Journal and Journal Articles: Recent submissions

Now showing items 301-320 of 5157

    • 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 ...

    • Gender-disaggregated consumer testing and descriptive sensory analysis of local and new yam varieties 

      Effah-Manu, L.; Wireko-Manu, F.D.; Agbenorhevi, J.K.; Maziya-Dixon, B.; Oduro, I. (2023-01-25)
      Gender-disaggregated sensory evaluation has become an essential element that could enhance breeding activities by increasing the adoption of new varieties. The effect of age, sex and geographical location on descriptor preferences for boiled and pounded yam were studied using descriptive and consumer testing. Attributes with definitions and measurement scales were used to generate lexicons for boiled and pounded yam. Analytical tools employed for the inferential statistics were the independent ...

    • Spatial modelling indicates Striga seedbank density dependence on rainfall and soil traits in the savannas of northern Nigeria 

      Aliyu, K.T.; Lado, A.; Hussaini, M.A.; Kamara, A.; Musa, S.A.; Dawaki, M.U.; Suleiman, M.S.; Bello, T.T.; Fagge, A.; Isa, H.M.; Ibrahim, H. (2023-02-13)
      Striga is one of most notorious weeds devastating crop production in the dry savannas of northern Nigeria. The weed attacks most cultivated cereals and legumes with crop losses as high as 100% when no control measure is employed. Studies conducted in the dry savannas of Nigeria indicated that Striga seedbank is strongly related to soil and climate properties. This study was conducted to model Striga hermonthica seedbank zones in the dry savannas of Nigeria based on soil and climate properties of ...

    • Identification of a major QTL-controlling resistance to the subtropical race 4 of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense in Musa acuminata ssp. malaccensis 

      Chen, A.; Sun, J.; Martin, G.; Gray, L.A.; Hřibová, E.; Christelova, P.; Yahiaoui, N.; Rounsley, S.; Lyons, R.; Batley, J.; Chen, N.; Hamill, S.; Rai, K.; Coin, L.; Uwimana, B.; D’hont, A.; Doležel, J.; Edwards, D.; Swennen, R.; Aitken, E.A.B. (2023-02-09)
      Vascular wilt caused by the ascomycete fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) is a major constraint of banana production around the world. The virulent race, namely Tropical Race 4, can infect all Cavendish-type banana plants and is now widespread across the globe, causing devastating losses to global banana production. In this study, we characterized Foc Subtropical Race 4 (STR4) resistance in a wild banana relative which, through estimated genome size and ancestry analysis, was ...

    • Variability and genetic merits of white Guinea yam landraces in Nigeria 

      Agre, A.P.; Edemodu, A.; Obidiegwu, J.; Adebola, P.O.; Asiedu, R.; Asfaw, A. (2023-02-06)
      Introduction: Landraces represent a significant gene pool of African cultivated white Guinea yam diversity. They could, therefore, serve as a potential donor of important traits such as resilience to stresses as well as food quality attributes that may be useful in modern yam breeding. This study assessed the pattern of genetic variability, quantitative trait loci (QTLs), alleles, and genetic merits of landraces, which could be exploited in breeding for more sustainable yam production in Africa. ...

    • Une operation de lutte biologique en Guyane 

      Vayssieres, J.; Cherasse, S.; Page, N.; Laplace, D.; Beauchene, J.; Gourmel, C.; Denis, S.; Pinault, D.; Rhino, B.; Bertrand, M.; Germain, J.; Goergen, G.; Le Bellec, F. (2022-09)
      Contexte - En septembre 2014, l’espèce invasive, Rastrococcus invadens Williams (Hemiptera : Pseudococcidae) a été détectée à Cayenne (Guyane), puis rapidement identifiée par le LSV-Anses. C’est le premier signalement de la cochenille sur le continent sud-américain. À la demande du ministère de l’Agriculture, une mission a été réalisée par le Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (Cirad) fin 2016 afin de définir la gamme des plantes-hôtes de R. invadens, ...

    • Mapping quantitative trait loci and predicting candidate genes for Striga resistance in maize using resistance donor line derived from Zea diploperennis 

      Badu-Apraku, B.; Adewale, S.; Agre, P.; Offornedo, Q.; Gedil, M. (2023-01-12)
      The parasitic weed, Striga is a major biological constraint to cereal production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and threatens food and nutrition security. Two hundred and twenty-three (223) F2:3 mapping population involving individuals derived from TZdEI 352 x TZEI 916 were phenotyped for four Striga-adaptive traits and genotyped using the Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) to determine the genomic regions responsible for Striga resistance in maize. After removing distorted SNP markers, a genetic ...

    • Assessment of biochemical, cooking, sensory and textural properties of the boiled food product of white yam (D. rotundata) genotypes grown at different locations 

      Alamu, E.O.; Adesokan, M.; Awoyale, W.; Oyedele, H.A.; Fawole, S.; Amele, A.; Maziya-Dixon, B. (2022-12)
      Specific biochemical properties and textural attributes determine the final quality and acceptability of yam food products. This study assessed the flour and cooking qualities (boiled yam) of sixteen elite white yam genotypes (D. rotundata) grown in three locations. Fresh yam samples were cut into regular-shaped pieces and boiled using the standard procedure. Sub-samples were oven-dried at 65 °C for 72 h and milled to flour. The biochemical profiling for the yam flour showed, on average, 61.35 ± ...

    • Quantifying potential yield and yield gaps of soybean using CROPGRO-soybean model in the humid tropics of southwestern Ethiopia 

      Mekonnen, A.; Getnet, M.; Nebiyu, A.; Abebe, A.T. (2022-10-24)
      In the past, much of the emphasis on soybean research in Ethiopia has been on the development and testing of new varieties and classical agronomic trials with limited use of crop models that help in estimating the potential yield and yield gaps, and identifying the most important barriers of achieving optimal yield. CROPGRO-soybean model is an important tool for estimating the potential yield and yield gaps of soybean under various management and environmental conditions. The objectives of this ...

    • Species richness, density, activity, and composition of ground-dwelling ants in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon: role of vegetation cover and abiotic factors 

      Fotso Kuate, A.; Hanna, R.; Nanga, S.N.; Tindo, M.; Doumtsop Fotio, A.R.P.; Nagel, P. (2022-12)
      The destruction of natural habitats is among the major factors responsible for the decrease in species diversity and distribution. This study focused on the effect of vegetation and its interaction with the season on ant species richness, density, activity, and composition in the three dominant habitats – forest, fallow, and mixed crop field – prevailing in southern Cameroon. Ants were sampled using two sampling techniques –pitfall trap and quadrat – in fallows, forest, and mixed crop fields from ...