A total of 19 new high yield crop varieties have been released by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology to enhance Nigerian agriculture. The National Variety Release Committee (NVRC) approved the release at its 26th meeting held at its secretariat, National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), …
Farmers in seven Districts of the Upper East Region–Bongo, Builsa North, Builsa South, Pusiga, Nabdam, Binduri and Garu-Tempane–are to increase their incomes from legumes cultivation, with the introduction of a new biological fertilizer, simply known as ‘inoculant’.
The inoculant, a product of Ghana’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), its …
A biocontrol technology called AflasafeTZ could help control the deadly aflatoxin contamination in maize and groundnuts in Tanzania, scientists say.
After a two-year field trial conducted in several sites across Tanzania, AflasafeTZ reduced contamination of food crops with the poisonous fungus by over 85 per cent, according to the results of …
An underrecognized aspect of postharvest loss is contamination of crops with fungal toxins. Aflatoxins, a class of such toxins, cause serious health problems, including liver cancer, and are suspected of contributing to stunting in children. Due to ecological, climatic and agronomic factors, aflatoxin contamination is especially common in sub-Saharan Africa. …
Scientists at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, in St. Louis, MO and their collaborators at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad, India, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Louisiana State University have made a significant research breakthrough by suppressing the aflatoxin-producing fungus …
Aflatoxin contamination of maize and groundnut by Aspergillus section Flavi fungi is perennial in Ghana. Consumption of foods with high aflatoxin content can cause acute liver cirrhosis and death, while sub-lethal chronic exposure may cause cancer, stunting in children, immune system suppression, and impaired food conversion. Animal productivity likewise becomes …
Smallholder farming systems in southern Africa are faced with challenges such as declining soil fertility, low productivity and profitability and the increased need to adapt to climate variability and change. Sustainable intensification of both legume- and maize-based farming systems is needed to increase food, nutrition and income security for smallholders.
Since …
New research has revealed that countries increasingly rely on introduced plants for food and need to cooperate to protect crop diversity.
The study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that awareness of the geographic origin of major food crops is shrinking, threatening conservation and breeding efforts.
Governments should spend …
Many factors have been adduced for food insecurity in third world countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa. Most of these determinants are hinged on natural and artificial logic at the expense of individuals’ failure of contributing to food security drive of world’s leaders which requires investments in wide-ranging food and cash crops. …
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