Browsing by Author "Muthini, M."

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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.
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    Morphological Assessment and Effectiveness of Indigenous Rhizobia Isolates that Nodulate P. vulgaris in Water Hyacinth Compost Testing Field in Lake Victoria Basin
    (British Journal of Applied Science & Technology, 2014) Ombori, O.; Mgutu, Allan Jalemba; Muthini, M.; Maingi, J.M.; Muoma, J.O.; Amoding, A.; Mukaminega, D.; Osoro, N.
    Aims: The study was aimed at isolating, identifying and assessing the effectiveness of indigenous rhizobia nodulating P. vulgaris in Lake Victoria Basin (LVB). Study Design: Randomized complete block design. Place and Duration of Study: Soil and nodule samples were collected from Kisumu (Kenya); Kabanyolo (Uganda) and Nyabarongo (Rwanda). Field experiments: Kisumu (Kenya). Lab and greenhouse experiments: Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences Kenyatta University (Kenya) and Makerere University (Uganda). Research was carried out between January 2012 and April 2013. Methodology: Rhizobia were isolated from nodules obtained from P. vulgaris(rose coco variety) plants planted in the LVB water hyacinth compost trial fields and whole soil trapping experiments in the greenhouse using soil obtained from the LVB. The isolates were characterized using morphological features. Isolates from each group were used in authentication using the infection technique. Results: One hundred and twenty eight isolates were obtained from the trapping experiments and placed into nine groups based on their morphological characteristics. Four hundred and seventy two isolates were obtained from the nodules of the P. vulgaris grown in soils amended with water hyacinth compost and were placed into sixteen groups. The isolates varied in their morphological characteristics. There was a significant difference in the infectiveness and effectiveness of the representative rhizobia isolates. Conclusion: The studies revealed that rhizobia isolates from Lake Victoria are different morphologically. Authentication experiments, confirmed that the majority of the isolates were rhizobia due to their ability to infect the host plant P. vulgaris. All representative isolates varied in their ability to infect and fix nitrogen. Isolates that are more effective compared to the commercial Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar phaseoli strain 446 were isolated in this study. The effective indigenous rhizobia have therefore the potential of being sources of inocula for P. vulgaris
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    Response of micropropagated tissue culture banana (Musa spp.) to acclimatization using arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi
    (African Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, 2023-11-17) Wahome, C. N.; Ombori, O.; Maingi, J.; Njeru, E. M.; Nchore, S. B.; Kimiti, J. M.; Muthini, M.
    The production of banana seedlings through tissue culture provides a reliable source of numerous, disease free, quality plantlets. However, the micropropagation process is faced with a number of challenges. In this study we are focusing on the improvement of survival and growth of the resultant plantlets during the acclimatization process. The viability of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) symbiont in the acclimatization process was assessed. Tissue culture bananas (Kienyeji, Kiganda and Ng’ombe local cultivars) were inoculated with single species AMF Rhizophagus irregularis and Funneliformis mosseae as well as commercial AMF Rhizatech. The survival rate was assessed and plant growth evaluated at a two week interval. Destructive harvesting was conducted followed by assessment of root, shoot and total biomass. The results demonstrated that Kiganda treated with Rhisophagus irregularis and Funneliformis mossae recorded better survival rates compared to treatments with NPK fertilizer and commercial AMF (Rhizatech). Kienyeji cultivar however had a better survival rate when treated with commercial AMF (Rhizatech). Ng’ombe cultivar was very resilient having 100 % survival rate when treated with indigenous AMF, commercial AMF (Rhizatech) and NPK. There were significant differences in the shoot dry weight, root dry weight and biomass in the three banana cultivars. Kiganda and Kienyeji cultivars had the highest biomass when treated with Funneliformis mossae of 0.52 g and 0.83 g respectively. The results in this study confirm that the use of AMF in the acclimatization process improves the overall seedling output of the micropropagation process during the nursery stage of production.