Nutritious and affordable sweetpotato based silage: The feed solution for small-scale pig farmers

This flyer describes the objectives, approach and achievements of ongoing research to develop innovative business models to promote and commercialize sweetpotato silage in Uganda (June 2014 - July 2015). This is expected to transform production and utilization of sweetpotato vines and roots to attenuate the constraint of livestock feed shortages

Identification moleculaire des champignons des semences chez l\u2019Assamela suivi de leur protection a partir des poudres et extraits issus de plantes medicinales

Seedborne fungi constitute one of the major constraints of natural regeneration of Assamela ( Pericopsis elata ) stands in Cameroon\u2019s forest production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the capacity of a botanical ( Vitex doniana , Paullinia pinnata , Citrus sinensis , Ageratum conyzoides and Carica papaya ) to protect Assamela seeds against seedborne fungal pathogens. Fungal DNA extraction was done using the Zymo Research Kit and the internal transcribe spacer (ITS) portions of ribosomal DNA genes were sequenced. Plant powders were tested at 10% (mass/mass) and the efficiency of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts was evaluated at 100 g ml-1 and 48 g ml-1, respectively. Thirame (reference fungicide) was used as positive control. Pathogenic seedborne fungi were found to be Aspergillus niger , Macrophomina phaseolina , Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium equiseti. Seed infection was 67% in the negative control. Seeds stored in plant powders gave infection rates of less than 8% (P<0.05) comparable to those of the synthesis fungicide Thirame (3.33%). The powders had no effect on germination at 10%. Only aqueous extracts of Citrus sinensis, Ageratum conyzoides and Carica papaya gave high germinations of 92, 92 and 97%, respectively. The plant powders tested and the aqueous extract of A. conyzoides could be considered as alternatives to chemical protection of P. elata seeds.Les champignons des semences constituent l\u2019une des contraintes majeures de r\ue9g\ue9n\ue9ration naturelle des peuplements de l\u2019Assamela ( Pericopsis elata ) dans les for\ueats de production au Cameroun. Cette \ue9tude a avait pour objectif de contribuer \ue0 la protection des semences chez l\u2019assamela par l\u2019utilisation des substances naturelles d\u2019origine v\ue9g\ue9tale ( Vitex doniana , Paullinia pinnata , Citrus sinensis , Ageratum conyzoides et Carica papaya ). Le Kit (Zymo Research) a \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9 pour l\u2019extraction d\u2019ADN des champignons et les portions ITS des g\ue8nes de l\u2019ADN ribosomial s\ue9quenc\ue9s. Les poudres v\ue9g\ue9tales ont \ue9t\ue9 test\ue9es \ue0 10% (m m-1) et les extraits aqueux et \ue9thanoliques, aux concentrations respectives de 100 g ml-1 et 48 g ml-1. Le fongicide Thirame a \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9 comme t\ue9moin positif. Les champignons pathog\ue8nes des semences ont \ue9t\ue9\ua0: Aspergillus niger , Macrophomina phaseolina , Aspergillus flavus et Fusarium equiseti. Le taux d\u2019infection des semences a \ue9t\ue9 de 67% chez le lot t\ue9moin n\ue9gatif. Les semences conserv\ue9es dans les poudres ont donn\ue9 des taux d\u2019infections inf\ue9rieurs \ue0 8% significativement comparable (P<0,05) \ue0 ceux du fongicide de synth\ue8se Thirame (3,33%). Les poudres n\u2019ont pas eu d\u2019effet sur la germination \ue0 la concentration test\ue9e10%. Seuls les extraits aqueux de Citrus sinensis, Ageratum conyzoides et Carica papaya ont offert des taux de germination \ue9l\ue9v\ue9s de 92\ua0; 92 et 97% respectivement. Les poudres test\ue9es et l\u2019extrait aqueux de A. conyzoides pourraient constituer des alternatives \ue0 la protection chimique des semences de P. elata

Sweet potato wastes in major pig producing districts in Uganda: An opportunity for investment in silage technologies

This study was undertaken to assess the potential for sweet potato silage making business by estimating sweet potato vines and root wastage and assessing the economic feasibility of investing in sweet potato silage. Information was collected through key informant interviews, secondary data review, sweet potato root peeling and weighing, focus group discussions with pig and sweet potato producers covering a sample of 180 farmers. Semi-structured interviews with 240 respondents (120 sweet potato farmers, 60 pig farmers and 60 sweet potato traders) were also conducted. The results showed that sweet potato production is seasonal with substantial wastage of sweet potato components existing across the various nodes of the sweet potato value chain. The study concludes that there is an opportunity for investment in sweet potato silage business that has the potential to reduce wastage of sweet potato and bridge the feed scarcity gap faced by pig farmers

HANDLE WITH CARE: maintaining the quality and value of your sweetpotato roots during and after harvest through better practice

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Diversity of LEI0258 microsatellite locus in indigenous Ethiopian chickens

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio

Windborne long-distance migration of malaria mosquitoes in the Sahel

Over the past two decades efforts to control malaria have halved the number of cases globally, yet burdens remain high in much of Africa and the elimination of malaria has not been achieved even in areas where extreme reductions have been sustained, such as South Africa1,2. Studies seeking to understand the paradoxical persistence of malaria in areas in which surface water is absent for 3–8 months of the year have suggested that some species of Anopheles mosquito use long-distance migration3. Here we confirm this hypothesis through aerial sampling of mosquitoes at 40–290 m above ground level and provide—to our knowledge—the first evidence of windborne migration of African malaria vectors, and consequently of the pathogens that they transmit. Ten species, including the primary malaria vector Anopheles coluzzii, were identified among 235 anopheline mosquitoes that were captured during 617 nocturnal aerial collections in the Sahel of Mali. Notably, females accounted for more than 80% of all of the mosquitoes that we collected. Of these, 90% had taken a blood meal before their migration, which implies that pathogens are probably transported over long distances by migrating females. The likelihood of capturing Anopheles species increased with altitude (the height of the sampling panel above ground level) and during the wet seasons, but variation between years and localities was minimal. Simulated trajectories of mosquito flights indicated that there would be mean nightly displacements of up to 300 km for 9-h flight durations. Annually, the estimated numbers of mosquitoes at altitude that cross a 100-km line perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction included 81,000 Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto, 6 million A. coluzzii and 44 million Anopheles squamosus. These results provide compelling evidence that millions of malaria vectors that have previously fed on blood frequently migrate over hundreds of kilometres, and thus almost certainly spread malaria over these distances. The successful elimination of malaria may therefore depend on whether the sources of migrant vectors can be identified and controlled

Biology and biotechnology of Trichoderma

Fungi of the genus Trichoderma are soilborne, green-spored ascomycetes that can be found all over the world. They have been studied with respect to various characteristics and applications and are known as successful colonizers of their habitats, efficiently fighting their competitors. Once established, they launch their potent degradative machinery for decomposition of the often heterogeneous substrate at hand. Therefore, distribution and phylogeny, defense mechanisms, beneficial as well as deleterious interaction with hosts, enzyme production and secretion, sexual development, and response to environmental conditions such as nutrients and light have been studied in great detail with many species of this genus, thus rendering Trichoderma one of the best studied fungi with the genome of three species currently available. Efficient biocontrol strains of the genus are being developed as promising biological fungicides, and their weaponry for this function also includes secondary metabolites with potential applications as novel antibiotics. The cellulases produced by Trichoderma reesei, the biotechnological workhorse of the genus, are important industrial products, especially with respect to production of second generation biofuels from cellulosic waste. Genetic engineering not only led to significant improvements in industrial processes but also to intriguing insights into the biology of these fungi and is now complemented by the availability of a sexual cycle in T. reesei/Hypocrea jecorina, which significantly facilitates both industrial and basic research. This review aims to give a broad overview on the qualities and versatility of the best studied Trichoderma species and to highlight intriguing findings as well as promising applications