Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is one of the important cereal crops utilized worldwide for human food, animal feed and to a lesser extent as a raw material in commercial food industries. The crop is a strategic commodity for food security, particularly in harsh environments. In Kenya, sorghum is an important crop consumed in some parts of the country as a staple food. It is also a major source of income to small-scale farmers who are its major growers. In the past, its cultivation was concentrated in the medium and low altitude areas of Kenya. However, with the increase in improved varieties, sorghum cultivation has spread to the cold semi-arid highlands. Sorghum production in Bomet District of Kenya is low. Agronomic, socioeconomic and varietal constraints usually affect the production of sorghum. In this study, it was assumed that use of low quality seed was among the factors leading to the low productivity of sorghum in Bomet District. Therefore, a survey was carried out in Bomet District of Kenya with the objective of identifying the constraints to onfarm sorghum seed production. A total of 100 farmers were interviewed using structured questionnaires. The survey focused on a wide range of seed management issues. From the descriptive analysis it was concluded that sorghum grain yield obtained by farmers in the previous season were low as compared to the documented research sorghum yield potential. The major constraints to on-farm sorghum seed production included poor seed source; lack of socioeconomic resources; poor crop husbandry; poor post-harvest handling of seed; damage by weeds, pests and diseases; and lack of marketing incentives. Regression analysis showed that only sorghum farm size (as partitioned by farmers) significantly (P≤0.05) affected sorghum grain yield in the district. Therefore, there is need to have high yielding varieties which will compensate for the ever diminishing farm sizes and land subdivision. In addition, there is need to assess the quality of sorghum seeds planted by farmers to determine the effect of such seeds on sorghum production. There is also need to improve the farmers' agronomic practices on sorghum production especially in relation to fertilizer application. An economic analysis to find out the profitability of purchasing inputs in sorghum production is required. An investigation on pests and diseases affecting sorghum production is also needed. Finally, extension services should be given to farmers and the prices of farm inputs subsidized.
Sweet potato (Ipomea batatas [L.] Lam.) is an economically important crop in East Africa chiefly grown by small holder farmers. Sharing of vines for planting is a very common occurrence among these farmers and eventually varieties are given local names, making it hard to trace the original pedigree. It is therefore important to characterise the sweet potato germplasm for purposes of breeding and germplasm conservation. In this study, 68 sweet potato accessions were evaluated for diversity using 12 microsatellite markers. The genetic relationship of the germplasm was evaluated using the Jaccard's coefficient for dissimilarity analysis, unweighted pair group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA) tree and principal component analysis (PCoA) on DARwin software, while summary statistics was done using PowerMarker and Popgene softwares. The polymorphic information content of the markers ranged from 0.1046 for markers J67b and J67 to 0.3671 for marker J1809a, with a mean value of 0.2723. The total number of alleles amplified was 21. The major allele frequency ranged from 0.5882 for marker JB1809a to 0.9412 for markers J67b and J67c. Cluster analysis divided the accessions into four major clusters. Principle component analysis divided the accession into four groups which were different from those by cluster analysis. This study was able to identify several distinct accessions as well as a few possible duplicate accessions that overlapped on the cluster analysis.
A set of laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the physiological quality of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench seeds subjected to different field cultural management practices. The main aim of this study was to contribute towards improved production of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench through better understanding of the crop’s agronomy. The experimental design was a three factorial split-split block design in the rain fed Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench producing areas of Bomet County of Kenya. Treatments within the block were randomized. There were three factors which included variety at two levels (improved and local varieties); fertilizer application at two levels (with and without fertilizer); and seed selection at three levels (continuous, from booting stage and at harvest). Percentages of crop emergence and days to 50% physiological maturity were determined. The following seed quality tests were carried out: 1000-seed weight, standard germination, mean germination time and electrical conductivity. The improved variety had a field emergence of 100% while that of the local variety ranged from 60 - 97%. In regard to field emergence and maturity, there were significance differences (P≤ 0.001) between plots with fertilizer and those without regardless of the variety. Those plots with fertilizer outperformed those without. Germination and vigour tests indicated that seed selection time did not influence seed vigour, viability and yield (P ≤ 0.05). However, there were significant differences (P ≤ 0.001) between the improved variety (E1291) and local (Ochuti) variety. In relation to this, variety E1291 showed better seed vigour, viability and yield as compared to Ochuti. Similarly, there were significant differences (P ≤ 0.001) between plots to which fertilizer was applied and those without. Fertilizer application led to an increase in seed yield, seed weight, seed vigour and viability. It was therefore concluded that (i) E1291 was more adapted to the study area as compared to Ochuti and hence should be adopted by farmers; (ii) farmers should apply optimal phosphate and nitrogenous fertilizers to their soils so as to increase the quality and yield of their seed; and (iii) farmers could continue selecting their seed using their indigenous knowledge.
Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is an important crop that enhances food security in a region . As a food crop, sorghum is nutritious , containing starch (75- 79%) as the major component, followed by protein (6.0 -16.1%) and oil (2.1- 5.0%). Despite the crop’s versatility, it is regrettable that sorghum yields are still fairly low in Bomet District of Kenya. One of the constraints associated with low yields is the accessibility to good quality seeds by farmers . It was assumed in this study that use of low quality seed was among the factors that could be significantly affecting the low production of sorghum in the district. This study focused on the physiological quality of seed which refers to the germination capacity, viability, characteristics related to dormancy and vigour of the seed. A total of 100 farmers were interviewed and 80 seed sample s were obtained from 80 farmers. The seeds were subjected to viability and vigour quality tests. These tests included germination (as a viability test); mean germination time and electrical conductivity tests (as vigour tests). About 29% of the seed samples taken for germination test were below the laboratory standards as stipulated in the seeds and Plant Varieties Act (CAP 326). Critical electrical conductivity values and critical mean germination time values were derived during the study . In accordance with the critical values arrived at in this study, 27.5% of the seed samples showed relatively high electric al conductivity readings and 36.3% of the seed samples showed longer mean germination time. However, 11.3% of the seed samples showed high germination percentages of above 90%. Since about 29% of farmers seeds were of bad physiological quality, it was concluded that this proportion of seed can result in poor yields and hence cause food insecurity to the people of the society , and thus require s further consideration for improvement . This study recommends that further research be conducted on the genetic, physical and sanitary quality aspects of seed planted by farmers in Bomet District so that a definite conclusive statement about the quality of seed planted by farmers in the District can be made.
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