical vibrating cont...
At a high frequency of vibration; the cam of a vibrator always encounters the issue of jamming or the follower rolling off or losing contact with the cam when the appropriate design is not carried out. This study, therefore, developed the shape of the cam profile of mechanical yam vibrator using cycloid motion. Displacement equations from the base circle to the cam profile were developed to obtain the shape of the cam using cycloid motion. A vibrometer was used to evaluate the developed...
As we know, nowadays issues in the agriculture field are a major concern. According to the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, 5,579 Indian farmers died by suicide in 2020. There are many conflicting reasons for farmer suicides which are mentioned by Activists and scholars but high debt burdens, crop failure, mental health, and personal issues have been some of the most common causes amongst them. So, what is the solution that would work in farmers’ favor...
Abstract Purpose: Thepresentoldstandardefficiencymotors(SEM)inblackteaprocessingmachineryconsumelargeamountofelectricity,thusincreasesthecostofproduction.Technologicallyimprovedhigh-efficiencymotors(HEM)orHEMcoupledwith variablespeeddrive(VSD)couldbeusefultoachievehigh-energyefficiency.Therefore,astudywasconductedwiththefocusto determinethefeasibilityofintroducingHEMandVSDinwitheringandrollingmachineryofblackteamanufacturing. Methods: Awitheringtroughandtwodifferentcapacityrotorvanerollerswe...
Mechanised agriculture has the potential to supply Nigeria with the export needs, it requires to diversify and close its GDP gap. This potential can be actualised if the rural agricultural farmers adopted the use of mechanised irrigation farming techniques. The wind is widespread in Nigeria and wind-powered irrigation system is a clean and decentralised alternative for providing rural communities with electricity for meeting domestic and irrigation farming power needs in a sustainable way. In...
Abstract Egg incubators with regular, effective and efficient operation have the capacities of providing enough poultry birds which can serve every household in Nigeria with sufficient amount of protein on daily basis. Although many commercial incubators in Nigeria has folded up due to epileptic and erratic electricity supply which disrupts and impairs the operation of the incubators and reduce their level of performance resulting into low production and high cost of poultry birds. In order t...