by Emelia Guo, Joseph Saa-Dittoh and Agnes Atia Apusigah
Original Research
Ghana’s food security situation is acknowledged to have improved in recent years, nonetheless, food insecurity still persists in some parts of Ghana, with the northern regions including the Upper West hosting the highest proportion of food insecure households. This situation is due partly to domestic agricultural production. As such, study sought to find out the major factors influencing agricultural production and consequently food security. Five sampled communities out of fifteen were randomly selected for Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) to gather data. These communities were: Tokaali, Manwe, Jeffisi, Sakai and Lawra-Yagtuuri. Furthermore, Kredjcie and Morgan’s (1970) sample size determination Table was used to select a total of 341 smallholder farmers based on each community’s population. From the study, all the respondents (100%) in the study indicated that food security is influenced by the weather/climate conditions of the area, whereas farming methods were identified as the next major factor influencing food security in the region according to smallholder farmers (98.5%) in the study. In addition, land allocation (85.0%) and government policies (74.8%) were also revealed to be contributory factors to food security by smallholder farmers in the region as well as some other factors including infestation representing 2.6 percent of respondents.
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2022, 10(1), 30-35. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-10-1-5
Pub. Date: June 26, 2022
1622 Views3 Downloads
by Alvychelle Benith Banga, Augustin Aimé Lebonguy, Angélique Espérance Lembella Boumba and Joseph Goma-Tchimbakala
Original Research
Microbial organic fertilizers have been shown to boost plant productivity. These microorganisms of interest are more numerous in the soil around the roots or rhizosphere. Objective of this study was to assess bacterial communities’ diversity of in the rhizosphere of two legumes, Milletia laurentii and Cajanus cajan, growing on the same soil. First of all, the levels Mg, N, Fe, C total, P, NH4+ and particle size were determined by spectrophotometry, Kjeldahl method, Olsen method, Walkey-Black method, Nessler reagent, DEB method and Robinson pipette method, respectively. Next, bacterial diversity was determined by Sequencing Illumina Miseq of 16S rRNA gene. Results showed that contents of carbon, total nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and magnesium were slightly elevated in Milletia rhizosphere compared to Cajanus. According to the USDA's textural triangle, both soils have a sandy loam soil texture. In terms of diversity, all OTUs (1434) were divided into 30 phyla, 50 classes, 158 families and 314 genera for the 2 soils. Proteobacteria (58.62% - 48.71%), Acidobacteria (27.29% - 9.46%), Firmicutes (8.26% - 7.21%) and Bacteroidetes (13.70% - 2.53%) were most dominant phyla in both rhizospheres (Cajanus - Milletia). The most dominant classes were Alphaproteobacteria (51.44% - 38.90%), Acidobacteriia (26.57% - 8.67%), Bacilli (8.19% - 7.18%), Sphingobacteria (9.83% - 2.50%) and Gammaproteobacteria (4.27% - 3.39%). At the family level, Hyphomicrobiaceae (35.05%-24.22%), Bradyrhizobiaceae (17.32%-11.70%) and Bacillaceae (18.98%-6.49%) were most abundant. Finally, Acidobacterium (26.55%-4.58%), Rhodoplanes (21.63%-7.50%), Bradyrhizobium (17.27%-1.96%) and Bacillus (6.43%-6.29%) were the most abundant genera. Thus, bacterial diversity of the rhizosphere of these two legumes encourages their use for the isolation of bacteria with biofertilizing potential.
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2022, 10(1), 20-29. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-10-1-4
Pub. Date: June 21, 2022
1945 Views9 Downloads
by S.M. Waidyaratne, L.G.I. Samanmalie and P.K.C. Buddhinie
Original Research
In vitro plantlet regeneration ability of the local hybrid papaya variety Horana Papaya Hybrid 01 was evaluated using shoot tips from greenhouse-raised seedlings. Shoots tips surface sterilized in 20% Sodium Hypochlorite (Clorox®) for 20 min were established in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium containing 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP; 0.0,0.5,1.0,1.5 mg/L) in combination with 1-Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA; 0.0,0.1,0.5 mg/L) for shoot multiplication. Considering the high mean number of shoots per explant (4.8 ± 0.5) and absence of calli, 1.0 mg/L BAP was the best treatment for direct organogenesis. Proliferated shoots were transferred to a 1.5 strength MS medium containing 0.25 mg/L BAP and Gibberellic Acid (GA3; 0.0, 0.15, 0.30 mg/L) for further elongation. Elongated shootlets were placed in half-strength MS medium supplemented with Indole-3-Butyric Acid (IBA; 0.0,1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 mg/L) for rooting. The highest root induction response (86%) and roots suitable for acclimatization were observed with 2.0 mg/L of IBA. Plantlets were acclimatized in poly cups containing a sterile potting mixture (soil, sand, compost, and coir dust; 1:1:1:1) and a survival rate of 75% was achieved under in vitro conditions. The findings of the present study can be optimized to develop a suitable in vitro micropropagation protocol for rapid clonal propagation of this papaya variety for producing true to type planting material.
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2022, 10(1), 15-19. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-10-1-3
Pub. Date: June 08, 2022
1829 Views4 Downloads
by KOFFI Eric-Blanchard Zadjéhi, DIARRASSOUBA Nafan, KONAN N’guessan Ysidor, YAO Saraka Didier martial, SAHI Gonkapeu Achille and SIE Raoul Sylvère
Original Research
Onion production is low in Côte d'Ivoire. The country is therefore dependent on producer countries in the sub-region. One of the solutions would be to select adapted varieties to the growing conditions of the production areas. It is for this purpose that this study was conducted. This study aims to determine the agronomic and morphological characteristics of five varieties of onion in order to select the best ones. The experiment was carried out in a block with three replications. Data’s used was vegetative characteristics and bulb yield components. Multivariate analysis were performed on the collected data. The results revealed three agromorphological groups. The first group, composed of the varieties BATI and KARIBOU, is characterised by a high seed germination rate (85.65%), heavier bulbs (40.19 g), large size (bulb diameter=4.26 cm), a greater number of thick (0.14 cm) scales (6 scales) and a high bulb yield (4.02 kg/m2). The second (Group 2) consisting of the varieties CARA and DAMANI recorded the highest plant height (42.19 cm), longer leaves (40.19 cm) and longer bulbs (4 cm). The third (Group 3) consisting of the variety SAFARI gave intermediate morphological characteristics to the two previous groups. Based to the measured characteristics, the varieties BATI and KARIBOU with interesting agronomic characteristics are to be recommended to farmers in Korhogo to make onion cultivation profitable.
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2022, 10(1), 7-14. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-10-1-2
Pub. Date: May 18, 2022
2349 Views4 Downloads
by Agbaji F., Okee J. I., Akogu S.E., Musa V.H. and Sunday J. E.
Original Research
Disease incidence, severity and effect of selected organic amendments on soil and growth of Rio-Grande tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) was evaluated at the Nursery Unit and the Crop Production Laboratory of the Department of Crop production, Faculty of Agriculture, Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the effect of selected organic amendments on the growth of tomato and to identify fungal diseases, incidence and severity on Rio-Grande tomato plant. Three rates of cow dung, wood ash and poultry manure (10 g, 20 g, 30g) each were severally applied. This research was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and replicated four times. In this experiment, 20 g cow dung gave the best growth of Rio-Grande tomato. At 8 Weeks after planting, soil amended with cow dung (20 g) gave the highest number of tomato leaves (143) while soil amended with wood ash (30 g) gave the least number of tomato leaves (55). At 8 Weeks after planting, soil amended with cow dung (20 g) gave the tallest tomato plant (67.50 cm) while soil amended with poultry manure (30 g) gave the shortest tomato plant (24.80 cm). At 8 Weeks after planting, , soil amended with cow dung (10 g) gave the biggest stem girth of tomato plant (2.33 cm) while soil amended with cow dung (30 g) gave the smallest stem girth of tomato plant (1.60 cm). At 6 weeks after planting soil amended with wood ash (10g) gave the highest average number of tomato fruits (5.67). The fungi isolated from the leaves of Rio-Grande tomato included: Aspergillus niger, Phomopsis sp., Fusarium oxysporum fsp. lycopersici, Septoria lycopersici. Alternaria linariae and Rhizoctonia solani.
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2022, 10(1), 1-6. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-10-1-1
Pub. Date: March 17, 2022
1776 Views9 Downloads