ABSTRACT Efficient breeding and selection of elite tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) clones require sound knowledge and understanding of genetics associated with yield, quality and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. A series of experiments were carried out to elucidate the genetic parameters and map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for agronomic and quality attributes in tea. The combining abilities and heterosis for yield, drought tolerance (DT), and quality traits (percent total p...
ABSTRACT Potato is a strategic commodity with the potential to improve food and nutrition security and to generate income in Rwanda. Despite its potential, potato intensification remains low, translating into low yield. The low yield is occasioned mainly by the decline in soil fertility. In addition, farmers adapt a blanket fertilizer recommendation rate which is not sensitive to the actual crop needs. Field experiments were conducted in Birunga, Mudende [L1] and Buberuka, Rwerere [L2] highl...
ABSTRACT Moisture deficit limits yam production. Availability of drought tolerant yam will improve yield and expand area of production. Soil inoculation with Arbuscular Mycorrhizae Fungi (AMF) improves tolerance of plants to drought. However, there is limited information on the response of yam to drought and AMF inoculum. This study was conducted to identify drought tolerant yam accessions and determine the effects of AMF. Two glasshouse and one field experiments were conducted, each in ...
ABSTRACT Adverse soil moisture deficit as a result of high ambient temperatures and high velocity June winds at critical stages of maize growth had been singled out as the most important factor limiting maize yield in Coastal Kenya during long rain season. This study was carried out to study the effect of foliar applied kaolin and coir dust mulch on evapotranspiration and yield of Pwani hybrid 4 maize. A 2x2x4x3 split-split plot design experiment, replicated thrice was set at Pwani University...
ABSTRACT Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia Kurdjumov) (RWA) and the emergence of stem rust (Puccinia graminis Pers. f.sp. tritici ) race TTKSK (‘Ug99’) in Kenya are currently some of the most binding constraints to wheat production in Kenya. Severe infestation by RWA may result in yield losses of up to 90% in commercial wheat cultivars while ‘Ug99’ infected plants may suffer up to 100% loss. The two pests combined have seriously affected wheat farmers forcing them to heavily rely o...
In order to revamp agricultural production in Zambia, Government in 2002 introduced the. Farmer Input Support Programme whose aim was to improve small scale farmers’ access to maize based agricultural inputs. However, in 2015/16 season, the Ministry of Agriculture moved away from the conventional FISP and introduced an Electronic Voucher system which broadened the target inputs farmers were allowed to purchase beyond maize inputs only. The overall objective of this study was to assess ...
Field experiments were conducted for two successive rainy seasons (2014/15 and 2015/16) and for two successive irrigated winter seasons (2014/15 and 2015/16) in sandy soil at experimental Farm, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of Kordofan, Elobeid. The aim of this study was to evaluate 10 forage Sorghum genotypes under rain-fed and to investigate the effect of these 10 genotypes and watering interval (7 and 10 days) under irrigation on growth, yield and...
Afield and a pot experiment wereconductedin season2016
This study was carried out to assess the variation in morphological and yield traits for 13 sorghum germplasm. A field experiment was executed during winter season of 2015 at the demonstration farm of the faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Shambat. Sorghum accessions were morpho-agronomically characterized by using the sorghum descriptors lists from the International Board of Plant Genetic Resources, IBPGR/ICRISAT (1993) as reference for the observations. The agronomic perf...
Research experiment and field survey were conducted during 2016 – 2018 to study the effect of variety and nitrogen fertilization on the agronomic andquality performance of Rhodes grass and to investigate the husbandry practices of Rhodes grass in the major production systems in the Sudan. The experiment was conducted in Shambat (2016-2017) in the demonstration farm of the College of Agricultural Studies, Sudan University of Science and Technology. Two Rhodess grass varieties (Fine Cu...
ABSTRACT Spider plant (Cleome gynandraL.) is an important indigenous vegetable in Zimbabwe whose demand is increasing across all social classes due to high nutritional and medicinal qualities. Lack of efficient production technologies is leading to under utilization of its genetic potential hence growing demand cannot be met by current methods used by smallholder farmers. In view of this, a field experiment was carried out at Musena Resettlement area in Chirumanzu District to assess the perfo...
ABSTRACT The experiments were conducted at Zimbabwe Sugar Association Experiment Station, Chiredzi, Zimbabwe during the period 2015-2016 to study the growth, yield and economic benefit analysis of sugarcane as influenced by plant media, intra-row spacing and varieties. Two experiments were conducted with the 1st experiment that evaluated the best plant media to raise sugarcane bud chips and the 2nd experiment on determining the best intra-row spacing that gives best yield, using different sug...
Abstract Cotton production is generally declining due to several limitations which include climate variations, poor crop management and biotic stress factors. Of the biotic stress, diseases are a major limiting factor of cotton production. Verticillium wilt is one of the most important disease and is an economically important fungal disease causing significant losses to seed cotton yield in Zimbabwe. Varietal development for resistance in cotton requires the understanding of the underlying ge...
ABSTRACT Access to high quality certified soybeans seeds by most small scale commercial farmers is a major constraint and this result in most farmers to retain their seed obtained from the previous harvests. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of retention period on field emergence, vigor and genetic purity of soybean seeds under the smallholder farmers in semi arid regions of Zimbabwe. A survey was first conducted to assess the agronomic and storage practices done by smallholder...
Abstract Drought is the most important limiting factor in the production of crops in agriculture; it is becoming an increasingly severe problem, sharpening its ends due to dynamic changes in climatic variables. Tobacco is one of the major cash crops that is being grown by many farmers, but its production potential is often constrained by the scarcity of water and poor productivity of sandy soil. In order to counteract the problem of water scarcity, the researcher hereby sought to investigat...