ABSTRACT Soil nutrient depletion in lowland rice growing ecologies in Northern Ghana is one of the major causes of low rice yields. Most nutrients applied to enhance the fertility of soil are lost through leaching due to the low CEC of the soils caused mainly by low organic matter and low colloidal clay content of the soils. The application of biochar has been found to improve soil fertility through its enhanced nutrient retention leading to increased nutrient uptake and consequently in...
ABSTRACT Pelargonium sidoides is a medicinal plant grown in Kenya for export to Germany where it is used in the manufacture of drugs for lung related diseases. The farm contributes to the well being of the local community by providing permanent employment to for over 80 persons, with 80 percent being women. It also offers free pre-primary education to their children including the ones from the neighbourhood. The broad spectrum of activity against viruses and bacteria may be caused by the coum...
ABSTRACT Despite having a lot of resources, Lake Victoria Basin has had an increase in population and land degradation and a reduction in agricultural production due to poor soil fertility. This has necessitated the use of inorganic fertilizers to boost food production. Inorganic fertilizers production contributes to emission of greenhouse gases. Use of inorganic fertilizer in Lake Victoria basin may have led to eutrophication of Lake Victoria leading to social, economic and ecological proble...
Soil organic matter is the decomposed and partially decomposed remains of plants and animals in the soil and this help in nutrient recycling. This work evaluated the effect of compost types on various organic carbon fractions and microaggregation. Soil samples collected at 0-20 cm depth were analyzed for total organic carbon (TOC), free particulate organic carbon (fPoC), occluded particulate organic carbon (oPOC), acid-hydrolzable organic carbon (AHOC) and non-acid hydrolysable organic carbon...
ABSTRACT The environmental degradation of areas surrounding Lake Elementaita arise from the livelihood activities of the residents. Uncontrolled extraction of resources such as trees, grass and soda/salt contrasts with conservation. This is further compounded by the free access to the resources as a result of absentee landlords. This situation leads to lack of control and management of resources thus exacerbating degradation activities around the Lake and its riparian ecosystem. This study fo...
Abstract: Organic liquid fertilizer not only increases organic fertility of crops but also accelerates their maturation and nutrient quality. Thus, the present study was aimed at producing organic liquid fertilizer from sheep manure and onion peels through aerobic conditions where after 50 days the solution was converted into organic liquid fertilizer. The experimental design used was complete randomized design (CRD) in two replications. Quantitative analysis was made for composition of plan...
BACKGROUND Integral to the biological nutrient removal (BNR) activated sludge system is the biologically mediated process of denitrification. Not only does this process reduce the N load to the environment, but it also has the advantages of alkalinity recovery and reducing the oxygen demand. Further, the denitrification protects the biological excess P removal (BEPR), if included, from the deleterious effect of recycling nitrate to the anaerobic reactor (Wentzel et al., 1990). Accordingly, qu...
ABSTRACT Nitrogen deficiency is a major limiting factor for maize production in western Kenya, therefore, nitrogen fertilizer inputs are required to increase yields in the region. However, most resource poor farmers use low rates of inorganic fertilizers leading to low maize yields. While high rates of inorganic fertilizer application may increase yields, they are however associated with low nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the environment. Cattle manur...
Abstract The agro-climatic conditions in western Kenya present the region as a food surplus area yet people are still reliant on food imports. Numerous interventions through Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) practices to this front have not yielded the expected results. With this background the study sought to: (i) identify the contribution of ISFM interventions to farm productivity, (ii) to identify gaps in knowledge translation and (iii) to establish the major factors determining ...
ABSTRACT The present study quantifies the effects of the determinants of commercialisation of maize production in the East Akyem District of Ghana. The Tobit model is used. The conventional t-test is also performed to examine the differences between the characteristics of the commercial and non-commercial maize farmers in the East Akyem District of Ghana. The study observes, inter alia, that farmer age, marital status, time farmer spends on maize fanning, farming system, whether male family m...
ABSTRACT This study sought to improve Senior High School Chemistry students’ performance and retention in classification and nomenclature of organic chemistry using the jigsaw cooperative model. Quasi experimental pretest, posttest and delayed posttest control group design was adopted by the researcher to carry out the study. The study was conducted in two Senior High Schools offering chemistry (two different classes during 2012-2013 academic years). Total number of ninety four st...
Overtime, land values have continued to diminish due to unsustainable land management practices engaged by thefarmers. This study evaluated the econometric analysis of agricultural land values in Imo State, Nigeria. Multi-stagerandom sampling technique was used to select 75 farmers for the study. Information on the objectives of this studywas elicited from the sampled respondents through a well structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Data wereanalyzed using descriptive statistical to...
ABSTRACT An investigation of the effects of population pressure on the agricultural lands was conducted in Thika area Thika district. The variables considered include; causes of population growth, effects of population growth on agricultural lands and solutions for the effects of population growth on agricultural lands. In order to investigate the above variables, a general survey research design was used. Data collection tools include; interview schedule, observation checklist, literature re...
ABSTRACT This research study identifies the agricultural systems and their problems in Lugoba village. In the village the land is subjected to a number of activities among which agriculture is the most predominant. During the study a representative sample of 70 people was selected randomly since almost all the people in the village are farmers, selection was not hard. Data was collected using a series of methods which included observation, interviews, recording, questionnaire and use of secon...
ABSTRACT Low output of cocoa has resulted in Ghana losing out to Cote d‟Ivoire as the leading producer. The aim of this study was to explore farm households‟ adoption of inorganic fertilizer and technical efficiency, using cross-sectional data collected from 305 cocoa producing households in the Western Region of Ghana. The Heckman two-stage model was used for both the discrete decision to adopt fertilizer and intensity of fertilizer use while the stochastic frontier framework was used t...