Maize is increasingly becoming important in Niger for use as food and feed. Production is however, faced with several abiotic and biotic constraints. Researchers have developed early-maturing maize varieties that are tolerant to drought, the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica and diseases that fit into the short growing production environment. The evaluation and deployment of these varieties would, however, involve costly and time-consuming field trials across the maize production zones of the ...

Like many other African countries, Ghana’s rain gauge networks are rapidly deteriorating, making it challenging to obtain real-time rainfall estimates. In recent years, real-time satellite precipitation products (SPPs) development and accessibility have advanced significantly. SPPs may compliment or substitute gauge data, enabling better real-time forecasting of streamflows among other things. SPPs, on the other hand, contain considerable biases that must be addressed before the rainfall predictions ...

Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) is a pest that has established across sub-Saharan Africa, capable of causing 100% yield loss in maize. Although aqueous extracts of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) are being used to manage this pest, neem leaf residue may have added beneficial effects. This investigation was conducted during April–November 2020 at the Training and Research Farm, University of Benin, Nigeria, aiming to improve maize yields by using neem leaf residue for managing ...

Coffee is an important commodity for Kenya, where production is steadily declining, despite a global rise in demand. Of the various constraints affecting production, plant-parasitic nematodes are a significant, but often overlooked, threat. As a perennial crop, treating plantations once infected with nematodes becomes difficult. The current study evaluated the drenching application of two biocontrol agents, Trichoderma asperellum and Purpureocillium lilacinum, for their nematode control efficacy, ...

Introduction: Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are increasingly producing soybean for food, feed, cash, and soil fertility improvement. Yet, the difference between the smallholder farmers’ yield and either the attainable in research fields or the potential from crop models is wide. Reasons for the yield gap include low to nonapplication of appropriate fertilizers and inoculants, late planting, low plant populations, recycling seeds, etc. Methods: Here, we reviewed the literature on ...

This report presents the summary of the findings of a project on development of sustainable biological options for the control of banana aphid (Pentalonia nigronervosa) to reduce the incidence and spread of banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) and enhance banana/plantain productivity in BBTV-affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This specific project has the following objectives, (i) develop and refine rearing methods of the newly discovered species, Endaphis fugitiva, further to establish viable ...