Farmers’ Perception and Impact of Rice Yellow Mottle Disease on Rice Yields in Burkina Faso

Rice improvement for disease resistance has scarcely involved farmers’ knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa. A participatory rural appraisal was conducted in two main rice cultivation areas in Burkina Faso to assess farmers’ awareness of rice production constraints with emphasis on rice yellow mottle disease (RYMD) and its management. Farmers’ preference for rice varieties to be used in the breeding program was also assessed. Major concerns for rice cultivation as perceived by farmers were water shortage and RYMD. However, relative importance of each constraint depended on the survey areas, RYMD being prominent at Banzon while water shortage predominated at Mogtedo. Mogtedo farmers preferred rice variety FKR19 because of its tolerance to drought. At Banzon, farmers’ first criterion was taste which was reflected in the choice of variety FKR18. Yield was also a major criterion in both areas, positioning NERICA varieties FKR56N, FKR62N, and FKR60N among the top preferred varieties. Farmers mentioned RYMD as the most important rice disease. Most farmers used varietal shifts or pesticide treatments for RYMD management. RYMD incidence reached 28% in average at Banzon over the 2012-2013 main growing seasons. In rice varieties FKR56N, FKR62N and TS2, diseased plants yielded 79.3% less than the healthy ones. Accordingly, based on disease incidence, overall yield loss in the study area was estimated at 22.3%. Altogether, rice production can be significantly increased by taking RYMD into account in a participatory rice breeding strategy.

Comparative Effects of Natural and Synthetic Fungicides on the Pink Root Disease of Onion (<i>Allium cepa </i>L.), in Nursery

Onion is an important vegetable in Senegal horticulture, where it occupies the first place. However in the greatest areas production like the Gandiolais, in the North of Senegal, Pink root disease caused by a soil born fungus Pyrenochaeta terrestris (Hansen) Gorentz, Walker and Larson affects its productivity especially in nursery. On soil sterilized and inoculated by the fungus, we tested 5 natural fungicides and 2 synthetic fungicides, to measure their effectiveness on the Pink root disease on onion, in nursery. The device used is a split plot with 4 repetitions and 8 treatments. The measured variables are the emergence rates, the survival rates and the infestation rates. Our experimentations have shown that, for the emergence rates, there is no significant difference between thiophanate-methyl (Pelt 44), Carbendazim (Bavistine), Azadirachta indica A. Juss and Carica papaya L. It is the same between C. papaya and Moringa oleifera Lam, between M. oleifera and Cassia alata L. It is also the same between C. alata and Crotolaria retusa L. Regarding the survival rates, there is no significant difference between thiophanate-methyl, Azadirachta indica, Carbendazim, C. papaya and M. oleifera. The same is true between M. oleifera and Cassia alata, and between C. alata and C. retusa. Concerning the infestation rates, apart from the control check, all other treatments show no difference.

Socio economic impact of vegetable production in Senegal:a case study of Niayes area

Vegetable production plays a very important role not only as a source of foreign exchange for Senegal and an appreciation of the dietary needs of populations,but also in the context of the policy of diversification.Thus the aim of this analysis is to measure the important economic impact and vegetable industrial actors,find the limited factors of the horticulture development and the perspectives for improving the vegetable production in the area.Our results show that the National production of fruits and vegetables is estimated approximately at 370,000 tons and the Niayes zone constitutes 80%of the domestic production.Horticulture is a sector which creates employments in that area with important incomes earned by both producers and the various intermediaries(commercial process) .The volume of exports has reached 14,321.588 tons in(2002-2003) against 11,125.132 tons in(2001-2002) witnessing than an increase of 28.7%,but the one of imports is very important and represents an outflow of foreign currency estimated at about 3 billion per year.