RP-Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences

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Browsing RP-Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences by Author "Amoding, A."

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    Compatibility of Rhizobium inoculant and water hyacinth compost formulations in Rosecoco bean and consequences on Aphis fabae and Colletotrichum lindemuthianum infestations.
    (Elsevier, 2014) Ombori, O.; Naluyange, V.; Ochieno, D.M.W.; Maingi, J.M.; Mukaminega, D.; Amoding, A.; Odendo, M.; Okoth, S. A.; Shivoga, W.A.; Muoma, J. V.O.
    The common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris is an important crop for food security and nitrogen fixation through Rhizobium symbiosis. Commercial Rhizobium inoculants are being promoted to fix nitrogen and enhance bean production in the Lake Victoria basin. Rhizobium symbiosis depends on nutrients, especially phosphorus, which is widely applied as diammonium phosphate (DAP) in the Lake Victoria basin. Water hyacinth, Eichornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms-Laubach (Pontederiaceae) is being developed into compost, with perceived benefits of improving crop production and limiting its disastrous spread in Lake Victoria. High nutrient content in water hyacinth compost can stimulate Rhizobium nodulation and nitrogen fixation, consequently improving plant growth and pest resistance. However, it is not yet established whether Rhizobium inoculants and water hyacinth composts are compatible options for plant growth promotion and pest suppression in beans. A field experiment with two trials was conducted to assess the compatibility of commercial Rhizobium inoculant, DAP, cattle farmyard manure (FYM), and four formulations of water hyacinth compost i.e., water hyacinth only (H), with molasses (H+Mol), cattle manure culture (H+CMC) or effective microbes (H+EM). Rhizobium inoculated plants had high number of root nodules when grown with H+CMC and H+EM. Plants were large in size with short development period when grown with the composts, especially H+CMC and H+EM. Those grown with H+EM produced high number of flowers. Rhizobium inoculated plants had high anthracnose incidence than non-inoculated ones when grown with H+CMC. Those grown with H+EM had low anthracnose incidence, but was high in FYM. During flowering, Rhizobium inoculated plants had higher Aphis fabae population than non-inoculated ones when grown in FYM or without fertilizer. Those grown with H+EM had the lowest A. fabae population. Yields in water hyacinth compost were improved, especially for H+CMC in the second trial. DAP treated plants had more flowers and pods having heavy seeds, with low anthracnose and A. fabae infestations; but had low germination rates that reduced the yields. In conclusion, the commercial Rhizobium inoculant is predominantly compatible with water hyacinth compost formulations containing effective microbes and cattle manure culture, which could enhance tolerance of bean plants to aphids and possibly to anthracnose disease. These two water hyacinth compost formulations need further investigation for their potential in enhancing food production and alleviating the water hyacinth problem in the Lake Victoria basin.
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    Effects of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes [mart.] solms) compost on growth and yield parameters of maize (Zea mays).
    (SCIENCEDOMAIN International, 2013-11-18) Osoro, N.; Muoma, J.O.; Amoding, A.; Mukaminega, D.; Muthini, M.; Ombori, O.; Maingi, J.M.
    Aims: To evaluate the effects of water hyacinth compost prepared with various cultures on growth and yield parameters of maize. Study Design: Randomized Complete Block Design. Place and Duration of Study: Field experiments were carried out at Otonglo Division in Kisumu County and greenhouse trials were carried out at Kenyatta University from November 2011 to August 2012. Methodology: The water hyacinth compost was prepared using effective microorganisms (EM) solution, cow manure and molasses separately as starter cultures for composting. The compost was applied on maize (H513) on separate growth pots in the greenhouse and plots in the field. The treatments applied included compost prepared with EM (8.84 g/pot), compost prepared with cow manure (8.84 g/pot), compost prepared with molasses (8.84g/pot), diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer (70.7 mg N/pot) and control (without fertilizer). For the field experiments, water hyacinth compost was applied at a rate of 5000 kg ha-1 and DAP at 40 kg N/ha. The experiments had five treatments and three replications for each treatment in the greenhouse and four treatments replicated four times in three farmers’ fields. Results: Application of water hyacinth compost and DAP significantly influenced positively (P ≤ 0.05) the growth attributes of maize. Among the various treatments of the compost, water hyacinth compost prepared with EM (WHE) performed better in most parameters evaluated including plant height, shoot dry weight, root dry weight and root collar diameter. Yield parameters such as 100 seed weight and grain yield were not significantly (p > 0.05) influenced by various treatments. Conclusion: Water hyacinth which is locally available and in large quantities (especially in lake Victoria) can be composted to prepare organic fertilizers and effectively used as an organic soil amendment to restore soil and increase maize production.