Field performance of spider plant (Cleome gynandra l) under different agronomic practices

Field experiments were carried out at Kaguvi Vocational Training Centre located in theMidlands province of Zimbabwe, to determine the effect of planting date and fertilizertypes in enhancing the productivity of spider plant, an indigenous leafy vegetable. Theexperimental design was a split- plot arranged in a randomized complete block design(RCBD) with three blocks. The planting date was the main plot with three levels(15/10/12, 30/01/13 and 15/02/13) and the fertilizer treatments as the subplots withseven levels including a control (no fertilizer applied), 20 t/ha cattle manure, 30 t/hacattle manure, 5 t/ha poultry manure, 10 t/ha poultry manure, 300 kg/ha Compound D +100 kg/ha ammonium nitrate and 300 kg/ha Compound D + 150 kg/ha ammoniumnitrate). Growth parameters, vitamin A and C, crude protein, iron content, fresh and dryyield were significantly (p<0.05) increased by use of organic and inorganic fertilizersacross all planting dates compared to the control where no fertilizers were added. TheOctober 2012 planting date, combined with high rates of organic and inorganicfertilizers had the best response with regards to the variables measured, including theduration of the harvest period which was nine weeks, compared to the January andFebruary planting dates where harvesting was for six weeks. The inorganic fertilizersprovided readily available nutrients for uptake by the plants while the long productionperiod for the October 2012 planting date enabled the organic manures (cattle andpoultry manure) adequate time to release the nutrients for uptake, compared to theJanuary 2013 and February 2013 planting dates. It can be concluded that there is meritin staggering the planting dates while using organic and inorganic fertilizers as thepractice results in an extended harvest period. High rates of both inorganic and organicfertilizers are recommended for the different planting dates as follows; 30 t/ha cattlemanure, 10 t/ha poultry manure, 300 kg/ha Compound D + 100 kg/ha ammoniumnitrate and 300 kg/ha Compound D + 150 kg/ha ammonium nitrate.Key words: Indigenous vegetable, spider plant, planting dates, fertilizers, nutrient

Agricultural innovation platforms for scaling innovations – insights from the Transforming Irrigation in Southern Africa project

A major challenge in agricultural research for development is understanding how agricultural innovation platforms (AIPs) scale innovations to maximize environmental and socioeconomic benefits. Multilevel perspective and anchoring frameworks were used to assess the effectiveness of AIPs in anchoring innovations to go to scale under the Transforming Irrigation in Southern Africa project. Resultant scaling approaches, and whether and how scaling impacts were sustained are assessed at the sociotechnical regime. AIP collective capabilities ensured anchoring strategies and scaling approaches utilized by AIPs led to the embedding of innovations within the agricultural sociotechnical system. This resulted in changes in policy, behaviour and practices

Climatic Forcing of Plio-Pleistocene Formation of the Modern Limpopo River, South Africa

Understanding the evolution of river systems in southern Africa is fundamental to constrain the evolution of landscape and sediment dispersal patterns. It is widely considered that the upper Zambezi River was connected with the Limpopo River during the Cretaceous, forming what was then the largest river in Africa. Crustal flexure during the Paleogene severed the upper Zambezi drainage from the Limpopo, setting the framework of the modern Zambezi and Limpopo River systems. We present first evidence—based on heavy-mineral assemblages from cores drilled offshore of the Limpopo River mouth and samples collected in different reaches of the modern Limpopo River, integrated with magnetic susceptibility, detrital-zircon geochronology, and geomorphological analysis—suggesting that the current Limpopo River formed recently in the Plio-Quaternary. Plio-Quaternary climate change is envisaged to have controlled the recent dynamics of river drainage and consequent distribution of sediment loads, as observed in many other transcontinental rivers worldwide

Bank-Deposit Contracts Versus Financial-Market Participation in Emerging Economies

The financial sector of emerging economies in Africa is characterized by a noncompetitive banking sector that dominates any direct participation of agents in asset markets. We formally identify “market inexperience” as an explanation for agents’ willingness to pay high banking fees rather than to participate in asset markets. Whereas experienced agents choose ex ante investments that result, through trading on the future asset market, in the optimal (second-best) allocation, inexperienced agents are ignorant about the possibility that future market equilibria can improve welfare upon an autarkic investment. As a consequence, a monopolistic banking sector can exploit these agents because their only outside option is an autarkic investment project.ERSA (Economic Research Southern Africa)http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/mree202016-11-30hb201