Journal and Journal Articles: Recent submissions

Now showing items 401-420 of 5266

    • Circular bioeconomy in African food systems: what is the status quo? Insights from Rwanda, DRC, and Ethiopia 

      Sekabira, H.; Nijman, E.; Spath, L.; Krutli, P.; Schut, M.; Vanlauwe, B.; Wilde, B.; Kintche, K.; Kantengwa, S.; Feyso, A.; Kigangu, B.; Six, J. (2022-10-20)
      Increasing global food insecurity amidst a growing population and diminishing production resources renders the currently dominant linear production model insufficient to combat such challenges. Hence, a circular bioeconomy (CBE) model that ensures more conservative use of resources has become essential. Specifically, a CBE model that focuses on recycling and reusing organic waste is essential to close nutrient loops and establish more resilient rural-urban nexus food systems. However, the CBE ...

    • Beyond average: are the yield and income impacts of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties heterogeneous? 

      Kamara, A.Y.; Oyinbo, O.; Manda, J.; Kamara, A.; Idowu, E.O.; Mbavai, J.J. (2023-02-23)
      Assessing the benefits of adopting climate-resilient farming technologies without considering the heterogeneity among farmers, may not provide a sufficient evidence base for policy. Yet, most empirical studies do not go beyond documenting the average effects of climate-resilient technologies. Using farm household survey data from Nigeria, this paper examines whether and to what extent the yield and income impacts of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties are heterogeneous. We used the ...

    • Assessing the conservation status of wild banana genetic resources by means of population genetics and distribution modelling 

      Mertens, A. (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 2023-01)
      Crop wild relatives (CWR) are wild plant species that are closely related or ancestral to cultivated plants. Because they often have high allelic diversity compared to their associated crop, they are an important source for the improvement of multiple agronomic traits such as yield or the resistance against biotic or abiotic stresses. Loss of genetic diversity due to increasing anthropogenic pressure now threatens their long term survival. There is a growing recognition of the importance of CWR ...

    • Establishing the linkage between Eba’s instrumental and sensory descriptive profiles and their correlation with consumer preferences: implications for cassava breeding 

      Alamu, E.O.; Teeken, B.; Ayetigbo, O.; Adesokan, M.; Kayondo, S.I.; Chijioke, U.; Madu, T.; Okoye, B.; Bello, A.A.; Njoku, D.; Rabbi, I.Y.; Egesi, C.; Ndjouenkeu, R.; Bouniol, A.; de Sousa, K.; Dufour, D.; Maziya-Dixon, B. (2023-02-22)
      Background Gari and Eba (cassava semolina) is mainly consumed in Nigeria and other West African countries. Defining the food product profile (biophysical, sensory, and textural qualities) that drives its acceptability, and integrating the component traits into breeding programs, are critical for the better adoption of new genotypes. This study aimed to define the Gari and Eba critical quality traits, define medium and high throughput instrumental methods for use by breeders, measure their respective ...

    • Assessment of structure and governance of amenity trees in the premises of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria 

      Owoeye, Y.T. (University of Ibadan, 2021-10)
      Amenity trees are components of the urban forest which contribute significantly to human wellbeing and improves environmental quality. Benefits derivable from amenity trees are numerous but inadequate or lack of knowledge of the structure of the urban treescape as well as poor or no management practices like institutional framework has limited these benefits. A number of institutions has lot of trees planted within their premises. However, more often than not, those trees have become hazardous and ...

    • Effect of shade on ecophysiology of cocoa under stress conditions 

      Mensah, E.O. (University of Ghana, 2021-09)
      Climate models predict increasing air temperature and decreasing rainfall patterns among cocoa growing regions around the world. Both heat and drought stress are known to affect physiology of cocoa plants through reduced rates of photosynthesis, lack of water and generally impaired physiological processes. This in turn leads to decreased yields and in severe cases, increased risks of mortality. Many studies have reported positive effects of shade on cocoa production; however, interest of full sun ...

    • Effectiveness of the Yangambi biosphere reserve in reducing deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

      Kipute, D.D.; Mate, J.P.; Kankeu, R.S.; Ngouhouo-Poufoun, J.; Kahindo, J.M.; Mampeta, S.; Lelo, U.; Sonwa, D.; Joiris, D.V.; Demaze, M.T. (2023-01)
      Establishing protected areas creates an opportunity to reduce deforestation. This study aims to inform the Congolese government’s efforts to promote forest and biodiversity conservation by assessing the effectiveness of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve (YBR) in reducing deforestation. Group and individual interviews designed to understand the causes of pressure on forest cover in the Yangambi landscape complemented satellite imagery analyses. The results indicate that deforestation inside the YBR ...

    • Genetic diversity of virome and mycobiome of cassava in Bagamoyo, Tanzania and basis for treat discrepancy between cassava brown streak virus species 

      Mero, H.R. (University of Dar es Salaam, 2022-10)
      Brown streak is the most destructive viral disease of cassava causing up to 100% yield loss whilst fungal diseases contribute up to 90% cassava yield loss in Sub Saharan Africa. Genetic diversity of novel virus and fungal species infecting cassava in Bagamoyo, Tanzania is not fully comprehended. For unclear reasons, it is difficulty to breed resistance for one causal pathogen of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), Cassava Brown Streak Virus (CBSV) compared to another, Ugandan Cassava Brown Streak ...

    • Motivational pathways for farmer learning behaviour in the student‐to‐farmer university outreach 

      Kalule, S.W.; Sseguya, H.; Karubanga, G.; Ongeng, D. (2023-02-23)
      In recent times, calls for practical training of agricultural extension workers, who exhibit the right mix of competences for responsiveness to farmer learning needs, have intensified. This comes at the time when there is an increasingly growing desire for more community‐engaged African universities, and as such, making the integration of agricultural students into community outreach services a necessity. However, empirical evidence on whether student‐led outreach and training models adequately ...

    • Factoring labour when comparing in situ rainwater harvesting technologies for semi-arid areas of central Tanzania 

      Swai, E.; Mwinuka, L.; Shitindi, M.J.; Manda, J.; Whitbread, A.; Bekunda, M. (2023-02-08)
      Erratic rainfall, high evapotranspiration rates and droughts are major factors limiting crop production in semi-arid areas. Tied ridges that have crossed ties within the furrow are among the physical soil and water conservation measures. During the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, we examined the efficacy of repaired tied ridges for maize crop (Zea mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in Kongwa district of Tanzania as an alternate labour saving strategy for managing climate risks associated with variable ...

    • Resistance screening of white yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir.) accessions against Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949 using yam vines 

      Adomako, J.; Otoo, E.; Danso, Y.; Alhassan, D.K.; Adebola, P.; Asfaw, A. (2022-04)
      Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) is an economically important phytoparasitic nematode species. In yam production, therefore, breeding for nematode resistance is an important environmentally friendly tool to manage root-knot nematodes damage. The aim of this study was to determine the reaction of 18 yam accessions to M. incognita inoculation under screen house conditions using single node vine cuttings. Vines of each accession were planted in sterilized soil and inoculated with 1000 ...

    • Inheritance of resistance to Fusarium verticillioides ear rot in maize inbred lines of southern, west and central Africa origin 

      Tembo, E.; Minnaar‐Ontong, A.; Menkir, A.; Marais, G.; Magorokosho, C.; Labuschagne, M.T. (2022-10)
      Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important crop in sub-Sahara Africa for both human consumption and livestock feed. Maize use is often limited by ear-rotting fungi, some of which produce deleterious secondary metabolites. The aim of this study was to determine the inheritance of resistance to Fusarium verticillioides as an indirect way of selecting for resistance to secondary metabolites such as the mycotoxin fumonisin that is produced by this fungus, under artificial inoculation and natural infection. ...

    • Combining ability of selected soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] parental lines 

      Otusanya, G.O.; Chigeza, G.; Chander, S.; Abebe, A.T.; Sobowale, O.O.; Ojo, D.K.; Akoroda, M. (2022-02)
      Background: The success of hybridization programme depends on the combining ability of parental lines. Methods: Seven soybean genotypes and all their partial diallel crosses in the F2 generation were evaluated in a randomized complete block design at two locations in Nigeria, during the 2017-2018 growing season. Result: Analysis of variance showed that both environments and genotypes were significantly different for all measured traits. The genotype TGx 1988-5F was the best general combiner for ...

    • A genome-wide scan divulges key Loci involved in resistance to aphids (Aphis craccivora) in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) 

      Ongom, P.O.; Togola, A.; Fatokun, C.; Boukar, O. (2022-11-01)
      Cowpea aphids (Aphis craccivora Koch) double as a direct damaging pest and a virus vector to cowpea, threatening the economic yield of the crop. Given the multiple ecotypes, different alleles have been implicated in aphid resistance, necessitating the identification of key genes involved. The present study implemented a genome-wide scan using 365 cowpea mini-core accessions to decipher loci involved in resistance to aphid ecotype from Kano, Nigeria. Accessions were artificially inoculated with A. ...

    • Early detection of plant virus infection using multispectral imaging and spatial-spectral machine learning 

      Peng, Y.; Dallas, M.M.; Ascencio‑Ibanez, J.T.; Hoyer, J.S.; Legg, J.; Hanley‑Bowdoin, L.; Grieve, B.; Yin, H. (2022-02-24)
      Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) is an emerging viral disease that can greatly reduce cassava productivity, while causing only mild aerial symptoms that develop late in infection. Early detection of CBSD enables better crop management and intervention. Current techniques require laboratory equipment and are labour intensive and often inaccurate. We have developed a handheld active multispectral imaging (A-MSI) device combined with machine learning for early detection of CBSD in real-time. The ...

    • Farmers' willingness to invest in mechanized maize shelling and potential financial benefits: evidence from Tanzania 

      Kotu, B.H.; Manda, J.; Mutungi, C.; Fischer, G.; Gaspar, A. (2023)
      Sub-Saharan Africa has the least mechanized agriculture in the world due to various reasons including low effective demand at farm level, low policy attention, and ineffective mechanization strategies. However, the situation has changed since recently in favor of mechanization while limited empirical evidence is available on how mechanization can be enhanced among smallholder farmers. In this study, we explore farmers' willingness to invest in mechanization services by considering the group business ...

    • Maize productivity and household welfare impacts of mobile money usage in Tanzania 

      Kilombele, H.; Feleke, S.; Abdoulaye, T.; Cole, S.M.; Sekabira, H.; Manyong, V. (2023-01-31)
      This study examined the determinants and impacts of mobile money (MM) usage on maize productivity and poverty likelihood (i.e., the probability of a household falling below the international poverty line at USD 1.9 per capita per day) in the Mbeya Region, Tanzania. The analysis was conducted using the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model on data from a random sample of 1310 households selected from seven districts in the region. Results of the ESR estimation show that MM usage is strongly ...

    • Diallel analysis of soybean (Glycine max L.) for biomass yield and root characteristics under low phosphorus soil conditions in western Ethiopia 

      Abebe, A.T.; Adewale, S.; Chigeza, G.; Derera, J. (2023)
      Combining ability studies under low soil P conditions provides useful information on the inheritance of important traits to improve soybean for low P tolerance. The study aimed at determining the combining ability and gene actions of biomass yield and root traits in soybean under low phosphorus conditions. Nine parental genotypes and their 36 half diallel F2/F3 progenies were evaluated at two locations in Ethiopia on soils of low P availability. Highly significant (P<0.01) general combining ability ...

    • Elaborating institutional arrangements to better enhance sustainable crop intensification in Uganda: a farmers’ perspective 

      Pali, P.N.; Tebeka, Y.A.; Schut, M.; Mangheni, M.N.; Wairegi, L.W.; Manyong, V.; Van Asten, P.J.A. (2023-02)
      Weak and inefficient institutional arrangements have been identified as a major cause of the slow pace of agricultural growth in developing countries. Institutions – the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction – play a significant role in Sustainable Crop Intensification (SCI) in Uganda. This study uses farmers' perceptions to assess institutions and their roles in SCI. We collected data from 135 rice and potato-producing households in Eastern and Southwestern regions of Uganda ...

    • Potential of Cameroon-indigenous isolates of the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae as microbial control agents of the flea beetle Nisotra uniformis 

      Niyibizi, I.A.B.; Hanna, R.; Kekeunou, S.; Membang, G.; Fiaboe, K.; Mahot, H.C.; Abang, A.F.; Kumar, P.L.; Fotso Kuate, A. (2023)
      The flea beetle Nisotra uniformis Jacoby is a widespread pest of malvaceous crops for which synthetic chemical insecticides remain the principal control tool, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. With the ultimate aim of developing a microbial alternative for N. uniformis control, we conducted laboratory experiments (25 ± 1°C; 70 - 80% RH) to evaluate the biological attributes of three Cameroonian isolates of the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo-Crivelli) Vuillemin and Metarhizium ...