The Impact of Microfinance Service Delivery on the Growth of SMEs in Uganda

The research team is indebted to a wide spectrum of stakeholders who supported the research process from the onset up to the production of the final research product. Gratitude and appreciation is extended to the ICBE  Research Fund, a collaborative initiative of TrustAfrica and IDRC, for opening the window for research opportunity and relentless technical and financial support during the study. We thank the government of Uganda through its mandated body-the National Council for Science and Technology for permitting the study to be carried out in Uganda. In the same vein, the team recognizes the invaluable input and time expensed by the peer reviewers of the research report.  Your critical input offered insightful technical guidance that leveraged the production of the final report

A New Napier Grass Stunting Disease in Kenya Associated With Phytoplasma

Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum) is a cultivated elephant grass native to Eastern and Central Africa forming the major livestock feed on East African smallholder dairy farms (Valk, 1990) as it is suitable for cut and carry zero-grazing management systems. Although several plant pathogens have been described historically they were seldom severe. However, in the 1970s there was an outbreak of snow mould fungal disease caused by Beniowskia spheroidea that attacked most varieties of napier grass. A napier grass variety (clone 13) was bred which is resistant to the disease. In the 1990s two major outbreaks of napier grass diseases occurred in Kenya. In Central Kenya a napier grass head smut caused by Ustilago kamerunensis H Sydow and Sydow in 1992 and in Western Kenya a napier grass stunting disease was first reported in Bungoma in 1997. A similar stunting disease had been reported in Uganda (Tilley, 1969), which was suspected to be a virus transmitted by insects. This new outbreak of napier grass stunting disease is of major concern as it attacks all varieties of napier grass. The main objective of this study was to survey the extent of the disease and to identify the organism causing this disease

A New Napier Grass Stunting Disease in Kenya Associated with Phytoplasma

Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum) is a cultivated elephant grass native to Eastern and Central Africa forming the major livestock feed on East African smallholder dairy farms (Valk, 1990) as it is suitable for cut and carry for zero-grazing management systems. Although several plant pathogens have been described historically they were seldom severe. However, in 1970s there was an outbreak of snow mould fungal disease caused by Beniowskia spheroidea that attacked most varieties of napier grass. A napier grass variety clone 13 was bred which is resistant to the disease. In the 1990s two major outbreaks of napier grass diseases occurred in Kenya. In Central Kenya a napier grass head smut caused by Ustilago kamerunensis H Sydow and Sydow in 1992 and in Western Kenya a napier grass stunting disease was first reported in Bungoma in 1997. A similar stunting disease had been reported in Uganda (Tilley, 1969), which was suspected to be a virus transmitted by insects. This new outbreak of napier grass stunting disease is of major concern as it attacks all varieties of napier grass. The main objective of this study was to survey the extent of the disease and to identify the organism causing this disease

The use of simple sequence repeats markers to study genetic diversity in maize genotypes resistant to gray leaf spot disease

Genetic diversity in maize (Zea mays L.) is an important tool for progress in selection for traits of interest. The objective of this study was to screen genotypes for presence of markers linked to plantdefense against fungal diseases, and to study the genetic diversity in gray leaf spot resistant maize genotypes. Forty-one genotypes comprising of collections from Kenya, International Maize and WheatImprovement Centre, the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture and South Africa were identified to be resistant to gray leaf spot in Kenya in 2004. The genotypes were analyzed for variability by usingtwenty-eight microsatellite markers covering the entire maize genome. The results indicated diversity among lines for selected markers. Based on the diversity tree, ten clusters were observed. All genotypes occurred in clusters, except for genotypes EC573- (R12) C8S3-14-1, REGN 99/6, H623 and VHCY. The data indicated that, at least one line in each cluster showed a relationship in a locus with a corresponding parent. Occurrence of related lines also implied that there were common alleles that could have contributed to the gray leaf spot resistance

Genotype by environment interactions and yield stability of stem borer resistant maize hybrids in Kenya

In a maize breeding program, potential genotypes are usually evaluated in different environments before desirable ones are selected. Genotype x environment (G x E) interaction is associated with the differential performance of genotypes tested at different locations and in different years, and influences selection and recommendation of cultivars. Twenty one stem borer resistance maize hybrids and four commercial checks were evaluated in six environments in Kenya under infestation with Chilo partellus and Busseola fusca to determine the G x E interactions and stability of the hybrids. Analysis of variance was conducted for grain yield, days to flowering and plant and ear height. Stability for grain yield was determined using genotype plus genotype by environment interaction (GGE) biplot analysis. Variances due to genotype, environment and G x E interaction effects were highly significant for all traits. The GGE biplot showed that four experimental hybrids and two commercial checks had positive PC1 score indicating above average performance across environments. However, 10 experimental hybrids and two commercial checks had negative PC1 score, suggesting poor average performance. Experimental hybrids, CKIR07004 and CKIR07013, were highly desirable in terms of grain yield (>7.5 t/ha) and stability across environments. These hybrids could be released in Kenya and similar environments.Key words: Genotype x environment (G x E) interactions, maize, stem borer resistant hybrids, stability

BIOMASS PRODUCTION AND FORAGE QUALITY OF HEAD-SMUT DISEASE RESISTANT NAPIER GRASS ACCESSIONS

Napier grass, commonly known as \u201celephant grass\u201d, is a major feed used for dairy production by smallholder farmers in eastern and central Africa. However, the productivity of the grass in the region is threatened by stunt and head-smut diseases. The objective of this study was to determine biomass yield and forage quality of head-smut resistant/tolerant Napier grass accessions, in the high and lowland environments of Kenya. A field study was undertaken at two contrasting environments. The first site was in the highlands at KALRO-Muguga (altitude 2,052 metres above sea level), while the second site was in the lowlands at KALRO-Katumani (altitude 1,600 metres above sea level). The study was initiated in November 2011 using canes to plant ten Napier grass accessions (ILRI numbers 16790, 16791, 16783, 18448, 16806, 16808, 16809, 16796, 16835, 16837) in separate 4 m x 4 m plots. The grasses were first harvested at 23 week after planting at both sites. Subsequent harvests occurred at intervals of eight weeks after regeneration. There were eight growth cycles from 1st November 2011 to 9th May 2013 at each site. There were differences (P<0.05) between accessions in forage dry matter production that ranged from 28.8-51.2 metric tonnes ha-1 at KALRO-Muguga and 18.1-26.7 metric tonnes ha-1 at KALRO-Katumani. The accessions (numbers 16783, 16796, 16806 and 16835) resistant to head-smut disease gave dry matter yields comparable to that of accession number 16791 which was the negative check. There were differences (P<0.05) between the accessions in neutral detergent fibre at both sites. There were differences (P<0.05) in nitrogen content (mean 2.6%) at KALRO-Muguga. Accession no. 16806 was confirmed resistant to head-smut disease, while accession nos. 16783, 16796 and 16835 were tolerant to head-smut disease in glasshouse screening/molecular studies.L\u2019herbe de Napier, commun\ue9ment connue comme \u201cl\u2019herbe d\u2019\ue9l\ue9phant\u201d, est une nourriture importante utilis\ue9e pour la production laiti\ue8re par les fermiers de petit cultivateur dans l\u2019Afrique de l\u2019est et centrale. Pourtant, la productivit\ue9 de l\u2019herbe dans la r\ue9gion est menac\ue9e par les maladies de cochonnerie de t\ueate et le coup. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait de d\ue9terminer la production de biomasse et la qualit\ue9 de fourrage de cochonnerie de t\ueate les nouvelles acquisitions d\u2019herbe Napier r\ue9sistantes/tol\ue9rantes, dans les hauts environnements et les environnements de plaine du Kenya. Des \ue9tudes sur le terrain ont \ue9t\ue9 entreprises \ue0 deux environnements contrastants. Le premier site \ue9tait dans les pays montagneux \ue0 KALRO-Muguga (l\u2019altitude \ue0 2,052 m\ue8tres au-dessus du niveau marin), pendant que le deuxi\ue8me site \ue9tait dans les plaines \ue0 KALRO-Katumani (l\u2019altitude \ue0 1,600 m\ue8tres au-dessus du niveau marin). L\u2019\ue9tude a \ue9t\ue9 lanc\ue9e en novembre de 2011 en utilisant des cannes pour planter dix nouvelles acquisitions d\u2019herbe Napier (ILRI num\ue9ro 16790, 16791, 16783, 18448, 16806, 16808, 16809, 16796, 16835, 16837) \ue0 4 m s\ue9par\ue9s x les complots de 4 m. Les herbes ont \ue9t\ue9 d\u2019abord r\ue9colt\ue9es \ue0 23 semaine apr\ue8s le fait de planter aux deux sites. Il y avait des diff\ue9rences (P <0.05) dans le contenu d\u2019azote (voulez dire 2.6 %) \ue0 KALRO-Muguga. La nouvelle acquisition No. 16806 a \ue9t\ue9 confirm\ue9e r\ue9sistante \ue0 la maladie de cochonnerie de t\ueate, pendant que la nouvelle acquisition nos. 16783, 16796 et 16835 \ue9taient tol\ue9rants \ue0 la maladie de cochonnerie de t\ueate dans les \ue9tudes de projection de verrerie / les \ue9tudes mol\ue9culaires

Participatory Farmer Evaluation of Stem borer Resistant Maize varieties in three maize growing ecologies of Kenya

Insect Resistant Maize for Africa Project (IRMA) aims at developing and deploying insect resistant maize varieties to reduce grain losses due to insect pests. As part of incorporating farmer’s perceptions and improving the adoption of the developed varieties, participatory approaches are adopted. The paper analysis farmer’s preferences of maize germplasm developed through conventional breeding. The paper uses data collected from evaluations conducted at the end of 2006 April and October rains. Nine stem borer resistant maize varieties were evaluated alongside six commercial checks in the moist transitional zones (East and West) at vegetative and harvest stage, while in the dry transitional zone and dry mid altitude zones, 6 new varieties were evaluated together with four commercial checks at harvest stage. Each variety was assessed on a scale of 1(very poor) to 5 (very good) based on key criteria generated in earlier group discussions with farmers and overall score. Data was analyzed using ordinal regression model of Social Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). In DT zone, Katumani, CKIR06007 and CKIR06008 were more preferred to the checks based on overall score. CKIR06008 was also more preferred on yield and tolerance to insect pest criteria, while CKIR04002, CKIR06009, and CKIR04003 were perceived more superior to local check based on tolerance to insect pests. In moist transitional zone Embu only CKIR06005 was more preferred (p<0.01) to the check at harvest stage in April 2006 season based on early maturity. While there was no preference for the new varieties at vegetative stage in Embu in October rains 2006 season, a number of new varieties CKIR06001, CKIR06002, CKIR06003, CKIR06004, and CKIR06005 were more preferred based on early maturity at harvest in October rains 2006 season. In the moist transitional zone (west), CKIR06005 and CKIR06005 were more preferred on maturity criteria but CKIR06004 also had good attributes in terms of cob size vegetative stage in April rains 2007. We conclude that farmers perceive some varieties to have good tolerance to insect pests in addition to good yield and maturity characteristics attributes, which are critical to the farmers in the adoption of new varieties.Crop Production/Industries,

Testcross performance of doubled haploid maize lines derived from tropical adapted backcross populations

Doubled haploid (DH) lines produced by in vivo induction of maternal haploids are routinely used in maize breed¬ing. The present study was carried out to assess the performance of 75 doubled haploid maize testcrosses and six checks tested across four locations in Kenya for grain yield, agronomic traits and reaction to major leaf diseases. The 75 DH lines were derived from the backcross (BC1) plants of two CIMMYT bi-parental crosses. Significant location, genotype and genotype x location effects were observed for grain yield and anthesis-silking interval (ASI). Genotypes were significantly different for reaction to leaf blight and gray leaf spot. Location explained 69% of the total phenotypic variance while both genotype and genotype by environment interaction effects contributed 4% each. Fifteen DH testcross hybrids yielded better than the best commercial check, WH505 (5.1 t ha-1). The best DH testcross hybrid (CKDHH0223) averaged over the four locations yielded 29.5% higher than WH505. These results indicate that maize testcrosses developed from DH lines produced as high a grain yield and as acceptable agro¬nomic traits as the commercial hybrids developed through conventional pedigree methods. The DH lines identified in the study may be useful for improving yield and disease resistance in maize breeding programs in eastern and southern Africa

Prevalence Distribution and Risk Factors for Schistosoma hematobium Infection among School Children in Blantyre, Malawi

Schistosoma hematobium infection is a parasitic infection endemic in Malawi. Schistosomiasis usually shows a focal distribution of infection and it is important to identify communities at high risk of infection and assess effectiveness of control programs. We conducted a survey in one district in Malawi to determine prevalence and factors associated with S. hematobium infection among primary school pupils. Using a questionnaire, information on history of passing bloody urine and known risk factors associated with infection was collected. Urine samples were collected and examined for S. hematobium eggs. One thousand one hundred and fifty (1,150) pupils were interviewed, and out of 1,139 pupils who submitted urine samples, 10.4% were infected. Our data showed that male gender, child's knowledge of an existing open water source (includes river, dam, springs, lake, etc.) in the area, history of urinary schistosomiasis in the past month, distance of less than 1 km from school to nearest open water source and age 8–10 years compared to those 14 years and older were independently associated with infection. These findings suggest that children attending schools in close proximity to open water sources are at increased risk of infection