Smallholder farms, mainly rain-fed dominate the agricultural sector in Ghana, accounting for about 80% of total production. Cultivation is mostly of indigenous and non-traditional varieties, characterized by low produ...Smallholder farms, mainly rain-fed dominate the agricultural sector in Ghana, accounting for about 80% of total production. Cultivation is mostly of indigenous and non-traditional varieties, characterized by low productivity, and compounded by production shocks due to environmental stresses. The research introduced vegetable farmers to better irrigation and compost management practices using the nuclear and isotopic techniques. On the average, yield of vegetables increase by 9.2% under irrigation and organic manure application compared to yield under the conventional method. Farmers saved 60%-70% of the total cost on water per acre using drip irrigation. Relative to conventional methods, farmers save at least US$70 per acre on fertilizer taking in to account cost of converting manure to compost. The result also revealed that, overall poverty gap among farmers who only depends on rain fall needed an additional 55% of the present income to attain minimum basket of their basic needs compared to 30% among some of those who irrigate in addition to rainfall. Results of our study have shown that farmers could gain financially, redeem themselves from poverty as well as improving their social conditions and ensure ecologically sustainable development with Small Scale Irrigation integrated with the right composting recipe.展开更多
The importance of agricultural innovations for raising the living standards of farmers has received substantial attention from the economic and political communities. In Ghana, cassava serves as an important source of...The importance of agricultural innovations for raising the living standards of farmers has received substantial attention from the economic and political communities. In Ghana, cassava serves as an important source of calorie and cash crop. Production constraints such as the cassava mosaic disease caused by virus have limit farmers access to productivity potentials and marketing. Breeding efforts attempting to address this constraints have had some success such as the mutant Tech Bankye virus resistant variety. This research, therefore, analysed the impact of some production input on mutant cassava productivity growth in Ghana with the use of Cobb-Douglas production function. Results show that farmers cultivate the mutant variety in addition to other traditional varieties to averse risking in marketing and income. The average cost of production of the mutant variety is higher compared to that of the traditional variety. Eighty percent of the farmers complained difficulty in accessing market for the mutant variety because it could not replace the traditional variety in terms of its texture for the local native ＂fufu＂ production and ＂ampesi＂ and also deteriorate quickly in storage. However, for industrial production of ＂gari＂ and starch, the mutant is the best. Both the mutant cassava and the traditional varieties showed increasing returns to scale, however, the returns to scale of the mutant variety were lower compared to that of the traditional variety. Also, the opportunity cost of forgoing the traditional varieties to cultivating the mutant variety was very high making adopted farmers hesitant to continue it cultivation.展开更多
Mango in Ghana is targeted as the next non-traditional export crop that is expected to fetch the highest foreign exchange for the country than cocoa. However, production and export constraints caused by fruit fly Bact...Mango in Ghana is targeted as the next non-traditional export crop that is expected to fetch the highest foreign exchange for the country than cocoa. However, production and export constraints caused by fruit fly Bactrocera invadens has placed serious limitation on its marketing to the extent of imposing bans on imports from Ghana. Notwithstanding efforts rolled out to control the flies, they are still prevalent in the system. This paper presents the cost benefit assessments of using ＂Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute （BNARI） protein bait＂ to control fruit fly Bactrocera invadens relative to other control measures in the Eastern region of South Ghana. Scientists from the BNARI of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission developed a research programme against this foe. Cost benefit assessment revealed that chemical control reduce losses from 60% to 40% at the beginning of the growing season and can reach up to 60% for late maturing varieties at a cost of US$915.2 per acre per year. However, with the BNARI trap, losses are reduced from 60% to 5% at the beginning of the growing season and can reach up to 10% for later maturing varieties at a cost of US$688 per acre per year. Using BNARI protein baits to control fruit fly also provide growers with benefits such as improved quality and shelf life for fruit because it is not subject to chemical treatments. The casual loop diagram （CLD） revealed that fly control with BNARI trap is friendly to beneficial insects during pollination and has no harmful impact on health compared to the traditional approaches.展开更多
Swine rearing and pork production has recently attracted the growing interest of Ghanaian farmers who seek diversification of enterprises and existing farmers looking for alternatives following a period of low profita...Swine rearing and pork production has recently attracted the growing interest of Ghanaian farmers who seek diversification of enterprises and existing farmers looking for alternatives following a period of low profitability. Piggery was established to combine science and technology to generate innovations for anyone seeking to establish a new pig production enterprise. Results show that since 2008 to 2013, pork prices in Ghana rose rapidly between 115-120%. Also the rate of returns was higher at 43.62% compared to bank interested rate. Feed, as a percentage of total costs, were minimised from 70% to 55% with integrated lactobacillus brewer spent malt as supplement to formulated feed. The piggery project was highly successful and invested capital was recouped within two years of project take-off. Collaborating with other farms, organisations and entrepreneurs, a lot of research innovations in the area of improving feed cost, animal nutrition, waste management practices, and breeding have been generated and shared with both small and large-holder pig farmers. In all aspect of the farm management, results achieved so far especially with pork carcass quality and profit margins are encouraging which have led to the expansion of the piggery project.展开更多
To the Editor:Cereblon(CRBN)has emerged as a promising therapeutic target,enabling the design of proteolysis-targeting chimeras(PROTACs)and molecular glues(MGs)for targeted protein degradation1.The immunomodulatory im...To the Editor:Cereblon(CRBN)has emerged as a promising therapeutic target,enabling the design of proteolysis-targeting chimeras(PROTACs)and molecular glues(MGs)for targeted protein degradation1.The immunomodulatory imide drugs(IMiDs),such as thalidomide,lenalidomide and pomalidomide,represent classical CRBN ligands and have been widely used in the treatment of hematopoietic malignancies.These IMiDs exert their immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects by binding to CRBN and triggering the degradation of neosubstrates,including IKZF1 and IKZF3,which are crucial for B and T cells biology2.展开更多
文摘Smallholder farms, mainly rain-fed dominate the agricultural sector in Ghana, accounting for about 80% of total production. Cultivation is mostly of indigenous and non-traditional varieties, characterized by low productivity, and compounded by production shocks due to environmental stresses. The research introduced vegetable farmers to better irrigation and compost management practices using the nuclear and isotopic techniques. On the average, yield of vegetables increase by 9.2% under irrigation and organic manure application compared to yield under the conventional method. Farmers saved 60%-70% of the total cost on water per acre using drip irrigation. Relative to conventional methods, farmers save at least US$70 per acre on fertilizer taking in to account cost of converting manure to compost. The result also revealed that, overall poverty gap among farmers who only depends on rain fall needed an additional 55% of the present income to attain minimum basket of their basic needs compared to 30% among some of those who irrigate in addition to rainfall. Results of our study have shown that farmers could gain financially, redeem themselves from poverty as well as improving their social conditions and ensure ecologically sustainable development with Small Scale Irrigation integrated with the right composting recipe.
文摘The importance of agricultural innovations for raising the living standards of farmers has received substantial attention from the economic and political communities. In Ghana, cassava serves as an important source of calorie and cash crop. Production constraints such as the cassava mosaic disease caused by virus have limit farmers access to productivity potentials and marketing. Breeding efforts attempting to address this constraints have had some success such as the mutant Tech Bankye virus resistant variety. This research, therefore, analysed the impact of some production input on mutant cassava productivity growth in Ghana with the use of Cobb-Douglas production function. Results show that farmers cultivate the mutant variety in addition to other traditional varieties to averse risking in marketing and income. The average cost of production of the mutant variety is higher compared to that of the traditional variety. Eighty percent of the farmers complained difficulty in accessing market for the mutant variety because it could not replace the traditional variety in terms of its texture for the local native ＂fufu＂ production and ＂ampesi＂ and also deteriorate quickly in storage. However, for industrial production of ＂gari＂ and starch, the mutant is the best. Both the mutant cassava and the traditional varieties showed increasing returns to scale, however, the returns to scale of the mutant variety were lower compared to that of the traditional variety. Also, the opportunity cost of forgoing the traditional varieties to cultivating the mutant variety was very high making adopted farmers hesitant to continue it cultivation.
文摘Mango in Ghana is targeted as the next non-traditional export crop that is expected to fetch the highest foreign exchange for the country than cocoa. However, production and export constraints caused by fruit fly Bactrocera invadens has placed serious limitation on its marketing to the extent of imposing bans on imports from Ghana. Notwithstanding efforts rolled out to control the flies, they are still prevalent in the system. This paper presents the cost benefit assessments of using ＂Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute （BNARI） protein bait＂ to control fruit fly Bactrocera invadens relative to other control measures in the Eastern region of South Ghana. Scientists from the BNARI of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission developed a research programme against this foe. Cost benefit assessment revealed that chemical control reduce losses from 60% to 40% at the beginning of the growing season and can reach up to 60% for late maturing varieties at a cost of US$915.2 per acre per year. However, with the BNARI trap, losses are reduced from 60% to 5% at the beginning of the growing season and can reach up to 10% for later maturing varieties at a cost of US$688 per acre per year. Using BNARI protein baits to control fruit fly also provide growers with benefits such as improved quality and shelf life for fruit because it is not subject to chemical treatments. The casual loop diagram （CLD） revealed that fly control with BNARI trap is friendly to beneficial insects during pollination and has no harmful impact on health compared to the traditional approaches.
文摘Swine rearing and pork production has recently attracted the growing interest of Ghanaian farmers who seek diversification of enterprises and existing farmers looking for alternatives following a period of low profitability. Piggery was established to combine science and technology to generate innovations for anyone seeking to establish a new pig production enterprise. Results show that since 2008 to 2013, pork prices in Ghana rose rapidly between 115-120%. Also the rate of returns was higher at 43.62% compared to bank interested rate. Feed, as a percentage of total costs, were minimised from 70% to 55% with integrated lactobacillus brewer spent malt as supplement to formulated feed. The piggery project was highly successful and invested capital was recouped within two years of project take-off. Collaborating with other farms, organisations and entrepreneurs, a lot of research innovations in the area of improving feed cost, animal nutrition, waste management practices, and breeding have been generated and shared with both small and large-holder pig farmers. In all aspect of the farm management, results achieved so far especially with pork carcass quality and profit margins are encouraging which have led to the expansion of the piggery project.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(22037002,32121005)Innovative Research Team of High-level Local Universities in Shanghai(SHSMU-ZDCX20212702,China)+1 种基金National Special Fund for State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering(2060204,China)Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Optogenetic Techniques for Cell Metabolism(2021 Sci&Tech 03-28,China).
文摘To the Editor:Cereblon(CRBN)has emerged as a promising therapeutic target,enabling the design of proteolysis-targeting chimeras(PROTACs)and molecular glues(MGs)for targeted protein degradation1.The immunomodulatory imide drugs(IMiDs),such as thalidomide,lenalidomide and pomalidomide,represent classical CRBN ligands and have been widely used in the treatment of hematopoietic malignancies.These IMiDs exert their immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects by binding to CRBN and triggering the degradation of neosubstrates,including IKZF1 and IKZF3,which are crucial for B and T cells biology2.
