ABSTRACT Commercial production of Agaricus bisporus is dependent upon a substrate prepared by composting. Traditional composting is associated with a number of environmental problems such as the emission of offensive odors and waste water run-off during handling. In addition, after the production of a crop of mushrooms, there is the problem of disposal of spent mushroom substrate (SMS). Thus, preparation of a suitable substrate for mushroom production without the generation of offensive odor...
ABSTRACT Climate change mitigation interventions have been placed in many parts of the world including Tanzania aiming to mitigate extreme impacts of climate change. This study was conducted to determine effectiveness of climate change mitigation interventions on crop productivity in Morogoro District. Specifically, the study aimed at (i) identifying climate change mitigation interventions undertaken in the study area, (ii) assessing level of communities’ awareness on climate change mitiga...
ABSTRACT The global markets are increasingly being integrated due to globalization and liberalisation. Drastic changes prompted by technological change are daily transpiring in the agricultural produce marketing which put smallholder farmers’market survival at stake. The notable changes are manifested in terms of value addition and product differentiation. This study was undertaken to identify factors that determine milk value chain choice amongst smallholder dairy in Iringa and Tanga urba...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted to assess the effects of Effective Microorganisms (EM) as feed additive in broiler chicken production on growth performance, health and foul smell control in poultry house. The experiment involved two hundred and ten, day old hybro broiler chicks which were randomly allocated to 14 pens each with 15 birds in seven treatments with two replicates. The main treatment (EM) was provided to experimental birds in two levels: 10mlEM2/l and 20mlEM2/l either in drinkin...
ABSTRACT Local Chicken (LC) keeping is an important activity in improving socio-economics of the peri-urban communities in Tanzania. Despite the LC has socio-economic importance, its information is in adequately available. This study assessed the socio- economic importance of LCs production in peri-urban areas of Kinondoni District. The study specifically determined the contribution of local chicken production to peri-urban household’s income, examined the process of LC management from day...
ABSTRACT A heavy burden of lack of employment, poor social services, and bureaucratic hassles drives many producers into the informal sector. This situation is a consequence of either the ignorance or the negligence, of the state authorities. Moshi municipality is among the towns in Tanzania where “marching trade” is practiced. This is an exceptional case where through observation women are highly involved in marching trade. This study was designed to determine factors contributed to wom...
EXTENDED ABSTRACT Raising chickens is rapidly gaining popularity in the developing world. However, high feed costs associated with intensive poultry rearing as well as increased competition between humans and animals/chicken on feed demand have necessitated the need for exploring new options in chicken feeding. Furthermore, chickens have a limited foraging range a factor that translates in a very narrow array of feeds they can access. Sorghum is one such feedstuff which is widely grown in Ta...
ABSTRACT The main objective of this study is to determine how HIV/AIDS affects rural women`s production activities. The data were collected from two Divisions of Mvomero District in Morogoro. The specific objectives were, to identify and characterize the rural women`s production activities, to compare the time spent in household production activities before and after HIV infection, to determine the household production and income levels before and after HIV infection and to asses household e...
ABSTRACT A Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) is important in a paddy value chain because the commodity requires storage before it reaches consumers. Furthermore, a WRS may enhance speed of transactions and lower costs along the supply chain. However, little is known about the overall profit efficiency of paddy-rice farmers using warehouses. This study investigates the profit of the farmers in Kilombero District by examining the role of WRS on profit. In this study, a stochastic profit frontier ...
ABSTRACT Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV) is the most important pest constraint of rice in Tanzania and other sub Saharan Africa countries. Fertilizer management is recommended to minimize incidence and development of the disease in affected rice ecosystems. Field research was carried out in the 2014 cropping season at Sokoine University of Agriculture to determine the effect of nitrogen fertilizers on the development of RYMV and grain yield of rice. Split-split plot in a randomized complete ...
ABSTRACT A study was carried out in Magu and Ilemela districts in Mwanza region to characterize cattle finishing systems and identify the factors limiting cattle growth performance. A total of 120 agro pastoralists and 30 cattle finishing entrepreneurs were interviewed using questionnaires. Seven focus group discussions were also performed. In addition, monitoring study on cattle growth performance was done for 56 days on a total of 105 cattle, of which body weight gain of cattle was measure...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted in Sumbawanga Rural District in Rukwa region. Its objective was to examine the influence of grain quality and standards in maize trading. Specifically, to find the significance of maize cleaning, grading and standardizing in grain marketing, to examine the significance of the road condition in determining maize buyers’ accessibility to buying posts and the significance of the number of maize buyers in fluctuating farmers’ maize selling price. Purposive mu...
ABSTRACT Household food insecurity in Tanzania is widespread even when the country experiences bumper harvest. Food insecurity is widespread and chronic that there is always a certain degree of household food deficit at a given part in a year. Despite the government’s efforts to improve agricultural production, food insecurity has persisted. Thus, this study was conducted to assess causes of food insecurity and coping strategies of smallholder farmers in Chamwino district, Dodoma region. S...
ABSTRACT The study on contribution of valley bottom cultivation (vinyungu) to poverty alleviation in Mtitu River Basin in Kilolo District was conducted in order to examine the role of this type of agriculture to rural livelihood. This type of agriculture has been practiced over many decades. In Mtitu River Basin almost all valley bottoms are used by small farmers who practice farming in lowlands, usually called vinyungu, a type of farming practiced in dry season. Tanzania Government has been...
ABSTRACT Agricultural sector in Tanzania and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by smallholder farmers. This has made the smallholder-led growth strategy to be widely accepted as the pathway for achieving economic transformation and mass poverty reduction in Africa. Recently, however, concerns have been raised on the validity of favouring small farmers because small-scale farming in Africa has historically provided very low returns to labour. Also unlike earlier findings of the inv...