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Good quality planting materials for yam cultivation is a major challenge and adapting the most preferred local varieties to high ratio propagation methods such as the vine cutting could help ameliorate this constraint. An experiment was conducted in the screen house at CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute to assess the response of ‘Labako’, ‘Nyamenti’ and ‘Kpamyo’ (check) to vine cutting under different substrates. The experiment was 3 x 6 factorial arranged in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. Single node cuttings were obtained from 3 months old plants and established in the various rooting substrates (carbonized rice husk; fermented rice bran; aged rice husk; top-soil ,cocopeat and carbonized rice husk + top-soil; 2:1).Highly significant differences (P

Despite its seriousness, food fraud has not received the necessary attention in Ghana’s discourse on food safety. Food fraud is generally considered as the intentional misrepresentation of the contents or identity of food for economic gain. The study was aimed at assessing the food fraud awareness level of participants as well as the foods most likely to be implicated in food fraud cases in Tamale, Ghana. Data was collected from 385 participants, including food business operators and consumers, via a simple random sampling technique using a structured questionnaire. Most participants (54%) were not aware of food fraud and its related activities before the study. Beverages and juices, fruits and vegetables, spices, oils, meat and fish, baked foods, honey, milk, and semi-processed local foods such as groundnut paste, "Dawadawa," “Kulikuli zim,” and “Agushi powder” were all revealed to be implicated in food fraud by respondents. Adulteration was the most common food fraud action, but tampering, substitution, and mislabeling were also identified as ongoing in the study area. “Moora” (Bixa orellana seeds) was revealed as the key adulterant used in most foods. Food fraud, which is a threat to consumer health and well-being, is active in the region and is predicted to increase without strict regulation and increased sensitization about its dangers. The fight against food fraud should be refocused on making food defense systems like vulnerability analysis and critical control points (VACCP) a key aspect of food safety systems to tackle food fraud.

To explore the variations in symbiotic N2 fixation and water use efficiency in cowpea, this study evaluated 25 USDA cowpea genotypes subjected to drought under field conditions at two locations (Kpachi and Woribogu) in the Northern region of Ghana. The 15N and 13C natural abundance techniques were respectively used to assess N2 fixation and water use efficiency. The test genotypes elicited high symbiotic dependence in association with indigenous rhizobia, deriving between 55% and 98% of their N requirements from symbiosis. Consequently, the amounts of N-fixed by the genotypes showed remarkable variations, with values ranging from 37 kg·N-fixed·ha-1 to 337 kg·N-fixed·ha-1. Most genotypes elicited contrasting symbiotic performance between locations, a finding that highlights the effect of complex host/soil microbiome compatibility on the efficiency of the cowpea-rhizobia symbiosis. The test genotypes showed marked variations in water use efficiency, with most of the genotypes recording higher δ13C values when planted at Kpachi. Despite the high symbiotic dependence, the grain yield of the test cowpeas was low due to the imposed drought, and ranged from 56 kg/ha to 556 kg/ha at Kpachi, and 143 kg/ha to 748 kg/ha at Woribogu. The fact that some genotypes could grow and produce grain yields of 627 - 748 kg/ha under drought imposition is an important trait that could be tapped for further improvement of cowpea. These findings highlight the importance of the cowpea-rhizobia symbiosis and enhanced water relations in the crop’s wider adaptation to adverse edaphoclimatic conditions.

Cowpea is multipurpose, leguminous, high protein crop in the tropics that provides food for humans and fodder for animals. The crop adds nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil through symbiotic relationship with rhizobia and direct decomposition of cowpea by-products. Despite its multiple benefits for humankind, the yield of cowpea is far below its potential and its production in the crop’s birthplace of Africa is especially affected by abiotic factors. Soil moisture deficit is one of the main abiotic factors that affect the yield of cowpea in the semi-arid tropics, including the Sahelian and Guinea Savannah regions in West Africa. Even though cowpea is a drought tolerant legume, different genotypes respond differently to drought, resulting in up to 100% or more yield increases in the case of resistant genotypes or 50% or more yield loss in case of susceptible types. Mitigating the effect of soil moisture deficit on cowpea production requires selection of genotypes that can withstand drought. With this in mind, the goal of this study was to identify drought tolerant cowpea germplasm for the Savannah region of Northern Ghana using cultivated genotypes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) tested with and without irrigation at the Bontanga irrigation facility during the dry season in 2018. Fifty genotypes were used, which included 45 imported from USDA and five (5) local genotypes from the Savannah Agriculture Research Institute (SARI). The experiment had 2 × 50 factorial treatments (irrigation × genotypes) and consisted of randomized complete block design with three (3) replications per treatment. Two (2) watering regimes were introduced namely, drought stressed (no irrigation) and non-stressed/control (irrigated). Morpho-physiological, phenological and yield data were taken on the cowpeas evaluated with drought tolerance assessed based on grain yield data and derived indices. All parameters measured showed significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) except for the number of branches per plant. Genotypes PI339600, PI527263, PI527302, PI582793, PI582867 and SARI-6-2-6 produced high grain yields under both drought stress and non-stress conditions. These genotypes could be exploited for future breeding programs for developing drought tolerant cowpea varieties for the savannah ecology and other areas with similar environmental conditions.