Agriculture

The field experiment on the influence of three legumes (groundnut, cowpea and soybean) on the agricultural yield and monetary income of an association of six crops (cassava, plantain, sweet potato, maize, rice and/or groundnut, cowpea, soybean), was conducted during two successive cropping seasons in a forest region of the DRC (Bengamisa). The results show that: - The crop association with cowpea numerically improved the agricultural yield of the components, the overall agricultural yield of the association and induced a better overall LER compared to the association with groundnut and soybean. - The crop association with groundnut, on the other hand, yielded a much higher gross margin of $2645.4/Ha, compared to the gross margin achieved by the association with cowpea ($1872.4/Ha) and that with soybean ($1847.6/Ha). - In the crop associations in this environment, cowpea is considered to be a factor in improving crop yields, while groundnuts are considered to be a factor in improving cash income.

Most organic vegetable farmers in Central Luzon apply the required amount of organic fertilizers only once during planting. Hence, nutrient requirement of vegetables during vegetative or reproductive stages are no longer available. This condition seriously affects the growth and development of vegetables and subsequently affecting the yield performance that may result to low yield. In order to reduce the effect of nutrient deficiency on organic vegetable production particularly on green pepper, the research aimed to: a) establish frequency of organic fertilizer application employing split application; and b) determine the yield performance and net return based on the different treatments used. The research was conducted for two consecutive dry seasons (2014 and 2015) under full organic system. Twice application of the recommended rate of organic fertilizer obtained the highest yield of 4.21 t/ha while thrice application of the recommended rate of organic fertilizer obtained the second highest with 4.14 t/ha. Basal application obtained the lowest yield of 3.89 t/ha during the first trial. Second trial of the study showed that comparable yield was obtained by twice application and thrice application with 5.03 t/ha and 5.02 t/ha, respectively. Basal application consistently produced the lowest yield. Cost and return analysis of 1000 m2 green pepper following the different treatments evaluated showed that the highest net income during the first trial was obtained from twice application of the recommended rate of organic fertilizer with PhP7,740.00 net income with an ROE of 85.05% which was lower than the ROE of the basal application with 89.76%. Lower net income was obtained from basal application of organic fertilizer due to lower yield obtained. Second trial showed that the highest net income was obtained from two split application of the recommended rate of organic fertilizer with PhP11,020.00 registering an ROE of 121.09%, the highest among the three treatments evaluated.

Greenhouse farming in Kenya is becoming a lucrative investment as well as a means of improving food production in marginal environments. The Greenhouse is intended to regulate external conditions including soil moisture content suitable to different types of crops. Many farmers use timers to control irrigation, but timers do not account to day to day changes in plant use. The aim of this study was to analyze the challenges faced in regulation of soil moisture content in greenhouses; The study was guided by Mamdani Fuzzy Logic Theory that uses Nested “IF THEN RULES”. Preliminary data was collected through Observation and Interview schedules. The population of the study comprises five greenhouse farmers and four field officers. Experimental Research Methodology was applied. The study found out that most small scale farmers had a lot of difficulties in determining and controlling soil moisture content. Apart from having a person on site at the right time to control the turning on and off of the water taps, they also mention the following as being the prevalent challenges: Lack of appropriate equipment to measure, monitor and regulate the soil moisture content, inability to determine the correct or the optimum moisture level for a particular crop, inability to determine water holding capacity of a specific type of soil in the greenhouse for a particular crop, inability to measure the nutrient concentration at a given soil moisture content and its uptake by the crop, Source of power to the Greenhouse and Lack of enough funds to buy the equipment.

Greenhouse farming in Kenya is becoming a lucrative investment as well as a means of improving food production in marginal environments. The Greenhouse is intended to regulate external conditions including soil moisture content suitable to different types of crops. Many farmers use timers to control irrigation, but timers do not account to day to day changes in plant use. The aim of this study was to examine how soil moisture content in Greenhouse is currently regulated The study was guided by Mamdani Fuzzy Logic Theory that uses Nested “IF THEN RULES”. Preliminary data was collected through Observation and Interview schedules. The population of the study comprises five greenhouse farmers and four field officers. Experimental Research Methodology was applied.  The system was modeled using graphical notation in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and developed using Experimental Prototyping. The Soil Moisture Sensor, Arduino Board, Water Pump are interfaced to develop the Intelligent System for Determination and Regulation of Soil Moisture Content. The study observed that following ways of managing the soil moisture content: Opening taps to run for 16 minutes in the morning and the evening. Checking the adequacy of soil moisture content by touching and squeezing the soil around the drip irrigation area. When the soil is squeeze and remain together then the moisture is adequate otherwise not adequate. Some Greenhouse farmers control the flow of water through the pipes by switching on and off the regulatory tap twice a day depending on the type of crop, soil and the stage of crop while Others were using a crude method which simply observing the wetness of the soil.

Pearl millet is an important food and feed crop mostly cultivated in the semi-arid region of the world. Ionizing radiation has been widely used as a tool in plant breeding programs. Similar to other techniques of crop improvement, irradiation can induce alterations that can modify the chemical composition and the nutritional value of food crops. These changes depend on the irradiation dose and the crop species and give plant breeders the opportunity to select induced desirable mutants. In this paper, we discuss the usefulness of gamma radiation in achieving improvements in the grain yield and nutritional quality of pearl millet.

Water scarcity in Sub-Saharan has led to utilization of the wastewater in home gardening and also in commercial production of vegetables. Wastewater is associated with various contaminants, including heavy metals that are toxic and life threatening to humans. It was therefore important to evaluate and quantity the levels of heavy metals in the vegetable tissues supplied with both wastewater and tap water. Field and greenhouse experiments were carried out to evaluate the uptake and accumulation of cadmium and lead in selected indigenous vegetables for two seasons from September to November 2017 and January to March 2018. The field trial was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and in the greenhouse the treatments were arranged in Complete Randomized Design (RCD) replicated three times. Two types of water sources (wastewater and tap water), two types of irrigation (foliar and root-applied) and four vegetables were the main treatments. The findings revealed that Amaranthus accumulated highest amount of lead in its tissue for the field experiments in season 1, season 2 as well as the greenhouse (3.69mg kg-1 and 4.85mgk g-1 respectively. For cadmium Kales had the highest uptake of 3.38mgkg-1, 0.639mgkg-1 and 0.36mgkg-1 in season 1, season 2 and greenhouse. Interaction effects were also reported in the two metals and the respective vegetable species. Due to high levels of contamination in the water used in irrigation could be the reason for high accumulation of the metals in the vegetable species. Proper phytoremediation measures need to be put across to improve the quality of the vegetables in the region to promote healthy living among the consumers. 

A field experiment was conducted during Kharif, 2013-14 at Main Agricultural Research Station to study the impact of intercropping on sucking pests and their natural enemies in Bt cotton. The results showed that the sucking pests were significantly lower on cotton under intercropping system than sole crop. Among the different intercrops, cotton intercropped with cowpea (1:2) was the best intercropping system which recorded less incidence of leafhopper (2.75/3 leaves), thrips (4.66/leaves) and whitefly (1.03/3 leaves) with more number of natural enemies followed by the cotton intercropped with coriander (1:2) and greengram (1:2). However, cotton + beans was significantly superior in recording the highest total yield (20.46 q/ha) followed by cotton + okra (16.86 q/ha) and cotton + cowpea (16.42 q/ha).

The study was carried out to evaluate various selected crops which were used as intercrops to control fruit drop in hot pepper (Capsicum frutescens). A Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used. There were six treatments and four replications. The treatments were control (pepper), Pepper-tomato, Pepper-mint, Pepper-citronella, Pepper-onion and Pepper-garden eggs intercrops. It was observed that there were significant differences between the mean total number and weight of harvested marketable pepper fruits but the other means were not significantly different for the other parameters that were observed. Pepper-citronella recorded the highest number of harvested pepper fruits. Pepper-tomato intercrop recorded the least number of harvested pepper fruits. Percentage fruit drop in the pepper fruit was high in all treatments.

Green house experiment was conducted to explore the influence of different concentrations of Vermicompost in root–knot nematode management against Meloidogyne incognita infecting Cluster bean Cyamposis tetragonaloba. Vermicompost fortification treatment resulted in reduced nematode infection and increased growth characteristics such as shoot – root length and shoot – root weight. With the increase of concentration of Vermicompost corresponding increase noticed in growth characteristics of treated plants. Vermicompost fortified plants showed increment in sugar, protein and lipid over untreated control. Increment of these metabolites reflects treated plants were metabolically cope up the infection and promoting excessive plant growth.In vitro studies of hatching trials revealed significant reduction in larval emergence. The percent reduction of larval emergence showed a significant positive correlation with increased concentration of Vermicompost. Vermicompost treatment significantly affects the soil population of nematode which again reflects a dosage dependent phenomenon. Present investigation confirms Vermicompost as an excellent growth promoters and potential prophylactic agent.

Ecological problems created by chemical insect control methods and their relevance to human health are receiving serious attention everywhere. Various pathogens, including viruses, protozoa, fungi and nematodes can be used to regulate pest population. Biological control of pests and vectors has been studied to a limited extent for many years with several notable successes, of which microbiological control is one aspect. The development of insecticide resistance in pest and vector population, the damage caused to non-target organisms and the realization of other environmental hazards of chemical insecticides have led to an increasing interest in biological, including microbiological control methods. Biopesticides are very effective in the agricultural pest control without causing serious harm to ecological chain or worsening environmental pollution. There is a requirement to develop alternatives to chemical pesticides for crop protection, due to the evolution of pesticide resistance in some pest species and concerns about the safety of chemical residues. One solution is the use of biopesticides (pest control agents based on living organisms) as an alternative in food production. The aim of this paper was to improve understanding of the environmental and regulatory sustainability of biopesticides as alternatives to chemical pesticides for crop protection. This paper reports on categories of biopesticides, biological control of aflatoxin, production of biopesticides using engineering techniques and its development.