ABSTRACT Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth infests millions of hectares of land under cereals in sub-Saharan Africa, reducing production and threatening food security. A field experiment was carried out at the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) trial farms at Nyankpala. The trial was to determine the combination of maize varieties, ammonium sulphate and chicken manure that could enhance the performance of maize in infested Striga field. In addition, the effect of treatments on the ...
ABSTRACT Solanum aethiopicum is one of the most important Solanum species, with four morphological groups. Two of the groups, Gilo and Shum, are mainly cultivated because of their nutritional value and income generating potential for farmers in developing countries. Of focus for this study was the Shum, a leafy morphological group whose productivity and quality is directly affected by drought. Global limitations on water resource availability call for the need to develop productive varieties ...
ABSTRACT Mango bacterial black spot disease is one of the most devastating diseases of mangoes worldwide. The disease was observed in some mango orchards in the Lower Manya and Asuogyaman districts of the Eastern region and North Tongu district of the Volta region of Ghana. The objectives of this study were to assess farmer’s perception and knowledge on the prevalence, spread and economic importance of the mango bacterial black spot disease, determine the disease incidence and severity in m...
ABSTRACT In Benin, Oueme Delta wetlands, as an ecological life support system, play a vital role in contributing to the local population’s livelihood, health and wellbeing. The paucity of knowledge about the value of the Oueme Delta wetlands and their attributes to society, especially to agricultural households undermines the ability of decision makers to develop and implement sustainable wetland use and management policies that maximize societal welfare. To fill that gap, this thesis has b...
ABSTRACT The failure of past attempts to develop aquaculture in Ghana has been of concern to many people. Relevant constraints identified included fmgerling shortages, low economic returns from the industry, inadequate tested extension messages among others. In recent years. The Water Research Institute and the Directorate of Fisheries have made some efforts to solve the immediate problems of inadequate seed supply and stunted growth of tilapia in ponds due to excessive reproduction. Pilot ha...
ABSTRACT Generally, soils in coastal savanna in Ghana are low in phosphorus (P) which affects crop growth and yield. Most phosphate rock deposits in West Africa are not reactive and therefore their direct applications do not promote readily P availability to crops. Co-composting organic waste and phosphate rock and using phosphorus solubilizing micro-organisms (PSMs) are some of the options currently attracting the attention of scientists. A study was conducted to (1) evaluate the effectivene...
SUMMARY Detection of Toxoplasma gondii infection by the direct demonstration of parasites is difficult due to the intracellular development of the organism, whilst the tissue culture technique is cumbersome and slow. Several workers have, therefore, relied on the demonstration of specific anti-f. gondii antibodies in serum and body fluids of both human and animal populations to obtain epidemiological data on toxoplasmosis. The applicability of this approach is based on the ability to differen...
ABSTRACT Agriculture is important in developing countries because of the role it plays in attaining food security and rural economic stability. Financing the agriculture sector however, has been a challenge because of the sector‟s exposure to exogenous risk factors, limited collateral of clients and the seasonal nature of agricultural production. As a result of these risks that result in loan default, financial institutions in Ghana allocate a rather small share of their loan portfolios to ...
ABSTRACT Cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) is primarily grown for its starch containing tuberous roots, which are a major source of dietary energy in the tropics. It is highly perishable and begins to degenerate shortly after harvest. Cassava in the fresh form contains cyanide, which is extremely toxic to humans and animals. These factors make the processing of cassava into a dry form a necessity. Processing is essential for the removal of cyanides from cassava roots. This post-harvest nece...
Abstract Three major investigations were carried out to assess the morphological traits and nodulation potential of thirteen lima bean cultivars as well as the genetic diversity of rhizobia nodulating these lima bean cultivars. Thirteen lima bean cultivars obtained from the CSIR-PGGRI and various market centres in Ghana were used. The experiment was conducted in pots filled with natural topsoil and arranged in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates at the Biotechnolog...
ABSTRACT Three experiments were conducted to evaluate cassava, a tropical root crop, as a source of energy in diets containing all vegetable protein or 5% fish meal which is a source of readily available essential amino acids required by growing chicks. The biological metabolizable energy (ME) was determined replacing part of the basal diet with the test materials (cassava meal Grades I and II combined and Grade III. Grades I and II have little of the rind and outer cover whereas Grade III co...
ABSTRACT This study reports investigation of the biodiversity of bradyrhizobia isolates that nodulate cowpea in Ghanaian soils. As a prelude, some components of nitrogen fixation of cowpea in the various soils were examined through: (1) assessment of the natural nodulation of 45 cowpea cultivars in 20 soils sampled from 5 ecozones (coastal savanna, tain forest, semi deciduous forest, forest savanna transition and guinea savanna), (2) determination of the numbers of bradyrhizobial isolates in ...
ABSTRACT This study was carried out to investigate the effect of different marinades on the quality characteristics of chevon jerky. Chevon (Hindquarter muscle) was treated with marinades containing different levels of vinegar (0, 2.5% or 5% v/v) and papain (0, 0.004g/0.04gw/v). A 3x3 factorial design which composed of nine treatments with three replicates was used. Chevon was cut into 1.5cm x 1.5cm cubes and samples were marinated for 12h and dried in an oven for 10h at a temperature of 65o...
SUMMARY Two field experiment where conducted to evaluate the performance of 142 prodigenes
ABSTRACT Smallholder farmers across major irrigation schemes in Northern Ghana especially in Golinga and Bontanga have successfully adopted the Urea Deep Placement (UDP) technology introduced some four years ago by the Feed the Future USAID Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer (ATT) project. This is a great complement for the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) inventors of the technology and could help Ghana to boost her rice production if pragmatic measures are taken by the...