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Pesticidal Plant Treatments Combined with Improved Soil Fertility Can Reduce Damage Caused by Fusarium Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. phaseoli) and Bean Fly (Ophiomyia phaseoli) in Common Bean Production (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)
Get PDFThis research article was published by MDPI, 2024Common bean production is constrained by a multitude of biotic constraints including bean flies and Fusarium wilt in tropical and subtropical farming systems globally. As these pests and diseases attack the crop beneath the soil, excessive applications of synthetic pesticides are frequently used for their control. The use of plant-based pesticides could be a more sustainable management approach; however, few studies have investigated their application for controlling soil-borne pests and diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pesticidal plants and soil fertility management for controlling bean fly (Ophiomyia spp.) and Fusarium wilt (Fusarium spp.) using extracts and pastes of Azadirachta indica, Tephrosia vogelii, Tagetes minuta, Lippia javanica, Cymbopogon citratus and Ocimum gratissimum. To protect against Fusarium wilt and bean fly, pesticidal plants were applied as a seed coating and/or foliar spray, and demonstrated that common bean seeds coated with T. vogelii resulted in higher yields than other pesticidal plants and the synthetic pesticide control treatment. Treatments to target bean fly damage showed no significant difference between application methods on the oviposition rate of bean fly. An integrated treatment of T. minuta with 2 g Diammonium phosphate fertilizer and high compost led to higher yields than other treatments. Our results indicate that key soil-borne pests and pathogens of common bean can be effectively managed without synthetic pesticide inputs, while seed ball pastes of pesticidal plants combined with soil fertility management can increase crop yields using cost-beneficial agroecological farming systems
Enhancing Food Grains Storage Systems through Insect Pest Detection and Control Measures for Maize and Beans: Ensuring Food Security Post-COVID-19 Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by MDPI, 2024COVID-19 poses a significant threat to the present and future of mankind. The emergence of diverse strains during the pandemic creates uncertainty regarding their disappearance or resurgence. Lockdown measures and travel restrictions impact national and household food systems, hindering the movement of people and goods. Effective COVID-19 control requires science-based preventive measures and consideration of food availability. In Tanzania, resource-constrained farmers rely on the self-storage of food crops. Precise pest control information and tailored detection/storage systems are essential for preserving major staple foods such as maize and beans, which face frequent infestation by beetles and moths. Traditional methods used before the pandemic are insufficient compared to advanced global alternatives. This paper reviewed about 175 publications from different databases, dated from 1984 to 2023 (2023 to 2014 = 134, 2013 to 2004 = 26 and 2003 to 1984 = 15), assessing storage management for maize and beans. Identifying gaps between Tanzania and global advancements aiming to empower farming communities with the latest technologies and ensuring food security amid the pandemic
Review of the Current Status on Livestock Abortigenic Diseases Surveillance in Africa and Asia
No full textA research article was published by Preprints.org 2024Introduction: Livestock abortigenic agents, which are microorganisms that lead to
premature foetal death and expulsion before completion of the gestation period, are common in
Africa and Asia. Abortion events cause economic losses by lowering reproduction (and hence
herd/flock sizes) and effects on milk production. Despite the importance of livestock production for
food security and livelihoods of millions of the world’s poorest communities, very little is known
about the scale, magnitude or causes of livestock abortion in Africa. The aim of this review was to
determine the current status of the burden of livestock abortion and surveillance measures adopted
for livestock abortigenic pathogens in Africa and Asia, and to explore feasible surveillance
technologies. Methodology: A systematic literature search was conducted using Preferred
Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines in four databases for
studies published between 1 Jan 1990 and 31 July 2021 that reported epidemiological surveys of
livestock abortigenic pathogens in cattle, goats and sheep in Africa and Asia including; Brucella spp.,
Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii, Rift valley fever virus, Coxiella burnetii, Chlamydia, Leptospira and
Bovine viral Diarrhoea Virus. A meta-analysis was used to estimate the species-specific prevalence of
the abortigenic diseases and the region where they were detected. Results: In the systematic
literature search, 48 full papers were included which in total included 50 species-specific
surveillance reports from Africa and 19 from Asia. Adjusted median seroprevalence calculations
estimated Brucella at 6.85% (range 1.2-11.6) of 9071 sheep, 3.35% (range 0.90-5.40) of 17,007 goats,
8.95% (range 0.50-63.60) of 171,733 cattle, Neospora at 6.80% (range 6.80 -6.80) of 555 sheep, 10.80
(range 10.80-10.80) of 185 goats, 12.65% (range 3.40- 25.60) of 3775 cattle, Toxoplasma at 27.50% (range
1.40 – 75.90) of 2284 sheep, 32.0% (range 20.00- 64.80) of 1226 goats, 7.50% (range 7.50 - 7.50) of 174
cattle, Coxiella at 9.20 (range 9.20 – 9.20) of 184 sheep, 24.20% (range 24.20-24.20) of 91 goats, 13.80%
(range 13.80-13.80) of 217 cattle, Rift valley fever virus at 7.70 (2.40-40.00) of 874 sheep, 20.95 (range
2.50-40.00) of 547 goats, 7.45% (range 3.60-11.30) of 309 cattle, Bovine viral diarrhea virus at 78.90
(range 78.90 – 78.90) of 398 cattle, Leptospira at 70.50 (range 70.50 – 70.50) of 373 cattle and
Chlamydia at 6.60 (6.60-6.60) of 803 sheep. We found that most studies, 45 (89%) used serological
surveys, 1 (2%) used molecular and 1 (2%) reported to have used Mobile-phone based surveillance
approach. Three studies (6.25%) of the 48 included were embedded in the national surveillance
programs of the respective countries they were conducted, majority 89% were stand-alone cross-
sectional studies. Conclusion :In conclusion, livestock abortigenic pathogens are still a burden in
many African and Asian countrie
The Assessment of Heavy Metals and Natural Radioactivity in the Phosphate Tailings at Minjingu Mines in Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by the Journal of Ecological Engineering, Volume 25, Issue 1, 2024Extraction and processing of the phosphate rocks has produced a massive amount of waste and posed a significant
environmental concern. The majority of wastes generated in the fertiliser industry are overburden or waste rocks
from mining, and phosphate tailings (PTs) or phosphogyp-sum from the beneficiation process. Phosphate rock
mining and beneficiation expose heavy metals and radionuclides into the environment, which are harmful to living
things. The purpose of this study was to determine the concentration levels of heavy metals and radionuclides ac-
tivity in the phosphate tailings at Minjingu mines in northen of Tanzania. Heavy metals content and radionu-clide
activity concentration were determined using energy dispersive X-ray fluoresence spectroscopy (ED-XRF) and
high pure garmin energy detector (HPGe), respectively. The concentra-tion of heavy metals investigated ranges:
Cu – 12.9–27.3 mg·kg-1, Fe – 7944.2–19052.2) mg·kg-1, Mn – 410.9–474) mg·kg-1, Ni – 1.9–13.2) mg·kg-1, Al –
3597–13129.2) mg·kg-1, Zn – 195.2–281.7) mg·kg-1, Pb – 0.7–4.5) mg·kg-1 and As – 2.7–11.3) mg·kg-1. The result
revealed that, the concentration level of heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Ni, As, and Pb) are below the permissible level
while concentration level for Zn has high concentration compared to permissible level limit. However, the activ-
ity concentration of radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were ranging from 311 to 7,606 Bqkg-1, 207 to 654 Bqkg-1
and 131 to 762 Bqkg-1, respectively. The reported results of activity concentration of radionuclides are found to be
higher compared to the recommended world value. The study results will be used as a guide for decision making
in addressing problems observed in phosphate tailings, including radiation safety standards for workers and envi-
ronmental systems in phosphate mine
Efficacy of waste stabilization ponds and constructed wetlands adopted for treating faecal sludge in Africa: a review
Get PDFThis research article was published in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research,2024The generation of faecal sludge (FS) in capitals and urban settings of African countries outpaces the available storage, emptying, transportation and treatment technologies. The low technology-based treatment systems for handling FS are preferable and widely adopted in the African context due to their less associated investment and operation costs. The waste stabilization ponds and constructed wetlands were principally developed as wastewater treatment systems however they are widely adopted for treating FS in urban settings of Africa. Less information is known about the efficiency of these systems in lowering FS pollutant concentrations to meet the design specifications and the allowable discharge limits. This paper reviewed the technical efficacy of waste stabilization ponds and the constructed wetlands in treating FS by evaluating the actual treatment efficiency data against the design efficiencies and the maximum allowable discharge limits. The review results revealed that these technologies are user-friendly although they fail to lower the solids concentrations to meet the design and maximum allowable discharge limits. This failure imposes extra costs on operation and maintenance due to the fast filling of solids in the systems hence leading to short-circuiting issues. So, studies on the adequate dewatering technologies of FS before entering the systems are needed
Mobile-Based convolutional neural network model for the early identification of banana diseases
Get PDFThis Research Article was Smart Agricultural TechnologyThis study aimed to deploy a deep learning model in a mobile application for the early identification of Fusarium
Wilt and Black Sigatoka in bananas. In this paper, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model for the clas-
sification of Black Sigatoka banana disease and Fusarium Wilt disease is assessed. A dataset of 27,360 images of
diseased and healthy banana leaves and stalks that were collected from the farms using a mobile phone camera
served as the training data for this model. An extra class of 407 images that are not of the banana plant
downloaded from the internet was used to help the model detect other images not of the banana plant. The CNN
model achieved an accuracy of 91.17 % and was deployed in a mobile application for the classification of the
diseases. This study shows that deep learning can be implemented and assist in the early identification of banana
diseases. The application could detect images of healthy and diseased banana leaves and stalks and images not of
the banana plant with a confidence score of more than 90 % in less than five seconds per image and provide
research-based mitigation recommendations
Mathematical modeling and extraction of parameters of solar photovoltaic module based on modified Newton–Raphson method
Get PDFThis research article was published in the Results in Physics Volume 57, 2024This paper presents a numerical method for estimating four physical parameters of a single-diode circuit model
based on manufacturer’s datasheet. A system of four non-linear equations are formed based on three key
points of PV characteristics. The photocurrent, saturation current, ideality factor and the series resistance are
solved iteratively using the proposed method. The suggested method is validated using RTC France solar cell,
Chloride CHL285P and Photowatt PWP210 modules and the results are verified with respect to the in-field
outdoor measurements. The proposed method shows a good agreement with the experimental data. Lastly,
The model chosen is simulated under MATLB environment to assess the effects of external physical weather
conditions, that is, temperature and solar irradiance. The advantage of the proposed method with respect of
existing numerical techniques is that it converged faster than the widely used Newton method. Modeling of
PV cell/module is essential in predicting performance of photovoltaic generators at any operating condition.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2024.10736
Segmentation-based quantification of Tuta absoluta’s damage on tomato plants
No full textThis article was published by ELSEVIER, 2024The invasion of the tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) poses a significant threat to tomato productivity, leading to
substantial yield losses for farmers. Currently, there is a lack of reliable methods for quantifying the effects of
Tuta absoluta at an early stage before it causes significant damage. This research proposes a deep Convolutional
Neural Network (CNN) model for the segmentation-based quantification of Tuta absoluta on tomato plants. The
proposed quantification method employed a Mask RCNN model that achieved a mAP of 85.67 % and precisely
detected and segmented the shapes of Tuta absoluta-infected areas on tomato leaves. The ability to accurately
detect, segment and count Tuta mines in a tomato leaf image can have a significant impact on the agricultural
industry by enabling farmers to quickly assess the extent of damage to their crops and take appropriate measures
to prevent further losses
Segmentation-based quantification of Tuta absoluta’s damage on tomato plants
No full textThis article was published by Elsevier,2024The invasion of the tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) poses a significant threat to tomato productivity, leading to
substantial yield losses for farmers. Currently, there is a lack of reliable methods for quantifying the effects of
Tuta absoluta at an early stage before it causes significant damage. This research proposes a deep Convolutional
Neural Network (CNN) model for the segmentation-based quantification of Tuta absoluta on tomato plants. The
proposed quantification method employed a Mask RCNN model that achieved a mAP of 85.67 % and precisely
detected and segmented the shapes of Tuta absoluta-infected areas on tomato leaves. The ability to accurately
detect, segment and count Tuta mines in a tomato leaf image can have a significant impact on the agricultural
industry by enabling farmers to quickly assess the extent of damage to their crops and take appropriate measures
to prevent further losses
Processing complementary foods to reduce mycotoxins in a medium scale Tanzanian mill: A hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) approach
Get PDFThis research article was published by Elsevier, 2024.Designing and implementing processing procedures for producing safe complementary foods in dynamic and
unregulated food systems where common food staples are frequently contaminated with mycotoxins is chal-
lenging. This paper presents lessons about minimizing aflatoxins (AF) in groundnut flour and AF and/or
fumonisins (FUM) in maize and groundnut pre-blended flour for complementary feeding in the context of a
dietary research intervention in rural Tanzania. The flours were processed in collaboration with Halisi Products
Limited (Halisi), a medium scale enterprise with experience in milling cereal-based flours in Arusha, Tanzania.
Using a hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) approach for quality assurance, two critical control points
(CCPs) for AF in processing the pre-blended flour were identified: 1) screening maize before procurement, and 2)
blending during the processing of each constituent flour. Blending of maize flour was also identified as a CCP for
FUM. Visual inspection during screening and sorting were identified as important control measures for reducing
AF, but these steps did not meet the criteria for a CCP due to lack of objective measurement and verifiable
standards for AF. The HACCP approach enabled the production of low AF (<5 μg/kg) and FUM (<2 μg/g) flours
with low rejection rates for the final products. The paper presents practical lessons that could be of value to a
range of commercial processors in similar low- and middle-income contexts who are keen on improving food
quality