Browsing by Author "Madege, Richard Raphael"
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Item Artificial intelligence and deep learning based Technologies for emerging disease recognition and pest Prediction in beans (phaseolus vulgaris l.): A systematic review(African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2023) Mahenge, Michael Pendo John; Mkwazu, Hussein; Madege, Richard Raphael; Mwaipopo, Beatrice; Maro, CarolineArtificial Intelligence (AI) and deep learning have the capacity to reduce losses in crop production, such as low crop yields, food insecurity, and the negative impacts on a country’s economy caused by crop infections. This study aims to find the knowledge and technological gaps associated with the application of AI-based technologies for plant disease detection and pest prediction at an early stage and recommend suitable curative measures. An evidence-based framework known as the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) methodology was used to conduct systematic reviews of the state-of-the-art of AI and deep learning techniques for crop disease identification and pest prediction in developing countries. The results demonstrate that conventional methods for plant disease management face some challenges, such as being costly in terms of labour, having low detection and prediction accuracy, and some are not environmentally friendly. Also, the rapid increase in data-intensive and computational-intensive tasks needed for plant disease classification using traditional machine learning methods poses challenges such as high processing time and storage capacity. Consequently, this paper recommends a deep learning and AI-based strategy to enhance the detection, prediction and prevention of crop diseases. These recommendations will be the starting point for future research.Item Climate change; Farm level definition, causes, perceived impacts and coping mechanisms in three farming systems of Tanzania(2016) Madege, Richard Raphael; Msemwa, John; Lymo, DominickDespite the numerous general codes of practices to adapt to climate change, many farming communities are still vulnerable partly due to lack of locally adapted measures. This research was conducted to establish socioeconomic factors influencing vulnerability and adaption to climate change in three farming systems of Tanzania. Participatory techniques were used to investigate how farmers defined climate change, perceived its impacts to agriculture and their coping mechanisms. All had knowledge that climate change is happening but the differed in the way they defined the phenomenon, perceived its impacts and the adaptation strategies they took. More than 80% of the farmers had no correct definition of climate change. 5% to 20% defined climate change in the context of rainfall variability and warming up of the earth. Less than 5% had knowledge that climate change is associated with emission of green house gases, deforestation, environmental degradation, and poor production practices. Positive and negative impacts of climate change were reported in all the farming systems. Between the farming systems, differences in coping mechanisms were noted. Coping strategies and socioeconomic characteristics were correlated. Indigenous coping strategies and the socioeconomic status should be considered when planning for climate sensitive agriculture.Item Effects of antifungal plant extracts on improving maize seedling emergence and plant growth(International Seed Testing Association, 2022) Erasto, Rehema; Madege, Richard Raphael; Kilasi, NewtonMaize seeds are usually contaminated with seed-borne fungi which cause seed deterioration and seedling death. Seed treatment using chemical fungicides is a common practice, although fungicides can reduce seed longevity and lead to residues, resistance, and environmental pollution. This study was conducted to determine the effects of plant extracts (PEs; Azadirachta indica, Coffea Arabica, and Zingiber officinale) on seedling emergence and seedling vigour of certified (CS) and farmer-saved (FSS) seeds of maize. Seeds treated with water-extracted PEs had significantly higher seedling emergence with 85.8% and 61.7% for FSS and CS, respectively, while ethanol-extracted PEs had 6.7% and 7.5% seedling emergence for FSS and CS, respectively. The minimum mean number of days to the first emergence was less for seeds treated with water-extracted PEs (3.0 and 3.3 for FSS and CS, respectively) than those treated with ethanol-extracted PEs (6.3 and 7.0 for FSS and CS, respectively). According to this study, water-extracted PEs are potential candidates in seed treatment, because they have fewer adverse effects on seedling emergence and vigour. Although other studies mention PEs extracted using organic solvents to be the best, the study’s recommendation is to ensure that organic solvents are completely removed from PE solutions before using them.Item Effects of genotype on yield and yield component of soybean (Glycine max (L) Merrill)(2017) Lyimo, Liberatus Dominick; Tamba, Musa Rashid; Madege, Richard RaphaelIn 2013, the multi-location trial was implemented to evaluate the new soybean genotypes for their agronomic performance against the local check. The experiment was conducted in three locations namely Ilonga, Kibaha, and Mlingano in each location a triplicated trial involving six genotypes of soybeans were implemented. The effects of genotype, location and genotype x environment interaction under combined analysis on agronomic yield, and soybean yield were found significant at P<0.05. The highest mean yield was found from TGX 1954-1Fand TGX 1908-8F in all locations. Correlations coefficient for seed yield revealed a positive and significant association with all agronomic yield except 100 seed weight in all locations. The phenotypic coefficient of variation and genotypic coefficient of variation estimates were significantly high for pods per plants (49.49/27.04), while crude protein had the lowest values (1.45/0.98). The finding also revealed that the differences between phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genetic coefficient of variation (GCV) were significantly lower for crude protein (0.45), followed by pod length (1.45) and 100 seed weight (2.6). The result suggests that the environment had less effect on the expression of these traits. Therefore, selection based on these traits might increase soybeans performance in all locations. The findings have demonstrated the stability of traits in different locations which is a useful information in soybean breeding programs. TGX 194-1F and TGX 1908-8F were genotypes with high crude protein content, and revealed stable performance across the three environments. TGX 1987-10F, TGX 1987-20F and TGX 1910-14F had better performance compared to Bossier.Item Prevalence and Management of Phytopathogenic Seed-Borne Fungi of Maize(MDPI, 2023) Erasto, Rehema; Kilasi, Newton; Madege, Richard RaphaelSeed-borne fungi are solemn and deleterious pathogens capable of causing significant losses of quantity and quality losses in maize seeds and seedlings. They infect the crop at all points of the production chain from farms to stores. A yield loss of up to 50% can be encountered. Currently, chemical control of the disease is being implemented, though it is accompanied by several negative effects. This study aimed at identifying seed-borne fungi of maize and effective management options. A deep-freezing blotter method and morphological identification of the fungal species were implemented. The seed-borne fungi detected were Fusarium verticillioides, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium spp., Rhizopus spp., and Curvularia spp. However, in farmer-saved seeds, fungal incidences were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than in certified seeds. To identify more effective management options, the efficacy of water and ethanol-extracted bio-fungicides from three plant species, namely, neem (Azadirachta indica), ginger (Zingiber officinale), and coffee (Coffea arabica) were evaluated. From in vitro assays, ethanol-extracted bio-fungicides have a 100% inhibitory effect on fungal growth, whilst the inhibitory effects of water-extracted bio-fungicides are 55.88% (Azadirachta indica) and 46.31% (Zingiber officinale), followed by 5.15% (Coffea arabica). For the case of an in vivo assay, maize seeds treated with water-extracted bio-fungicides have higher seed germination and seedling vigor percentages. For germination, seeds treated with water-extracted bio-fungicides have higher percentages (neem and ginger (90%) followed by coffee (72.5%)) than ethanol-extracted bio-fungicides (neem (0%), ginger (2.5%), and coffee (0%)). A similar observation is made for seedling weight. Therefore, the tested water-extracted bio-fungicides can be used in treating seeds before sowing them. Further studies on effective methods of extracting bioactive compounds, and improving their shelf life, are recommended.Item A review of selected preharvest management options of aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination of maize in Tanzania(International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Bioresearch, 2022) Tito, Goodluck P; Mugula, Jovin K; Madege, Richard RaphaelMaize (Zea mays L.) is a staple food in Tanzania, but it is often susceptible to aflatoxin contamination caused by the Aspergillus flavus fungi. Aflatoxin contamination in crops is influenced by insufficient knowledge of pre-harvest management practices. Due to the toxic nature of aflatoxins, their proportions and concentrations in various food ingredients are subject to strict regulations in developed countries. The contamination resulting from aflatoxins remains one of the critical mycotoxin challenges in Tanzania because it affects food safety, security, trade, and human health. Either, an integrated combination of intervention measures such as biocontrol is the perfect strategy for sustainable reduction of A. flavus and aflatoxin production in maize. This paper explores several agricultural approaches that potentially reduce aflatoxins production in maize. Selected bio-controls such as Trichoderma spp and Atoxigenic A.flavus are among these strategies. The anticipation of this appraisal is to stimulate improvement of the existing aflatoxin management methods and inventions to exploit their effectiveness in managing toxigenic A.flavus and Aflatoxin production at harvest.