Soya bean crop development in Kenya

The paper describes the introduction of commercial Soya Bean growing in the Districts of Kisii, South Nyanza and Narok. Focus is put on agronomic and infrastructural problems and proposals are being made on further expansion of Soya Bean growing in Kenya

Managing extension staff: Two experiments in Kenya

This paper focusses on techniques for managing agricultural extension staff. A system of staff meetings, recording and reporting is described, which was tested in the Mbere Special Rural Development Programme area. The purpose of this system was to provide closer supervision of the routine activities of agricultural extension staff, and its achievements and limitations'in meeting this goal are discussed here. A system of inservice training and planning workshops associated: with new and/or more comprehensive extension activities was tested in Kisii and Homa Bay. This is basically a management system for extension planning which provides a tool for the effective participation of grassroots level field staff. The two management systems are considered complementary, and it is proposed that they be combined to form a useful management tool for agricultural extension

New extension methods to speed up diffusion of agricultural innovations

This paper is based on field experiments carried out by researchers at the University of Nairobi's Institute for Development Studies in collaboration with Kenya District Agricultural Offices. The research has aimed at developing more efficient methods for stimulating diffusion of agricultural innovations and at the same time reducing the dualistic pattern of rural development . The governments of many developing countries have based their agricultural extension services on the diffusion theory of E.M. Rogers (Diffusion of Innovation, New York, Free Press, 1962), directing their efforts to the 'most progressive' farmers, with the expectation that the adoption of innovations would trickle down to the majority of farmers -- the 'less progressive'. Yet many researchers and planners have realised that under conditions of dualistic development agricultural innovations are rarely communicated in this direction, and furthermore, when extension efforts are directed towards the most progressive farmers the division in rural society is actually aggravated. Thus researchers and politicians in Kenya have sought alternative approaches to agricultural extension which will reach the majority of farmers without requiring a greatly expanded level of investment The research has shown that in a situation of dualistic rural development communications from more progressive farmers to less progressive farmers tend to break down. However, there is intense communication of agricultural innovations among farmers on the same or similar level of progressiveness, and more progressive farmers also readily adopt innovations from less progressive farmers if they perceive that it is to their advantage. Thus diffusion is maximised when innovations are introduced through less progressive farmers, even though it is more difficult to make less progressive farmers successful first adopters of an innovation. This paper reports on experiments carried out within the government extension organisation to find out how this can be done. The results are considered clearly encouraging

Rapid development for Kenya's small farms

The proposed research aims at developing more efficient replicable extension strategies for income generating innovations. The basic concept, theoretically founded, is to change the target groups for the extension service. Traditionally most progressive farmers are being approached to become first adopters of an innovation. The large majority of farmers (less progressives) is reached by a very slow diffusion process only and often the diffusion process completely leaves out a major part of the farmers. If less progressives (below average) are approached to become the first adopters, the diffusion process from them to the top progressives is very quick and the diffusion process among the target group itself is quicker and reaches more. This is founded on communication - and social stratification factors. The practical problem, however, seems to be the greater difficulty in making less, progressives first adopters. This problem could be solved by an appropriate package extension method already successfully tested in the "Tetu Project”. The only major problem with "Tetu", the very limited number of farmers which can be reached by this extension method, could be solved by taking the training out of the FTCs to the field and by approaching the farmers in groups. Summing up, the research therefore aims at: a) further testing of the new strategy, b) developing and evaluating methods of approaching farmers in groups, c) improving the replicability of the more efficient extension strategies and methods, and d) promoting their replication

Place attachment in stroke rehabilitation:A transdisciplinary encounter between cultural geography, environmental psychology and rehabilitation medicine

Purpose: To increase understanding of stroke survivor's needs to successfully re-establish attachment to meaningful places at home and in the community. Methods: Qualitative research methodology including in-depth interviews with stroke survivors in the clinical, post-discharge and reintegration phases of the rehabilitation process. Results: Participants longed for recovery and domestic places in the clinical phase, for pre-stroke activities and roles in the post-discharge phase, and for recognition and a sense of belonging in the reintegration phase. The participants' selves had changed, while the spatial and social contexts of their homes had remained the same. Their spatial scope became smaller in both a social and a geographical sense. It was difficult to achieve a feeling of being at home in their bodies and own living environments again. The complexities that needed to be dealt with to engage with the outside world, turned participants unintentionally inwards. In particular, family members of participants with cognitive problems, longed for support and recognition in dealing with the changed personality of their spouses. Conclusions: Rehabilitation should put greater effort into supporting stroke survivors and their families in home-making and community reintegration processes, and help them to re-own and renegotiate their disabled bodies and changed identities in real life

Foliar lead uptake by lettuce exposed to atmospheric fallouts

Metal uptake by plants occurs by soil−root transfer but also by direct transfer of contaminants from the atmosphere to the shoots. This second pathway may be particularly important in kitchen gardens near industrial plants. The mechanisms of foliar uptake of lead by lettuce (Lactuca sativa) exposed to the atmospheric fallouts of a lead-recycling plant were studied. After 43 days of exposure, the thoroughly washed leaves contained 335 ± 50 mg Pb kg−1 (dry weight). Micro-X-ray fluorescence mappings evidenced Pb-rich spots of a few hundreds of micrometers in diameter located in necrotic zones. These spots were more abundant at the base of the central nervure. Environmental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis showed that smaller particles (a few micrometers in diameter) were also present in other regions of the leaves, often located beneath the leaf surface. In addition, submicrometric particles were observed inside stomatal openings. Raman microspectrometry analyses of the leaves identified smelter-originated Pb minerals but also secondary phases likely resulting from the weathering of original particles. On the basis of these observations, several pathways for foliar lead uptake are discussed. A better understanding of these mechanisms may be of interest for risk assessment of population exposure to atmospheric metal contamination

The 35-day cycle in the X-ray binary HZ Her/Her X-1

We present the results of modelling the 35-day superorbital changes in the B and V lightcurves and X-ray flux of HZ Her/Her X-1. The model is implemented in a computer program written in the C programming language, with a module for parameter optimisation written in Python. The model in-cludes a tilted precessing and warped accretion disc around a freely precessing neutron star. The disc is warped near its inner edge due to interaction with the rotating neutron star magnetosphere. The magnetic torque depends on the precessional phase of the neutron star. The neutron star X-ray emission flux also depends on the free precession phase, which modulates the X-ray illumi-nation of the optical star's atmosphere and the intensity of gas streams. We demonstrate that this model is able to reproduce both the optical observations of HZ Her and the behaviour of the system's 35-day X-ray cycle. © 2020 Astronomical Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences