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Books and Book Chapters: Recent submissions
Now showing items 261-280 of 977
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In vitro conservation and distribution of root and tuber crop germplasm
(1991)The in vitro methods that can be used or are in use in root crop germplasm conservation and distribution are described, namely (1) normal growth storage, (2) reduced growth storage (reduced incubation temp., manipulation of culture media, both of the former), and (3) cryopreservation. The achievements of applying some of these methods are summarized and the advantages of using tissue culture materials in germplasm exchange are highlighted. In the case of reduced incubation temp. for cassava, node ... -
Response of two Acacia species to drought and inoculation with an ectomycorrhizal fungus
(1991)Inclusion of trees in cropping systems is an efficient way to recycle nutrients and replenish soil organic matter. In the tropics, P deficiency is commonplace, and rains are erratic in many areas. Mycorrhizal fungi are known to enhance P uptake of the host-plant in low-P soils, and to improve its water relations under drought conditions. -
Biotechnology in reproductive biology
(1992)Plant reproduction is a core process in plant breeding. For decades, one can even say for centuries, plant reproductive biology has largely been a matter of observation, description, and philosophical speculation. Only in the last two decades has it entered the experimental phase, and it is in the last decade that tools are emerging that allow manipulation of plant reproduction for the sake of human needs and goals. -
An onfarm rice variety trial in toposequences of inland valley swamps
(1991)The use of a statistical tool such as the analysis of variance is effective in estimating experimental errors and detecting the Importance of factors such as toposequence, paddy status, site and variety as determinants of rice yields in IVS. Based on the analysis, the important factors affecting rice yield in both locations (Bida and Makeni) are toposequence and variety. In Bida, the effects of site and paddy status were not important. The slight differences in yield due to these factors can be ... -
Bananas in Africa: diversity, uses and prospects for improvement
(1991)Bananas, Musa species, are perennial giant herbs belonging to the family Musaceae (Zingiberales: Scitaminae) (Simmonds, 1966; Tomlinson, 1969). Most bananas are cultivated for their fleshy fruits, but some clones are planted for their edible conns or for fiber. Bananas are among the most important food crops of the tropical and subtropical world. Some 68 million tons of bananas are produced annually, of which only 7 million tons enter the world market (FAO, 1987). This demonstrates that the crop ... -
Collecting meaningful data on labor use and farm size for economic analysis associated with onfarm trials in subSaharan African
(1991)On-farm research alms at examining the effects of physical, biological, and socioeconomic factors on the performance of different farming systems as well as testing the acceptability or adoptability of new technology by farmers. Gomez (1977) distinguished these aims as technology development and technology adoption research. Researcher-managed on-farm trials play a more significant role in technology development research, while in the case of technology adoption research, farmer-managed trials ... -
Trial design and analysis for onfarm adaptive research: a 1988 maize trial in the Mono Province of Benin
(1991)On-farm Adaptive Research (OFAR) In an alftsol area In Southern Benin (Mono Province) started in 1986 with the introduction of a collaborative project of the Direction de la Recherche Agronomique (DRA) of Benin, the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) Amsterdam, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IlTA) Nigeria. Major constraints to agricultural development are: • declining soil fertility caused by shorter fallows: • reduction in average farm size because of the Increase in rural ... -
Onfarm trials comparing the local streakdisease susceptible maize with a streakdisease resistant variety in southeastern Zaire
(1991)Exploratory survey have identified many constraints to maize production in the South Shaba region of Zaїre. These include maize streak disease, stalk bearing catapillars, low soil fertility, weed infestations, and irregular end-of- season rainfall. There is also a shortage of labour for land preparation and weeding, and a lack of fertilizer.Trials were conducted to remedy some of the production constraints. However, because of certain practical problems, more attention was given to the agronomic ... -
Single site design considerations in onfarm experiments
(1991)I do not propose to say much about the type of verification trial where a single plot using a package of improvements is established on the fields of several farmers. Although they often provide useful information over an area, I consider them to be little more than demonstration plots. Where we have several plots per site, on the other hand, we are forced towards experiments -
Plantain Improvement
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Gender, work and population in sub-Saharan Africa
(1994)This volume looks at various aspects of the culturally prescribed roles of women and men - that is, gender issues - in sub-Saharan Africa and their relevance to the recording of facts upon which national policies and plans promoting the welfare of labour and national economic development are supposed to be based. Contributions: Introduction (Christine Oppong) - The demographic profile: sustained high mortality & fertility & migration for employment (Aderanti Adepoju) - Wives & mothers: female ... -
Post transcriptional gene silencing in transgenic plants
(1994)The recent successes of gene engineering in plants demonstrate the high potential of expressing transgenes in agronomically important crops. These approaches require that the introduced gene is stably expressed in subsequent plant generations. However, experiments involving transgenic plants show that the expression of chimeric genes can substantially vary among individual transformants. -
Banana and plantain breeding
(1995)Despite considerable efforts of Musa improvement programmes, banana and plantain production still depends upon a limited number of landraces selected by man from the natural germplasm. Inability to replace land-races by cultivars obtained through cross-breeding creates the increased risk of epidemic disease among genetically similar cultivars. Consequently, improvement programmes have concentrated almost exclusively on resistance breeding. -
Musa genetics
(1995)The triploid nature of plantain and its pattern of inheritance should have represented a challenge and an incentive for geneticists. However, few genetic and cytological investigations have been done in Musa spp. Both banana and plantain have been ignored and neglected as material for basic genetic research. -
Soil fertility management and cowpea production in the semi arid tropics of West Africa
(2002)Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata[L.] Walp.) is an important grain legume in the semi- arid zone of West Africa as it is a major source of dietary protein for the people. It is usually grown as an intercrop with the major cereals, namely millet and sorghum. Despite its importance, its yields are very low due to several constraints including poor soil, insect pests, and drought. The soils in semiarid West Africa are inherently low in nitrogen and phosphorus. Soil, water, and nutrient management practices ...
