Impact of COVID-19 on marketing behaviour of mango growers in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh

Marketing involves assembling, storing, processing, packaging, grading, transportation and distribution of agricultural commodities from farmers to consumers. Marketing plays an important role in accelerating the pace of economic development of farmers. The present study mainly deals with the impact of COVID-19 on marketing behaviour of mango growers in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. The paper deals with changes that occurred in marketing behavior before and during pandemic, problems faced by the mango growers during pandemic. The study area was selected by purposive sampling and 50 respondents were selected randomly from three villages. The impact of pandemic on marketing behaviour was analyzed with the help of frequency, percentage and paired t-test using SPSS software. Before pandemic 78.40 per cent of mango growers sold their produce when prices are attractive,80.00 per cent sold to the export organization,86.00 per cent to nearby town,78.00 per cent by means of tractor and 82.00 per cent received their market information through fellow farmers. During pandemic, 80.00 per cent of the respondents sold their produce immediately after the harvest, 84.00 per cent of mango growers sold directly to the consumers, 64.00 per cent sold to nearby villages, 64.00 per cent sold by means of other transport sources, 78.00 percent received their market information through social media. Indicators of marketing behaviour such as time of sale, mode of sale, place of sale, mode of transport, source of market information had significant mean difference and showed decrease in mean values during pandemic when compared to before pandemic. The findings of the study revealed that there is a significant impact of pandemic on marketing behaviour of mango growers. Major problem faced by the mango growers during pandemic is inadequate transport facilities (Garrett score 69.32) followed by export organizations remain closed(67.68) and fluctuations in price(60.54).

The assessment and improvement of the value chains and added value of agricultural commodities in the south of Libya: with a special emphasis on women's livelihoods

This report first describes the context of the agriculture sector in Libya and in the south of the country, the impact of the ongoing conflict in the country since 2011 and of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the specific configuration of the sectors in the south of the country. Secondly, it describes the main challenges in the value chains and added value of selected major crops cultivated in the south of Libya, providing an analysis and assessment of the cooperatives and associations in the region with significant involvement and participation of women. The value chains and added value have been evaluated and characterized for four crops (tomatoes, watermelons, mangos and dates). The study found the value chains of the assessed crops to be highly deficient, with almost no proper postharvest handling practices, and there is an almost total lack of added value. Surveys, interviews and studies in the region have identified three types of involvement of women in food and/or agriculture: (1) very few women are members of classical agricultural cooperatives;(2) some women are members of civil society organizations (CSOs) involved in agricultural and/or food activities;and (3) many individual women not associated with groups, associations and cooperatives perform some agricultural and/or food activities.

Effects of Mangiferin on LPS-Induced Inflammation and SARS-CoV-2 Viral Adsorption in Human Lung Cells.

The growing interest in natural bioactive molecules, as an approach to many pathological contexts, is widely justified by the necessity to overcome the disadvantageous benefit-risk ratio related to traditional therapies. Among them, mangiferin (MGF) shows promising beneficial properties such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. In this study, we aimed to investigate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of MGF on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung NCI-H292 cells, focusing on its role against COVID-19 adsorption. In order to obtain this information, cells treated with LPS, with or without MGF, were analyzed performing wound healing, gene expression of inflammatory cytokines, GSH quantification, and JC-1 staining. Moreover, the inhibition of viral adsorption was evaluated microbiologically and the results were further confirmed by molecular docking analysis. In this regard, MGF downregulates the expression of several inflammatory factors, enhances GSH levels, promotes the wound healing rate, and restores the mitochondrial dysfunction caused by LPS. In addition, MGF significantly inhibits SARS-CoV-2 adsorption as shown by the gene expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS-2, and furtherly confirmed by microbiological and molecular modeling evaluation. Although more investigations are still needed, all data obtained constitute a solid background, demonstrating the cytoprotective role of MGF in inflammatory mechanisms including COVID-19 infection.

Effect of Swell-Drying on Mango (Mangifera indica) Drying Kinetics.

Swell-Drying operation (SD) was applied on mangoes to evaluate its effect on drying kinetics: starting accessibility (δW), apparent drying coefficient (Dapp), and time to obtain a final moisture content of 20% d.b (tf = 20% d.b). Swell-drying consisted of (1) submitting fresh mangoes to a first pre-drying stage under Convective Air Drying (CAD) until a moisture content of 37% d.b; (2) applying Instant Controlled Pressure Drop (DIC) treatments on pre-dried mangoes by following a central composite rotatable design (steam pressure: 0.2-0.6 MPa and treatment time: 5 and 55 s); and (3) apply post-drying of mangoes under CAD. In both cases, CAD was performed at 60 °C and airflow of 1 m/s. Results showed that both the treatment time and the steam pressure impacted the Dapp and the δW. By comparing to the control, SD (0.54 MPa and 48 s) increased the Dapp and δW to 12.2 and 2.7 times, respectively. Moreover, SD triggers a significant reduction in post-drying time (tf = 20% d.b), being this of 2.4 h vs. 30.8 h. These results could be linked to the expansion of the internal pores of mangoes generated by the instant autovaporization of residual water triggered by DIC treatment.

Survey on the level of knowledge of medicinal plants used against Coronavirus disease, influenza and colds among travelers who came for the COVID-19 test at the Institut Pasteur de C..te d'Ivoire

Objective: This study was conducted to identify medicinal plants in the fight against Coronavirus disease, influenza and colds cited by travelers who came for their Covid test at the Institut Pasteur of C..te d'Ivoire. Methodology and Results: A semi-structured interview was conducted with 527 travelers from April 1 to June 30, 2021. The interviewed travelers were predominantly male (69.4%). Travelers going to France (28.46%) were the most numerous. The most represented age groups were 41-64 (43.83%) and 25-40 (43.26%). When the level of education is considered, the surveyed travelers have a higher level of education (89.94%). Entrepreneurs (13.85%), traders (12.66%), company directors (12.33%), students (8.54%) and health workers (6.45%) are the majority. Only 21.63% of travelers used traditional medicine in the last 12 months prior to the survey. Various plants are used to fight (33.43%) or prevent (56.57%) Coronavirus disease (7.02%), influenza (3.60%) and colds (2.84%). In total, 13 species of medicinal plants divided into 13 genera and 13 families were cited. Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae) with citation frequencies (cf) of 22%, Zingiber officinale (Zingiberaceae) with cf of 21% and Citrus limon (Rutaceae) with cf of 14% were the most cited species. Conclusion and application of results: These plants could be used for research and development of phytomedicines against Coronavirus, influenza and cold.

Burkina Faso agriculture facing the COVID-19 crisis: the case of the Yatenga and Hauts-Bassins regions. (Agriculture et syst..mes alimentaires face .. la Covid-19.) [French]

At the beginning of the health crisis due to COVID-19 some observers alerted the decision makers of a possible food crisis in the coming months in West Africa. In order to feed this debate, the researchers conducted a study by interviewing 75 actors of the agricultural sector in two regions of Burkina Faso - the Yatenga and the High Basins. In both situations, farmers and pastoralists were able to continue their activities, but some experienced marketing difficulties. Market gardeners and tree growers have been the most affected by this crisis because of difficulties in selling their perishable products on West African markets. Livestock farmers were less affected by the drop in prices, but traders of live livestock also encountered difficulties exporting to coastal countries. Finally, cotton companies have had to face a drop in the international price of cotton fiber and cotton producers will have to face a drop in the purchase price of seed cotton at the end of 2020. Despite this crisis, Burkina Faso's agriculture has continued to fully play its nurturing role thanks to the mobilization of farmers, traders and transporters, even though it is showing weaknesses due to its heavy dependence on external markets for, among other things, vegetables, livestock, cotton, mangoes, cashew nuts and agricultural and livestock inputs. This crisis is an opportunity to consider areas for intervention to make Burkina Faso's agriculture less dependent on external markets and imported factors of production. This implies the substitution of imported food products by local products and an agro-ecological transition to reduce the importation of synthetic inputs.

In-silico analysis of the inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease by some active compounds from selected African plants.

OBJECTIVES: Over the years, Azadirachta indica, Mangifera indica, and Moringa oleifera have been shown to possess some antiviral characteristics. This study applies molecular docking techniques to assess inhibitory effects of some bioactive compounds from the plants mentioned above against the main protease (Mpro), a key protein involved in SARS-CoV-2 replication. Furthermore, adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) profiles for screened compounds were predicted in silico. METHODS: The crystal structure of Mpro was retrieved from the Protein Data Bank, while the plant bioactive compounds were retrieved from Pubchem. Drug-likeness of the selected compounds and a control drug (hydroxychloroquine) were assessed, and the compounds that satisfied the drug-likeness rule were docked against Mpro. The docked complexes were analyzed using LigPlot and the protein-ligand profiler server. The top five compound hits were subjected to ADMET screening using the ADMETSar server. RESULTS: A total of 17 out of 22 screened compounds passed Lipinski's assessment. Additionally, the most active compounds from the investigated plants exhibited relative inhibitory potentials against Mpro compared with hydroxychloroquine, which alludes to their possible involvement in inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease replication process. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, most of the active phytocomponents of the investigated plants exhibited relative inhibitory potentials against Mpro of SARS-CoV-2 and preferred pharmacological features when compared with hydroxychloroquine. These findings indicate these compounds are potentially antiviral candidates against SARS-CoV-2.