Biotechnology
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Item Manual del Cafetero Colombiano - The Colombian Coffee Planters' Manual(1939) National Federation of Coffee Planters of ColombiaIn view of the important position of Colombia as a producer of mild coffee,this coffee planters' handbook, published (in Spanish) in June, 1932, by the National Federation of Coffee Planters of Colombia, in conjunction with the technical staff of the Agricultural Experimental College of La Esperanza, is of considerable interest. Emphasis is laid on local conditions and cultural methods and the authors state that foreign literature on coffee is of little significant value to them. Technical terms are avoided as much at possible so that the book can be understood by even the least intelligent peasant cultivator.Item Manufacture of acetic acid on rubber estates for use as a coagulant(1942) Hansford, C. G.,; Martin, W. S.; Uganda Department of AgricultureUnder war-time conditions the importation of pure acetic acid for use as a coagulant for rubber has become unreliable and a search has been made for a process for manufacture of a suitable coagulant locally. An investigation of local fermented liquors such as banana beer and sugar-cane juice failed to provide a culture of acetic acid bacteria suitable for use on a factory scale. Cultures were eventually obtained from vinegar and imported dried fruits, while others were supplied by Dr. Nattrass from the Scott Agricultural Laboratories.Item Empire Production of Drugs Iv-Strophanthinum(1946) Greenway P.J.The genus Strophanthus is represented by some forty-four species, three in South Africa,thirty-one in Tropical Africa, two in Madagascar,and about twelve in India and the FarEast. The species of Strophanthus are shrubsor woody climbers with most attractive flowers. Various attempts have been made at Amani to grow the official and other species without much success. Those tried were: S. caudatus Kurz, planted 1904, flowered but failed to fruit; S. randiflorus (N.E.Br.) Gilg, planted in 1914, as an East African coastal species no doubt flowered and fruited freely; S. gratus (Wall. & Hook.) Franch., planted in 1902, flowered freely and failed to fruit; S. hispidus A.P. D.C., planted in 1904, flowered freely; S. Kombe, planted in 1910, was not established; and S. sarmentosus A.P. DC., in cultivation and flowered in 1908. Some African species are recorded as having toxic properties, some being used as arrow-poison.According to the British Pharmaceutical Codex "strophanthin is a mixture of "glycosides obtained from Strophanthus Kombe Oliv. It consists of cymarin, K-strophanthin-B, and other glycosides, and may be isolated from the freshly powdered seedsItem A Method for the Preparation of Silicophosphate on Farms(1948) Gethin, J.G.H.; Department of Agriculture, KenyaEarlier work at the laboratories of the East African Industrial Research Board and at the Scott Agricultural Laboratories has shown that when Uganda Rock Phosphate and Magadi Ash are heated together, with or without the addition of water, the sodium carbonate reacts with the phosphate-containing minerals present in Uganda Rock Phosphate in such a way that new synthetic sodium-containing compound or compounds are formed which contain the essential nutrient in a much more available form. The" citric-soluble" phosphoric oxideItem Nomenclature and Classification of Hides and Skins(1949) French, M. H.Sheep and goat skins are beginning to be partially processed in East Africa and sold overseas in the "pickled" form. "Pickled" skins are the "pelts", after passing through the various beam-house operations but before undergoing any tanning processes.Item Fertilizer studies on Uganda soils(1949) Manning H. L.; Griffith, G.; Department of Agriculture, UgandaExperiments conducted over several years and with various crops have shown that primary expectations of large yield responses to fertilizers have not been fulfilled. More detailed and necessarily slower work, which must now follow, may lead to larger yield responses. Foremost among the new series of experiments are the investigations regarding the source,duration and magnitude of accumulated nitrate nitrogen.Routine experiments have clearly shown that no spectacular yield responses are likely to be obtained except on soils of known low nutrient status. Stress must now be laid on the necessity for patient and detailed work along lines which these trials have indicated. Fundamental problems such as nitrate accumullation, phosphate fixation under these conditions, and potash requirements under various intensities of solar radiation must be solved. Even where these are solved, the question of time and method of applying proven fertilizers present important problems. These recommendations applied later when improved cultural practices and other major improvements have been achieved would no doubt become of real value to the territory.Item An Intermediate Host of The Common Stomach Fluke, Paramphistomum Cervi (Schrank) in Kenya(1951) Dinnik J. AIn Kenya, cattle are often infected with stomach flukes which are sometimes found attached to the inner surface of the fore stomachs in thousands. This study showed that, the cyst of P. cervi are about 0.23 mm in diameter and are e1sily discernible with the naked eye as round black spots. Cattle and sheep become infected with P.cervi by swallowing these cysts, the stock ingest them under field conditions when drinking or when feeding on vegetation carrying cysts in localities where infected Bulinus (snail) occur. In their turn the snails become infected with the larval stages of P. cervi by miracidia which hatch from eggs passed in faeces of infected cattle.Item A Note on Antestia, Control With D.D.T. and Bordeaux Mixture(1951) Notley F. B.The Coffee Research Station is closely surrounded by other coffee, where control of Antestia is by no means so thorough as it is on the Station,yet the figures show that very little re-infestation takes place from outside. Further observations are obviously necessary, but the interest of these figures is in the suggestion they give that routine spraying with Bordeaux-D.D.T., carried out at the normal times for Bordeaux spraying, may be effective in a very short time in virtually eliminating Antestia from the coffee. It is true that even if Antestia is completely eliminated from the coffee, re-infestation will occur, either from adjacent coffee or from native host plants, but such re-infestation will be slow, and it may be that the extra expenditure entailed in attempting elimination would be more than offset by a reasonably long period during which control measures may be unnecessary.Item A Note on the Biology of Calidea Dregei Germ(1954) Evans A. C.; Duerden J. C.Calidea dregei is well known as a stainer of cotton. Considerable variations in the extent of damage by the bug are found in different varieties of sorghum. A large range of types has been examined and certain general features stand out. Those types having the seed enclosed to a large extent by the glumes exhibit the greatest degree of resistance to the pest and a general tendency of quick maturity strains to be less heavily damaged is noticeable. This latter factor is probably due to the short season types being exposed to attack for a shorter length of time than longer season varieties. Thus the open-headed, quickly maturing, Shallu types with the seed almost completely protected show an average percentage of damaged seed from three experiments of II per cent in comparison to the longer season Milo types, such as Martins SA. 5330, with the seed almost completely exposed which gives an average of 26 per cent damaged seed. C. dregei shows a very marked resistance to the commoner insecticides in the field. In laboratory scale trials a number of insecticides were tested against the pest. A much greater susceptibility to insecticides of plant origin was shown.Item Vegetable Tannins in East Africa(1954) Sykes, R.L.; Hides, E.A.; Simon, T.D.; Tanning and Allied Industries Bureau; The Nairobi Wattle Co. Ltd.Vegetable tannins are usually considered as minor forest products. In East Africa, however, one of these, wattle bark tannin obtained from Acacia mollissima, has ceased to be a minor forest product and has an annual export value of over £1 t million. East Africa is the second-largest producer of this product, which is to-day the world's most widely used vegetable tanning material. The coastal mangrove swamps also yield a tan bark with exports of 3,500 tons per annum. Other tannin-bearing plants grow in East Africa, and Greenway [13] made an exhaustive list of them in 1941. He did not, however, record any experimental work other than reporting on the introduction of various exotic species. The purpose of the present article is to report some analyses of bark and fruit samples which have been obtained from plantations and forests in East Africa, and to mention species which might be exploited in East Africa for which there is a potential demand, either by the local tanning industry or for export to overseas centres of leather production.Item Insecticides and Colonial Agricultural Development(1955) Wallace T. (ed); Martin J. T(ed)There has recently appeared volume six of the "Colston Papers", under the title that heads this note. These Papers are records of Annual symposia organized by the Colston Research Society of Bristol University; past symposia have ranged over diverse subjects, from Colonial administration to cosmic rays. The present volume provides a valuable record of development in insecticide research and their application to colonial agriculture.Item Potassium Permanganate as a Seed Bed Treatment against Damping Off in Pines(1955) Gibson I. A. S.Potassium permangate has been widely used particularly in Africa and india for the prevention of damping off in seedlings in forest nursery seed bed as a preventive for damping off and in the event of a serious attack this solution is strengthened until it is almost black in order to check the spread of the diseaseItem The Distribution and Breeding Behaviour of the Sudan Dioch (Quelea Q. Aethiopica) in Tanganyika.(1956) de S. Disney, H.J.; Haylock, J. W. ; Department of Agriculture, Tanganyika TerritoryDuring the past two years we have investigated this species intensively and the following data constitute a preliminary and general account of our work, together with relevant citations of the findings of other naturalists.Item Use of Repellents to Simplify Insecticide Field Trials(Nature, 1956) McKinlay, K.S.; East African Agriculture and Forestry Research OrganizationA DIFFICULTY frequently met in insecticide field trials is that although the insecticide application may kill the insects on the treated plots at the time, these plots may be re-invaded very quickly by insects from the control plots and surrounding untreated areas. This is particularly marked in the case of trials on the control of cotton Lygus (Lygus vosseleri, Popp.), where the greater part of the damage is done by an immigration of highly mobile adults into the crop. One method of avoiding this difficulty is to use large plots of several acres in extent; but the very size of the plots seriously reduces the precision of an experimental comparison, besides being very expensive in time, materials and labour. Recent work has shown that where the principal purpose of the experiments is to study the effect of Lygus upon the yield of cotton, the result may be obtained very much more simply by using the repellent effect of certain insecticides.Item Notes on Some Chemical Elements in Relation to Carcinoma of the Nasopharynx in Kenya(1956) Robinson, J.B.D.Interest has been stimulated in Kenya to examine the relationships between some chemical elements present in both soils and food plants and the occurrence of carcinoma of the nasopharynx in the indigenous peoples. Some factors that influence the availability of these chemical elements in soils are disclosed briefly. A very limited number of analytical results for copper, zinc, molybdenum, nickel and arsenic in soil and plant samples are presented and discussed briefly. They do not suggest that there are any very marked differences in levels associated with the incidence of the cancer syndrome, but a great deal of further careful sampling and study will be required to establish a firm conclusion.Item Comparative Trials of D.D.T. and Dieldrin for The Control of the Riverside Tsetse Glossina Palpalis Fuscipes (Newst.)(1957) Burnett G. F; Robinson J.Residual deposits of DDT have been used with considerable success against the tsetsefly, Glossina pa'pu/is jllscipes (NewsL), in the Nyanza Province of Kenya (Wilson, 1953). It has become standard practice to use "Arkotine",a product of Shell Chemicals Ltd. The tests here described were originally intended to give more accurate information than that hitherto available on the persistence of the formulation as used, and if possible :0 suggest economies.Item The Effect of Insecticidal Spraying Against Glossina Palpalis Fuscipes, Newstead in The Nyando River Basin of Kenya(1958) Fairclough, R.; Thomson, W.E.F.; Department of Veterinary Services, KenyaThis paper deals only with tsetse fly, Glossina palpalis fuscipes, Newstead which occurs in Kenya along the shores and on the islands of Lake Victoria and along many of the rivers running into it. There were no other species of tsetse in the area with which we are concerned. G. palpalis was found up to an altitude of 5, 250 feet in the Nyando River Basin vegetation fringing the rivers and sometimes forming the patches of the forest.Item Field Observations on Trials of New N.I.A.E. Cultivation Equipment(1960) Ofield R. J.; Lea J. D.; Passmore R. G.The first East African trials on the Hawkins system of mechanized cultivation took place at Namulonge, Uganda, in 1958. Basically this new approach to farm mechanization in the tropics consists of ripping instead of ploughing, ridge splitting, and combined cultural operations. The main purpose is to save time and reduce costs. Furrow ripping to 12-18 in., ridge splitting, inter-row cultivation, and combined re-ridging and planting were successfully carried out on a field scale. When ridge splitting under very dry conditions large clods are turned up in the ridge and this can make planting difficult. Normally it will be possible to overcome this by careful timing but difficulties may occasionally arise when, for example, ridge splitting is necessary during a dry spell in the planting period to control weeds. In general, however, the preliminary trials suggest that the new methods are likely to be of considerable practical value on a large mechanized cotton farm.Item The Breeding Behavior of Molasses Grass in Kenya(1960/1961) Bogdan, A.V.; Grassland Research Station, Department of Agriculture, Kitale, KenyaIn 1954 the comparison and selection of varieties of Molasses grass (Melin is minutiflora Beauv.) suitable for leys was undertaken at the Grassland Research Station, Kitale. This type of work necessitates a certain knowledge of the breeding behavior of the species concerned and as no information could be found in the literature a study of progeny lines was Undertaken to find out whether Molasses grasses are cross-pollinated or self-fertile. Four distinct varieties were chosen for this study. They differed in general habit, and in such characters as the nature of the hairs on the leaf sheaths close to the nodes, the colour of the leaves, the hairiness of the spikelets, the length of the awns, and other features. For the purpose of strain building, the fact that Molasses grass is not a cross-pollinatzd species indicates that strains can be developed from single selected plants, and it also indicates that varieties can be grown for seed without the need for isolation, as far as cross pollination is concerned. A revision of the M. minutiflora complex and its affinities, including observations on progeny lines, is required before the taxonomy of this group can be clearly resolved.Item A Fertilizer Trial on Paspalum Notatum Pasture 1. The Effects on Yields(1961) Harker K. W.Paspalum notatum Flugge is one of the best known grass plants introduced to Uganda. The results from this study indicate that, under the conditions of the trial increased yields of herbage cannot be expected after the applications of calcium/ammonium nitrate or triple super-phosphate at the rates used. Small increases may follow the application of gypsum although the response may be only short-lived. Further work must be done to define the factor or factors limiting the yields of Paspalum notatum in the high rainfall areas of Uganda.
