ABSTRACT Studies were carried out under ambient laboratory conditions of 25 ± 2°C and 70 ± 5% relative humidity to determine the relative susceptibility of eighteen maize seed varieties to attack by the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD), with eighteen maize varieties replicated three times. Adult mortality, number of F1 progeny, weevil development time, susceptibility index, seed dam...
ABSTRACT Malaria remains a major public health problem in Africa, with An. funestus as one of the principal vectors. In the control of malaria, vector control has been successfully implemented in many malariaendemic countries with indoor residual spraying (IRS) as an existing front-line measure. IRS has been implemented in some selected sites in Northern Ghana since 2009 and its effect on the members of An. funestus is poorly understood. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the sp...
ABSTRACT This research was conducted from May, 2015 to July, 2016 in the three mango growing districts of the Northern Region of Ghana to obtain baseline information on farmers’ knowledge and perception on prevalence, spread, economic importance and control of mango tree decline disease; determine disease incidence and severity; identify the causal agent(s) of the disease and to develop a chemical control regime for management of the disease. Questionnaire survey and interviews were used to...
ABSTRACT This study evaluated the resistance, agronomic performance, yield, fruit quality and shelf life of Solanum lycopersicum “Pectomech” grafted (cleft method) onto four Solanum spp. rootstocks (Solanum macrocarpon, Solanum aethiopicum, Solanum lycopersicum “Mongal”, and Solanum lycopersicum “Samrudhi”) under four root knot nematode densities (0, 500, 1000 and 5000). It consisted of a greenhouse pot experiment, field pot experiment, and open field experiment. The experimental ...
ABSTRACT In Ghana, information on plants antagonistic to nematodes is scanty compelling farmers to rely on synthetic chemicals which are effective but pose an environmental threat. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of aqueous leaf extracts of Khaya senegalensis, Tectona grandis, Azadirachta indica, Vernonia amygdalina and Bryophyllum pinnatum plants for the control of Meloidogyne spp. In evaluating the botanicals, a laboratory, field and pot experiments were conducted. The first experime...
ABSTRACT The influence of inorganic N sources on growth, leaf yield and quality of mulberry (Morus alba) was studied under field conditions before (Experiment 1) and after (experiment 2) pruning. The treatments consisted of three mulberry varieties (Kanva-2, S-36 and Mysore local) and three N sources (urea, Sulphate of Ammonia and NPK) and a control. The experimental design used was a split plot design. Varieties formed the main plot and N sources the sub-plot factors. The N sources had signi...
ABTSRACT Soil salinity is one of the most important factors retarding rice growth and development at both vegetative and reproductive stages. This is becoming a major challenge in the production of rice in Ghana and Africa as a whole. This has necessitated the breeding of salt tolerant lines for the future, since population and hence consumption of rice is always on the increase. Thirty-two (32) rice accessions including four (4) checks were screened for salinity tolerance and also used in di...
ABSTRACT Soybean is afected by a wide range of diseases, many of which are seed-borne. Infection by seed-borne pathogens leads to seed rot, low seedling vigour and reduction in plant growth. Seed-borne fungal pathogens on farmer-saved seeds of soybeans were investigated by examining a total of eleven (11) seed samples from two districts (Saboba and Yendi) in the Northern region and one from CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI). Appearance quality of farmer-saved soybean se...
ABSTRACT The experiments were conducted in 2013 cropping season at the University of Education Winneba, Faculty of Agriculture research field in Mampong Ashanti in the forest transitional zone of Ghana on the Bediase series (FAO/ UNESCO : Chromic Iuvisol) to evaluate the effectiveness of three livestock manures and soil in acidulating Togo rock phosphate to release phosphorus, assess phosphorus release capacity of phosphate rock – animal manure compost on the growth of lettuce and soil chem...
ABSTRACT A significant quantity of yam tubers gets deteriorated in storage due to sprouting, weight loss, and rotting. There was, therefore, the need to identify cost effective ways of extending postharvest life of yam tubers without compromising with the health of consumers. Therefore, field research was conducted to explore the effect of shea butter & palm kernel oil waxing, yam variety, and tuber size on postharvest shelf life of Puna, Asana, and Punjo varieties of white yam (Dioscorea rot...
ABSTRACT Concerns have been expressed by pesticide management specialists about the choice and use of insecticides in cabbage production and fear o f toxic residues on harvested cabbage head. This investigation involves a survey to determine cabbage fanners’ insecticide use patterns and analysis for insecticide residues on samples o f cabbage. The survey revealed that cabbage growers in the Accra-Tema Metropolitan area o f Ghana invariably relied on insecticide retailers/agents for advice o...
ABSTRACT Pot and field studies were carried out at the University of Ghana, Legon, to evaluate the effect of Bradyrhizobium japonicum inoculation and five rates of phosphorus application on growth, nodulation and dry matter production of some promiscuous and non-promiscuous soybean cultivars in pots and finally the effect of three rates of phosphorus and inoculation on growth, nodulation, dry matter production and yield of a promiscuous cultivar "Bengbie" in the field. In the pot experiment, ...
ABSTRACT Maize (corn) is one of the most crucial and strategic cereal crops in Africa. Production occurs in all ten regions of Ghana. Despite significant improvement in food storage methods, many communities in Ghana still use traditional storage practices and structures for keeping food and seed. This has led to short falls in maize supply due to high losses and poor quality. Thus the need to determine the effect of traditional practices and storage structures on the quality of maize stored....
ABSTRACT Three experiments were conducted during the dry season from October 2001 to April 2002 at the University of Ghana Farms and the Food Research Institute, to evaluate two methods of conservation of sweet potato planting material and one method of multiplication of vines were evaluated in this study using two cultivars - Sauti and Okumkom released to farmers by the Crops Research Institute. The study was aimed at developing a technology to ensure the availability of adequate quanti...
ABSTRACT The study investigated the occurrence of high purple beans counts of cocoa produced in Ghana. The investigation consisted of a questionnaire survey of nineteen randomly selected districts in the six cocoa growing regions in Ghana and laboratory studies at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana. The studies were carried out from August 2005 to October 2006. Fermentation of cocoa beans for six or seven days did not guarantee the complete removal of anthocyanins and purpleness from the ...