ABSTRACT Drought is a major abiotic factor limiting crop productivity in many regions of the world. It causes reduction in plant growth, dry matter accumulation and decline in plant water status of the plants and in certain cases interferes with biochemical processes within cultivated crops. The aim of the study was to map out the distribution of different African Nightshade species in Siaya and Kisii Counties of Kenya and to determine water stress effect on total antioxidant capacity and tot...
ABSTRACT HIV infection increases nutritional demands and vulnerability to malnutrition. Malnutrition worsens the effects of HIV infection by weakening further the body’s immune system, resulting in earlier and faster progression to the end stage of AIDS. Food supplementation especially with essential elements improves nutritional and clinical status of PLWHA and may delay early use of ARVs. Although high levels of essential elements have been recorded in some indigenous foods, translating p...
ABSTRACT Ultraviolet (UVB) radiation (280–315 nm) and interaction with Selenium (Se) have potential promoting plant tolerance to UVB stress in plants and modify metabolites that influence taste and functional properties of tea. The objectives of this study were to assess sensitivity of two tea varieties to ambient solar UVB radiation and Selenium nutrition on 1) yield components,2) secondary metabolites, antioxidant activity, theanine and mineral composition of tea and 3) non-aerated (gree...
ABSTRACT Traditional perspective approach has always considered environmental resources such as water as free goods without physical boundaries and the complexity of water uses and users makes it difficult to manage water resources in an efficient and equitable way. In addition, the current low tree planting trends and over harvesting imbalances are suspect and feared to threaten the continuity of the very tree-crop growing practice that has supported farming households over the years. The Ng...
ABSTRACT This research work was conducted between March 2008 (before start of long rains) and August 2008 (the season for harvesting maize), in Sauri Millennium Village, sub location of Yala division, Siaya district, Kenya. The general objective of this study was the adoption of legume fallows in Sauri millennium village with specific objectives;- (i) To study the current status of legume fallows in Sauri millennium village (ii) To investigate the leguminous tree species for high fuelwood pr...
ABSTRACT Prunus africana (Hook. f) Kalkman happens to be among the very important tree species. Its bark is used to treat prostate gland hypertrophy (PGH) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The increased demand for its medicinal value, together with other uses, has led to the over exploitation of this species in its natural habitat. Its cultivation by small-scale farmers appears to be the only long-term solution for meeting future products needs and its conservation. There is however li...
ABSTRACT Land degradation and declining soil fertility are increasingly being viewed as critical problems affecting agricultural productivity and human welfare in tropical Africa. It is then imperative that improving soil fertility is key entry point for achieving food security, reducing poverty and preserving the environment for smallholder farms in Africa. However, due to high costs of inorganic fertilizers, tackling soil fertility issues thus requires a holistic approach that integrates b...
ABSTRACT The pork tapeworm (Taenia solium) is an important parasite that causes disease in humans and pigs where humans host the adult worm in the small intestines and the larval stages are found in the muscles, brain and other tissues in humans and pigs (cysticercosis). Neurocysticercosisis (where the larva of Taenia solium is in the brain) is a major cause of epilepsy in humans. Humans can get the infection by consumption of infected pig meat while consumption of food and water contaminated...
Rice is a staple food and the main source of calories and proteins for more than half of the world population. Its increasing demand in Africa made it a commodity for food security and poverty reduction. Rice ranks third in Kenya’s staple food after maize and wheat. Its consumption has been growing rapidly due to urbanization and changing eating habits in both rural and urban households. In 2014, local rice production was estimated at 129,000 metric tonnes, while consumption was 548,00...
Abstract Mangrove crabs are important in ecosystem functioning including; bioturbation of the soil resulting in soil particle size distribution, sediment aeration, reduction in sediment salinity and nutrient recycling and thus are fundamental for the viability of mangrove forests which are in turn important to the coastal communities’ livelihoods. Mangroves are intertidal forested wetlands confined to the tropical and subtropical regions. They play important role as habitat for animals, pro...
ABSTRACT Kenya has experienced biological invasions some of which are considered to have significant consequences on the socio-economic status of affected communities. At the ecosystem level, they change community structure and composition. Available data on invasive species in the East African region shows that 34 different species of invasive plants have invaded Kenya. Notable examples of invasive species include Opuntia stricta (Haw) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). This res...
ABSTRACT This experiment was conducted to determine the best time to introduce finisher diets in the humid tropics. Four treatments (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th week) were tried in this study that lasted for 9 weeks. A total of one hundred and eighty birds were used for the experiment. The birds were randomly assigned into 4 treatments that were replicated three times with 15 birds in each replicate. The following were measured, growth performance, carcass quality and cost benefit analysis....
A BST RA CT Green house experiment was conducted to study the effects of organic manure, lime and inorganic fertilizer on the nodulation and growth of Soybean (Glycine max(L) merrill) on an acid ultisol in southeastern Nigeria. The organic manure was poultry manure, the lime was commercial lime and the inorganic fertilizer was NPK(15 : 15: 15). There were 7 treatments and a control. The treatments were 100kg/ha inorganic fertilizer (NPK 15: 15: 15)(F1 );200kglhainorganicfertilizcr(NPK 1...
ABSTRACT Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), the world’s largest wild equine, is endemic to the arid Horn of Africa. Originally, its range extended throughout the Horn of Africa but currently it is found only in Kenya and Ethiopia. The population has declined from 15,000 in the late 1970s to between 1,964 and 2,445 animals by the year 2008. The population declines as report by William and Low (2004) is probably as a result of being killed for meat, medicinal purposes, loss of access to critical...
ABSTRACT The effect of forage to concentrate ratios on the peiformance of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats was studied at the Livestock Unit of the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike for 56 days to determine the optimum combination of forage to concentrate ratio that best support the growth of goat. Twelve WAD goats comprising eight castrated bucks and four does aged between 4 -6 months and weighing between 4.0kg to 8.0kg with an average weight of 6.17kg were used for the study. T...