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Item 11th Conference of the Weed Science Society of Eastern Africa: Milimani Hotel, Nairobi. 25TH - 29TH May, 1987(Kenya Agriculture Research Institute, 1987) Ondieki, J.J; Ministry of AgricultureThe Eleventh Weed Science Conference for Eastern Africa held in Nairobi, Kenya lasted for one week. Participants from many parts of Eastern Africa contributed alot during the conference and read several papers which appear in this proceeding. This is one of the biggest proceedings we have printed since the inception of the Society some thirty or so years ago. The fine print and the reduced bulkiness of the proceedings are due to the Societies meager savings and contributions from donor agencies (International Development Research Center), which enabled us to meet the cost of typesetting and printing. Many thanks are due to IDRC for meeting part of the costs for printing the proceeding.Item 13th Meeting of the East African Specialist Committee for Soil Fertility and Crop Nutrition - 9th - 13th. September, 1974 : Summary of Research on Soil Fertility and Crop Nutrition at the University of Nairobi, Kenya(Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, 1974) Keya, S.O.; Kenya Agricultural Research Institute; Keya, S.O.; Kenya Agricultural Research Institute; Department of Soil Science, University of Nairobi, KenyaResearch in the Department of Soil Science reported here has been carried out during 1972-1974 by postgraduate students registered for higher degrees at the University of Nairobi. These students have worked under the guidance of Prof. P.M. Ahn, who is also Head of the Department. In addition, Mr. V. Da Cost a has carried out a number of independent soil survey and site evaluation studies for the Kenya Government and other parastatal organizations. With the arrival of two other members of staff in the middle of 1974, it is hoped that further research on soil fertility and soil microbiology will be on the pipeline.Item Addressing bean Producers problems in the Northern Highlands of Rwanda(1990) Paul, K.B.; USAID, REDSO/ ESAField bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is a major component in the Rwandan diet, providing 25 percent of total calories and up to 45 percent of protein intake. In Rwanda, bean occupies about 25 percent of the harvested area. Despite its importance, the yield of bean has decreased over the years primarily because of declining soil fertility and its expansion to more marginal land. The present estimated yield is about 800 kg/ha. In an effort to help bean producers increase their production, a series of research efforts were undertaken between 1986-1988. These include: selection of local cultivars; selection of lines from introductions from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Agronomic Research Intitute of Rwanda (ISAR) for adaptability and farmer acceptability; seed treatment; sorghum-climbing bean intercropping; and farmer-based low input seed multiplication systems. Based on the results of these studies, four climbing bean cultivars are now recommended to farmers of this area. Wide distribution and adoption of them will help to narrow the gap between Rwanda's dry bean production and consumption. This paper describes the highlights of the bean variety trials nsoil fertility and its expansion to more marginal land. The present estimate yield is about 800 kg/hItem Aerial Photographic Methods in Censuses of animals(1969) Watson, R.M.It is proposed that animal censuses must be accurate, quickly performed, and easily repeated (i.e. inexpensive) before they are to be of use in any practical sense. Against these criteria aerial photographic techniques have been evaluated, listing the advantageous and disadvantageous features of the method. Aerial photography is considered in the three types of situations if it is correctly used; (i) to supplement direct counting in total or sample censuses; (ii) to supply information on error to be used in correcting censuses; (iii) to photograph total populations in complete censuses. (iii) to photograph total populations in complete censuses. Three examples are given of these types of censuses. A number of guide-lines are laid down to assist those working in conservation to decide if aerial photography will improve their censuring methods, and if so which techniques are appropriate or necessary.Item Agricultural Extension Methods amongst African Peasant Farmers(1946) Masfield, G.B.It is notorious in many countries that it is easier to devise improved agricultural methods than to get them put into practice by the mass of the farming community. Departments of Agriculture are normally divided between these two functions, i.e. into a research side and an extension side, of which the latter usually absorbs much the larger staff. Research work is so directed as to be always a few jumps ahead of the methods in current use, but its potential must always be limited by the fact that too many improvements cannot be "put Across at once within the limits of expenditure and staff available for the extension side. If, therefore, extension techniques can be improved, a given amount of staff could accomplish more work and research could also go ahead faster, to the general betterment of agriculture.Item Agroforestry Research Experiences and Selected Highlights within the Agroforestry Research Network for Africa - East Africa Network(1996) Krah, K. A. ; Cooper, P.J.M.; Cooper and K. Atta Krah, International Centre for Research in AgroforestryThe paper begins by providing a context within which the Agroforestry Research Network for Africa - East and Central Africa has been functioning since 1989 It then proceeds to explain the structure and force on the organization in terms of current and future research activities These include research on soil fertility, terrace management and erosion control, wood and fodder production Research highlights selected from each of the participating countries are presented with respect to each theme. The paper concludes that when taken in total results reported contribute to a general understanding of the reasons why farmers plant trees and prefer particular species. Understanding these reasons is important for planning new interventions that meet farmers' needs and fit their particular circumstances.Item Agroforestry Research in the Miombo Ecozone: Experiences of the Southern Africa(1996) Ngugi, D.N.; Kwesiga, R.F.The Southern Africa AFRENA embraces four SADC countries, namely Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe which are characterized by the miombo vegetation and a unimodal rainfall regime. The research programme has focused on technology development to address small holder fanner problems of declining soil fertility, shortage of fodder and fuel wood environment degradation through deforestation, overgrazing and soil erosion. After nearly a decade of research and capacity building. The network has developed several promising technologies. E.g. sesballla improved fallows, sesbanial maize relay cropping, and maize/gliricidia inter cropping fodder banks. Rotational wood lots for poles and fuel wood and indigenous fruits for human nutrition. Significant maize yield increases have been obtained following 2- to-3-year sesbania fallows or in relay cropping and gliricidial maize intercropping systems. These technologies have advanced to fanners’ fields and currently the network has over 1000 experimenting farmers most of whom are testing the sesbania improved fallows Fanner enthusiasm and e-expectations from these tec1mologies are high throughout the network. In addition, several MPTs have proven themselves in terms of biomass production for fodder and positive effect on live weight gains in goats further. The network has evaluated over 20 species of indigenous fruits several of them have easily been propagated and have given fruits within 18 - 24 months of transplanting. Priority indigenous fruits in the region are Uapaca klrkiana and Sclerocarrya birrea Uapaka has been collected from five southern African countries for evaluation and improvement before distribution of planting materials to fanners. Future thrusts will focus mainly on extension and refining of the best technologies as well as research on strategic issues such as nutrient dynamics in the systems being developed and implication on the sustainability of the systems under farm management.Item Agroforestry Trees for Nutrient Cycling and Sustainable Management(1996) Buresh, J. R.; Jama, B.; Ndufa, J.K.The integration of trees with crops can influence both the supply and availability of nutrients in the soil. Trees can increase the supply of nutrients within the rooting zone of crops through (i) input of nitrogen (N) by biological N2 fixation, (ii) capture and "pumping up" of nutrients from below the rooting zone of crops and (iii) reduction in nutrient losses by leaching and erosion. Trees can increase the availability of nutrients through increased release of Nutrients from soil organic matter (SOM) and recycled organic materials. Roots of trees frequently extend beyond the rooting depth of crops. The potential of deep-rooted trees to capture subsoil nutrients is (i) greatest when trees have a high demand for nutrients, (ii) greatest when high amounts of plant-available nutrient are present in the subsoil and (iii) greater for mobile nutrients like nitrate, than for less mobile nutrients, like phosphate. Nitrate can accumulate below the rooting depth of annual crops when (i) production of the crops is limited by pests and nutrients other than N and (ii) subsoils contain anion exchange sites to sorb the nitrate. Recent research showed that Sesbama sesban is very effective in taking up accumulated subsoil nitrate. Sesbania is also more effective than natural grass fallows in extracting subsoil water, which suggests that the potential for leaching loss of nutrients is less under sesbania than natural fallows. Other research showed that fast-growing trees with high N demand, such as Calliandra calothyrsus, S. sesban and Eucalyptus grandis, are much more effective in taking up subsoil nitrate than slower-growing trees, like Grevillea robusta and Markhamw lutea. The mineralization of SOM is a source of plant-available N and phosphorus (P) Nutrient release from SOM is normally more dependent on the portion of the SOM in biologically active fractions than on total quantity of SOM. Recent research indicated that the amount of N in the sand-associated fraction of SOM that floats in a dense liquid (referred to as light fraction N) is directly related to the release of N from SOM. Yield of unfertilized maize on a N-limiting soil has been shown to be strongly related to both inorganic soil N before maize planting and light fraction N. Inorganic soil N, N mineralization, and aI110unt of light fraction N were higher after 2 and 3-yr tree fallows that continuous unfertilized maize in Zambia and Kenya Among six tree fallows, inorganic N, N mineralization and light fraction N were (i) higher for the mean of the five N-fixing trees than the one non-fixing tree. (ii) higher for the mean of the two trees with lowest (lignin + polyphenol)/N ratios leaflitter than the two trees with highest ratios in leaf litter, and (iii) higher for S. sesban than the mean of the other trees. Some agroforestry trees have potential to provide sufficient N to sustain moderate crop yields through (i) increased N inputs from biological N fixation and deep capture of nitrate and (ii) effective recycling of N from plant residues and manures. Agroforestry trees, on the other hand, are not likely to provide sufficient P for sustained crop yields. Phosphorus is not fixed from the air like N, and the capture of P from subsoil is typically small. The recycling of P from organic materials is normallyItem An Analysis of Agricultural Credit Markets In Vihiga Division of Kakamega District, Kenya(1993) Musebe, R.; Oluoch-Kosura, W.; Wangia, C.The agricultural credit markets in Vihiga Divison of Kakamega District. Kenya, were analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analyses applied to both secondary and primary data. The objective was to evaluate the causes of the limited use of formal credit in the division. The following factors were found to be responsible for the limited use of formal credit by the small-scale farmers: Firstly the formal credit sources had tight and rigid eligibility criteria as well as cumbersome application procedures and credit delivery systems which also tended to make the borrower cost to be high. Secondiy, the supply of credit was far below its demand and therefore there were not enough funds for every would-be borrower. Thirdly, loan repayment schedules were incompatible with the cash-generating pattern of agricultural enterprises and this was a disincentive for would-be borrowers. Lastly, some farmers never applied for formal credit either because they were not aware of its existence or because of tight and rigid eligibility criteria associated with it. As a result of these factors, informal credit sources were the predominant sources of credit for the farmers.Item Analysis Of Competition Between Finger Millet (EleusinCoracana) and an Annual Weed (Galinsoga Parviflora) Effect of Association on the Growth of the Two Species(1979) Osiru, D.S.O.; Kashambusi,J .T.; Khan-Rana, M.S.The agricultural credit markets in Vihiga Divison of Kakamega District. Kenya, were analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analyses applied to both secondary and primary data. The objective was to evaluate the causes of the limited use of formal credit in the division. The following factors were found to be responsible for the limited use of formal credit by the small-scale farmers: Firstly, the formal credit sources had tight and rigid eligibility criteria as well as cumbersome application procedures and credit delivery systems which also tended to make the borrower cost to be high. Secondly, the supply of credit was far below its demand and therefore there were not enough funds for every would-be borrower. Thirdly, loan repayment schedules were incompatible with the cash-generating pattern of agricultural enterprises and this was a disincentive for would-be borrowers. Lastly, some farmers never applied for formal credit either because they were not aware of its existence or because of tight and rigid eligibility criteria associated with it. As a result of these factors, informal credit sources were the predominant sources of credit for the farmers.Item Analysis of Grain and Dry Matter Yield of Composite and Hybrid Maize at Low Altitudes in Tanzania(1975) Enyi, B.A.CThe agricultural credit markets in Vihiga Divison of Kakamega District. Kenya, were analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analyses applied to both secondary and primary data. The objective was to evaluate the causes of the limited use of formal credit in the division. The following factors were found to be responsible for the limited use of formal credit by the small-scale farmers: Firstly, the formal credit sources had tight and rigid eligibility criteria as well as cumbersome application procedures and credit delivery systems which also tended to make the borrower cost to be high. Secondly, the supply of credit was far below its demand and therefore there were not enough funds for every would-be borrower. Thirdly, loan repayment schedules were incompatible with the cash-generating pattern of agricultural enterprises and this was a disincentive for would-be borrowers. Lastly, some farmers never applied for formal credit either because they were not aware of its existence or because of tight and rigid eligibility criteria associated with it. As a result of these factors, informal credit sources were the predominant sources of credit for the farmers.Item Animal And Animal Trypanosomiasis Proceedings 1980(Kenya Agriculture Research Institute, 1980) Kenya Agriculture Research InstituteThe first cases of human trypanosomiasis of the new outbreak this year in Lambwe Valley were reported by the Division of Disease Control and Research of the Kenya Ministry of Health in the, 1980, when 6 cases were clinically diagnosed at Horra Bay Hospital. Following this initial confirmation of a new outbreak, 19 cases were reported in July 1980, and a further 14 in August 1980. Additional cases were reported in the subsequent two months, and it looks certain that all these cases point to an important sleeping sickness outbreak in Lambwe Valley.Item The Assessment of Vegetation Chance On The Atumatak Water Catchment Experiment From 1957 To 1975(1979) Wilson, J.G.; Napper, D.M.When civil administration in Karamoja District began in 1921, parts of the district were being severely overgrazed and the vegetation was changing from savanna to bush. The problem was exacerbated by the administrative policy of allowing Pokot people from Kenya To settle in an area then known as Karasuk, which prior to this time had been Karamojan grazing >territory (Brasnett, 1958). Once the Pokot, or Sukas they were then called, were established in the Karasuk area, they kept up a steady westward expansive pressure and, Again with administrative favour, were allowed to occupy and graze more Karamojan territory from 1921 until 1940 when a rudimentary Boundary was established between the Karamojong and the Pokot along the Kanyangareng River, south of Moroto Mountain and some 16 kilometers east of Atumatak.Item The Atumatak Research Project(1979) Edwards, K.A.; Blacki, R.Large areas of potentially productive range land in East Africa (Ecological Zone IV, Pratt, Green way and Gwynne, 1966) have deteriorated as a result of overgrazing into bush land and dry thicket (Langdale-Brown, Somerton and Wilson. 1964; Hornby, 1936; Staples, 1942; Pratt, 1963; McCulloch, 1965). Increases in human and animal populations, reduction in the extent of traditional grazing lands and advances in veterinary medicine, have all contributed to greater pressure on grasslands which are particularly sensitive to Overgrazing. As a result, there is a replacement of the perennial grass species by sparse annuals, biennials and herbs with a concomitant Spread of woody species. The grasslands degrade into bush land and, with sheet erosion accelerating the process, the bush lands into dry thicket.Item Behaviour Studies of the Vector in Relation to the Control of Trypanosomiasis(Salisbury, 1966) Pilson, R.D.; Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Control Branch, Ministry of Ministry of Agriculture, RhodesiaThe research with which the Tsetse Branch of Veterinary Services has been primarily concerned has consisted of field studies of the behavior of the tsetse fly in most cases involving the use of a stationary bait ox, off which engorged flies are caught. The use of this method of sampling has enabled a considerable amount of information to be obtained concerning: (a) The behaviour of those tsetse, ready to take a blood meal, but not necessarily starving. (b) The distribution of the feeding element of a tsetse population throughout various vegetation types. (c) The resting places of tsetse flies after they have fed.Item Biotechnology in Kenya, Proceedings of the National Conference on Plant and Animal Biotechnology 1990(Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, 1990) Mailu, A.M.; Mugah, J.O.; Fungog, P.O.; Kenya Agricultural Research Institute; Kenya Agricultural Research InstituteThe Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) has the national mandate to develop appropriate technologies geared to solving priority productivity constraints facing crop and livestock farmers in this country. KARI has a long history of agricultural research, and considerable achievements have been attained over the years using conventional technologies. A modest start has been made in biotechnology research in KARl centres over the last few years. What is evident from this experience is that biotechnology needs to be focused on the agricultural problems to be solved, and the products and processes required to solve them, rather than on the new technology itself.Item Calcium and Phosphorus Requirements of Growing Yankasa Lambs in the Savanna Region of Nigeria(1980) Okoye, F. C.; Umunna, N. N.; Chineme, C. N.Fifty-four Yankasa lambs of mixed sexes aged between 8-10 months were used in this experiment to determine the effect of varying levels of dietary calcium and phosphorus on the health, blood and bone characteristics. Three levels of dietary calcium (0.28 percent, 0.56 percent and 0.77 percent) and three levels of dietary phosphorus (0.31 percent, 0.40 percent and 0.60 percent) were tested in a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement. Blood samples were taken from the lambs at the beginning of the experiment and subsequently at two weekly intervals by jugular puncture. Measurements taken included the determination of calcium and phosphorus in the serum and humeri as well as the percentage ash, specific gravity and cortical indices of the humeri. Although serum calcium levels tended to be elevated at the high levels of calcium, differences among treatments were not statistically significant. Plasma calcium and phosphorus levels were normal in all groups throughout the experiment but significant differences were observed among groups for serum inorganic phosphorus. Significant differences existed among groups for specific gravity, percentage ash, calcium and phosphorus in dry fat-free bone with the high calcium high phosphorus diets (0.77 percent Ca, 0.60 percent P) giving consistently high values since indicators of nutritional status are markedly influenced by the age of the animal and the period of imposed deficiency. Growth performance is therefore a better index of the adequacy of dietary calcium and phosphorus in growing lambs above five months of age than serum calcium and phosphorus values. However, adequate mineralization of the bones requires the supplementation of the basal ration with calcium and phosphorus.Item Calcium and Phosphorus Requirements of Growing Yankasa Lambs in the Savanna Region of Nigeria(1980) Okoye, F.C.; Umunna, N.N.; Chineme, C.N.Fifty-four Yankasa lambs of mixed sexes aged between 8-10 months were used in this experiment to determine the optimum levels of calcium and phosphorus required by growing lambs in this region. Three levels of dietary calcium, namely 0.28 percent, 0.56 percent and 0.77 percent and three levels of dietary phosphorus, 0.31 percent, 0040 percent and 0.60 percent were tested in a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement. The criteria of adequacy employed included growth performance and calcium and phosphorus retentions.Item Character Correlations in Cowpea under different Environments(1981) Tikka, S.B.S.; Asawa, B.M.; Kumar, S.Interrelationships between yield and its components were studied in 17 promising cultivars of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) grown in four environments. The seed yield was found to be significantly and positively correlated with number of pods/plant, pod length, number of seeds / pod and seed weight in all the four environments. The correlations computed from pooled data indicated the importance of these characters. Path coefficient analysis of the genotypic correlations from pooled data showed that number of seeds / pod exhibited the highest direct effect followed by seed weight and number of pods/plant. The indirect effects of remaining characters through number of seeds / pod were also considerably high. It was concluded that more emphasis should be given to number of seeds / pod, seed weight and number of pods/plant in selection programmes for yield improvement in cowpea.Item Coffee Research Foundation Kenya Annual Report 1990/91(Coffee Research Foundation Kenya, 1990/91) Coffee Research Foundation KenyaThe Coffee Research services in Kenya commenced with the appointment of the first Government Entomologist in 1908. a few coffee experiments were established at Kabete and Kibos Experimental Farms in 1910-12. The coffee research team gradually increased with the appointment of a Mycologist in 1913 and a Coffee Plant Inspector from Jamaica in 1914. This report gives a preview of research activities during the 1990/91 calendar year.
