ABSTRACTFrench bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important crop with high impact on ruralemployment and livelihood. In Kenya, the crop is grown for export by small scalefarmers in high potential areas of Central, Rift valley and Western regions. Theseregions are densely populated leading to intensive farming and land fragmentation,which research has reported to be among the major threats of bee pollinators.However, amongst the known constraints, pollination has not featured amidst many...
ABSTRACTIn Sub-Saharan Africa, acidic soils occupy 29% of the total area, while about 13% of the Kenyan total land area has acidic soils, widely distributed in croplands of the central regions. The high soil acidity coupled with soil nutrient depletion negatively affect performance and yields of maize in the region. This study was therefore carried out at Kirege in Tharaka Nithi County for two cropping seasons; short rains (SR) in 2016 and long rains (LR) in 2017 to determine the effects of m...
ABSTRACTThe rapid increase in traffic intensity, axle loading, rigorous climatic changes and commercial road transport continues to impose severe demands of load and environment on the highway system. Bitumen mostly used as a binder for road construction, waterproofing agent, coating, and insulation among others has poor mechanical and thermal properties. Different synthetic binder modifies that are being used to improved performance lead to environmental pollution during disposal. Therefore,...
ABSTRACTContamination of fresh water sources with heavy metals found within the agricultural areas is largely contributed by amongst other factors, application of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. Removal of heavy metals from the contaminated waters using conventional methods is cost prohibitive and more importantly less effective especially when concentration of heavy metals is low. As a result, use of alternative technologies such as phytoremediation is being promoted. Phytoremediation ...
ABSTRACTThe world population was at 7.3 billion people in 2015, and is projected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion people in 2100. Population in the developing countries which Kenya is part of is expected to rise from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050 to 9.6 billion in 2100. Increasing human population and the threats posed by climate change continue to put pressure on the already limited environmental resources that support life on earth. This is evident in the case of l...
ABSTRACTGeothermal energy could be Climate Change Resilient subject to technologicalinterventions employed in production. Kenya seeks to safeguard herself from ClimateChange and its cascading impacts through clean energy sources such as Geothermal.Possible interventions to Climate Change entail adaptation, mitigation and buildingresilience. Most geothermal resources are located in fragile yet vital ecosystems includingOlkaria and Eburru where the study focused on. A benign geothermal te...
ABSTRACTClimate change poses a danger to the current and the future generations. Sad to note though is the fact that although developing countries have contributed the least to the current mess, they will be more impacted due to their limited technology to adapt to the consequences. As a remedy to the current situation, formal education has been identified as a major tool of passing the required knowledge, skills and changing people’s attitude towards climate change...
ABSTRACTFrench bean is the most important export vegetable crop cultivated in Kenya. Pests and diseases are the major constrains to its production. The major pests of French beans are bean flies, thrips, and bean aphids. Amongst these pests, thrips are the most notorious and account for 63 – 68% yield loss of fresh marketable pods. Frankliniella occidentalis is the most widespread thrips species which has developed resistance to the commonly used synthetic pesticides. Farmers rely heavily o...
ABSTRACTRiver Nyangores experiences an all year round forage detrital input with previously unknown breakdown fate. Determination of in-situ processing coefficients of forage allochthonous detritus is important as it provides critical indication on: the level of biochemical oxygen demand, the rate at which food nutrients are distributed downstream, monitoring ecological changes in the aquatic ecosystem and as a climate change mitigation response for riparian forage agriculture. The study was ...
AbstractInformation on seed germination of trees is important as it forms a vital baseline foramong other information on the germination of indigenous seedlings which take manyyears to germinate. The study was carried out to find out the effect of different lightintensities and growth hormone on the propagation of Ocotea usambarensis Engl.Thestudy was carried out for a period of three months (August to October 2010). Theobjective of the study was to determine the best propagation method using...
ABSTRACTClimate change is a major challenge of mankind in the 21st century. While climate change existed even in the pre-industrial era, recent trends exacerbated by human activities have raised global concern that climate change is threatening the achievement of sustainable development. While effects of climate change have been experienced all over the world, developing countries will be hardest hit because this is where millions of the world‟s poorest people are already being forced to co...
ABSTRACTIncreased demand for tree products has raised demand for tree production and need for site matching. The main aim of this study was to explore tree seed sources and determine the influence of seed distribution to site matching. The specific objectives were (i) to determine the main category of tree seed source relied for seed production by formal and informal sectors; (ii) seed tree abundance in each category of tree seed sources within two study sites; (iii) to determine the influenc...
ABSTRACT Fisheries and aquaculture is an important source of food, income and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Aquaculture production has increased from 29.5million tonnes in 2010 to37.5 million tonnesin 2014 in the world and 1.3 million tons in 2010 to 3.8 million tonnesin Africa. There is no sufficient information suitability ofwater quality in aquaculture ponds in Tigoni. The aim of the study wasto determine the suitability of aquaculture pond...
ABSTRACTThe continuous mining of soil nutrients with inadequate replenishment and improper soil management has resulted in poor fertility levels leading to poor harvests. Even so, researchers have come up with information and new technologies that can reverse the status of poor soils but the concern is that information on the uptake and use of these technologies is inadequate in Embu County. The objectives of this study were therefore to: (i) determine how household demographic and socioecono...
ABSTRACTAgro-industrial industries are among of the major contributors of industrial effluent. Poor management of these effluents has resulted in myriad challenges to developing countries on environment and human health. The research was conducted in Bomet County of Kenya. The study sought to assess the impacts of effluent discharge from Kapkoros Tea Factory into Kipsonoi River on the local community. The objectives were: to identify types of wastes generated by the Kapkoros Tea Factory, to a...