Enoch Adjei Osekre

Using low-quality maize, resulting from insect pests and fungal attack, for formulating feed reduces chicken performance. This study evaluated the effectiveness of hermetic storage bags to keep insect pest and mycotoxin levels in check in yellow maize. The study was conducted in storehouses at three poultry farms in Dormaa Ahenkro, Bono Region, Ghana. The experiment was set up in a Randomized Complete Block Design with ZeroFly® Hermetic (ZFH), Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS), and Polypropylene (PP) bags as treatments. In each treatment, twelve 50 kg samples of untreated maize were each put in 100 kg capacity bags. Two bags in each treatment were destructively sampled monthly for 6 months. The number of insects was significantly higher in the PP bag (161.00 ± 4.25), compared to the PICS and ZFH bags: 7.00 ± 0.29 and 4.50 ± 0.76, respectively. The PICS and ZFH bags had less insect damage and lower weight loss than the PP bags. Aflatoxin and fumonisin levels were below the recommended safe thresholds of 15 ppb and 4 ppm, respectively, in all the bags. With the exception of ash, proximate analyses were higher for all variables in the PICS and ZFH bags. The study showed that PICS and ZFH bags conserved maize quality better than the PP bag.

Commercial production of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum & Nakai) is increasing in The Gambia, but tephritid fruit flies present a huge challenge to its production. To avoid severe losses, watermelon growers often resort to indiscriminate use of pesticides to manage the pest. Field studies were conducted at two sites (Faraba and Site 3) in the West Coast Region of The Gambia to evaluate two environmentally friendly options (Success Appat (GF-120) and Cocoa Butter Cream) for management of fruit flies on the crop. Dimethoate insecticide, the farmers’ preferred choice, was used as a chemical check and untreated control plots were also maintained. The field plots were arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design and the treatments were replicated three times. The results of the study showed that, even though three species of fruit flies, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), Dacus vertebratus Bezzi and Zeugodacus cucurbitae Coquillett were collected at both study sites, only D. vertebratus infested watermelon fruits. Both Success Appat (GF-120) and Cocoa Butter Cream reduced watermelon fruit infestation and, generally, provided comparable protection as the check (Dimethoate) to watermelon fruits against fruit flies and therefore would be suitable replacements.

Thrips cause damage to seedling cotton, and they are associated with the spread of Fusarium hardlock, a serious disease affecting cotton bolls that r

Cotton hardlock caused by Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc. Nirenberg) can reduce cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., yields >70% in the southeastern Uni