Browsing by Author "Mtengeti, Ephraim Joseph"

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Morphological Characterization of Selected Ecotypes of African Foxtail Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) from Selected Areas of Tanzania
(Tanzania Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2021) Lutatenekwa, Dorice L.; Mtengeti, Ephraim Joseph; Msalya, George Mutani
This study was conducted to assess morphological variation of African foxtail grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) ecotypes in natural habitats from three selected districts namely; Kilolo, Mpwapwa and Kiteto in Tanzania. In each district two villages were selected and assessment of morphological traits was done at one site for each village. Three plots of 10 m diameter, 40 m apart were made in each site. Ten tussocks of African foxtail grass were randomly selected from each plot to assess height, tiller number, leaf number, leaf length and inflorescence length. Environmental characteristics like altitude, vegetation and soil types were also assessed because they affect morphological traits of African foxtail grass. The lowest altitude was in Kilolo (Malolo village) at 528 masl and the highest was at 1613 masl in Kiteto (Twanga village). The soil texture was primarily sandy clay, with pH ranging from moderate acidic of 5.6 to moderate alkaline of 8.3. The recorded average annual rainfall and temperature ranged from 643 – 1157 mm and 19.4 to 24oC respectively in study areas. The vegetation was influenced by anthropogenic activities mainly grazing and farming. The study found a significant variation for all morphological traits assessed across the selected ecotypes. Ecotypes from Kilolo and Mpwapwa districts had relatively higher mean values for all traits assessed except tiller numbers while ecotypes from Kiteto district had low mean values for all traits except tiller numbers. The study concludes that African foxtail grass is morphologically variant among and within ecotypes. Further assessment of these ecotypes when grown under similar environmental conditions is recommended to reaffirm the morphological variation.
Plant structure in relation to ease of physical breakdown in the mouth and rumen
(University of Wales, 1993-09) Mtengeti, Ephraim Joseph
Grassland species were grown in the field and glasshouse and research was carried out for two years to investigate plant vascular structure in relation to physical breakdown in the mouth and rumen. Plant part morphology, vascular structural proportion and arrangement, fresh plant diet eating rate by sheep and particle breakdown characteristics were recorded. Anatomical differences, especially vascular tissue arrangement, appeared to be a major cause of the differences in intake rate between legumes and grasses. Four legumes did not differ significantly in terms of intake rate but differed significantly in terms of the proportion of vascular tissues, neutral detergent fibre content and digestibility. Tropical grasses had a higher proportion of vascular tissues, higher neutral detergent fibre content, lower digestibility, lower intake rate and were chewed into smaller particles than temperate grasses. Legumes were eaten faster and had larger particles after chewing than grasses. Legume and grass particles had a similar number of perforations or ruptures per particle. Legume leaf petiole and stem particles were longer than leaflet particles and increased the overall mean particle length of the chewed material. Petioles and stems are, therefore, important in legume particle size reduction in the mouth and rumen. Regardless of grass species, the veins of the leaf sheaths were more widely spaced than those in leaf blades, but the two plant parts were chewed to a similar particle size. Despite having a high proportion of stem and neutral detergent fibre, lucerne and spurrey were eaten quickly, showing the advantage, in respect of intake rate, of having thin pliable and/or fragile stems. The results of the present project indicate that the physical structure of plants, especially the arrangement of the vascular tissue, and plant morphology have great influence on the physical breakdown of the plants in the mouth and rumen.
Vegetation Composition, Forage Biomass and Soil Seed Bank of a Continuously Grazed Rangeland Site in Tropical Sub-Humid Environment, Tanzania
(SET Publisher (Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences), 2022-06) Mdegela, Tito Eleutery; Maleko, David Dawson; Msalya, George Mutani; Mtengeti, Ephraim Joseph
Most rangelands along the agro-pastoral villages of Tanzania are yearlong grazed and at various states of degradation. These rangelands contribute to over 60% of the meat and milk production in the country. An inventory was conducted to assess the status of grazing resources in a typical agro-pastoral village of Tanzania having communal rangelands. Systematic random sampling techniques were employed whereby line transects and quadrat frame were used following standard procedures to collect samples and undertake field measurements for both vegetation and soil parameters. The vegetation cover for desirable pasture species, undesirable pasture species and litter were 67.7%, 10.5% and 9.4%, respectively. The soil bare patches covered 12.3 % of the surveyed rangeland site. The most dominant grass species were Enteropogon macrostachyus, Bothriochloa insculpta and Heteropogon contortus. Forage dry matter (DM) yield was 806.8 kg DM/ha. Tree density was 1500 trees/ha and the total canopy cover was 63.49%. Combretum collinum was the most dominant tree species. Soil bulk density, pH, 3 organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were 1.4 g/cm , 6.3%, 1.14%, 0.09%, 0.89 mg/kg and 0.33 g/kg, respectively. A total of 11 dicotyledonous species mainly forbs and 9 monocotyledonous species including two perennial grasses were revealed from the incubated soil samples. The findings of this study demonstrate that the communal grazing areas have low pasture productivity, poor soil seed-bank and high cover of woody plants mainly bushes. In order, to improve forage biomass at the study site and elsewhere with similar environments selective bush clearing and re-seeding should be considered.