ABSTRACT Field experiments were carried out in 2006 and 2007 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to study the inheritance pattern of days to flowering and quantitative traits in cowpea. The experimental materials comprised 10 cowpea accessions sourced from Plateau and Enugu States of Nigeria. Reciprocal crosses were generated and the parents, F1, F2 and BC populations were evaluated for days to flowering under lo...
ABSTRACT Globally, floodplains have experienced floods of different magnitudes at different times. As such the inundations of floodplains affect agricultural activities and such impact is evident. In Namibia, the Zambezi Region has experienced high variability in rainfall patterns, extreme rainfall and flood in space (spatial) and time (temporal) more than any other region as a result of climate variability. The non-flooded landscape units consequently become the only available opti...
ABSTRACT Hydroponics is a cultivation method of growing plants in water. It is a technology suitable for farming that is under artificially controlled environments but can be adapted to situations where land is a constraint. In Namibia this is a potential method for vegetable cultivation. Hydroponics vegetable production has been demonstrated successfully using a balanced conventional nutrient solution, globally, and therefore, an evaluation of its suitability in Namibia using goat manure so...
ABSTRACT The effects of five weed management techniques and a weed-free control on weed infestation and on the growth and yield of a plantain landrace (Musa spp. AAB Agbagba) were evaluated during the two cropping seasons of 2005 and 2006 at Nsukka, Nigeria. The experiment was laid out in randomised complete block design (RCBD) with six treatments and replicated four times. The treatments comprised six weed management techniques, which consisted of slashing at 8-weekly intervals, mulching w...
ABSTRACT Two field experiments were conducted in 2007 and 2008 cropping seasons at the Department of Crop Science research farm, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to characterize some Nigeria cucurbita genotypes with respect to morphology, nutrient composition and the cytology. The results obtained showed that Shannon diversity index (Hs) was 4.136 which suggests high level of diversity among the Nigerian cucurbita species evaluated. Cucurbita moschata had the highest Shannon diversity index...
ABSTRACT Striga hermonthica constitutes a major constraint to maize production and productivity. It is the largest single biological constraint to food production in Sub-Saharan Africa. Hence there is the need to develop hybrids that are tolerant to this constraint. Knowledge and understanding of Striga resistance in early maturing maize inbreds are crucial for the developments of hybrids adapted to Striga-infested environments in the sub-region as well as for enhancing breeding strategies. T...
ABSTRACT Knowledge of existing diversity especially at the genotypic level in plant population is crucial for the effective breeding, conservation, management, and efficient utilization of plant genetic resources (PGR) (Mondini et al., 2009). However, Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lamarck), a common and popular plant growing in almost every part of the country with several uses and benefits still remains underutilized tropical crop in Ghana. This is due to the fact that the crop has either receiv...
ABSTRACT Pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merr) production in Uganda is being constrained by a diversity of factors including pineapple heart rot disease (PHRD). Information on PHRD causal pathogen is limited. Also, management options are clear. The objectives of this study were, therefore, to identify the casual pathogens causing PHRD and assess the in vitro reaction of the causal pathogens to fungicides. Pathogen isolation was done using amended corn meal agar. Macro and micro-morphological ch...
ABSTRACT Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr) is of tremendous imponance as a fruit crop in Uganda. However, production in Uganda is currently threatened by outbreaks of pineapple heart rot disease (PHRD). PHRD is the most widespread and devastating disease of pineapple in Uganda and can cause tremendous yield loss. Although, some preliminary information exists on PHRD in Uganda, the yield loss attributed to the disease bas not quantified neither is there any information on sources of resist...
ABSTRACT The root knot nematode species (Meloidogyne incognita) is a devastating pest in the tropical and sub-tropical regions, and is known to infect a wide variety of crops, leading to economic damage to these crops. The objective of this laboratory experiment was to investigate egg hatch of M. incognita exposed to aqueous root and leaf extracts of the African marigold (Tagetes erecta), Moringa (Moringa oleifera), and (Gboma) Solanum marcrocarpon plants at five (5) ..concentrations (0%, 10%...