The tests for the evaluation of seedling establishment, palatability and acceptability were carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Agricultural Technology and the Food Laboratory of the Department of Home and Rural Economics, Adamawa State College of Agriculture, Ganye, Adamawa State. The experimental designs used were Randomized Complete Block Design and the Completely Randomized Design. Some of the parameters measured were percentage seedling establishment, palatability, and acceptability tests. The highest mean percentage seedling establishment was observed in 12.00g levels of H. suaveolens whole powder treated shelled groundnut seeds (97.67, 97.00, and 94.00) at the three periods of storage. Percentage seedling establishment decreased with a decrease in levels of H. suaveolens whole powder. One of the major constraints to the use of plant materials as an alternative to synthetic insecticides is the issue of standardization in dosage of application. This work has suggested that, if groundnut seeds are to be used for sowing, they should be stored with a 12.00g level of H. suaveolens whole powder for every 300.00g for three months. However, if they are to be used for consumption, they could be stored with a 6.00g level of H. suaveolens whole powder for every 300.00g for at most three months. There was no significant difference between treated and untreated shelled groundnut seeds at the three periods of storage on the acceptability and palatability score of cooked groundnut at all dosages of application. All treatments were within the acceptable score rates even though the two rates of the synthetic insecticides, actellic dust were at the lowest acceptable score rate. The finding also showed that acceptability and palatability decreased with an increase in dosage of application. The periods of storage also had a significant impact on the mean percentage seedling establishment. It was observed that there was a higher percentage of seedling establishment when shelled groundnut seeds were stored from November- January. At this period of the year, the temperature and humidity are usually low and this might have necessitated the high state of inactivity and low performance of the bruchids compared to other periods of storage within the year.

Potato is the second most important food crop in Kenya after maize. It is a valuable cash and food crop mainly grown by small-scale farmers. Potato is cultivated mainly under rainfed production conditions at altitudes between 1500 and 3000 metre above sea level (masl). Consequently, National Performance Trials (NPTs) test sites are located in these highlands. Recently, potato production has spread to the mid-highlands (1200-1500masl) mostly due to high food demand occasioned by population increase, and migration of small scale farmers from the densely populated highlands to the more spacious midlands. Consequently, there is increased need to breed potato varieties that can grow profitably in the warmer mid-altitudes. This development called for identification of new conventional NPT test sites located in the mid-altitudes. Six mid-altitude sites were identified and client-managed conventional NPTs carried out. Twenty six potato genotypes were evaluated for two seasons. First season crop was planted in 2016 while the second season crop was planted in 2017. There was a significant (p= 0.001) effect of genotypes, environments and genotype x environment interaction in the first season. Trans-Nzoia was the highest yielding site. All genotypes yielded between 10 and 25 ton/ha. In the second season, only environments showed significant (p= 0.001) effects. Again, Trans-Nzoia was the highest yielding site. Across the two seasons, Trans-Nzoia gave an average yield of 26.96 ton/ha followed by Kabete at 18. 21ton/ha. All the other four sites yielded less than 10 ton/ha. The high yields at Trans-Nzoia and Kabete could be due to higher altitudes in these two sites compared to the others. In order to develop potato varieties that can produce profitably in the warm mid-altitudes, breeding and early generation selections activities should be based in these areas.

Rubber trees are among the important cultivated crops in Malaysia, and have contributed to the country’s overall economic growth since the 1950s. However, the existing anatomical and morphological studies are relatively insufficient. Currently, Hevea brasiliensis has been cultivated and planted commonly as a commercial planting clone, while Hevea camargoana remains to be a non-cultivated and underutilized rubber species. For many years, there only exists little information both in private plantations and government agencies that have carried out anatomical and morphological assessments on these underutilized species. There is little information about the characteristics of H.camargoana, thus raising the issue among plant breeders on how to best use this underutilized rubber species. This study attempts to investigate the taxonomic values and characteristics of Hevea brasiliensis and Hevea camargoana through anatomical and morphological studies.

Field experiment involving five improved onion (Allium cepa L.) varieties and carried out at Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center during the 2018 to 2019 cropping seasons under irrigated condition to identify the best performing variety for seed production to the target areas of Arsi Zone. The onion varieties included in the field experiment were (Nafis, Robaf, Nasic Red, Bombe Red, and Adama Red). The experimental design was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Phenological and growth parameters, seed yield, and yield components were studied. The result showed that Variety had a significant effect on most phonological and growth attributes as well as on yield attributes. The number of days to flowering and vigorously were significantly affected by variety; while plant height, days to boolting and branch number was not significantly influenced by variety. Flower stalks height and diameter, number of umbel per plant, and umbel diameter also significantly affected by variety. Seed yield per umbel and mean seed yield per hectare also showed a significance difference among varieties. The highest seed yield per hectare (1415.89 kg/ha) was recorded from Adama Red and followed by Nafis variety, whereas Nasic rerd, Bombe red and Robaf show no significance difference among each other, Therefore, it can be concluded that use of the improved onion varieties such as Adama red and Nafis is advisable and could be appropriate for onion seed production in the test area even though further testing is required to put the recommendation on a strong basis.

Grain mold, considered the most important disease of sorghum, is associated with several fungal genera. The disease reduces both yield and quality. In this study, over 300 sorghum seed samples collected from Texas, Florida, and Georgia were evaluated for grain mold severity, seed weight, germination rate, and seed fungal community. Grain mold severity of the seed samples, except for those collected from Cameron, Texas, were rated 3 or higher, indicating that these sorghum lines were moderately susceptible under naturally-infected field conditions during the 2016 and 2017 growing seasons. Seed weight across surveyed locations ranged from 1.1 g to 4.0g for samples collected in Texas during the same period. Percent germination rates for samples collected in Texas ranged from 59.6% to 86.7%. Sorghum samples collected from Florida and Georgia exhibited moderately susceptible response to grain mold infection. Mean seed weight was 1.9 g for samples collected from Florida, while in Georgia, mean seed weight was 2.3 g. Germination rate was low for samples collected from Florida and Georgia. Mycological analysis of sorghum seed samples collected from farmers’ fields in Central and South Texas during the 2016 and 2017 growing seasons showed Alternaria species as the most frequently isolated fungal genus, accounting for 40% and 42 % in 2016 and 2017, followed by Fusarium incarnatum, F. acuminatum, F. equiseti, & F. semitectum Complex. In Florida and Georgia, Fusarium incarnatum, F. acuminatum, F. equiseti, & F. semitectum Complex was the most frequently recovered fungal species, accounting for 77% and 72% of the total. genera/species isolated from seed samples. Other fungal species, including Curvularia lunata, Bipolaris sp., Colletotrichum sublineola, F. verticillioides, Penicillium sp., Aspergillus flavus, F. thapsinum, F. oxysporum, F. sporotrichioides, F. graminearum, F. proliferatum, and Aspergillus niger were also isolated from sorghum seeds in various frequencies. In conclusion, the presence of large number of fungal genera associated with grain deterioration and their effect on other traits, makes management of this disease complex challenging. To identify grain mold resistant sources in a region, using the most dominant species in that region to screen the sorghum germplasm is recommended.

Use of distributed electricity generation systems is currently increasing due to their economic and environmental benefits. Agricultural greenhouses require heat and electricity for covering their energy needs while their annual energy requirements vary significantly. Aim of the current work is the investigation of applying various distributed electricity generation systems in greenhouses. A review of different distributed generation systems currently used in various sectors as well as in greenhouses has been implemented. Various technologies are examined utilizing either renewable energies or fossil fuels in very efficient energy systems. Most of them are mature and cost-effective having lower environmental impacts compared with traditional centralized electricity generation technologies. Their use in greenhouses results in many benefits including the creation of an additional income for the farmer, reduction of carbon emissions into the atmosphere and increasing stability of the electric grid. It is suggested that distributed electricity generation systems should be used more in greenhouses when the necessary conditions are favorable.

Intermolecular interaction is the material basis for cells to achieve their functions, and protein-protein interaction is an important approach to illuminate the regulation network of biological molecules and has important theoretical significance and potential application value for revealing the activity law of life in nature. This paper mainly summarizes and analyzes the new advances and applications of modern biotechnologies in the study of protein-protein interactions, including local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), yeast two-hybrid, GST-Pull-down, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, and co­immunoprecipitation. At the same time, the principles of different research methods for protein-protein interaction and their other applications in the field of life sciences are also discussed, all of these will provide a reference value for the analysis of protein-protein interaction and the molecular regulation mechanism of biomacromolecules.

A study was carried out on plant density at the experimental field of the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD) Nkolbisson, Yaoundé to determine the appropriate spacing to improve rainfed rice production in the bimodal rainfall forest zone of Cameroon. The experiment was conducted during the main cropping seasons of 2017 and 2018. The planting spacing used were 15cm x 15cm, 20cm x 20cm, 25cm x 25cm and 30cm x 30cm giving the plant populations of 444444, 250000, 160,000 and 111,111 plants / ha respectively using two varieties (Nerica 3 and Nerica 8). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Significant differences were observed in the growth and yield across the years. Treatments were highly significant concerning the number of days to the appearance of the first flower, the number of days to 50% flowering, and the number of days to 50 % maturity. Plants were taller with more tillers and gave higher yields in 2017 than those of 2018. The spacing significantly affected the plant height, number of tillers, and panicle length for both varieties. The interaction of spacing and variety was significant for the number of tillers per m2 and the number of seeds per panicle, however, it was not for the weight of 1000 grains and the percentage of full bales. The yield components determining yield increase were the number of panicles / m2 and the number of seeds/panicles. Nerica 3 variety gave higher yields compared to the Nerica 8, the closer the spacing, the higher the yield. There were a strong significance and positive correlation between yield, number of panicles, and the number of grain per panicle. The spacing that gives the highest number of panicle per m2 was 15 cm X 15 cm and this spacing gave good yield in the region where the study was carried out.

This study developed a low cost and affordable to small-scale farmers’ indirect air-cooling combined with evaporative cooling (IAC+EC) system for storage of fruit and vegetables under both arid and hot; and humid and hot climatic conditions. Field heat from freshly harvested produce should be immediately removed through cooling to the desired storage temperature. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of IAC+EC system in terms of the cooling time requirement of the fresh tomato fruit. A fresh tomato cooling experiment to remove field heat during the summer month of September in Pietermaritzburg was conducted for 36 hours where the IAC+EC system was compared to storage under ambient conditions. The results showed that 16 hours was required to reduce the flesh temperature of tomatoes to 16.5°C while the flesh temperature for tomatoes under ambient conditions followed the ambient temperature profile with time of storage. The IAC+EC system reduced and maintained the microenvironment air temperature inside the coolers to 16.5°C - 19°C. The ambient temperature varied between 21 and 32°C. The results in this study are evidence that IAC+ EC system can be a choice for farmers, for cooling the fresh by reducing the field temperature after harvest.

When breeding diploid potatoes, tetraploid progeny can result from the union of 2n eggs and 2n pollen in 2x-2x crosses. Thirty-three crosses were made to examine tetraploid progeny frequency in 2x-2x crosses. All crosses were between S. tuberosum dihaploids and diploid self-compatible donors, M6 and DRH S6-10-4P17. Using chloroplast counting for ploidy determination, the frequency of tetraploid progeny was as high as 45% in one of the 33 crosses. Based upon single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, the tetraploid progeny were attributed to bilateral sexual polyploidization (BSP), which is caused by the union of 2n egg and 2n pollen. Dihaploids were identified that produce lower frequencies of 2n eggs. The results of this study suggest that S. tuberosum dihaploids with a high frequency of 2n eggs should be avoided in 2x - 2x crosses for diploid breeding programs.

Dioscorea rotundata is a staple food crop for millions of people in the tropical and subtropical regions. In vitro germplasm conservation is a very useful tool in yam improvement strategies but very little is known about the genetic integrity and stability of in-vitro conserved yam plants. In this study, 42 accessions from in vitro and field populations were genotyped using 11 microsatellite markers and 23 morphological descriptors to assess variability within and between accessions. Out of the 23 morphological variables used, 13 were identified as most discriminate and were used to cluster the accessions into 4 clusters using the unweighted pair group arithmetic mean average (UPGMA). Accession maintained in field as well as in in-vitro showed high genetic similarity (R2 = 0.91, p-value: 1e-04). Out of the 42 accessions analyzed, nine accessions maintained in the field and in-vitro displayed different genetic profiles. This study provided basic information on the possible somaclonal variation of yam accessions maintained through in-vitro. Further study with advanced tools such as next-generation sequencing is required to elucidate the nature of the observed variation within clones.