ABSTRACT Laboratory and field experiments were carried out between June 1997 and Januaiy 1999 at Paradise farm near Nsawam in the Eastern Region of Ghana to determine the major insect pests of papaya, Carica papaya and to evaluate the effectiveness of Bacillus thuringiensis and neem seed extract for controlling the insect pests of papaya. Methanolic and aqueous neem seed extracts were tested at the following concentrations 0 , 50, 75 and 100 g/1. Bacillus thuringiensis was applied at the rate...
ABSTRACT A study was conducted to assess the mutagenic effect of gamma radiation on sprouting and height in four local cassava accessions.The four cassava accessions were assessed for their callus induction and somatic embryo formation ability from leaf lobes from gamma irradiated stakes as well as colchicine treated leaf lobes on different concentrations of plant growth regulators, incorporated into Murashige and Skoog, (1962) (MS) basal medium. The cassava accessions were irradiated at 0, 3...
ABSTRACT The production of sorghum, one of the most important food crops with multiple uses in the savanna zone of Ghana, has been bedevilled with several problems. The most important ' problems are low yields, lack of improved varieties and striga infestation. These problems led to research efforts at the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute to produce improved high yielding sorghum varieties that are adapted to the socio-economic and agroecological conditions of northern Ghana. This stud...
ABSTRACT Salifu, K. F. 1997. Physico-chemical properties of soils associated with logged forest and areas converted to teak (Tectona grandis Linn. F). M.Sc.F thesis, Faculty of Forestry, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay. 104 pp. Major advisor Dr. W. L. Meyer. Keywords: Tectona grandis Linn. F, logged forest, physico-chemical properties, total nutrients, nutrient concentration, regression analysis. The rapid and extensive introduction of teak to satisfy a predicted wood shortage in Ghana has g...
ABSTRACT Cucurbits are susceptible to over 35 plant viruses; each of these viruses is capable of causing total crop failure in a poorly managed virus pathosystem. The objectives of this study were to detect the viruses that infect six cucurbit species in the coastal savannah zone of Ghana and to describe the spatial and temporal spread patterns of virus epidemics in zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) by the use of mathematical and geostatistical models. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), waterme...
A B S T R A C T In a diallel cross involving six kola trees, two from each of the cultivars Laboshie white ex Nigeria, Kumasi white and Kade pink, a self compatible tree of the Kade pink cultivar was found to be the most efficient female but the least efficient male parent for fruit set. The frequency of red, white and pink nuts that segregated in the progeny of the various crosses suggests that a single locus with multiple alleles controls the inheritance of kolanut colour. At physiological ...
ABSTRACT Agriculture has been the backbone of Ghana’s economy for several decades. A continuous decline in the agricultural sector contribution to GDP over the years with increasing unemployment among graduates has raised concerns among researchers. The sector is dominated by aging and illiterate population which has negative impact on productivity and technology adoption. The educated youth who can contribute positively to the development of the sector are not taking advantage of opportuni...
ABSTRACT The sustenance and progress of any breeding program and conservation of its germplasm is hinged on the ability to estimate the degree of genetic diversity in a given gene pool for maintaining crop production. Therefore, data on the genetic diversity and relationships among plant genotypes is vital to identifying the complexity of the gene pool, to ascertain breaches in genotype collections in order to develop effective conservation and management strategies. This study was conducted ...
ABSTRACT Phosphorus deficiency is widespread in most soils of northern Ghana. Presence of lateritic concretions in some of the soils constitute an additional limitation to crop production in the region because the concretions act as an effective sink for added P. To assess the role of the concretions on phosphorus availability in a typical concretionary soil of northern Ghana, a soil originally containing 70% concretions was fractionated into soil fines and concretions and the soil reconstitu...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 was to assess the handling and management of watermelon along the value chain in the Ada-East district of Ghana. One hundred open and close ended questionnaires were administered to farmers and dealers of watermelon. From the study, it was observed that the value chain of watermelon starts from land preparation and ends at the point it gets to the final consumer. The key players along the chain were identified to be farmers, dealers (tra...
ABSTRACT Cassava storage root is a major staple. However, the tuber is poor in nutrients especially micronutrients. The study was conducted to improve the nutritional status of cassava with farmers’ preferred traits in Sierra Leone. The specific objectives were i) to assess adoption challenges, perception and preferences for provitamin A cassava among cassava value chain actors in Sierra Leone. ii) to estimate genetic diversity within provitamin A cassava germplasm using morphological, mole...
ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted at the Forest and Horticultural Crops Research Centre, Kade to investigate the effect of palm bunch ash (PBA) application on soil chemical properties and the growth, nodulation, nitrogen fixation and yield of three early maturing varieties (ICPL 87091, ICPL 88034 and ICPL 88039) of pigeonpea. The experiment was conducted both in the field and in the pot. The three pigeonpea varieties were subjected to three fertilization treatments; 2 t ha–1 PBA, 20 kg h...
ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of plasma concentrations of the metabolic hormones [Growth hormone (GH), insulin and insulin-like growth factor –I (IGFI)] and nutritional metabolites (glucose, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, globulin, urea and creatinine) on the resumption of postpartum ovarian activity in sixteen Friesian-Sanga crossbred cows at the Animal Research Institute’s Frafraha station. Also, correlation among the metabolic hormones and the nut...
ABSTRACT Cowpea is an important grain legume crop for millions of humans, fodder for livestock and source of income for all the value chain actors. Its productivity is constrained by several biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought and poor soil fertility. Aligned with poor soil fertility in most growing areas, this thesis describes phosphorus (P) use and acquisition of elite cowpea lines from different breeding programmes. In the first chapter, a brief overview was provided about cowpea a...
ABSTRACT Rice is a major food crop in Sierra Leone with a high per capita consumption of 104 kg annually. Average yield (t/ha) is low, leading to a yield gap of 350,000 metric tons, which is met through import. A good number of rice farmers in Sierra Leone are cultivating on mangrove swamps, which are highly associated with salinity, resulting in the low average yield (tonnes per hectare). Salinity is a major abiotic stress devastating rice production in saline soils, including the mangrove e...