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Gender- and youth-sensitive data collection tools to support decision making for inclusive sustainable agricultural intensification
(2021)To achieve equitable sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI), it is essential to understand differential access and control over agricultural resources by women and youth, and to assess how intensification interacts with gendered and age-dependent relationships. Existing packages for assessing women’s empowerment in agriculture tend to be large-scale surveys that do not provide timely results, nor are they easily integrated into a gender-transformative process. This paper applies concepts ... -
Assessing effect of marker-based improvement of maize synthetics on agronomic performance, carotenoid content, combining ability and heterosis
(2020)Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a serious problem in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and other parts of the world. Understanding the effect of marker-based improvement (MARS) of two maize synthetics (HGA and HGB) representing different heterotic groups on their agronomic performance, carotenoid content, and combining abilities could help identify suitable sources to develop divergent inbred lines for optimizing heterosis. This study involved three selection cycles each of the two synthetics and their nine ... -
Optimum time for hand pollination in yam (Dioscorea spp.)
(2022)Hand pollination success rate is low in yam (Dioscorea spp.), due partly to suboptimal weather conditions. Thus, determining the most suitable time for pollination could improve the pollination success in yam breeding programs. We performed continuous hand pollination within flowering windows of D. rotundata and D. alata for two consecutive years to determine the most appropriate month, week, and hours of the day allowing maximum pollination success. In D. alata crossing block, we observed significant ... -
Germplasm acquisition and distribution by CGIAR genebanks
(2020)The international collections of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) hosted by 11 CGIAR Centers are important components of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s global system of conservation and use of PGRFA. They also play an important supportive role in realizing Target 2.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper analyzes CGIAR genebanks’ trends in acquiring and distributing PGRFA over the last 35 years, with a particular focus on the last decade. ... -
RNAi technology for management of banana bunchy top disease
(2020-11)Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) is one of the world's most destructive viral diseases of banana and plantain, causing up to 100% yield loss in severe cases. The disease is vectored by banana aphids (Pentalonia nigronervosa) and carried long distances through the movement of infected plant materials. The banana aphids harboring banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) present in banana producing regions are the sole vector and the most efficient method of transmitting the virus to the healthy plants. ... -
Rural transformation and the future of cereal-based agri-food systems
(2020-09)Rural transformation is an inevitable and fundamental process of development. However, the speed and dimensions of rural transformation can affect investments in major staples such as maize, wheat and rice, which continue to play an important role in agri-food systems around the globe. This paper investigates the impacts of rural transformation on the future of cereal-based agri-food systems which are not directly addressed in global agricultural assessment models such as IMPACT. In this study, ... -
Push-pull strategy combined with net houses for controlling cowpea insect pests and enhancing crop yields
(2021-03)Net houses can be used in tropical environments to protect crops such as cowpea against large insect pests, thereby avoiding pesticide treatments while sustainably mitigating the effects of climate change. We investigated a push-pull strategy to prevent small insect pest outbreaks in a net house. The push component consisted of two stimulus plants, i.e. Cymbopogon citratus and Tagetes minuta, and the pull stimuli consisted of visual cues from blue and yellow sticky traps. Field experiments were ... -
Selected shade tree species improved cocoa yields in low-input agroforestry systems in Ghana
(2022-10)CONTEXT Cocoa agroforestry systems differ in the diversity of shade tree species composition. Though cocoa benefits from shade, there is a lack of species-specific information on shade trees that enhance soil fertility and yield. OBJECTIVE We examined how soil characteristics and cocoa yield were affected by eight commonly retained forest tree species, compared with unshaded control plots over a 3-year period. METHODS Using 74 circular plots from 10 cocoa farms in the Western region of Ghana, we ... -
Genome sequence of the banana aphid, Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and its symbionts
(2020-12-01)The banana aphid, Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a major pest of cultivated bananas (Musa spp., order Zingiberales), primarily due to its role as a vector of Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), the most severe viral disease of banana worldwide. Here, we generated a highly complete genome assembly of P. nigronervosa using a single PCR-free Illumina sequencing library. Using the same sequence data, we also generated complete genome assemblies of the P. nigronervosa symbiotic ... -
The response of climbing bean to fertilizer and organic manure in the northern province of Rwanda
(2020-10)Climbing beans play a central role in food security of rural households in the densely populated highlands of East and Central Africa. Soil fertility degradation and the lack of nutrient inputs are major limitations to yield of beans and other crops. We conducted field trials in Northern Rwanda in Kinoni and Muko villages to evaluate the effect of mineral N, P, and K fertilizers (both alone and in combination) and farmyard manure on nitrogen fixation and grain yields of climbing bean in smallholder ... -
Can a combination of UAV-derived vegetation indices with biophysical variables improve yield variability assessment in smallholder farms?
(2020-12-09)The rapid assessment of maize yields in a smallholder farming system is important for understanding its spatial and temporal variability and for timely agronomic decision-support. We assessed the predictability of maize grain yield using unmanned aerial/air vehicle (UAV)-derived vegetation indices (VI) with (out) biophysical variables on smallholder farms. High-resolution imageries were acquired with UAV-borne multispectral sensor at four and eight weeks after sowing (WAS) on 31 farmer managed ... -
Realizing Inclusive SAI: contextualizing indicators to better evaluate gender and intergenerational inequity in SAI processes and outcomes – cases from Southern and western Africa
(2021)Despite increasing sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) investments, indicators for detecting gender and intergenerational inequities in SAI costs and benefits sharing often remain overgeneralized, theoretical, or locally irrelevant. We examine the relative value of, and how to, customize standard SAI indicators to detect such inequities in specific socio-cultural contexts to enhance data collection for evidence-based decision making in fostering gender/youth inclusive SAI. Using focus-group ... -
Genetic diversity, population structure and inter-trait relationships of combined heat and drought tolerant early-maturing maize inbred lines from west and central Africa
(2020-09-04)Adequate knowledge and understanding of the genetic diversity and inter-trait relationships among elite maize inbred lines are crucial for determining breeding strategies and predicting hybrid performance. The objectives of this study were to investigate the genetic diversity of 162 early maturing white and yellow tropical maize inbred lines, and to determine the population structure, heterotic groups and inter-trait relationships among the lines. Using 9684 DArT single nucleotide polymorphism ... -
Bio-protective effect of a root-nodulating Rhizobium etli strain in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) against Meloidogyne incognita and Radopholus similis in an in vitro autotrophic tripartite culture system
(2020)The bio-protective effect of a root-nodulating strain (CNPAF 512) of the nitrogen-fixing rhizobium, Rhizobium etli, against both a sedentary (Meloidogyne incognita) and a migratory (Radopholus similis) endoparasitic nematode in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) was examined using an in vitro autotrophic tripartite culture system. Two in vitro assays were carried out with each of the nematode species. Each assay consisted of two treatments: the plants were either inoculated with the rhizobial strain ... -
Identification of QTLs for grain yield and other traits in tropical maize under Striga infestation
(2020)Striga is an important biotic factor limiting maize production in sub-Saharan Africa and can cause yield losses as high as 100%. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) approaches hold a great potential for improving Striga resistance but requires identification and use of markers associated with Striga resistance for adequate genetic gains from selection. However, there is no report on the discovery of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to Striga in maize under artificial field infestation. In ... -
Opportunities and constraints facing fish production system in DR Congo
(2019-12)The current aquaculture production systems in the village environment and their constraints and opportunities were studied to understand the reasons for the decrease in the number of fishponds in South Kivu, eastern DR Congo. . Little is known about fish production in South Kivu; thus, this study was carried out in two phases: a survey, a follow-up of the farms over the course of a year and a literature review. Accordingly, 305 aquaculturists from three territories were interviewed from May to ... -
Quantification of selected anti - nutrients and bioactive compounds in African Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) verdc.)
(2018)Bioactive compounds in plants, being secondary metabolites are important phyto-chemicals, that form the basis of modern pharmacology and medical treatment because it has natural beneficial compounds such as in nutraceuticals, micronutrients e.t.c. Neglected legumes like Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) can serve as a high nutrient pulse and also as food supplements. However, despite the fact that Bambara groundnut contains these beneficial bioactive compounds, it also has some ... -
Morphological characterisation of selected African accessions of bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) verdc.)
(2017)Three hundred (300) accessions of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc) among the 1973 maintained in the global repository at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, genebank were selected for this study. Two to three seeds of each accession were planted during the 2014 / 2015 planting season at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria. Seedlings were thinned to a single plant prior to flowering. Thirty - seven (37) agro-morphological parameters, representing 28 quantitative ... -
Evaluation of nutrient parameters of selected African accessions of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) verdc.)
(2017)Developing countries, especially in Africa are facing challenges of malnourished conditions and food insecurity generally. Nutrients, being components of food ingredient required for survival, normal body function and satisfying the physiological and dietary requirements of the body metabolism [38]. Hence, for meaningful growth and developments in man, the type and amount of nutrients intake and its rate of absorption or level is crucial. However, much emphases and consumption pattern in Africa ...