Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

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Browsing Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences by Author "Abaca, Alex"

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    Effect of phosphorus-based fertilizer on groundnut yield and incidence of groundnut rosette disease in West Nile Region of Uganda
    (African Journals Online, 2023) Abaca, Alex; Odama, Emmanuel; Komakech, Alfred; Kassim, Sadik; Walakira, John K.
    The objective of this study was to establish the effects of Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer micro-dosing on yields and the incidence of groundnut rosette disease (GRD) on five groundnut varieties in West Nile region of Uganda. The field experimental design used in this study was 5x2 factorial laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates per location across 6 locations. The results indicated that there were significant (p = 0.05) differences in groundnuts yields across locations and varieties (0.554 – 1.742 tons per hectare) with or without micro-dosing with DAP fertilizer. The effects of DAP fertilizer micro-dosing in groundnut production were twofold: increase in yields across locations from 427.27kg/acre with no micro-dosing to 525.73kg/acre with micro-dosing (23.04% increment) and varieties from 420.46kg/acre with no micro-dosing to 529.71kg/acre with micro-dosing (13.77% increment); and a reduction of groundnut rosette virus disease incidence across locations from 15.13% with no micro-dosing to 11.20 with micro-dosing (27.76% reduction) and on varieties from 15.08% with no micro-dosing to 11.82% with micro-dosing (34.62% reduction). This is the first report of a prospective DAP fertilizer micro-dosing alongside other improved agronomic practices which can be integrated fully into groundnut production in West Nile region of Uganda. To manage yields and GRD incidences, micro-dosing of crops should be taken as a climate smart technology as identified by Food and Agricultural Organization.
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    Evaluation of newly released cassava varieties for yield performance, reactions to cassava diseases and farmers’ preference in Adjumani district of Uganda
    (Journal of Agricultural Science, 2021-03-15) Abaca, Alex; Odama, Emmanuel; Komakech, Alfred; Asiku, Baron; Andema, A. Andrews; Sadik, Kassim
    Cassava viral diseases particularly cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and cassava mosaic disease (CMD) have put pressure on cassava breeders to develop varieties that are resistant/tolerant to them. Several cassava varieties have been rolled out to farmers with the latest being NAROCASS series that are tolerant to these diseases. The yield performance of these new varieties have not been documented in some sub zones like Adjumani district that falls within a major West Nile agro-ecology of Uganda. Therefore this study sought to established yield performances of, reactions to major diseases, and farmers’ preference to these newly released cassava varieties in Adjumani. Results showed significant (P ≤ 0.05) differences among cassava varieties and experimental sites for all the parameters evaluated. Average yield performance by varieties were in the order of a local cassava—Alifasia (8.7 t/Ha) lowest, NAROCASS 2 (18.55 t/Ha), NASE 14 (33.97 t/Ha), NASE 19 (41.26 t/Ha), and NAROCASS 1 (41.71 t/Ha) highest. CMD foliar symptom was present at all sites on a local cassava—Alifasia, and on NAROCASS 1 in Ayiri parish, Ukusijoni sub-county. CBSD foliar symptoms were observed on off-types (TME 14) in the plot of NASE 14 in Miniki Parish only whereas CBSD root necrosis was observed at all sites on the local cassava—Alifasia, and on NASE 19 in Maaji parish, Ukusijoni sub-county. Cassava root rot disease was localised in Ukusijoni sub-county only. Farmers’ preferences to these newly released cassava varieties were in the order of NASE 19 (40.96%), NAROCASS 1 (24.86%), NAROCASS 2 (15.82.28%), NASE 14 (15.54%), and a Local cassava—Alifasia (2.83%). Result from this study strengthens the information gap in the breeding process towards developing a cassava variety with farmer-preferred attributes, and can also inform the utilisation of these improved cassava varieties in Adjumani district.
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    Grain hermetic storage adoption in Northern Uganda: awareness, use, and the constraints to technology adoption
    (Scientific Research Publishing, 2022-09-15) Okori, Francis; Cherotich, Sam; Abaca, Alex; Baidhe, Emmanuel; Adibaku, Francis; Onyinge, James Denis
    Post-harvest storage losses (PHLs) remain significant in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) due to several factors mainly insect pests and molds. Hermetic storage technologies (HSTs) are being promoted to address these storage losses. In Uganda, HSTs were first introduced in 2012. However, its use among farming households remains low today. Data were collected from 306 smallholder farmers from four districts of Northern Uganda using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire to understand their knowledge, use, and constraints to the adoption of hermetic storage. A multivariate Logit regression model was used to find the significance of the factors affecting adoption. Results showed low awareness and use of hermetic storage among smallholder farmers. Only 53.3% of the interviewed farmers were aware of the use of hermetic storage for grain storage. The SuperGrain bag was the most known form of hermetic storage (35.3%), followed by the Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bag (34.9%), metallic silo (15.5%), and plastic silo (14.4%). Hermetic storage use was even lower as only 17.6% of the surveyed farmers were using one or more forms of hermetic storage to store their grains. Insect pest management without chemical insecticides was the main reason (83.1%) for hermetic storage use. About 75.5% of those aware of hermetic storage had received training in the technology. Hermetic storage use in farming households led to improved food availability, household income, and nutrition. Lack of local availability (50.2%), high costs (37.8%), and inadequate knowledge (6.9%) were the main constraints hindering the adoption of hermetic storage in Northern Uganda. The logit regression models showed that only training in hermetic storage significantly (p = 0.002) affected farmers’ decision to adopt hermetic storage. Understanding the factors that constrain the adoption of HSTs could provide policymakers with important information to initiate and design policies and programs aimed at reducing crop storage losses.