The characterisation of the small ruminant populations in developing countries will play a major role in the maintenance of the genetic resources as the basis for future improvement in livestock production. The present study aimed at morphological characterisation of the two main breeds of sheep in Ghana by assessing variation within and between breed populations using principal component and discriminant analyses. The two breeds were the Sahel and the Djallonke sheep of both sexes and of two groups namely, young (1 year old, consisting of 74 animals) and mature sheep (≥ 2 years old, comprising 219 animals). The analysis of variance revealed significant (P < 0.05) differences in the morphological traits of the Sahel and the Djallonke sheep breeds with higher values recorded for the former. Sexual dimorphism was in favour of male animals in all the morphological traits examined. Mature animals also had comparative advantage over the young. Two principal components were extracted to discern the structure of the two genetic groups. The most discriminating traits between the two sheep breeds were rump height, height at withers, neck girth and pin-bone width. Mahalanobis distance between the two genetic groups was 5.723 (P < 0.0001). The developed discriminant functions clearly discriminated and classified the Sahel and the Djallonke sheep into their breeds of origin, thus yielding 100, 93.4 and 90.4 % accurate classification for the rams, ewes and the overall sheep population, respectively. The present approach would greatly help in establishing management and conservation policies for the sustainable production of the two Ghanaian sheep breeds.

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The West African Dwarf (WAD) goats are the predominant breed of goats in Ghana. The present study aimed at assessing the growth performance (Birth weight-BWT, Pre-weaning growth rate-PREWGR, Weaning weight-WWT, Post-weaning growth rate-POSWGR and Yearling weight-YWT) of WAD goats reared in the transitional zone. About 809 breeding records from 2005-2012, live weight and linear body measurements (of 325 animals) were collected on WAD goats and subjected to GLM procedure to determine the fixed effects of sex, type of birth, season of birth and year of birth on growth performance. The fixed effects of sex and age on body measurements were also tested and then regression analysis done with body measurements. The sex of kid had significant effect (p<0.05) on pre-weaning growth rate and weaning weight, with males recording 32.42 g dayG 1 and 5.30 kg and females recording 31.75 g dayG 1 and 5.21 kg, respectively. Only birth and weaning weights were significantly (p<0.01) affected by type of birth as single born kids recorded highest values for BWT (1.56±0.02) and WWT (5.49±0.03). Kids born in the rainy season had significantly (p<0.05) higher values for POSWGR and YWT. The influence of year of birth was significant (p<0.05) on all growth parameters.

A field experiment was conducted at Nyankpala, near Tamale, Ghana, during the 2014 cropping season and continued during 2015, to investigate one year residual effects of indigenous organic materials (biochar, groundnut shell, rice husk and rice straw) on the growth and yield of maize. It was a 4×3×3 factorial experiment consisting of 4 organic materials at 3 levels (2.5, 5 and 7.5 t ha-1 on dry matter basis) and 3 nitrogen (N) levels (0, 45 and 90 kg/ha N) laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications. The study revealed that integrated management of one year residuals of the organic materials with inorganic N supported increased plant height and grain yield, and moderated time of flowering to promote production of maize variety “Wang Dataa”. Application of 7.5 t/ha biochar + 45 kg/ha N, similarly 5 t/ha biochar + 90 kg/ha N supported tallest crop of 200 cm, whilst early flowering ranged 47 to 50 days with 2.5 t/ha biochar + 90 kg N/ha, 5 t/ha biochar + 45 kg N/ha, 7.5 t/ha biochar+ 90 kg N/ha, 2.5 t/ha groundnut shell + 90 kg N/ha and 7.5 t/ha rice straw + 45 kg N/ha. Grain yield was maximised with 7.5 t/ha biochar + 90 kg N/ha, 5 t/ha groundnut shell + 45 kg N/ha, 7.5 t/ha groundnut shell + 90 kg N/ha and 7.5 t/ha rice husk + 90 kg N/ha in the range of 3000 - 3600 kg/ha. The results also showed strongly that either residual nutrients and other plant growth conditions obtained from the organic materials or application N determined LAI, height of cob attachment, cob length, cob weight, 100 seed weight and stover biomass. Residual conditions provided by 7.5 t/ha of biochar gave the highest LAI. The more increased height of cob attachment ranged from 90 to 100 cm, provided by as low as 2.5 t/ha of biochar. Best cob length of 15 to 17 cm was obtained from 2.5 t/ha biochar and 5 t/ha groundnut shell. Cob weight under residual organic materials was in the range of 125 to 165 g/cob with 5 t/ha biochar or groundnut shell and 7.5 t/ha rice straw adequate to maximize the trait. Residual organic materials impacted on 100 seed weight with 5 t/ha of biochar and 7.5 t/ha groundnut shell impacted largest grain size of 25.5g. Stover weight was both highly significantly determined by residual effects of organic materials and N. Application of 5 t/ha biochar or 5 t/ha groundnut shell or 7.5 t/ha rice husk was adequate for highest stover weight. In this study, application of 45 kg N/ha was overwhelmingly sufficient to optimize leaf area index, height of cob attachment, cob length, cob weight, 100 seed weight and stover weight. Pearson correlation coefficients of grain yield with other traits exhibited robust relationships signifying strong impact of integrated soil fertility management of one year residual organic materials and N on maize production in the Guinea savannah. Grain yield prediction indicated treatments were best fitted in polynomials with 7.5 t/ha biochar + 90 kg N/ha for optimum grain yield.

Context Rural chicken production in most developing countries is based mainly on scavenging systems with indigenous chickens that have not been properly characterised and classified into well-defined breeds. Aims This study was conducted to identify the variant forms of qualitative phenotypic traits of local chickens in Tolon District, northern Ghana. Methods About 320 adult birds were sampled and data collected by using observation and a chicken colour chart. Traits included head shape; comb type, size and colour; feather distribution; and earlobe, eye, plumage, skin and shank colours. Chi-squared goodness of fit test was used to test whether variant phenotypes of each qualitative trait were equally distributed. The hypothesis of no associations between pairs of traits was tested by using Cramér’s V. Key results There were highly significant (P &lt; 0.01) differences in the distributions of variant phenotypes of all traits. The main comb type observed was single (85.9%), followed by pea (8.8%) and rose (5.3%). A majority of birds had small combs (57.8%), although others had medium (28.4%) and large (13.8%) combs. Females had small to medium combs, whereas males had medium to large combs. A majority of the chickens had white earlobe colour (60.3%), followed by pied red and white (22.5%). Feather distributions observed were normal feathered (84.4%), naked neck (8.4%) and frizzled (7.2%). Five plumage colours were observed, although some were in combinations. White plumage was the most common (22.5%), followed by black (18.8%), with brown/ash the least common (0.03%). Community was significantly (P &lt; 0.01) associated with comb type, size and colour, and eye, shank and skin colours. Also, comb size was significantly associated with sex and comb type. Conclusions Generally, local chickens exhibited heterogynous phenotypes for qualitative traits. Local chickens in the district could be described as normally feathered with wide variation in plumage colours and having mainly single comb type. Implications The knowledge of these variant phenotypes and their associations will serve as baseline information for the characterisation and conservation of local chicken types. It could also provide guidelines in selecting bird ecotypes and/or communities for breed improvement programs in the study area.