ABSTRACT
Agro-oils are oils extracted from agro –seeds with oil potentials. These oils from Groundnuts, Melons, Maringa, Cocoa beans , Palm fruits and the likes are consumed by people due to their, medicinal and minerals content for human health. Their extractions requires quality approach and are costly therefore waste of these materials cannot be compromised. Hence the needs for machines that are of high effectiveness which is the products of efficiency, quality rate and availability. Cocoa beans processing machine was used as case study .By determining its efficiency, quality rate and availability and compared the results with the acceptable standards of these strategic decisions. The machine effectiveness acceptable standard was set at 0.85 (85%), but this case study shows 0.77 (77%). This is low compared with the acceptable standard of ≥ 0.85 with negative deviation of 0.08. This is caused by the low values of machine availability and Quality rate which should not be ≤ 0.90 and ≤ 0.99 respectively. The availability of the machine was improved to 0.94 and its quality rate to 0.97. This gave a new acceptable machine effectiveness of 0.875328 (87.5%) which led to better achievement on the cocoa oil yiled thus: Cocoa Liquor (chocolate colored paste from milled nibs), based on pure Cocoa Beans available (after foreign material removal) which is 14.2589% . The percentage of liquor available for pressing to get the oil called cocoa butter was 85.7411%. Cocoa Butter yield (based on total Cocoa Liquor was 35.25% while the Cake yield ( residue after oil extraction) was 43.95% Cocoa Butter waste (based on total Cocoa Liquor ) 2.435% and Coca cake wasted was 4.076%. This model will find its application in small, medium and large scale agro oil extraction industries.

ABSTRACT
Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is an important agro industrial cash crop, providing raw material for different sugar industries and plays crucial role in the economy of several countries. It requires optimum temperature for economic production and causes reduced cane and sugar yields otherwise. Extreme temperatures either low or high causes abiotic disorders like cold / banded chlorosis and sunburn during initial and mid season crop establishment led to yield reduction in sugarcane by affecting its physiology, biochemistry and quality leading to poor agronomic produce in subtropical conditions. Low temperature during winter (December-January) for autumn planting and high temperature during summer (May-June) for spring planting also affects the germination percentage, seedling establishment and ratoonability of early harvested (Nov-Dec) crop. Several breeding and genomics based studies have been conducted to improve the sugarcane production under different stresses in this crop in many areas of the world. The studies on abiotic disorders caused by high and low temperature extremities and their mitigation strategies are scanty. An attempt has been made in this appraisal report to explore sugarcane clones/ cultivars that contribute to adaptation in era of climate change by discovering and introducing desirable genes for agronomic traits using basic breeding methodologies, physiological approaches and new technologies of molecular biology that can mitigate the negative effect of extreme temperature and improve sugarcane yields, productivity and sustainability.

ABSTRACT
This study aimed at determining the perception of secondary school Agriculture students towards inquiry-based learning in Nandi County, following a practical in soil science containing an element of inquiry. The education sector in Kenya is shifting towards Competency-Based Curriculum that requires learners to engage in Inquiry-Based Learning to develop the required competences and the 21st-century skills such as collaboration, communication, teamwork and problem solving among others. This study was guided by the Constructivism and Bybee’s 5E learning cycle model, which is an Inquiry-Based Teaching (IBT) approach model. The students were put in groups of 4-5 and provided with the following: Soil auger, trowel, two clean buckets, small cartons,3 test tubes, distilled water, pH indicator, pH colour charts and Barium sulphate powder which they were to use to carry out soil sampling and soil pH testing. After the practical, students completed a five Likert scale questionnaire. 26.3 per cent strongly agreed, and 73.7 per cent of the students agreed that detailed instructions should be given about how to carry out each practical. In answer to the statement “I’d value the opportunity to design and carry out my own experiment,” 14.4 per cent strongly agreed while 25percent agreed and 54.2 per cent were neutral. The anxieties expressed by the students were that they would not understand the practical. These findings suggest that considerable thought needs to be given as to how to best introduce secondary agriculture students to inquiry-based learning activities by Ministry of Education, teachers and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

ABSTRACT
Background: Superparasitism refers to the oviposition behavior of parasitoid females who lay their eggs in an already parasitized host. This often yields intense competition among larvae that are sharing the same host. Objectives: the present study aimed to Evaluate the supperparasitism behavior of the larval pupal endoparasitoids O. pallipes as affected by the host population. Methods: Broad bean (Vecia faba), was selected as a host plant. Hundred infested leaves with L. trifolii were taken weekly. Samples were kept in plastic bags and transferred to be examined in the laboratory. To evaluate Superparasitism for the parasitoids O. pallipes, 100 parasitized larvae were collected weekly. Larvae were checked and the number of the parasitoid larvae counted and recorded. Results: out of (1700) parasitized larvae (1224) were described as solitary parasitized and, (476) were described as superparasitised. The total number of the parasitoid individuals recorded (2278) while, the parasitoid host ratio calculated was 1.34: 1. Percentage of solitary parasitism recorded (72%) and, the percentage of superparasitism recorded (28%). On the other hand superparsitised larvae were divided into three groups: the presence of 2 larvae in a single host larva (first type) recorded (385), the presence of 3 larvae in a single host larva (second type) recorded (69), and, the presence of mor than 3 larvae (third type) in a single host larva recorded (22). The highest occurrence of solitary parasitism recorded (88 solitary parasitized larvae) combined with (312 L. trifolii larvae/ 100 infested leaflets) recorded in 11th of February while, the lowest occurrence of solitary parasitism recorded (50 solitary parasitized larvae) combined with (138 L. trifolii larvae / 100 infested leaflets) recorded in 17th of December. The highest occurrence of the first type of superparasitism recorded (33) in 7th of January combined with (144 L. trifolii larvae / 100 infested leaflets) while, the lowest o

ABSTRACT
Dumpsites exist throughout the developing countries present a threat to human’s health and the natural ecosystems. This study is aimed at investigating the effect of dumping site at the bank of river Yobe on the river water quality in north eastern part of Nigeria. The water samples were collected from four different points (P1, P2, P3 and P4) and were analysed for physicochemical parameters and some heavy metals. The pH of the water samples were found to be within the range of 6.47 ± 0.05 – 6.85 ± 0.13. The EC, Alkalinity, chloride, hardness, TDS and turbidity of the water samples were in the ranges of 2.12 ± 0.27 – 2.67 ± 0.35 ds/m; 67.23 ± 0.43 – 92.33 ± 0.58 mg/L; 0.73 ± 0.02 – 0.89 ± 0.08 mg/L; 26.67 ± 2.31 – 35.67 ± 0.58 mg/L; 1357 ± 1.08 – 1708 ± 1.99 mg/L and 2.23 ± 0.77 – 164.20 ± 0.32 FTU respectively. The study found out that in the water samples EC, TDS, Cr, Fe and Pb had higher values than the permissible limit set by NSDWQ. The findings of this research work proved that the samples collected were polluted by some the parameters under study and these may be attributed to the availability of metal-containing wastes at the dumpsite which leached into the underlying soil and the river water.

ABSTRACT
This study examined the effects of fertilizer subsidy on maize production in the Ejisu-Juaben and Ejura Districts. Primary and secondary data were collected for the study from 300 randomly sampled maize farmers. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that there was a considerable positive effect of the subsidy on maize production, as there had been an increase in the quantity of fertilizer applied after the subsidy when compared to those applied before the subsidy with the average total quantity of fertilizer applied increasing from 23.42kg per acre before the subsidy to 68.338kg per acre after the subsidy was implemented. Consequently, there had been an increase in maize yield from 309kg per acre to 498kg per acre after the subsidy and farm sizes increased averagely from 3.26 acres to 3.91 acres after the subsidy. There had been a significant reduction of the price of a 50kg bag of fertilizer from an average of ¢49 to ¢26. Challenges faced by the farmers included the high cost of other inputs; late arrival of the subsidized fertilizer; low prices for produce; and access to credit from formal financial institutions. For sustained maize production, the fertilizer subsidy should be continued, but on the condition that it reaches the farmers on time. In addition the farmers should be assisted with credit to enable them buy the subsidized fertilizer.