Agriculture

Land is critical to the economic, social and cultural development of Kenya. It is crucial to the attainment of economic growth, poverty reduction and gender equity. Its importance is recognized by various Government initiatives including the initial Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), political party manifestoes and the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (2003-2007). Land was a key reason for the struggle for independence and Land issues remain politically sensitive and culturally complex. The Republic of Kenya has an area - approximately 582,646 sq.km comprising of 97.8% land and 2.2% water surface. Only 20% of the land area can be classified as medium to high potential agricultural land and the rest of the land is mainly arid or semiarid. Forests, woodlands and national reserves and game parks account for ten percent (10%) of the land area, i.e. 58,264 sq. km. Approximately seventy five per cent (75%) of the country’s population lives within the medium to high potential (20% of land area) and the rest in the vast Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). One consequence of this is that size and distribution of land varies quite widely just as population density which ranges from as low as 2 persons per sq. km. in the ASALs to a high of over 2000 in high potential areas. This leads uncontrolled subdivision of agricultural land, leading to reduced productivity and hence a likelihood of food insecurity. As the old saying goes, ‘the devil is in the detail’ - in our case FRAGMENTATION.

Global warming frightens even the baby in the womb. No one wants to be roasted by sunshine or swept off the earth by tsunami arising from extreme weather events. The sights of such events are frightening. Global warming is daily effects of human civilization. There are several controversies surrounding it. Some positive, while others are negative. Negative impacts means gain, while positive impact means loss. We need more negative than positive impacts for a safe world. This paper reviews the subject matter from the point of boon, pandemic or quagmire.

An experiment was conducted in one of the fields of the University of Baghdad in 2015 In sandy loam soil to evaluate the effect of irrigation methods and discharge on growth and yield of green onion .The research using two factors included Subsurface irrigation system and drip irrigation system as main plot and three levels discharge included 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 L\hr as secondary plot. Soil bulk density of the soil, distribution uniformity, the plant height, number of onion plant leaves and plant yield. were measured in this study. Nested design under randomized complete block design (CRBD) with three replications were used in this experiment. Least significant differences (L.S.D) at 0.05 levels were used to compare the mean of treatments. The results showed Soil bulk density in drip irrigation system reached 1.351 mg /m3,and uniformity distribution for subsurface irrigation system reached 88.7% compared with the drip irrigation system which reached 86.8% ,for the plant characteristics , subsurface irrigation exceeded generally in the plant characteristics, and the maximum of leaves number in subsurface irrigation system in one plant reached 10.6 and the average of plant height reached 65.6 in subsurface irrigation system. It's obvious through the results the exceeding of subsurface irrigation system in increasing, Leaves number average and the height of plant while the values of soil bulk density and the uniformity distribution were close between the two system. The successful of using subsurface irrigation system for planting good growing onion.

This paper was prepared to estimate the current and projected relationship between climate change (rainfall) and variability and the productivity of sorghum under rainfed mechanized farming system in Gadarif State. The study ultilized secondary data covering the period 1940-2014. The data analyzed using descriptive analysis, Bias Correction and Spatial Downscaling (BCSD) and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). The most important results revealed that an increasing trend of rainfall indicating the evidence of existance of climate change in the State. The study also found that the dry rainfall years affect the productivity of sorghum by reducing it by 4.9 kg/feddan/year and that floody rainfall years leads to decreasing the productivity by 11.3 kg/feddan/year, while the productivity was decreasing by 3.39 kg/feddan/year in normal rainfall years. As with respect the projection to future rainfall and yield, two scenarios based on greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere for the period 2020-2100 were used. The best scenario assumed an RCP of 2.6 and the worst one assumed an RCP of 8.5 .The results of best scenario predicted an expected decrease rainfall by 0.865 mm/year and decrease in crop yield at rate of 1.121 kg/fed/year in case of maximum temperature; and at rate of 0.618 kg/fed/year in case of minimum temperature. The result of the worst scenario predicted an expected decrease in rainfall at the rate of 0.554 mm/year with consequent decline in crop productivity at a rate of 5.235 kg/fed/year in case of maximum temperature and at a rate of 4.844 kg/fed/year in case of minimum temperature. The effect of increase greenhouse gas concentration in future leads to decrease rainfall and decrease yield of sorghum in Gadarif State. 

Investigation was carried out to study the effect of the forward speed and tire inflation pressure of the farm tractor on gross power losses, and tractive efficiency. The studied variables are the equipment (moldboard plough, disk plough and disk harrow), tire inflation pressure (80, 140 and 160 kPa) and five different forward speeds (3.86, 4.18, 4.76, 5.82 and 7.21 km/h). The ploughing depths were (15-20 cm) and average soil moisture content (14.56 %). the soil texture was found to be a (Clay). The study was focus on the rate of drawbar pull, drawbar specific fuel consumption, travel redaction (slip), tractive efficiency and gross power losses. The experiment was carried out by using split-split plot with complete randomized block design in three replicates. The obtained results, for the range of tests, showed that the use of 80 kPa tire inflation pressure superposed the (140 and 160 kPa), in recording lowest rate of slip (6.31 %), and higher rate of drawbar pull (16.097 kN). The forward speed (3.86 km/h) superposed in recording lowest rate of gross power losses (5.29 kW), and higher rate of tractive efficiency (74.017 %) and drawbar specific fuel consumption (0.98 l/kW.h). While the fifth forward speed (7.21 km/h) was superior on other forward speed in recording higher rate of drawbar pull (17.12 kN), in the meantime the moldboard plough recorded higher rate of tractive efficiency (75.37 %) and drawbar pull (20.69 kN), While the use of disk harrow recording lowest rate of slip (4.898 %) and power losses (7.40 kW). The relationship fits the experimental data on studying the effect of tire inflation pressure (I.P) and forward speed (FS) on reduce of gross power losses (Lpower) by prediction regression equations.

The formation of ECOWAS was seen as the beginning of a new era in the history of economic cooperation in West Africa. Its overall aim was to promote cooperation and integration, with a view to establishing an economic and monetary union as a means of stimulating economic growth and development in West Africa. Since the emergence of ECOWAS, the organization has been saddled with a lot of challenges and intra-regional crises without much economic integration being achieved. The paper sets to examine why ECOWAS lags behind in its quest to integrating the economies of West African region. Basically, the study is primarily qualitative. The findings reveal that ECOWAS that needs serious reforms in order to maximally benefit from integration mechanisms the way other regions have done. The prospects are great. The paper concludes by affirming that the current economic turmoil afflicting the region may be seen as a temporary setback, and that a new ECOWAS with a new set of leaders will emerge to realize the dreams of the founding fathers of one larger political and economic union.

Nowadays, controlling herbal pest and spraying operation are considered as important and inevitable activities in agriculture. In case the mentioned operation is performed in a proper manner and chosen a suitable sprayer, the cost of spraying and following operation will decrease and the yield will increase. Given the fact that Eurygaster Integriceps has been known as the most important pest of wheat which is a strategic product throughout the world, farmers use different sprayers in order to control this pest. In this study, micronair, electrostatic atomizer, atomizer, lance, and simple backpack sprayers were compared in the form of randomized complete blocks with four iterations, for controlling the Eurygaster Integriceps. The obtained data were analyzed through SPSS software. The results of the evaluation at the level of 5% revealed that, regarding the operation effect grade for controlling Eurygaster Integriceps pest, micronair sprayer with a 82.09% of died pest was at the highest rank, and electrostatic atomizer sprayer with a 75.88%, atomizer sprayer with a 72.40%, lance sprayer with a 66.60%, and simple backpack sprayer with a 62.58 % of died pests are at the next ranks. Given the obtained results in this study, for controlling Eurygaster Integriceps in the region of Kermanshah, micronair, electrostatic atomizer, atomizer, lance, and backpack sprayer were recommended, respectively.

In order to evaluate induction of tolerance to salt stress CP73-21 sugarcane commercial cultivar in tissue culture conditions an experiment was conducted in 2014-2015 year, in tissue culture laboratory of Islamic Azad University of Ahvaz. 6 treatments for callus induction (2,4-D at levels: 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 and 3.5 mg/l) were investigated in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The highest callus value (67.5%) was obtained from treated with 3 mg/l. The effect of different levels of salinity 0, 33, 66, 99 and 132 mM were investigated to tolerance of callus in completely randomized design. After 8 weeks, the callus value reduction by 33, 66, 99 and 132 treatments in compare to control were obtained 31, 33, 22 and 26%, respectively.

According to the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, (2009) Kenya’s poverty levels are estimated to be on the decline, while the number of those living below the poverty line is estimated to have increased from 13.4 million in 1997 to about 16.6 million in 2006. The incidence of poverty is higher in rural areas at 49.1 per cent compared with 33.7 per cent in urban areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of linkages on small scale livestock farming in Baringo County. The study adopted the stakeholder’s theory by (Friedman, 1984) which states that the organization itself should be thought of as grouping of stakeholders who manage their interests, needs and viewpoints. He posits that the parties involved in an enterprise, includes governmental bodies, political groups, trade associations, trade unions, communities, financiers, suppliers, employees, and customers, who play a significant role in enterprise success. The research employed stratified random and simple random sampling for data collection. A structured questionnaire using interviews was administered to a representative sample of 67 small-scale livestock farmers. Data was collected on types of links, incidence of links and function of identified link formations. The study hypothesis was tested using Chi-square at 0.05 level of significance. Study findings showed a significant relationship between linkages and small scale livestock performance. The study recommends that agricultural stakeholders such as KVDA, KARI, KLMC and MLFD should partner with the farmers in providing relevant information, so as to facilitate better management of their livestock, training on better technologies, breeding options, and ensure enterprise growth for sustainable economic development. Research on the establishment of community ranches and a meat processing firm within the county be carried for the benefit of the farmers and provide ready market with less exploitation from middlemen.

Soil samples were collected from charnockitic soils of Ekiti state, Nigeria by random sampling using the soil map of Ekiti state as a guide. Surface samples and sub surface samples were dug covering about 100ha. The soils were sandy to loamy sand on the surface to sandy clay in the sub-soil. All the pedons, show consistently increasing clay with depth, pointing to argillic horizon development. Chemical analysis shows that the soil are characterized by high base saturation (>35% by NH4 OAc). The CEC, organic carbon, available phosphorus (Bray1) and total nitrogen were generally low. Most of the nutrient elements decreased with increase in depth.