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Drying, an important but energy-intensive unit operation, is necessary to ensure that perishable food produce is preserved for diverse industrial uses. Hence, modeling and optimizing this unit operation is vital. This study was carried out with the view of modeling and optimizing the thin-layer drying of pretreated taro corm slices using three-level factorial design of response surface methodology. Factors studied included different pretreatments (using either or a combination of sodium metabisulfite at concentrations of 1-4% w/w, steam-blanching for durations of 1-6 min, and varying drying air temperature from 50 to 70 C). Seven responses (total drying time (TDT), specific energy consumption (SEC), final moisture content (FMC), activation energy (E a), effective moisture diffusivity (D eff), percentage change in thickness (%ΔTH) and percentage of moisture loss (%ML) were investigated. The optimum drying condition was further investigated for model fitness using nine existing drying models. The results showed that responses such as TDT and FMC ranged from 395.6 to 699.9 min and 5.29-12.4% wb, respectively. SEC was between 25.7 and 50.6 kWh/kg. Deff and Ea values ranged from 0.88 × 10 −10 to 2.96 × 10 −10 m 2 /s. and 33.9-40.9 kJ/mol, respectively. However, %ΔTH and %ML ranged from 37.5 to 60.9% and 83.9 to 97.5%, respectively. The models generated were reliable and reproducible. Finally, optimization studies showed that pretreating taro slices by sulfiting at a concentration of 1.73% and blanching at a time of 2.37 min and drying at a temperature of 57.7 C would be optimum and fit Henderson and Pabis model best. In conclusion, the information provided by this study would be beneficial in designing and analyzing drying systems for taro products. Practical applications Taro (Colocasia esculenta) corm is an underutilized tuber crop with promising potentials for use in different food applications especially in the production of taro flour. Taro corm is however perishable, having high moisture content, hence, drying is an important unit operation in the production of flour from the corms. There is a need to establish optimum drying conditions to ensure that the drying process is efficient and economical. This study, therefore, was conducted to generate data that would provide information useful for drying pretreated taro slices.

The study focused on how farming communities cope with the COVID-19 pandemic in Akwa Ibom State. Specifically, how farmers are affected by the pandemic, their coping strategies, contributions of extension service towards their adaptation, and the support they need to better adapt to the pandemic were examined. A multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 300 respondents across the agricultural zones in the study area. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data obtained from the respondents through a well-designed questionnaire. The majority of the respondents have experienced limited access to agricultural inputs (87.9%), limited access to the market (79.6%), unavailability of the labour force at critical times of agricultural production and harvesting (68.7%), health risk and fear (72.6%), increased transportation cost (87.4%), unavailability of facemasks and hand sanitizers (89.1%), dwindling and uncertain finances (92.4%). Majority of the farmers asserted that they had to rely more on the radio (87.6%), religious leaders (67.2%), community leaders (65.4%), and extension agents (45.3%) for COVID-19-related information. They depended more on herbs and traditional medications (72.4%) and had to trek long distances to market farm produce and get inputs (69.7%) to cope with the impact of the pandemic. Contributions from extension services reported by the respondents were majorly from text messages and phone calls. The majority of the respondents solicited regular assessment of COVID-19 impacts in their communities to identify other specific challenges and needs of farmers for a better and timely response.