Seed priming is a pre-sowing treatment which leads to a physiological state that enables seed to germinate more efficiently. The majority of seed treatments are based on seed imbibition allowing the seeds to go through the first reversible stage of germination but do not allow radical protrusion through the seed coat. Seeds keeping their desiccation tolerance are then dehydrated and can be stored until final sowing. During subse‐ quent germination, primed seeds exhibit a faster and more synchronized germination and young seedlings are often more vigorous and resistant to abiotic stresses than seedlings obtained from unprimed seeds. Priming often involves soaking seed in predetermined amounts of water or limitation of the imbibition time. The imbibition rate could be somehow controlled by osmotic agents such as PEG and referred as osmopriming. Halopriming implies the use of specific salts while "hormopriming" relies on the use of plant growth regulators. Some physical treatments (UV, cold or heat,..) also provide germination improvement thus suggesting that priming effects are not necessarily related to seed imbibition. A better understanding of the metabolic events taking place during the priming treatment and the subsequent germination should help to use this simple and cheap technology in a more efficient way.

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Seed Priming: New Comprehensive Approaches for an Old Empirical Technique

The projected growth in global food demand has resulted in increased attention towards underutilized crops with the potential to improve global food security and ability to mitigate adverse effects of climate changes. Changing consumer demands in favour of more nutritiously balanced and organically grown crops have added to the interest in species such as amaranth. Promoting the consumption and cultivation of amaranth could be valuable due to its unique nutrient composition and inherent tolerance of drought and other stress factors. Due to current and predicted effects of climate changes, these attributes are becoming increasingly important. Amaranth is a source of high quality protein, as well as dietary fibre and lipids rich in unsaturated fatty acids. The seeds contain desirable levels of minerals, vitamins for human diets, in addition to other bioactive components such as phytosterols, squalene, fagopyritols, saponins and polyphenols. Amaranth is currently in demand by specific consumer groups, such as high-performance athletes, malnourished children, and people suffering from diabetes and coeliac disease. Even so, there are few detailed analyses available concerning the potential for using amaranth to improve and support agricultural productivity in developing countries. The present review has assessed the promotion and improvement of amaranth production in East Africa to hold subtstantial potential for benefitting small-holder farmers in Africa, by providing a stable source of income and food for subsistence farmers, while also mitigating the impact of climate change through the prospect of supporting the establishment of food and nutritional security.

The Potential for Utilizing the Seed Crop Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) in East Africa as an Alternative Crop to Support Food Security and Climate Change Mitigation

Publisher Summary Technologies using low levels of external inputs readily available either on-farm or from nearby off-farm sources are seen by some experts as more appropriate and sustainable to address the demand for food in the next 50 years by improving the productivity of subsistence farmers. This approach, often referred to as low external input agriculture (LEIA), emphasizes the use of techniques that integrate natural processes such as nutrient cycling, biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), soil regeneration, and natural enemies of pests into food production processes. Efforts are also made to minimize losses from the system, such as by leaching or removal of crop residues. The use of non-renewable inputs, such as pesticides and fertilizers that can damage the environment or harm the health of farmers and consumers is also minimized, and more emphasis is placed on the use of such techniques as, for example, intercropping, agroforestry, cover crops, or animal manure. This chapter analyzes the biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics of a number of LEIA techniques that have been evaluated as potential improvements to subsistence agricultural systems. These techniques include intercropping, alley cropping, cover crops and green manures, biomass transfer, compost, use of animal manure, and improved and enriched fallows.

Low External Input Technologies for Livelihood Improvement in Subsistence Agriculture

The study compares the growth, yield, and proximate composition of Amaranthus hybridus, Amaranthus cruentus, and Amaranthus deflexus, grown with poultry manure and NPK in relation to the unfertilized soil of Ilorin, Nigeria. Viable seeds of the Amaranths raised in nursery for two weeks were transplanted (one plant per pot) into unfertilized soil (control) and soils fertilized with either NPK or poultry manure (PM) at 30 Kg ha−1 rate arranged in randomized complete block design with four replicates. Data were collected on plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, leaf area, and number of branches from 1 week after transplanting (1 WAT). Fresh weight, dry weight, and proximate composition were determined at 6 WAT. Except for the length, breadth, and number of leaves, the order of growth parameters and yield in the three Amaranthus species was NPK > PM > control. NPK grown Amaranthus species had the highest protein while PM-grown vegetables had the highest ash content. Crude fibre in A. cruentus grown with PM was significantly higher than NPK and the control. The NPK treatment of A. hybridus and A. deflexus had the highest crude fibre content. NPK and PM favoured growth and yield of the Amaranthus species but influenced proximate composition differently.

https://downloads.hindawi.com/archive/2014/828750.pdf

Effect of NPK and Poultry Manure on Growth, Yield, and Proximate Composition of Three Amaranths

Greenhouse and field experiments were conducted to evaluate the response of okra to different levels of human urine (0, 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 L/ha) and 400 kg/ha NPK 15:15:15 inorganic fertilizer in five riverine communities of Cross River State, Nigeria. The soils of the communities are generally acid with low organic matter, total nitrogen, exchangeable cations, but were rated medium in available P. The pH of the urine was alkaline with moderate amount of nutrients. There was a significant ( P

The use of human urine as an organic fertilizer in the production of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) in South Eastern Nigeria

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Effect of Poultry Manure on Growth and Yield of Maize (Zea mays Var Praecox) in Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria

A field experiment was conducted during the dry season (December – March) in 2005 and 2006. To test the effect of poultry manure (PM) and urea - N on flower initiation and leaf yield of Amaranthus cruentus. Plants fertilized with sole poultry manure at 15 tonnes/ha were significantly (p = 0.05) tallest (90.6cm), while application of a mixture of 30 kg urea-N/ha and 15 tones/ha of poultry manure produced the higher number of leaves per plant (81.7), the largest leaf area (203.0 cm2), highest number of branches per plant (16.0), longest vegetative life span (70 days after planting), highest fresh leaf mass (1.88 kg/plot), highest fresh stem mass (2.25kg/plot) and highest fresh lead yield (12.20 tonnes/ha). This is an indication that combined application of 15 tonnes of poultry manure per hectare and 30 kg Urea-N/ha could prolong the vegetative phase thus, enhancing the leaf productivity of Amaranthus cruentus

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Effect of poultry manure and urea-n on flowering occurrence and leaf Productivity of amaranthus cruentus

An experiment on the optimum planting density and Phosphorus requirement of a local Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivar, 'Graffi' was carried out at the Crop Science Research Farm of the University of Calabar in the humid area of southeastern Nigeria, during the growing seasons of 2007 and 2008. Five Phosphorous rates 90, 20, 30, 40 and 50 kg k O /ha) were applied to five plant densities of Groundnut (47619, 57128, 71428, 95238 and 142857 plants/ha) laid out in a RCB design in three replications. Parameters assessed were plant height, branches plant, dry biomass yield/ha, filled pods/plant and seed yield/ha. Results showed significant (P=0.05) effect of planting density on plant height, while phosphorus rates influenced the number of filled pods/plant and seed yield/ha. Tallest plants with mean height of 53.2 cm were in plots containing 142,853 plants/ha, while the highest mean number of 15.2 filled pods/plant and correspondingly highest mean seed yield of 1078.3 kg/ha were obtained by applying 40 kg P O /ha to 95,238 plants/ha. It was concluded that planting the crop at 95,238 plants/ha with application of 40kg P 0 /ha would enhance optimum productivity of groundnut in the humid areas of southeastern Nigeria. Keywords: Groundnut density, humid areas, phosphorous ultisol, yield.

J. O. Shiyam

Papers

Effect of Poultry Manure on Growth and Yield of Maize (Zea mays Var Praecox) in Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria

Effect of poultry manure and urea-n on flowering occurrence and leaf Productivity of amaranthus cruentus

Growthand yield response of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea l.) to plant densities and phosphorus on an ultisol in southeastern Nigeria

Effect of Seed Priming Method on Agronomic Performance and Cost Effectiveness of Rainfed, Dry-seeded NERICA Rice

Optimizing poultry manure rates for two okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) varieties in a warm wet climate.