ABSTRACT Production of vegetables in the smallholder sector of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is affected by poor soil fertility with nitrogen (N) being the most limiting nutrient. Continued nutrient mining without adequate replenishment has led to a corresponding decline in soil fertility and crop yields due to failure by farmers in SSA to purchase inorganic fertilisers. Leguminous multipurpose tree (MPT) prunings have widely been promoted as alternative sources of N but nutrient release is affect...
ABSTRACT Thirty local tobacco landraces collected from non-traditional tobacco belt of Zimbabwe, such as Binga, Mutoko and Masvingo were screened for resistance against Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV), Potato Virus Y (PVY) and rootknot nematodes (RKN). The thrust of the study was to assess the level of resistance of the landraces to these major diseases of economic importance in tobacco. A standard flue cured tobacco (FCT) variety KE1, which is susceptible to all tobacco diseases was used as a pos...
ABSTRACT Agricultural pesticides use is rising in crop protection against plant invaders of which fungi are chief in reducing both yield quantity and quality. Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia solani, Macrophomina phaseolina and Alternaria alternata are polyphagous fungi of economic importance with severe yield and quality losses worldwide. Environmental concerns on pesticide use and their resistance now on a worldwide scale. Extensive studies of plant secondary metabolites have not exhausted the...
ABSTRACT Mining waste is the major threat to water quality in Runde river . The main objective of the study is to investigate the effects of illegal gold mining on the water quality of Runde river. Three sampling sites were noted which were at least 500 m apart. They were named 1,2 and 3 with site 1 located before the mining zone and site 2 was adjacent to the mining zone and site 3 after the mining zone. Samples were taken for the dry season ( September , October) and the wet season (Februar...
ABSTRACT Regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between urbanisation in Harare and river yield of Manyame River at gauging station C21. To detect the effects of urbanisation, Landsat images were downloaded from USGS website (http://landsatlook.usgs.gov/viewer) and they were processed in Quantum GIS and System for Automated Geoscientific Analysis. Image classification was carried out in SAGA were the images were classified into five main classes which were Forest, Scrub, Gr...
ABSTRACT This study was an empirical analysis of the effects of membership homogeneity on the design and performance of formal agricultural micro-credit groups in Southeast, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the nature of the design characteristics (Credit allocation method, Credit size and membership size) and also assessed the performance (Loan repayment, Savings mobilization and Meeting regularity) of the formal agricultural micro-credit groups with regard to their functions in fin...
ABSTRACT Tolerance to African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) among several animal species involves a wide milieu of factors which modulate the animal’s response to the disease and is considered a breed attribute. To investigate the effect of breed on tolerance/resilience to trypanosome infection on pubertal boars, nine (9) Nigerian Native and nine (9) Large-White x Landrace crossbreed boars were experimentally inoculated with laboratory samples of Trypanosoma brucei brucei. Their comparative r...
ABSTRACT A study involving two experiments was conducted to investigate the growth performance of rabbits fed diets containing graded levels of cowpea hull (CPH) and soybean hull (SBH). Thirty-two weaner rabbits of about 6 weeks old were used for the study. In experiment1, sixteen 6-week old hybrid (Chinchilla x New Zealand white) weaner rabbits of both sexes with initial average weight of 730-790g were randomly divided into four groups of 4 rabbits each. The groups were randomly assigned to ...
ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of using two different enzyme substrates on the performance of broilers fed peeled cassava root meal (PCRM), in a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement in a completely randomised design experiment. One hundred and eighty-nine broiler chicks aged 14 days were assigned to nine experimental diets where PCRM replaced maize at 0, 50 and 75 percent levels. The diets were formulated to be roughly isonitrogenous and isoenergetic containing starter...
ABSTRACT An epidemiological survey was conducted on the prevalence and risk factors associated with intestinal parasites of African Painted dog in Hwange National Park between June 2016 and July 2017. Centrifugal flotation and McMaster techniques were employed to obtain comprehensive data on the prevalence and diversity of gastrointestinal parasites observed in faecal samples collected from painted dogs. A total of 58 painted dogs were surveyed. Out of these, all were infected with at least o...
ABSTRACT Root-knot nematodes cause significant yield losses in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Their management is essential for the grower to maximize production. Nematodes migrate up and down the soil profile in response to host availability. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of tobacco rotations on the spatial and temporal distribution of nematodes. Sampling was done every month from September 2010 to April 2011. The experimental design was a split-plot in a randomized com...
ABSTRACT There is yawning variation in yield of storage roots and vines of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) among farmers due to the use of different cutting positions and pruning of vines at different levels. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish the cutting position and the vine pruning level that give the highest yield of both the storage roots and vines. Determination of storage root length, central storage root diameter, storage root weight and vine weight among different cutti...
ABSTRACT Potato is one of the most widely grown tuber crop that contribute significantly to human nutrition and food security. Potato is a cool season crop and high temperatures are inhibitory to tuberization resulting in low yields. This is mainly due to production of high levels of gibberellins at high temperatures that promote vegetative growth at the expense of tuberization. The balance of hormones that control tuberization can be managed by using anti-gibberellin synthesis such as paclob...
Abstract Exorbitant prices and the unavailability of cotton seed cake on the Zimbabwean market are a major constraint to pen fattening of beef cattle on the farms. This study was conducted at New Donnington Farm to evaluate the effects of dried poultry litter (26% Crude Protein) as a substitute of cotton seed cake (31% Crude Protein) on average daily gain, total weight gain, feed conversion ratio and costs of formulating rations of Brangus steers. Thirty steers aged 18 months weighing 300±5 ...
ABSTRACT This study was designed to analyze profit and risk management strategies in selected agribusinesses in Imo, Nigeria. The methods of proportionate sampling, followed by random sampling techniques were adopted in selecting the Local Government Areas and the sample size. Data were collected with the use of questionnaire administered on 168 agribusiness entrepreneurs (87 food crops and 81 livestock entrepreneurs). The data collected were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentag...