7th Call - Dr. Ken Okwae Fening
Project Title: Enhancing Vegetable Productivity in the Accra Plains through Integrated Crop Management.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Ken Okwae Fening (Soil and Irrigation Research Centre, SIREC, University of Ghana)
Email Address: kokwaefening@ug.edu.gh
Award Amount: GHC 25,000.00
Project Status: On-going
Summary:
Vegetables are among the principal crops grown in Ghana and provide vital food security and income for many farmers. They provide useful vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids for proper body functioning. They are mostly utilised in preparing raw salad, stew and soup that accompany carbohydrate staples and serve to thicken soups and increase the bulk of stews. Thus, about 90% of Ghanaian households serve vegetables as part of their diet every day. In addition, “the increased awareness of the health-protecting properties of non-nutrient bioactive compounds found in vegetables, has directed immense attention to them as vital components of daily diets”. Vegetables have become important foreign exchange earner and support the tourist industries (hotels) in the country. They also play a key role in income generation for both commercial and small-scale farmers in rural areas and migrants in peri-urban and urban areas in Ghana. Despite their importance, vegetables are very susceptible to both biotic and abiotic stresses and these have adversely affected their production. The vertisols (black clay soils) of the Accra plains, particularly along the Kpong-Akosombo hydroelectric dam have a lot of potential for all year round vegetable production due to the availability of freshwater water from the Volta Lake for irrigation. However, these vertisols have poor internal drainage, are sticky and difficult to work on. Additionally, its low porosity impedes root penetration and distribution, a condition which does not promote optimal growth of vegetables which require well aerated loamy soils. The incorporation of bio-char into such difficult soils has been proven to be effective in their improvement. Problems of insect pests and diseases also affect the yield and quality of vegetables grown in thearea. The traditional vegetables grown in the area include pepper, okra, garden eggs and tomato. However, cabbage is increasingly receiving attention as an emerging vegetable with high demand by consumers residing in the towns and cities. Several farmers and farmer organisations and foreign companies in the Accra plains are into the cultivation of high value vegetables such as pepper, tomato, cabbage, French beans, baby corn, and onions, but are facing some of the challenges mentioned above. Intercropping cabbage with onion can be exploited to control pests on cabbage, as the strong odour emanating from the onion is known to repel the pests that are likely to feed on the cabbage. Earlier studies have demonstrated that intercropping cabbage with onion was effective as using insecticides in controlling key pests of cabbage and that intercropping might increase total yield, productivity and profitability. This project seeks to use integrated crop management (ICM) approaches involving the use of different quantities and combinations of organic materials (bio-char from rice and poultry manure) to improve upon soil physico-chemical properties and nutrient uptake by crop, applying recommended rate of inorganic fertilizer, intercropping cabbage with onion and augmenting its effectiveness by spraying them with minimal recommended rate of homemade extract of hot pepper fruit, Capsicum frutescens L. to manage insect pests and diseases, adopting good agronomic and cultural practices that support vigorous and healthy growth of crop and establishing the cost-effectiveness of the ICM package developed. A survey will also be undertaken to solicit baseline information on vegetable crop production and technologies already in use by farmers in the Accra plains.
On-station trials will be undertaken during the minor and major cropping seasons of 2014/15 and 2015/16 at the Soil and Irrigation Research Centre, Kpong. Cabbage and onion will be planted as sole crops and as an intercrop during the period under different organic soil amendment regimes to determine which cropping system is the most productive in terms of their yield, impact on soil physico-chemical properties and effectiveness in managing pests and diseases. This project seeks to develop a sustainable cost-effective ICM technology for farmers to adopt so as to increase vegetable productivity in the Accra plains. It is expected that three graduate students will be trained in this project.