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- ItemDEVELOPMENT OF A FOUR-ROW TRACTOR MOUNTED SOYBEAN PLANTER(2023-05)The traditional method of planting soybean in Nigeria does not result in obtaining maximum yield of the crop per unit area. This is due to either incorrect number of plants per stand, interrow spacing or intra-row spacing. This research work is embarked upon to develop a four-row tractor mounted precision soybean planter in order to address these challenges.The planter was designed, fabricated (in the months of June, July, and August, 2021) and evaluated in theDepartment of Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria, during 2021 raining season. The planter has functional unitsoffour hoppers, four seed metering units, four press wheel, four delivery chutes, four furrow openers, and four soil covering devices. The individual planting units werearranged on the main frame at inter-row spacingof 50 cm as recommended by the agronomic practices of planting soybeans.The developed planter was evaluated both laboratory and on the field in terms of planting speed, seedling emergence, intra-row spacing, seed delivery rate, number of seeds per hole and percentage seed damage. The laboratory calibration test of the planter shows that it can deliver one (1) single seed per hole of soybeans (TGX 1951-3F) variety and 1.4% seed damage. The developed planter was mounted at the three-point linkage of the tractor (EICHER, Model: 5660, 50 hp) rear end; soybean seeds was poured in to the hopper. The tractor was set to 7 km/h, 10 km/h and 15 km/h and at 2 cm and 4 cm depth of planting and operated. A tractor forward speed of 15 km/h at 2 cm depth of planting produced the best combination in terms of seed emergence. The intra-row spacing averages 5.7 cm, and 50 cm inter-row spacing with an estimation of 400,000 plants per hectare. The results obtained from the field showed that the seed delivery rate was 48.2kg/ha, effective field capacity of 1.14 ha/hand field efficiency of 76.6%. These results indicate that the developed planter could plant 1 seed of soybean variety (TGX 1951-3F) per hole, efficient, affordable for optimum soybean plant population per hectare
- ItemASSESSMENT OF WATER AVAILABILITY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN GORONYO RESERVOIR, SOKOTO STATE, NIGERIA(2021-11)Climatic parameters are exposed to variation due to the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases.Hence, it is essential to assess the water availability and demand under the climate variation in Goronyo Reservoir, Sokoto State Nigeria. since the supply of water is one of the significant tasks in water resources management. In this study, estimation of available water, demand, and unmet demand was simulated using Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) Software with the opinion of assessing the availability of water for its uses under climate change, TheReservoir is situated in Goronyo Local Government Area, Sokoto State, Northwest Nigeria. The study uses Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP model) softwareto assess the influences of climate variability on the water availability of the area. This model allows simulation and analysis of various scenarios and water allocations. The water availability, Demand, Supplies, and Unmet were modeled with climatic data and water use rate. The model was satisfactorily calibrated and validated. Simulations were proposed for various climatic situations considering global climate change model (GCM) predictions and the linear trend of the data. Nine (9) selected climate change scenarios of temperature increases (i.e. 0, +0.4, +0.8, +1.2 oC) combined with an increase or decrease in rainfall (0, -10%, +10%) were applied for the study area in the WEAP model software for simulation. The model was used to analyze the linkage between water availability and demand for domestic and irrigation uses. This was projected to the future to analyze what would happen in years to come up to 2070. The demand and unmet were obtained as the output of the model. Results showed that the mean average volume of 737.9 million cubic meters (MCM), the maximum average volume of 824.3 MCM mainly in the wet period ranges from May – October, and the minimum mean average volume of 546.6 MCM mostly in a dried month i.e. April available in the reservoir. The annual total demand for various uses from 2018 to 2070 was obtained to be 7069.4 MCMand the annual average of 133.4 MCM. Meanwhile, the unmet demand was with annual total ranges from 1157.5 MCM to 1199.7 MCM and an annual average of 21.84 MCM to 22.64 MCM. The highest unmet was recorded under Scenario 9 with a 1.2 oC increase in temperature and a10% decrease in precipitation. In Conclusion, it was found that the demand in the area is 6 times higher in years to come i.e. 50 years from now and the deficit is 61% increased.It is recommended that the irrigation system (furrow irrigation system)should be improved to minimized water demand and also extraction from other means such as groundwater could relieve the stress on the available source, the reused of wastewater for other domestic uses such as the washing of lawn and watering of gardening will also help a lot in utilizing limited available resources.
- ItemDEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FOUR ROW ANIMAL DRAWN MAIZE SEED PRECISION PLANTER(2022-01)Crop planting is very essential to increase production by facilitating optimum plant population per area and reduce unnecessary competition among crops. It is accomplished by any of broadcasting, seed drilling, single grain sowing, band planting, cross sowing, furrow sowing or hill sowing. This can be achieved by the use of machineries such as planters and seeders. The low field capacity, inaccurate placement of seed at a required depth and intra - row distance, seed damage due to metering,and high cost of imported planters associated with these planters envisage the need for a locally developed and cost effective multi-row animal drawn maize seed precision planter.This study focused on the design, fabrication and evaluating a four row animal drawn maizeprecision seed planter. The fabrication was done in the Department of Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering Workshop, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.The major components of the planterinclude the four hoppers, four seed metering units, four delivery tubes,four furrow openers with soil covering devices,four soil pressers,four ground wheel (drive mechanism), two guard wheels for marking out during operation and a single connecting bar (frame) on which the four units are attached and aligned. The machine was evaluated in the experimental field of the department during the 2019 rainy season. Three levels of planting speed (0.6, 0.8 and 1m/s) „S‟, three levels of hopper seed quantity (25, 50 and 100%) „W‟ and two levels of planting depth (1.5 and 2.5cm) „D‟ were assessed. The field experiment was designed in a 3×3×2 randomized complete block design (RCBD). The results obtained showed the effects of planting speed, seed quantity and planting depth were significant on the planting performance of the machine. The result also showed that planting with 50 % seed hopper filled at a planting speed of 0.8 m/s and 2.5 cm planting depth recorded highest mean field efficiency of about 87 % which is significantly different from the other results obtained. Highest mean effective field capacity of 0.59 ha/hr for 25 % seed quantity at 1 m/s planting speed with 1.5 and 2.5 cm planting depth, seed rate of 22.3 kg/ha and highest germination count of 100 % with 100 % seed quantity at 0.6 m/s planting speed and 1.5 cm planting depth were recorded. The average draft required to pull the planter was also 0.96kN. Least mean field efficiency of 56 % for 100 % seed quantity at 1 m/s speed and 1.5 cm planting depth. The mean field capacity of 0.28 ha/hr for 100 % seed quantity at 0.6 m/s planting speed with 1.5 cm planting depth. The seed rate of 17 kg/ha for 100 % seed quantity at 1 m/s speed and least germination count of 73 percent with 50 and 100 % seed quantity at 1 m/s planting speed and 1.5 cm planting depth were recorded. A moderate planting speed and high planting depth gives a better field efficiency when the hopper is half full. With high planting speed and low seed hopper quantity, a best effective field capacity could be obtained while planting depth have no effective on the field capacity. Seed rate and high germination count could be obtained with a decreasing planting speed, depth and high seed hopper quantity.The targeted seed spacing could be achieved with moderate planting speed, but increasing planting depth and seed hopper quantity.Finally, the planting speed, planting depth and seed hopper quantity have no significant effect on seed per hill as the average seed drop across all the treatment is one seed. In conclusion, planting at 0.6 and 0.8 m/s, with 50 and 100 % seed hopper capacity and 2.5 cm planting depth result in maximum planting performance.With these combinations, optimum seed spacing, seed depth, germination count, seed rate together with high field efficiency and field capacity could be obtained.
- ItemDEVELOPMENT OF COOL STORAGE SYSTEM USING LOCALLY AVAILABLE MATERIALS FOR QUALITY PRESERVATION OF DRIED VEGETABLES(2021-10)Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations projected that Nigeria on the average loses $9billion annually to postharvest loss and waste of food. This losses and wastages occur as a result of in-adequacy of affordable and sustainable processing and storage mechanization technology. Among the food products, fruits and vegetables were found to be the most vulnerable .A cool storage system was designed and constructed with aim of mitigating dried vegetables losses and wastage. Surveys on dried vegetables and agricultural cold storages were conducted in the North Western region of Nigeria. Two cool rooms of 500kg dried vegetable capacity each were built using Laterite soils and Thatch grasses, soil classification and Atterberg limits tests were conducted using standard methods. A standard British mould (230x110x100mm) was used in moulding laterite soil blocks after 6% cement stabilization; the blocks were cured both in the shed and the sun for 14months in which its strengths were measured. Physical properties of the Thatch materials were determined, thermal conductivity of both Thatch and the stabilized blocks were also measured. Natural and artificial cooling methods were designed as a cooling medium for the rooms. Temperature and humidity mapping was carried out on the constructed rooms as no load test. Three dried vegetables; Baobab leaves, Okra and Tomato were dried using traditional method and a solar dryer then packaged in food grade polypropylene sheet and loaded into the rooms for load test after a statistical design, similar samples were kept in ordinary room as control. Room1 was set at air conditioner temperature of 20oC while Room2 was set at a temperature of 25oC, five quality indicating parameters: color, water activity, rehydration ratio, solid content and moisture contents were traced and tracked for four months starting from May using standard laboratory procedures. The survey results indicated that only fresh fish were stored in the region’s cold rooms and baobab leaves, okra and tomato are the most produced and stored dried vegetables in the region. The no load test showed that the inside Room1 temperature remains at 25oC while the outside room temperature ranges between 18oC to 41oC, similarly Room2 inside temperature stood at 23oC at the same condition of outside temperatures. That is at all outside temperature the inside temperature remains constant. The inside relative humidity of the rooms varies as that of the outside. By DMRT ranking, tomato and okra did not show significant color difference (5%level) for both storage temperatures and drying methods within the storage period but significant differences exist when compared with the controls. Baobab leaves colour differences were significant for all the storage samples (5% levels). The moisture content ranges between 6.5% and 9.0 %within the storage period of three months and then shot up to 13.9% in the month of August for Tomato and Okra. There was no significant difference in Fungal and Bacterial load on Tomato and Baobab but it existed in Okra (5% level) for the two storages. Water activity, rehydration ratio and solid content indicated stability at 0.05level of significance for all stored products except their controls. Within the storage period there was no significant difference in the quality indicating parameters measured for all the crops stored at 20oC and 25oC in the designed rooms at their packaging condition. During temperature mapping at natural cooling condition the rooms temperature remains constant (25oC) for all outside temperatures, therefore the products can be stored without the need of artificial cooling (air conditioner). The research cost of storage per kilogramme of products was N20.56.
- ItemTHE USE OF MANGO (MANGIFERA INDICA) SEEDS AND DATES (PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA) SEEDS AS COAGULANTS IN WASTEWATER TREATMENT(2019)The use of chemicals in water treatment comes with some challenges including cost and environmental concerns. This has necessitated the need for alternative means of treatment that is relatively cheap and environmentally friendly. This research was aimed at studying the possibility of combining Mangifera indica and Phoenix dactylifera seeds powder as coagulants in wastewater treatment. The seeds were characterized for their composition, active compounds and proximate constituents using Atomic Adsorption Spectroscopy (AAS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis, and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. Jar test was carried out using the seeds extracts separately and in combination at varying dosages and the Electrical Conductivity EC, Total Dissolved Solids TDS, Chemical Oxygen Demand COD, Biochemical Oxygen Demand BOD, Turbidity, temperature, pH, and total coliform were measured with every varying dosage. Isothermal studies using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were carried out, and kinetic behavior for the removal of BOD using the seed powders over certain concentration ranges was studied using the Pseudo-first and second order kinetic models. The sludge from the Jar test experiment was analyzed for its total nitrogen, organic carbon, organic matter, total volatile solids, and carbon nitrogen ratio. The Mangifera indica removed 89 % turbidity, 96 % BOD, 84 % COD and 99 % total coliform of the wastewater, while Phoenix dactylifera removed 75 % turbidity, 85 % BOD, 78 % COD and 88 % total coliform of the wastewater. Their combination removed 96 % turbidity, 96 % BOD, 87 % COD and 98 % total coliform of the wastewater. The experiment was observed to fit the Freundlich isotherm model based on the Freundlich constants and the coefficient of determination, R2. The experiment was observed to have followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model as indicated by the K2, R2, and Error analyses carried out on the experimental data. The study has shown that Mangifera indica seed and Phoenix dactylifera seed powders can be used as viable coagulants for water and wastewater treatment using adsorption and charge neutralization