Aphids cause considerable damage to numerous crops all over the world and insecticides are the main means of controlling them, despite their detrimental impacts on human and environmental health. This study assessed the effectiveness of the parasitoid Aphidius colemani Viereck (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a mixture of predatory ladybird beetles, Hippodamia variegata Goeze, Chilocorus calvus Chiccl, and Cheilomenes propinqua Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and an entomopathogenic strain of ...

The backslopped cassava mash (BCM) produced by pre-fermenting grated cassava for 96 h was mixed with fresh cassava mash from the same variety using different blend ratios and processed to backslopped fermented gari (BFG). Another batch of the same variety was fermented for 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, and 96 h to get spontaneous fermented gari (SFG). Standard methods were used to analyze the chemical composition and sensory properties of the samples. Results showed that the moisture, fat, and CNP contents, ...

Maize is consumed in different traditional diets as a source of macro- and micro-nutrients across Africa. Significant investment has thus been made to develop maize with high provitamin A content to complement other interventions for alleviating vitamin A deficiencies. The current breeding focus on increasing β-carotene levels to develop biofortified maize may affect the synthesis of other beneficial carotenoids. The changes in carotenoid profiles, which are commonly affected by environmental ...

The oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a major pest of fruit and vegetable production systems on several continents. The pest has invaded many countries, causing considerable impact on fruit production systems and commercialization. In this study we determined the relationship between temperature and development, survival and reproductive parameters of B. dorsalis on an artificial diet under laboratory conditions under 7 constant temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 33 ...

L’article interroge en quoi le concept de Système Sectoriel d’Innovation (SSI) permet de comprendre et d’organiser des choix de politiques publiques sur la filière cacao au Cameroun. Cette production centrale dans l’économie agricole du pays, a fait l’objet depuis 2002 de multiple « plans de relance » visant à accroitre significativement les rendements et la production de cacao grâce au transfert des connaissances scientifiques et techniques. A partir d’entretiens ouverts et de collecte de données ...

In this contribution, we have analysed the “dynamics and diversity of innovation support services, especially networking, facilitation and brokerage service situations as key for influencing successful outcome of innovation processes”?. Results indicate that service activities linked with “enhancing access to resources” and “offering capacity building, stand out as dominant across all three phases of innovation processes for the four innovation cases studied. This implies, support actors and ...

Enset (Ensete ventricosum), is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the family Musaceae, along with banana and plantain. Despite wild populations occurring in eastern, central and southern Africa, it is only in Ethiopia that the crop has been domesticated, where it is culturally and agriculturally symbolic as a food security crop. Although an under-researched orphan crop, enset serves as a staple food for about 20% of the Ethiopian population, comprising more than 20 million people, demonstrating ...

The present study investigated the effect of ripening stages and chemical precursors on acrylamide formation in deep-fried chips of five plantains and one cooking banana. The highest level of acrylamide was found in the cooking banana, followed by False Horn plantain and French plantain, respectively. French plantain hybrids exhibited a significantly lower (P < 0.05) level of acrylamide when compared to French plantain. The ripening stage demonstrated a positive Pearson correlation (P < 0.05, r = ...

Identification of testers is crucial for hybrid maize breeding programme. However, limited information is available about ideal testers for characterising the combining ability of Striga resistant maize inbreds. This study was conducted to assess the relative value of three inbred testers with varying resistance reactions to Striga for determining the combining ability of Striga resistant inbreds. Ninety testcrosses involving 30 Striga resistant inbreds and three testers were evaluated under ...

Stictococcus vayssierei Richard, 1971 commonly known as the African root and tuber scale (ARTS), was first identified as an agricultural pest in the early 1980s. Following population outbreaks in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo in late 1980s – early 1990s, the insect is currently reported as one of the major pests threatening root and tuber crop production in Central Africa. Outbreaks can merely be viewed as symptomatic of some breakdown of internal organization and extrinsic factors ...