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A survey was conducted in twenty-five cashew (Anacardium occidentale) orchards in five communities in the Dormaa-Central Municipality of Bono Region of Ghana to assess the incidence and severity of anthracnose, gummosis and die-back diseases on cashew. Cashew diseased samples of leaves, stem, inflorescences, twigs, flowers, nuts and apples showing symptoms (e. g. small, water-soaked, circular or irregular yellow, dark or brown spots or lesions on leaves, fruits and flowers, sunken surface, especially on the apples, blight, gum exudates) were collected for isolation of presumptive causative organism. The pathogen was isolated after disinfecting the excised diseased pieces in 70% ethanol, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 28 oC for 3 to 7 days. The identity of the putative pathogen was morphologically and culturally confirmed as belonging to Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex using standard mycological identification protocols. The pathogen had varied conidia sizes of between 9-15 up to 20 μm in length and diameter of 3-6 μm. The conidia were straight and cylindrically shaped with rounded or obtuse ends. The septate mycelium was whitish-grey, velvety and cotton-like in appearance from the top. The results confirmed the presence of the pathogen in the orchards with incidence ranging from 6.9% and 14.0% for gummosis and averaged 22.9% for anthracnose infected orchards. The result of the pathogenicity test confirmed the isolates to be pathogenic on inoculated cashew seedlings and were consistently re-isolated, thereby establishing the pathogen as the true causal agent of the said diseases in cashew trees and thus completed the Koch’s postulate.

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use comes with unsustainable financial and environmental costs, making it not attractive to small-scale and organic farmers. Poultry manure (PM) when available is a primary fertilizer source for small-scale and organic farmers but there is still limited research on its effects of specific crops and soil fertility under specific practices. The study investigated PM effects on garden egg in three seasons in Ghana and PM effects soil fertility in sandy-loam soils of Arizona after three years under flood irrigation and no-till. The PM application improved garden egg growth (dry matter by 73%) and increased yield by 66% in slightly acidic sandy-loam tropical soils, which could be related to soil mineral improvement. In the semi-arid soil, three years PM application increased cation exchange capacity (41%), P (471%), K (18%), S (244%), Ca (45%), Mg (31%), Zn (5%) and Mn (19%) with reduction in nitrate (−26%), Fe (−38%) and Cu (−11%). The reduction in the nitrate and Fe in the semi-arid Arizona cropland could be associated to flood irrigation and high soil pH, respectively. To gain the full potential from PM applications, best management practice is recommended to reduce nitrate leaching.

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) contributes significantly to Ghana’s GDP and has made Ghana a recognized leader in the cocoa industry. However, there are myriad problems associated with Ghana’s cocoa bean quality. One such problems stems from farmers paying less attention to the required postharvest activities (fermentation and drying) which contributes significantly to bean quality losses. This study investigated the effect of the duration of the traditional heap fermentation period and different drying methods: solar biomass hybrid dryer (SBHD) and traditional sun drying method (TSDM) on the bean quality of two cocoa varieties (hybrid cocoa and Amazonia). Quality attributes of cocoa beans such as pH, moisture content, fat content, crude protein, free fatty acids, phenolic contents, colour, and bean size were examined. The statgraphics statistical tool was used to analyse data and the least significant difference (LSD) was used to compare treatment means. Purple beans incidence was observed to be lower in hybrid with a value of 21.90% in the solar biomass hybrid dryer after 5 days of fermentation. Hybrid recorded the highest flavonoid value of 6069.74 mg QE/g DW in the traditional sun drying after 7 days of fermentation. Hybrid as well recorded the highest total phenolic value of 711.44 mg GAE/g DW in the solar biomass hybrid dryer under 5 days of fermentation. Results also indicated that using the solar biomass hybrid dryer resulted in the best moisture content removal and was very efficient compared with the traditional sun drying method in ensuring high-quality beans per international market standards. Cocoa beans dried under SBHD had the overall highest purity and were of better quality compared to those dried directly in the sun. There were no significant differences ( p ≤ 0.24 ) in percentage purity among the cocoa samples studied.

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Studies were carried out at Offinso in the Ashanti Region of Ghana to assess root quality of cassava grown with application of poultry manure and NPK 15-15-15 and NPK 23-10-10 fertilizers. The experimental design was a 2 x 6 factorial, arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The treatments consisted of two cassava varieties in combination with five inorganic and/or organic fertilizer formulations and a control with no fertilizer. The parameters measured were starch content, poundability, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents of cassava roots. The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance using the Genstat Statistical package. The results of the study indicated that Bankyehemaa produced higher starch content (29.86%) than the Nkabom variety. Fertilizer application increased starch content with the combined application of poultry manure and NPK 23-10-10 treatment recording the highest treatment effect (30.40%). Both the organic and inorganic fertilizers applied increased starch content of cassava roots. Poundability was not also affected by both variety and fertilizer application. However, roots treated with NPK 15-15-15 only and poultry manure alone were very poundable (3.0). Variety significantly affected only nitrogen and phosphorus contents of cassava roots. Bankyehemaa had higher content (0.72%) of nitrogen than Nkabom, while Nkabom recorded higher content (1.05%) of phosphorus than Bankyehemaa. Generally, application of fertilizer significantly affected root contents of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. However, potassium and phosphorus contents were reduced by the organic fertilizer (poultry manure). The NPK 15-15-15 treatment produced higher potassium (9.37%) and phosphorus (1.36%) contents of roots than the other treatments. The highest nitrogen content of roots (0.78%) was observed in the combined application of poultry manure and NPK 23-10-10 treatment.

Background Two separate experiments were conducted in the minor season from September to November, 2019 and major season from March to May, 2020 to determining the type of soil amendment and transplanting age that can best improve the post-harvest quality and shelf life of sweet pepper fruits at Benso oil palm plantation of Adum Banso Estate in the Mpohor District of the Western Region of Ghana. The experiments were conducted as a 4 × 2 factorial, arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design. Four fertilizer treatments including no fertilizer (control), 10 tons/ha of poultry manure, 300 kg/ha of NPK 15-15-15 and 5 t/ha of poultry manure + 150 kg/ha of NPK 15-15-15 and two ages of transplants including 6-week-old seedlings and 7-week-old seedlings were applied during the cultivation periods and were later evaluated of their effects on the post-harvest quality and shelf life of harvested fruits after a two-weeks storage period. Data collected on weight loss, shrinkage, decayed fruits and shelf life of harvested fruits were subjected to analysis of variance using the Genstat Statistical package. The least significant difference criterion was used to separate treatment means at 5% probability. Results Post-harvest qualities of sweet pepper fruits were not significantly influenced by age of transplant throughout the study. Fertilizer application generally increased percentage fruit weight loss, fruit shrinkage, fruit decay and reduced shelf life of sweet pepper fruits in the major season. Sole application of poultry manure mostly enhanced post-harvest quality of sweet pepper fruits in the minor rainy season, but fruit shelf life was improved if no fertilizer was applied. Application of a combination of poultry manure and NPK 15-15-15 to 6-week-old transplants gave relatively low fruit weight loss and shrinkage values. Generally, fruit quality and shelf life were enhanced in 6-week-old transplants treated with no fertilizer. Conclusions The use of poultry manure alone should be encouraged to probably increase yield while improving the quality and shelf life of harvested sweet pepper fruits. Transplanting of 6-week-old seedlings is also encouraged for quality harvested fruits and extended shelf life.

Cowpea adapts very well to environmental conditions that normally affect production of crops such as drought, temperature changes and other environmental stresses. However, apart from these attributes, the growth and development of some cowpea genotypes especially during flowering stage and yield of some cowpea are affected by drought and high temperatures. Two field trials were conducted at two different locations (Mampong and Fumesua) in the 2015 and 2016 growing seasons to evaluate yield stability of eight cowpea varieties (Asontem, Tona, Nhyira, Videza, Asomdwe, Asetenapa, Soronko and Tona) released over two decades ago by CSIR-CRI in the forest and transitional zones of Ghana. The experimental design used was a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The results revealed that Asontem, Tona and Nhyira had high yields in both locations and across seasons. Asontem showed superiority amongst the genotypes across the seasons and locations with Soronko and Asetenapa having the lowest yields. The growth and development of the cowpea genotypes especially during flowering stage and yield were affected by drought and high temperatures, hence Soronko and Asetena had low yields compared to Asontem and other genotypes. It is recommended that, for farmers to get more profit due to unpredictable climatic conditions prevailing in Ghana, it will be profitable to grow early maturing cowpeas such as Asontem that can be stable across different environments in order to get stable yields with good returns.