Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research

Orange production provides both nutritional and financial benefits to farmers across Africa. However, these farmers do not realize the full benefits due to low yields caused by poor agronomic practices currently applied in the region. This guide, therefore, highlights key practices that farmers need to adopt for better yields. Farmers should always follow the best practices right from the selection of a variety to harvesting practices for high yield and better quality fruits to be achieved. Proper land preparation helps in early weed control and improves water infiltration and growth of roots. Weeds should always be kept below economic thresholds to ensure efficiencies in the use of water and nutrient. Like other plants, oranges require proper nutrition for growth and development of big fruits. Both manure and inorganic fertilizers should be applied depending on the availability and cost. Soil analysis helps in determining the rates of application. During production, farmers should scout for pests such as aphids, false codling moth, whiteflies, leaf miners, thrips, fruit fly and common spiral nematode and diseases like Pseudocercospora leaf and fruit spot, Phytophthora spp. and orange fruit scab which are common in the area. These pests cause significant yield losses if not timely controlled. When ready, harvesting of fruits should be careful and gentle without causing injuries.

Garden egg (Solanum spp) growth and development is affected in varying drought and poor soil conditions in Ghana. A study was conducted to identify the response patterns of garden egg genotypes root growth and plants water status under varying moisture stressed conditions of the Coastal and Sudan Savannahs of Ghana. A two year experiment was conducted on sixteen genotypes of the crop in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications at Manga Agricultural Research Station in the Upper East Region, and University of Ghana, Legon experimental farm in the Greater Accra Region. At the first fruit maturity stages of around 80-90 days after transplanting, genotypes roots and shoots dry matter and leaf relative water contents (LRWC) data were collected and analyzed using GenStat Statistical Software. The genotype x location interaction significantly affected the genotypes LRWC and root growth in the dry season and moisture-stressed conditions. The moisture stressed tolerant genotypes maintained relatively high LRWC and root-shoot dry matter across locations of Manga and Legon. There were varied and location specific genotypes in root growth and LRWC, with the conditions of Manga favouring higher root growth than Legon; and that of Legon favouring higher retention of LRWC than Manga. The genotypes under the moisture stressed conditions had their LRWC varying from 50.6% to 65% at Legon and from 47.4% to 56% at Manga. Their root-shoot ratios varying from 0.24-0.35 at Legon and from 0.39-0.52 at Manga. The contributions of roots to total plant dry matter also varied from 15.6% to 20.5% at Legon and 22.5% to 30.1% at Manga. The genotypes that sustained higher root growth and retained LRWC of 57% and above under the moisture stressed conditions across locations were A3, A6B, A7, A8, A9A, and A11. These are attractive genotypes for garden egg improvement under moisture stressed conditions of the Coastal and Sudan Savannah agro-ecologies of Ghana. 

The objective of the experiment was to investigate the influence of organic (poultry) manure, inorganic manure (N.P.K) and their combination on the growth and yield of sweet pepper in the transitional zone of Ghana. The experiment was conducted at the research field of the College of Agriculture Education, University of Education Winneba, Mampong campus in 2017. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) which consisted of four treatments with 4 replications. The treatment groups were: Control (no soil amendment), 10 t/ha PM, 300 kg/ha N.P.K, and 5 t/ha PM + 150 kg/ha N.P.K. All the treatments were given fair and equal attention in terms of watering, weeding and disease and pest control. The result showed that 10 t/ha PM recorded (P=.05) the tallest plant height, greater number of leaves and leaf area per plant, days taken for 50% bud appearance and flowering, the highest number of flowers per plant and the minimum days to fruit set, highest number of fruit set minimum days to harvesting with the control been the least in all traits. Similarly, 10 t/ha PM recorded (P=.05) had the highest number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight and fruit yield while the control treatment recorded the least in all traits. This study concludes that the application of poultry manure improves the productivity of sweet pepper. This study recommends that 10 t/ha PM is an ideal for maximum vegetative growth and yield of sweet pepper.

Dormancy is a condition where seeds will not germinate even when the environmental conditions (water, temperature and aeration) are permissive for germination. Wild guavas (Psidium guajava L.) are very popular in all agro-ecological zones of Eswatini. Farmers have shown an interest towards guava cultivation but have to cope with the shortage of quality propagation material. The demand is not fulfilled because of unavailability of superior seedling rootstocks, which might be due to poor seed germination and seedling growth. Nevertheless, it has been reported that guava seeds exhibited seed dormancy, which affects their growth and development. The experiment was carried out to study effects of different pre-germination methods on seed germination of guava. The study was conducted at the University of Eswatini, Luyengo Campus. The objective of the study was to get maximum germination of guava seeds in as short a time as possible. Four methods were used i.e.,  soaking in distilled water for five days at room temperature, soaking in hot water at 80ºC for three minutes, subjecting seeds to heat at 80ºC in oven for six minutes and soaking in 20% dilute sulphuric acid for three minutes. All these treatments significantly decreased days to germination of seeds compared with the control. Among the methods, treatment of guava seeds with 20% dilute sulphuric acid for three minutes was judged best with maximum germination percentage (93.3%); lowest germination mean time was observed in seeds soaked in distilled water (31 days). Highest plant height (44 mm) and highest stem girth of (3.37 mm) were recorded from seeds soaked in sulphuric acid after 150 days of sowing. Seeds without any pre-germination treatment showed poor germination (26.7%). On the basis of the findings, it can be recommended that propagators use sulphuric acid in seed priming for higher germination, growth and development.

Explant types, anti-oxidant pre-treatments, organic additives, natural additives, vitamins mix strengths, cytokinin types and concentrations, different medium strengths, GA3 concentrations, auxin types and concentrations were studied during the period from 2017 to 2018 to establish a protocol for in vitro propagation of Myrtle. It was found that culturing of pre-treated shoot tips with anti-oxidant solution (A.O.S) on modified Murashige and Skoog (MS), or Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with PVP as anti-oxidants induced the best results in reducing free phenolic compounds and enhancing explant development parameters. Also, adding combination of  tryptophan, adenine sulphate and coconut water as organic additives maximized survival percentage and improved explant development. In the same time, adding combination of coconut water at  5% plus Banana pulp plus Papaya extract at 50 g/L of were helpful in maximizing number of shoots/plant, shoot length and greening parameters. Also duplicating the dose of vitamin mix of Gamborg medium improved explants development and survival (%) of explant. Meanwhile, using of 1.0 mg/ L BAP increased proliferation. Meanwhile, addition of 2.0 mg/ L GA3 to half strength medium maximized shoot length. Moreover, the addition of 2.0 mg/L IBA to the culture medium induced the highest number of roots/plant.