Shea nuts play an important role in food security for rural folks within sub-Sahara Africa, serving as the main source of income for many people living in Northern Ghana. Unfortunately, the full economic potential of the Sheanut tree has not been fully realized due to the difficulty involved in its domestication. This difficulty in vegetatively propagating sheanut trees has greatly hindered its cultivation and the realization of its true economic potential. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of rooting media and varying indole 3-butyric acid (IBA) concentrations on adventitious root formation in cuttings taken from coppiced sheanut trees. Results indicated that 3000 ppm produced significantly (p < 0.05) better rooting (57.5%) than 5000 ppm (30%), 7000 ppm (45.0%) and the control (7.5%). Although the levels of soluble sugars (SS) and total free phenols (TFP) in the cutting were significantly (p < 0.05) higher at the end of the experiment (after IBA treatment) compared to the start (prior to IBA treatment), the SS and TFP trends observed did not clearly explain the rooting differences found between the IBA levels investigated. Callus formation was significantly (p < 0.05) higher (35.0%) in the control (no IBA). Generally, callus formation decreased with increasing IBA concentration. In the rooting media experiment, rooting was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the rice husk medium (35.0%) compared to that in the palm fiber (18.3%), saw dust (14.1%) and top soil (16.7%) media.

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Maize (Zea mays L.)-legume intercropping is common cropping system among smallholder farmers in West Africa. However, little is known about the income risk reduction associated with maize-legume strip cropping in West Africa. A 3-yr study was conducted in Upper West and Northern regions of Ghana to determine the effect of maize-legume strip cropping on productivity, income, and income risk using a randomized complete block design with five replications in each region. Seven treatments were used: sole crops of maize (M) cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] (C) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) (G), a combination of two rows of M and two rows of legumes (L) (2M:2C and 2M:2G), and two rows of M and four rows of L (2M:4C and 2M:4G). Maize-legume strip cropping options (2M:2L and 2M:4L) on the average saved 90-100% of agricultural land, significantly increased income by about threefold, and reduced risk of operating at a financial loss by 75% compared with sole cropping. Smallholder farmers, especially sole legume cropping farmers in the Guinea savanna of northern Ghana and similar agro-ecologies in West Africa, could adopt maize-legume strip cropping systems (2M:4L or 2M:2L) to mitigate production risk and increase financial return. How to cite this article: Abdul Rahman N, Larbi A, Kotu B, et al. Maize-legume strip cropping effect on productivity, income and income risk of farmers in Northern Ghana.

Grain legumes are important crops in the mixed crop-livestock (MCL) systems in Africa because they provide food and cash for humans, fodder for animals and they improve soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation. The residues of grain legumes, also known as grain legume fodders (GLFs), have better nutritional quality than cereal residues, such as maize and rice straw. Besides their function as livestock feed, GLFs supply fuel, construction material and mulch for soil improvement. However, knowledge about factors that drive the diversity of use of GLFs in different farming systems is limited. Therefore, the objective of this thesis was to understand the roles of grain legume fodders in mixed crop-livestock systems and identify options to improve their quality and utilisation by smallholders in northern Ghana. To achieve this objective, we conducted four multi-disciplinary studies. First, we assessed and described the variation in the use of GLFs to understand their impacts on MCL systems. Second, we evaluated and compared the effects of rhizobium inoculation and phosphorus fertilization on grain and fodder yield and fodder quality of the major grain legumes in two agro-ecological zones. Third, we evaluated the effects of storage conditions and duration on dry matter loss and nutritional quality of GLFs and to risk of aflatoxin formation in stored fodder. Lastly, we assessed the nutritional quality of stored GLFs using different quality assessment methods. Results show there is variation in the use of GLFs in the study regions in northern Ghana. For example, in Upper East region, most of the GLFs (87%) was stall-fed, whereas in Upper West region GLFs were for a considerable extent (61%), left on the field and used for mulching. In Northern region, both stall-feeding and grazing of GLFs was important. In our agronomic studies we found that rhizobium inoculation of cowpea seed, for example, increased grain yield by 44%, P-fertilization increased grain yield by 102% while the combination of P and inoculation increased grain yield by 123% compared to the control treatment where no input was applied. In the storage experiment, we found that dry matter loss during storage for 120 days was on average 24% across all storage conditions, 35% for the worst condition (tied in bundles and stored on roofs or tree-forks) and 14% for the best condition (sacks and in rooms). During storage, the CP content and OMD decreased, and the content of cell wall components increased. Aflatoxins were not detected in stored GLFs. Finally, in fodder quality assessment studies, all the four methods used (farmers' perception, sheep preference, leaf-to-stem ratio and laboratory analyses) successfully discriminated GLF quality between crops. Only farmers and sheep could distinguish quality differences among storage conditions, whereas laboratory assessment methods Table of contents Chapter 1 General introduction Chapter 2 Understanding variation in the use of grain legume fodders in smallholder crop-livestock farming systems in northern Gh...

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