Abstract Crop productivity in most smallholder farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa experience low use of soil amendment resources, low and erratic rainfall, frequent dry spells, and droughts. Rain-fed agriculture has a high crop yield potential if rainfall and soil nutrient input resources are utilized effectively. Thus, in 2011, we set up an on-farm experiment in Meru South (sub-humid) and Mbeere South (marginal sub-humid) sub-counties in upper Eastern Kenya to assess conservation-effecti...
Abstract Soils with low pH and high aluminium (Al) contamination restrict common bean production, mainly due to adverse effects on rhizobia. We isolated a novel rhizobium strain, B3, from Kenyan soil which is more tolerant to Al stress than the widely used commercial strain CIAT899. B3 was resistant to 50 µM Al and recovered from 100 µM Al stress, while CIAT899 did not. Calcein labeling showed that less Al binds to the B3 membranes and less ATP and mScarlet-1 protein, a cytoplasmic marker,...
Abstract : There is growing interest in carbon stocks and flows in seagrass ecosystems, but recent global reviews suggest a paucity of studies from Africa. This paper reviews work on seagrass productivity, biomass and sediment carbon in Africa. Most work was conducted in East Africa with a major geographical gap in West Africa. The mean above-ground, below-ground and total biomasses from all studies were 174.4, 474.6 and 514 g DW m-2, respectively with a global range of 461–738 g DW m-2. M...
Abstract: Salinity is a major and increasing problem worldwide that needs to be addressed in order to increase agricultural production. The experimental materials were five selected green chili species, such as Capsicum annuum, Capsicum frutescence, Capsicum chinense, Capsicum baccatum, and Capsicum pubescence and four NaCl concentration levels (0, 60, 120 and 180mM) for laboratory and greenhouse experiments. The experimental design was a completely randomized design in factorial combination...
Abstract: Plant growth is adversely affected by salinity as a result of the disruption of certain physiological processes that lead to reductions in yield quality. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the potential for salt tolerance of the sorghum variety during germination and early seedling growth. The experimental treatments were six sorghum varieties and 4 NaCl concentration levels (0, 60, 120 and 180mM). The experimental design was a completely randomized design in factorial combin...
Abstract: Ensuring food security is one of the greatest challenges facing the world scientific community to feed the ever-increasing human population in a sustainable way. The low soil fertility is one of the major constraints which limit crop production in sub-Saharan African countries including Ethiopia. The major soil related constraints in the study area are strongly alkaline condition, high soil pH, low soil OM, low available P and medium total N. Therefore, a field experiment was condu...
Abstract: The experiment was conducted at Chiro District, Eastern Ethiopia, on Oda Bultum University experimental field during 2019-cropping season to assess the effects of planting densities and varieties in maize/soybean intercropping on yield related traits and yield of component crops and to identify the optimum plant density and compatible variety of soybean that maximizes productivity. Maize variety BH140at recommended population rate of 44,444plants/ha and three soybean varieties (Did...
Abstract: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a region beset with challenges, not least its ability to feed itself. Low agricultural productivity, exploding populations, and escalating urbanization have led to declining per capita food availability. In order to reverse this trend, crop production systems must intensify, which brings with it an elevated threat from pests and diseases, including plant-parasitic nematodes. A holistic systems approach to pest management recognizes disciplinary integrati...
Abstract: Spatiotemporal information on crops and cropping systems can provide useful insights into disease outbreak mechanisms in croplands. In September 2011, a severe outbreak of Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) disease was reported in Bomet County, Kenya. We aimed to detect severely MLN-infected fields and discriminate mono, inter, and continuous maize cropping systems. We collected in-situ MLN severity observations and acquired multi-date and multi-sensor data viz., RapidEye (RE), Sentinel-1...
Abstract: Invasive alien trees transform landscapes and subsequent ecosystem function. For grassland ecosystems, fragmentation following invasion by alien woody species is of concern. In this study, we examined how an invasive alien tree, Robinia pseudoacacia L. (Fabaceae) impacts grassland microclimates and the subsequent assemblages of endemic arthropods. The phenological trajectory of R. pseudoacacia, temperature and light intensity, as well as arthropod abundances in both invaded and uni...
Abstract: Plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) develop through three major stages in their life cycle: hatching, infection, and reproduction. Interruption of any of these stages can affect their growth and survival. We used screenhouse pot experiments, laboratory in vitro hatching and mortality assays, and chemical analysis to test the hypothesis that the non-host Asteraceae plant vegetable black-jack (Bidens pilosa) suppresses infection of the PPN Meloidogyne incognita in two susceptible Solana...
Abstract: An experiment was conducted to determine the association of tea catechins to water stress in tea, with the objective of determining their suitability as indicators for predicting drought tolerance in tea (Camellia sinensis). The study consisted of six tea clones (BBK 35, TRFK 6/8, TRFK 76/1, TRFK 395/2, TRFK 31/30, and TRFK 311/287) and four levels of soil water content (38, 30, 22, and 14% v/v), which were arranged in a complete randomized design and replicated 3 times. The treatm...
Abstract: This study quantifies the effect of land cover change and seasonality on soil organic carbon and carbon dioxide emissivity. It takes to account the coupled inter-relationships with other ecological factors such as temperature and moisture. Next, the study assesses how topographic and ecological factors drive spatial soil nutrient stock variations and quantifies the observations required to discriminate stock detection in the mountain ecosystem. Thereafter, the study derives and eva...
ABSTRACTThe study on bioaccumulation of lead and cadmium from contaminated soil into Amaranthus hybridus grown in irrigation farm lands in zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria was carried out to assess the risk to human health by heavy metals (Pb and Cd) through the intake of grown vegetables (Amaranthus hybridus) from bomo lake, river galma and borehole water irrigated site. The samples collected (A. hybridus and soil) were separately digested and the heavy metals were analyzed using Atomic absorpti...
Abstract Studies were conducted between (September, 2017 to October, 2018) to investigate the variation in the compositional distribution of macrophyte communities in relation to the nutrient contents in the water and sediments of Mairuwa and Gwaigwaye reservoirs, Funtua located in the Northern vegetation of Nigeria. All the nutrients from sediments were analyzed using Standard procedures using Spectrophotometer, flame photometer and titration metho...