Browsing by Author "Paul Kamweru,Tindibale Edward"

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Effects of UV light in Mechanical properties and production of Vitamin D2 in Mushrooms.
(Chuka University, Division of Academic, Research and Student Affairs, 2015-10-05) Paul Kamweru,Tindibale Edward
The semi-arid regions of Kenya have few crop enterprise options with the increased climate variability. Livelihoods could be improved through white sorghum production which has comparative advantage over other crops. One of the major constraints of white sorghum production is bird damage on the grain from milk or dough stage. A two seasons study was set up at Katumani (Machakos), Kampi Mawe (Makueni) and Ithookwe (Kitui) to delimit bird damage levels when a trap crop like millet was incorporated in the farm. The results showed that the highest bird infestation was recorded at Katumani plots where Serirus reichonowi cumulatively reached over 2,000 individuals at two sites in a month. It was noteworthy that the Quelea quelea species was not in Katumani. The second highest bird infestations was at Kampi by Q. quelea with a month‘s cumulative level of 842. Grain yield loss was highest at Katumani (99-100%), corresponding to the high bird infestation level. The second highest yield loss occurred at Kampi (60%) which had also the second highest bird numbers. Exploring the possibility of early harvest of sorghum grain as the birds feed on millet indicated that this would be at the crop physiological maturity of the grain stage. The highest yield achieved due to effect of millet as a trap crop was at Ithookwe (19.3 t ha-1) with less than 10% grain loss compared to Katumani with 100% loss. At the two sites of Ithookwe and Kampi, it was possible to grow sorghum for real economic benefits in the presence of millet to fetch between US$ 3,860 and US$ 4,740 within 3 months. This justifies why farmers should grow sorghum intercropped with millet in the semi-arid lands even in the presence of the menace of bird damage