Food Crops
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Item Trapping, Identification, and Rearing of Edible Palm Weevils in Kenya and Uganda(Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2021-06-15) Egonyu, J.P.; Gitonga , J.K.; Khamis, F.M.; Copeland, R.S.; Finyange, P.; Odhiambo, R.; Ddamulira , G.; Tanga, C.M.; Subramanian, S.; International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ; Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization,, Matuga, Kwale ; Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Alupe, Busia ; National Crops Resources Research InstitutePalm weevils, Rhynchophorus spp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) double as devastating invasive pests of palms, and delicacies in many communities. This study evaluated ethyl acetate and 3-methyl-octan-4-ol for trapping palm weevils from coconut, oil and raffia palms in Kenya and Uganda; taking into account the distance of traps on oil palm from a forest or raffia palm. Eggs from the weevils from different locations were incubated and their larvae reared on sugarcane under laboratory conditions. All the 285 weevils collected were identified by morphological and molecular techniques as Rhynchophorus phoenicis, and the catch was female-biased. 3-methyl-octan-4-ol attracted more weevils than ethyl acetate. More weevils were caught at ~100 m away from the forest than within 15 m outside the forest; and on raffia palm than oil palm irrespective of distance apart. Eggs took ~4 d to develop and 95-100% of pupae developed into adults, irrespective of the collection site. Larval and pupal developmental periods for weevils from Uganda were longer than those of Kenya, resulting in egg-adult development of ~6 months and ~4 months, respectively. The sex ratio of laboratory produced males and females was similar. These results can guide in designing an integrated R. phoenicis management system with a dual benefit of protecting palms from weevil attack and utilising the weevils to improve human nutrition.Item KCEP - Maize Production Training and Extension Manual(Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, 2016-08) Karanja, J.K.; Mwathi, J.W.; Ooro, P.A.; Esilaba, A.O.; Nyongesa, D.; Kamidi, M.; Wanjekeche, E.; Macharia, D.; Waithaka, M.; Woyengo, V.; Barkutwo, J.; Githunguri, C.; Kamau, G.; Miriti, J.; Nassiuma, E; Masinde, W.; Mwenda, M.; Njaimwe, A.; Macharia, M.; Gitari, J.; Murage, P.M.; Koech, M.; Thuranira, E.; Ashiono, G.; Rono, B.; Ketiem, P.K.; Kimani, S.; Gachuki, P.; Wanyonyi, M.; Maina, I.; Mutoko, C.; Ringera, J.M.; Odendo, M.; Kipkemoi, P.L.; Chebosonwy, R.; Magiroi, K.N.; Mwangi, H.; Onyango, E.M.The scientific name for maize is Zea mays; but for the purpose of this manual it will be referred to as maize. This production manual is a guide on growing maize successfully in different agro-ecological areas of Kenya, in a rain fed system not under irrigation. However, many principles of agronomy are relevant to both irrigated and rainfed farming systems. Maize is a staple food in Kenya, accounting for an average production of 4.4 million tonnes for the period 2010 to 2013 (FAO, 2015). It contributes to about 65% of daily per capita cereal consumption and serves as subsistence and a commercial crop grown on an estimated 1.4 million hectares. Maize production accounts for more than 20% of the total agricultural production and 25% of agricultural employment in the country. It is an important source of carbohydrate, protein, iron, vitamin B, and minerals. Maize products include baked, roasted and boiled fresh maize on the cob, porridge, pastes, beer, starch, oil and livestock feed from by-products of fresh and dry maize grain. This manual outlines important maize-crop agronomy and provides information on the methodology and technology that farmers may be able to utilise to grow maize in Kenya. Climate change, increased human activities, pathogen and vector evolution have increased the spread of invasive pests and diseases in maize farming systems in Kenya. The country has faced severe disease and pest outbreaks that impact on the country’s food security. Heavy attacks of loses of as much as 100% have been reported due to Maize lethal necrosis disease and fall armyworm. The use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) provides maize farmers with management options to reduce pesticides use in the management of pest and diseases. Precise and prompt pest and disease detection are vital for their prevention or management. After harvesting their crop, farmers in Kenya face challenges of poor grain handling and management, leading to 30% of post-harvest losses, translating to more than US$ 4 billion losses per annum (Hodges et al., 2011). They also market their grain at low price at harvest time forcing households to buy grains for family consumption when prices increase. Post-harvest losses lead to insufficient food supply, even when crop yields and land under cultivation have been increasing. This is partly due to lack of knowledge on appropriate methods of grain storage. This post- 11 harvest management component will support farmers in securing high returns from investments on grain production. This is through adoption of improved on-farm grain handling practices to minimize post-harvest losses and enhanced access to markets offering favourable terms. This manuals’ goal is to reduce post-harvest losses from the current estimated 30% to industry accepted levels of below 5%. This will lead to usage of certified warehouse system by farmers to bulk and sell their produce at a price 30% higher than prevailing farm gate price. systems in Kenya. The country has faced severe disease and pest outbreaks that impact on the country’s food security. Heavy attacks of loses of as much as 100% have been reported due to Maize lethal necrosis disease and fall armyworm. The use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) provides maize farmers with management options to reduce pesticides use in the management of pest and diseases. Precise and prompt pest and disease detection are vital for their prevention or management. After harvesting their crop, farmers in Kenya face challenges of poor grain handling and management, leading to 30% of post-harvest losses, translating to more than US$ 4 billion losses per annum (Hodges et al., 2011). They also market their grain at low price at harvest time forcing households to buy grains for family consumption when prices increase. Post-harvest losses lead to insufficient food supply, even when crop yields and land under cultivation have been increasing. This is partly due to lack of knowledge on appropriate methods of grain storage. This post- 11 harvest management component will support farmers in securing high returns from investments on grain production. This is through adoption of improved on-farm grain handling practices to minimize post-harvest losses and enhanced access to markets offering favourable terms. This manuals’ goal is to reduce post-harvest losses from the current estimated 30% to industry accepted levels of below 5%. This will lead to usage of certified warehouse system by farmers to bulk and sell their produce at a price 30% higher than prevailing farm gate price.Item Effects of Population Density on Yield of Maize(1956/1957) Hemingway, J.S.The name "Katumbili" is used for white seeded maize grown over wide areas of East Africa. In its crude form, as grown largely in native cultivation, the stock contains a very great mixture of characters: dent- and flint seeded types, tall, intermediate and dwarf plants, variations of ear number and row number on the ear, a range of growth periods, other colored seeds, etc. Attempts have been made in many areas, particularly on experimental farms, to "clean up" this mixture by mass-selection and other simple techniques, in order to standardize strains which conform to local necessities (length of season, etc.), and preferences (dent or flint, "sugary" or "starchy" seed, etc.). As a consequence of these attempts a number of fairly distinct strains have been named, and these are in use in breeding programmes and in the East African co-operative maize variety trials currently being run on a number of experimental farms. Examples of such strains are "Katumbili wanza", "Katumbili Namulonge", "Katumbili Kilosa" and "Katumbili Nachingwea".Item Release of New Cereal Varieties-1957(1956/1957) Thorpe, H. C.; Dixon, G.E.The undermentioned cereals have been released by the Department of Agriculture for sowing during the 1957/58 season. In conformity with established procedure the varieties have been tested in trial plots on the Plant Breeding Station and district stations, and subsequently with farmers in various parts of the country.Item A Note on the Release of Some New Cereal Varieties-II(1950) Thorpe, H.C.The following cereal varieties have been released to farmers from departmental control for sowing in 19S0. All have been tested firstly in small trial plots and then on a field scale with farmers in various parts of the Colony and have been released through normal channels, i.e. The Kenya Farmers' Association (Co-op.), Ltd. Fuller details of the procedure adopted were given in an earlier article.Item The Yield Stability Of Sorghum Varieties And Hybrids In East African Environments(1972) Majisu, B.N.; Doggettt, H.The ability of varieties and hybrids of crops to perform well over a wide range of environments has particular relevance to regional programmes designed to satisfy the needs of numerous countries that may differ not only climatically and edaphically, but also with respect to crop husbandry standards. In East Africa where resources and priorities justify one sorghum research Programme, varieties and hybrids possessing general adaptability are most desirable. Work previously reported by Doggett and Jowett (1966) gives an impression of the diversity of environments encountered in this region. Although genotype X environment interactions have given some indication of adaptability, the performance of individual entries in a wide range of environments has not been studied critically to facilitate an appraisal of the progress being made to develop superior genotypes.Item Loose Smut of Wheat(1950) Nattrass, R.M.Loose Smut of wheat (Ustilago tritici (Pers.) Rostr.) is of comparatively rare occurrence in Kenya, but there is some indication that it may be on the increase. The disease is easy to recognize in the crop as the smutted ears are already black when they emerge from the sheath. The spore masses are protected only by a thin membrane which quickly ruptures on emergence of the head, allowing the spores to be blown away. The bare blackened central stalks of the ears are characteristic of the disease.Item Glycoalkaloid Content of Some Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) varieties grown in Kenya as Influenced by Light and Different Storage Conditions.(Kirui Kipkoech Geoffrey, 2002) Kirui, G.K.This study aimed at quantifying total glycoalkaloids, characterizing and quantifying a-chaconine and a-solanine of promising potato clones and varieties grown in Kenya. These compounds were studied with a view of ascertaining whether their contents varies with the potato types, changes in storage temperature and light exposure. It has been established that high levels (20mg/100g Fwt) of these compounds are toxic to animals and human and may change with storage and harvesting conditions.Item Legume Screening Database (LSD|) Manual(Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, 2003) Mureithi, J.G.; Gatahi, F.; Kenya Agricultural Research InstituteThe Legume Research Network Project (LRNP) is a KARI project initiated in 1994 with technical and financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation. One of its main activities at inception was to screen a large green manure legume germplasm to identify those suitable for the major agroecological zones in Kenya. This screening work was conducted in 1995 and 1996 and all the screening data has been compiled into a database known as the Legume Screening Database (LSD). The LSD is comprised of performance data of 59 green manure legumes were screened in 11 sites covering major soil types and agroecological zones in Kenya. The legumes were screened for two years in 1995 and 1996 mainly on-station in KARI centers. The database includes information on screening sites and their characteristics, legume species screened per site, data on legume germination, ground cover, phenology, nodulation, dry matter accumulation, and tissue analysis. The database is in MS Access software and it is organized into five objects; Tables, Forms, Queries, Reports, and Macros. The maize database switchboard has four main operation tools that assist in carrying out desired operations in the database. These are Introduction, Add/View data tool, Summaries/Analysis, and Reports. This database is for use by research scientists, extensionists, NGOs, and all those interested in introducing legumes into the Kenyan farming systems. This instruction manual was prepared to assist users of the data in accessing selected information/data from the database based on their selection criteria.Item Kenya Agricultural Research Institute Tigoni 2001(Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, 2001) Kenya Agricultural Research InstituteFood security and poverty alleviation concerns especially after the recent difficulties in maize marketing are increasingly putting the potato into sharp national focus for both food and industrial purposes. The significant increase in the cultivation of the recently released varieties Asante and Tigoni-for supplemental food and cash incomes in traditional maize-growing areas is further evidence of the increasing role of the potato crop. Further development of seed potato multiplication amongst community-based organisations continued to grow throughout the country.Item Kenya Agricultural Research Institute Ol Njoro Orok Annual Report 2007(Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, 2007) Kenya Agricultural Research InstituteProduction of certified seeds, clean planting material and breeding animals (dairy and sheep) continues to be our main contribution to the farmers . In this regard, we have embarked on putting into place the prerequisites needed for this undertaking. This includes registrations, certification and quarantines. Potato, High Altitude Composite maize seeds and clean planting materials of fodder are a priority. Nyandarua district and its environs are mainly livestock producing areas and to increase our contribution to the dairy industry, we have continued to bulk for sale to farmers clean planting material of Napier grass, variety Kakamega 1 (Kl) which is resistant to head smut, a disease that is very destructive to the Napierfodder. To give farmers a wide choice of the varieties, we have introduced K2 and K3 for bulking and subsequent sale to farmers next year. Plans are under way to produce certified fodder sorghum seeds in collaboration with Kari-Lanet. Alread we have popularized the fodder sorghum among our contact farmers and the demand is very high. In our quest to fulfill one of our centres mandates of commercial production of commodities developed throughout technologies we have embarked on an expansion program of converting tracts of our land that has been hitherto under natural pastures to wheat fields. Our medium term goal is to gradually establish pasture leys in some of these fields to match our rapidly increasing dairy stock. This year we started growing the bulk of the raw materials needed for compounding our own dairy meal. We were able to grow and compound feeds from oat grains, maize in cob, sweet lupins and other minor ingredients. This pilot program will be improved and expanded for self sufficiency and cost cutting by avoiding buying commercial feeds which are expensive and of low quality. In sheep production, we have embarked on improving our flock potential through purchase of high grade sheep rams, a lineage of pure bred Hampshiredowns flock that were imported from South Africa. We have b~en selling the offsprings to farmers to improve their flocks genetic potential. The demand is very high for these breeding ram. Our target is to develop nearly pure bred flocks of Hampshiredowns and Corriedale breed of sheep in the centre which will form a gene pool from which farmers can tap from, through buying breeding rams. We have already registered our flock as a foundation with the Kenya Stud Book. The centre will continue playing a pivotal role as testing site for technologies that are suitable for the cold highland characterized by frost and low temperatures in collaboration with other Kari-centres and similar institutions that carry out agricultural research. Testing of materials in NPT (national performance trials) has been very high in particular for maize and potatoes. Kari-Oljororok has great potential to test and carry out scientific research relevant to its unique locality but this is limited by lack of a laboratory and scientists. If the two are well addressed, the centre can have a regional mandate for research technologies suitable in the cold and dry highlands.Item Annotated List Of Insect Associated With The Sweet Potato(1958) Walter, M.M.Anoplocnemis curvipes Let. & Bev.Nymphs and adults of this insect feed by sucking juices from the growing points. Damage not serious. Frequently seen. Nezara viridula L.- Nymphs and adults feed on growing points. Not often observed :the damage not noticed.Item Field Evaluation Study of Mono and Diammonium Phosphate And Superphosphate of Maize (Zea Mays L.) Growth in Five Quebec Soils(1973) Okalebo, J.R.Performance of mono- and diammonium phosphates and super phosphate with urea or ammonium nitrate on maize (Zea Mays L.} growth was studied in the field in 1971 and 1972. At the rate of 100 kgP 20Sha- l , carriers did not appear to damage seedlings at emergence. Phosphorus application gave significant maize yield increases, with carriers performing alike when averaged over all sites. However, some yield differences among carriers varied with soil type and season. Although differences were not significant, in 1971 diammonium phosphate produced higher mean grain yields on more acid, high phosphorus test soils whereas mono ammonium phosphate and super phosphate-nitrogen mixtures gave higher mean grain yields on less acid, low phosphorus test soils.Item Studies of the Mosaic Diseases of Cassava(1938) Storey, H.H.; Nichols, R.F.W.; AMANIThe symptoms of mosaic disease in cassava, although generally typical of the mosaic group, show wide variations, due in part to the varietal reaction of the plant, to its stage of development and to the environment. The most important cause of variations however is differences in the strains of the virus, of which we have recognized, through the study of symptoms, two groups of severe and mild strains. The viruses are transmitted across a g~aft, but we have failed to obtain mechanical transmission by needle or hypodermic injection. A Bemisia sp. can transmit both groups of strains. It can inoculate the plant only through immature leaves, less than about one-quarter of their full length. The virus so inoculated does not pass out of the leaf until about 8 days have elapsed. On the basis of this knowledge a convenient and reliable single-leaf cage technique has been developed. After the virus has entered the stem it passes rapidly to the base of this stem, but only slowly into side branches from it or into other stems arising from the same original cutting. Infection of a plant with a mild strain of virus failed entirely to confer immunity from infection by severe strains introduced by grafting. If the severe strains were inoculated by insects there was an indication of some conferred resistance but insufficient to make the procedure practically useful in control.Item Crop production Handbook for wheat,Oilcrops and Horticulture(Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, 2005) Kenya Agricultural Research InstituteThe goal of KARI's research on wheat and oil crops is to increase the productivity of these crops and thereby to boost production at the farm level. The Crop production recommendations contained in this hand book are derived from results of experiments carried out by research scientists at KARI-Njoro over the years. The research work was carried out on-station and/or on-farm. In all cases, the most appropriate and effective research method was followed .Variety recommendations are made both from research finamgs on agronomic performance in the appropriate agro-ecological zones as well as feed back from farmers and other stakeholders, and consideration has been placed on the varied demand for all those who influence wheat and oil crop production in Kenya.Item The Vegetative Propagation of Cich Na by cuttings(1947) Fernie, L.M.; AmaniIn all perennial crop plantations where propagation by seed is the normal practice, considerable variation in material is evident, and in this respect cinchona is no exception. An alternative method is to use vegetative Woo pagation, by which means the desirable characters of the parent plants can be perpetuated and uniformity obtained. An added advantage is that a fully developed plant is usually obtained in less time than when raised from seed, though Owen [16] considers propagation by cuttings to be slow and uncertain and never likely to be as popular as by seed. But Kreyer [12] rather surprisingly states that sexually reproduced cinchona trees are said to give considerably higher yields than those reproduced vegatively.Item Origins of Some East African Food Plants(1945) Greenway, P.J.; AmaniSPICES AND CONDIMENTS--Contd. making sugar was unknown in Zanzibar as late SUGAR-CANE, Saccharum officinarum L., Mua as 1811. In areas where it can be grown sugar). Research shows that this cultigen* cane is one of the African's crops; he does not has at least four different species in its make-grow it for sugar-making, but for sugar wine, up and that it originated in different parts of and it is also chewed to a certain extent, the world. The species involved are Saccharum especially when travelling. officinarum, applied to the thick tropical canes TURMERIC, Curcuma longa L. Man jano. By and believed to have originated in Polynesia, some this plant is thought to be a native of S. barberi Jesw., thin or reed canes found in India, but the finest qualities are to be found Northern India, S. sinense Roxb., a thin cane in China or Cochin-China. Opinion is divided from Canton and including a group of North as to when this was introduced into East Indian canes, and S. spontaneum L., the wild Africa, one authority saying the eighth cane, races of which extend from North century, another between AD 1000 and 1400 Africa as far south as the western shores of during the Persian colonization of East Africa; Lake Nyasa, although it is by no means com-Ibn Batuta in 1330 records the use of a green mon in East Africa. It also extends through ginger with rice in Mogadishu which is India to the Far East. thought to have been turmeric. In Uganda it Sugar as well as sugar-cane had been seen was introduced as a ration for Indian troops by the soldiers of Alexander the Great on their in the early days of the Protectorate. The invasion of the Punjab in 326 BC, and one cultivation of turmeric in East Africa is by no of Alexander's officers, Nearchus (c. 300 BC), means common. It is used as a colouring agent the Greek author, Eratosthenes (c. 276-194 BC) in curries and as a condiment. and Theophrastus wrote of honey produced from reeds. It was Dioscorides who described BEVERAGE PLANTS it as honey called sakkharon collected from BAMBOO, Oxytenanthera braunii Pilger. This reeds in India and Arabia Felix, with the con-bamboo is indigenous to Southern Tanganyika sistency of salt which could be crunched be-and was recorded from Ubena, where it is tween the teeth. At the beginning of the Christ-cultivated and is tapped for a bamboo wine. It in era, sugar became a trade article in Alex-has also been recorded from Songea in Tangaandria, but the cane only followed it after an nyika, and is planted in parts of Northern interval of more than five hundred years. Nyasaland. Historical records indicate that it was in culti-CACAO, COCAO, Theobroma cacao L. A numvation at Gundesapur in Persia, and after the ber of species are involved in the cacao which conquest of the Sasanians by the Arabs they are in cultivation to-day and they are distritook it, in AD 641, to Egypt; by then the buted between Central and South America Arabs. had very thoroughly adopted the crop, and in the Antilles, where they had long been and in their rapid advance through the Medi-grown before the discovery of America. The terranean they took it to Spain about AD 714, conqueror of Mexico, Cortes (1485-1547), and Sicily in AD 827. In Spain the Moorish sugar his soldiers first met with it on their landing industry did so well that by AD 1150 there in 1519 in Mexico, where it was not only were 75,000 acres under cultivation, highly appreciated by the Indians as a never-About AD 1500 the Portuguese established age but used also as a form of coinage. It was the sugar-cane in Madeira, the Canaries, the not until the end of the sixteenth century that Azores, and down the west coast of Africa …Item Selection and Improvement of Food Plants in Relation to Better Nutrition(1946) Hill, A.G.The selection and improvement of colonial food plants by plant-breeding should be an essential part of any general plan for bettering the nutrition of indigenous colonial peoples. Unfortunately, this has not been generally recognized in the past. Where plant-breeding has been provided for in our tropical dependencies, the work has usually been directed towards improving cash crops, such as cotton, probably because of the more immediate results which could be expected in the form of increased revenue. In those colonies where provision has been made for the scientific study of native food crops, the investigations have often been aimed at the direct attack on plant diseases and pests. There is little doubt that had our colonies spent more in the past on the indirect method of attacking plant pests and diseases through the medium of plant breeding, the health of the food crops and the standard of nutrition amongst our colonial peoples would be considerably higher than it is to-day. In support of this contention one could point out that the plant pathologist not infrequently has to become a plant-breeder himself eventually in order to solve his disease problems, the breeding of resistant strains often being more satisfactory than direct methods of attack, particularly when dealing with the crops of primitive farming communities.Item Effects of Super Agrisorb-Plus On Soil Moisture Retention and Maize Yields under Greenhouse Conditions(Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, 2010) Kenya Agricultural Research InstituteEffects Of Super Agrisorb-Plus On Soil Moisture Retention And Maize Yields Under Greenhouse Conditions.Item Origins of Some East African Food Plants(1944) Greenway, P.J.; AMANIIn a recent issue of a local journal an author was puzzled because Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, when he anchored in April, 1449, off the north-east Tanganyika coast in view of the Serras de San Rafael, was provided by some Mohammedans with a supply of oranges. The author had thought that the Portuguese introduced the orange to East Africa. As this view is incorrect and some 0f us" may know little of the derivation of many of the food plants grown 1n East Africa I thought it might be of interest if an account was given of their origins.
