Abstract Agriculture in Kenya has great untapped potential for providing employment opportunities for youth that would enable them exploit their creativity, economic innovation and access to agricultural product markets in order to spur faster national economic growth. Reducing cereal importation in Kenya through local investment and expanding of markets for agricultural products can effectively create youth employment. A number of youth took part in agriculture in Kajiado North Sub- County ...
Abstract Agriculture in Kenya plays an important role in development as it contributes about 24% of GDP, 75% of industrial raw materials and 60% of export earnings and about 18% of the total formal employment. It also employs about 3.8 million people in farm, livestock production and fishing, while an estimated 4.5 million other people are employed in agriculture-related off-farm activities. Cereals including maize, sorghum, millet, and wheat among others largely constitute the major food it...
Abstract Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) is an emerging economic crop in Kenya with ready market and high nutritional value. Despite this, its adoption as a major cash crop in Suba District has remained low. The aim of the study was to investigate the determinants of adoption and extent of adoption of butternut squash. The study area was chosen due to persistence of poverty despite the fact that the area has conditions that are favourable for the production of high value crops like but...
Abstract Butternut squash is an emerging economic crop in Kenya with ready market and high nutritional value. It was introduced to promote food security and enhance the incomes of the small-holder farmers in Suba district. However it is not clear whether butternut could address the problem of low income among small-holder farmers. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of butternut squash on the incomes of the small-holders. The choice of the study area was due to persistence of ...
Abstract The Kenya Government prioritized the development of the agricultural sector to achieving the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of sustainable food production. Kenya’s strategic plan, Vision 2030 positions agriculture as a key driver for delivering a 10% annual economic growth and is expected to have an average growth rate of 7% by 2015. Agriculture contributes over 80% of all employment opportunities in the country, but Kenyan youths are not taking advantage of these opportu...
Abstract Declining land productivity is a major problem facing smallholder farmers in Kenya today. This decline is as a result of reduced soil fertility caused by continuous cultivation without adequate addition of manures and fertilizers. Low soil fertility is one of the greatest challenges facing farmers in the central highlands of Kenya. A farmers’ participatory trial was established in Meru South District, Kenya in 2000 to investigate feasible soil nutrient replenishment technologies f...
Abstract: Plant spacing and seed tuber size are important agronomic management practices in the production of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). However, potato farmers in Ethiopia often use haphazard plant spacing and tuber sizes, which contributes to the low yield of the crop. A field experiment was conducted during off season of 2014 at the research field of Holetta Research Centre, Ethiopia with the objective of elucidating the effect of varied seed tuber spacing and seed tuber sizes on the ...
Abstract: Declining soil fertility is one of the major problems causing yield reduction in Ethiopia. Farmers at Areka apply both organic and inorganic fertilizers to overcome the problem and increase yield of potato. However, information on the application of farmyard manure and chemical fertilizer is inadequate to the area to increase the yield of potato crop. Therefore, an experiment was conducted at Areka, Southern Ethiopia during the 2016 cropping season with the objective of assessing t...
Abstract: Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops produced in Tigray region; however, farmers are producing the crop from the available cultivars without or with very low rates of nitrogen fertilizer. The cultivars produced in the region were not evaluated in comparison to improved varieties to the response of nitrogen fertilizer. Therefore, this experiment was conducted during 2014/2015 in Gantaafeshum district in Tigray region with objectives of assessing th...
Abstract: Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is among major fruit crops grown in eastern Ethiopia. However, the postharvest handling problem contributes to huge postharvest loss of fruits. This experiment was conducted to study the effect of coating with Aloe debrana (aloe) gel, Opuntia ficus indica (cactus) mucilage and their combination on the shelf life and postharvest quality of mango fruits. Green mature mango fruits were collected from farmer’s orchard and coated with aloe gel and cactus mu...
Abstract: Tomato is an important cash crop produced in many parts of Ethiopia. However the national yield is rated as very low as compared to the entire world. Imbalance as well as improper fertilizer application rate and type is among the major factors constraining tomato fruit yield and quality during production. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted in 2017/18 in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia to assess the effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer rates on yield and fruit quality of...
Abstract: Sweet potato is one of the important root crops in Wolaita, however, the productivity of the crop is low partly due to the use of inappropriate planting methods and plant densities for varieties grown. Therefore, this study was conducted to determining the effect of planting methods and planting population on growth and yield of two improved sweet potato varieties (Awassa-83 and Kulfo). The three planting methods (top of the ridge, one side of the ridge, and flat bed) and three row...
Abstract: Tomato is a crop of high economic importance crop in the world including Ethiopia. As a climacteric fruit, tomato ripening is highly dependent on ethylene action, which makes this fruit highly perishable in short period. Pre storage treatments like CaCl2 and edible coatings are important to maintain the fruit quality after harvest and to extend shelf life. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the effect of CaCl2 and edible coatings on postharvest quality and shelflif...
Abstract: Okra is a traditional vegetable crop in northwestern Ethiopia but it has not given research attention and considered a minor crop. Thus this research was conducted to characterize and evaluate okra landraces and to estimate genotypic, phenotypic variability and genetic divergence and to estimate heritability and genetic advance under selection, degree of genotypic and phenotypic associations among yield and yield related traits. A total of 35 okra landraces from three districts (Gu...
Abstract: Peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) is among the most important stone fruits which is widely grown in temperate regions. There is a growing interest in the production of peach, especially in the highland areas of Ethiopia where the crop is well adapted. However, marketing of peach fruits like other fresh produce in Ethiopia is complicated by high postharvest losses. Although peach varieties have been introduced and studied for their productivity, their postharvest quality has not been...