Assessment of factors hindering marketing among smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers in Polokwane Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Thesis (MSc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021The South African agricultural sector plays an important role in creating jobs, alleviating food insecurity and poverty, and also contributes to exports. Agricultural produce from smallholder farmers is often lost after production due numerous marketing challenges which make it difficult for smallholder farmers to explore full market potentials. This, among other challenges, reduces smallholder farmers’ motivation to participate in formal (commercial) or high-value markets. The study aimed at assessing factors hindering marketing among smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers in the Polokwane Municipality. The objectives of the study were to: identify and describe socio-economic characteristics of smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers; examine the influence of socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers; identify factors hindering marketing among smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers and constraints faced by smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers in the study area. Primary data with a sample size of hundred and twenty smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers was used. Descriptive statistics, the Marketing Hindrance Index and Tobit Model were employed as analytical tools to achieve the objectives of the study. Results of data analysis revealed that there are factors hindering marketing among smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers in the Polokwane Municipality. The major factors affecting smallholder farmers are source of water and types of vegetables grown, respectively. From the Tobit Model results, access to credit, access to reliable information about marketing, age, access to storage and farming experience in years were found to be significant. In view of the research findings, the recommendations of this study include: encouraging youth participation in agriculture, improved access to agricultural information and formal market access, improved access to credit and enabling accessibility through the development of better infrastructure in the form of storage facilities

The effect of maize-legume cropping system and nitrogen fertilization on yield, soil organic carbon and soil moisture.

Ph. D. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.Crop rotation and intercropping are regarded as better cropping in terms of yield improvement of both cereal and legume crops as compared to monocropping. A factorial experiment was carried out at three dryland localities of Northwest province (Potchefstroom, Rustenburg and Taung) from 2010/11 to 2012/13 planting seasons. The experiment consisted of three cropping systems, monocropping, intercropping and rotational cropping. Two rates of nitrogen fertilizer, zero and optimum levels based on soil analysis results prior to planting were applied on maize and cowpea plots. Soil moisture content was evaluated during three growth stages at different depths of the soil (0-15, 15-30, 30-60 and 60-90 cm) using gravimetric method. Parameters considered for the study included the followings: 100% tasseling/flowering, days to physiological maturity, plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area in maize, stem diameter in maize, ear length in maize, ear mass , kernel number per ear, hundred seed mass, grain yield in maize, LER, plant population at harvest and stover yield in maize, number of leaves and nodules per cowpea plant, pod length, seed per pod, pod mass at harvest, grain, field biomass yield at harvest, cowpea leaf, immature pod, seed protein content and maize seed protein, oil, starch and phosphorus content. The analysed soil chemical properties included soil organic carbon using Walkley Black method, soil Bray 1-P; N-NO3, N-NH4 and exchangeable K. Cropping system had significant effect (P < 0.05) on the growth and yield of maize. Cowpea-maize rotation and monocropping maize had tasseled earlier, reached days to physiological maturity earlier, had large leaf area, higher number of leaves per plant, ear mass, kernel number, seed mass, grain yield and stover yield. Maize-cowpea rotation and monocropping cowpea had significantly (P < 0.05) higher number of leaves per plant, seed per pod, pod mass, grain yield and field biomass yield than intercropped cowpea. Cropping system had significant effect (P < 0.05) on soil organic carbon; Bray 1-P and soil nitrate (N-NO3). The interaction effect of cropping system on cropping system x nitrogen x site on maize yield, cowpea growth, protein content and soil N-NO3 contributed towards significant of this study. The chapters of this thesis represent different studies presented as different articles. Chapter 1 is a general introduction to explain the study background and hypothesis. Chapter 2 is on the effect of maize-cowpea cropping system on soil moisture content. Chapter 3 is on crop rotation and intercropping cowpea with maize: maize growth and yield. Chapter 4 is on crop rotation and intercropping cowpea and maize: cowpea growth and yield. Chapter 5 is on the effect of crop rotation and intercropping on cowpea crude protein. Chapter 6 is on the maize seed quality in response to crop rotation, intercropping and nitrogen fertilization. Chapter 7 is on the effect of maize-cowpea cropping system on soil chemical composition. The last chapter 8 is a general discussion and conclusion

Evaluation of yield and protein content ot two cowpea cultivars grown under diferent management practices

Thesis (M.Sc. (Horticulture)) --University of Limpopo, 2009Field experiments were conducted at the University of Limpopo experimental farm, Syferkuil during 2005/06 and 2006/07 production seasons. This was initiated to examine the effect of leaf removal on cowpea biomass, protein content and grain yield under sole and binary cultures. Treatments consisted of cowpea varieties (Pan 311 and Red caloona), cropping systems (sole and intercropping) and cowpea-leaf pruning regimes (pruning and un-pruned). Sweet corn was planted, as a component crop in the intercropped plots while sole sweet corn plot was included as a treatment. All treatment combinations were laid out as Randomize complete block design (RCBD) with four replicates. Supplementary irrigation was carried out during the plant growth period. Fully expanded leaves were harvested once on all cowpea plants in the two middle rows from designated plots at seven weeks after planting for each year. Growth and yield data were collected from component crops during the course of the trial while the protein content of harvested leaves and immature pods as well as the different cowpea plant parts at harvest were determined. Results of the study revealed that leaves of cowpea variety, Pan 311 harvested prior to the reproductive stage had significantly higher protein content than those of Red caloona. Protein content of immature Pan 311 pods had higher (18.8 to 25.1%) than Red caloona (17.9 to 20.7%) during both planting seasons. The percent protein content of cowpea stem obtained at harvest for Pan 311 varied between 9.3 and 9.4%, and between 9.9 and 12.3% for Red caloona during both planting seasons. Grain yield obtained for Pan 311 and Red caloona were 1703.7 kg ha-1 and 1479.8 kg ha-1, respectively during 2005/06 and 1290.7 kg ha-1 and 511.7 kg ha-1 respectively during 2006/07 planting seasons. Sweet corn intercropped with Red caloona during both planting seasons had higher average grain yield than when intercropped with Pan 311. Although intercropping decreased the partial land equivalent ratio (LER) value of individual component crops, the combined LER values of between 1.1 and 2.3 under intercrop for the different treatment combinations implies that the practice is advantageous. The results of post harvest soil analyses revealed that topsoil has the pH value of 7.11-7.29 indicating neutral soil while subsoil pH value of 6.27-6.91 indicated slightly acidic to neutral soil during both planting seasons. Based on the findings of this study, cowpea variety Pan 311 can be recommended as a better vegetable crop than Red caloona since it has higher leaf and immature pod protein content. It also had higher grain yield than Red caloona when intercropped with sweet corn. Sweet corn had high grain yield when intercropped with Red caloona than when intercropped with Pan 311. Keywords: Cropping systems, protein content, grain yields, leaf pruning and cowpea

Yields and protein content of two cowpea varieties grown under different production practices in Limpopo province, South Africa

A three-factorial field experiment was carried out at the University of Limpopo experimental Research farm during two planting seasons (2005/06 and 2006/07) to examine the effect of cowpea-leaf removalon cowpea performance. Three treatment factors namely cowpea varieties (Pan 311 and Red Caloona), cropping systems (sole and intercropping) and cowpea-leaf pruning regimes (pruned and un-pruned) were combined and arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Sole cowpea and sweet corn treatments were included and all treatments replicated four times. Fully expanded cowpea leaves on all cowpea plants in the two middle rows were harvested once at seven weeks after seed sowingprior to flowering. Growth and yield component data were collected from component crops while the protein content of harvested leaves and green pods as well as those of grains and the fodders at harvest were determined. The results of the study revealed that cowpea leaf protein content ranged from 24.1 to 28.1% and 26.0 to 30.7% for Red Caloona and Pan 311, respectively. The protein content of green cowpea pods obtained from Pan 311 cowpea variety ranged from 18.8 to 25.1% while that of Red Caloona varied between 17.9 and 20.7%. Similarly, the protein content of the fodder obtained after grain harvest varied between 9.3 and 9.4% and 9.9 and 12.3%, respectively for Pan 311 and Red Caloonaduring the two seasons. The protein content of cowpea grain obtained from intercropped plots (23.7 to 26.3%) was similar to that from sole plots (23.7 to 25.7%). In 2005/06, grain yield was 1704 kg ha-1 and1480 kg ha-1 respectively for Pan 311 and Red Caloona while 1291 and 512 kg ha-1 were obtained for Pan 311and Red Caloona, respectively in 2006/07. There was a significant season x varietal effects on podand seed protein content. These results reveal that Pan 311 would be better suited for both vegetable and grain production purposes for human consumption while Red Caloona would better serve as a fodder crop for animal production. The results also show that neither cropping system nor cowpea leaf pruning did have consequential effects on the nutritional value of cowpea plant parts and grains

Cowpea: a legume crop for a challenging environment

Running title: Cowpea for a challenging environmentCowpea is a grain legume native from Africa and is a primary source of protein for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the developing world. The main important characteristics of this crop include a good protein quality with a high nutritional value, its nitrogen-fixing ability, and an ability to be more drought- and heat-tolerant than most of its legume relatives. In a research perspective, studies of cowpea are relatively scarce, despite its relevance to agriculture in the developing world and its resilience to stress. The present review provides an overview of different aspects of cowpea, with a special emphasis on the molecular markers for assessing genetic diversity, as well as on biochemical and transcriptomic data with respect to evaluating cowpea drought stress tolerance. The integration of both datasets will be useful for the improvement of cowpea because research on drought stress tolerance is of major interest for this crop in a challenging environment. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.This work is supported by European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/POCI—Operacional Competitiveness and Internacionalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and National Funds by FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Effect of Plant Density, Zinc Added to Phosphorus Fertilizer Sources and Location on Selected Yield Parameters of Soybean

Background: Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is an annual herbaceous leguminous grain crop which is cultivated mainly for its oil and protein. The objective of the study was to determine the effects of plant density and zinc added to phosphorus fertilizer sources on soybean yield performance under different environmental conditions. Methods: A field trial was executed in two sites during the 2018/19 and 2019/20 summer planting seasons. The experimental design involved a 2 × 2 × 5 factorial fitted into a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The experiment consisted of two plant densities, a lower plant density of 66 666 plants/ha and a higher plant density of 111 111 plants/ha. The five different types of fertilizer treatments were single superphosphate, monoammonium phosphate, zinc sulphate added to single superphosphate, zinc sulphate added to monoammonium phosphate and control. Result: The results showed that plant density has a significant effect (P less than 0.05) on soybean number of pods per plant and the field biomass yield. Soybean planted under lower plant density conditions produced a significantly larger number of pods per plant during both planting seasons, whereas higher plant density conditions resulted in a higher soybean field biomass yield during the 2018/19 planting season. It was observed that soybean treated with monoammonium phosphate had higher seed mass. </jats:p

Perceptions and experiences of affiliates on employee counselling: an employee assistance programme perspective

A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts (in Occupational Social Work and Research), to the Department of Social Work, School of Human and Community Development, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2021Services rendered by employee assistance programmes (EAPs) in organisations provide resolutions to employees’ personal problems that impact their performance at work and enable employees to reach their full potential beneficial to both the employee and their employer. The benefits of the EAP involve, healthy employees spending less on health care, taking fewer sick leaves, showing more productivity and greater performance. The primary aim of this study is to explore the experiences of affiliates on the roll-out of employee counselling and how they perceive their treatment and or conditions of the programme in the workplace. The objectives of the study were; to describe the external model of EAP, to explore affiliates’ experiences on employee counselling and explain how the service is rendered, to explore and describe the roles played by affiliates when conducting EAP individual counselling, to explore the views of affiliates on the strengths and weaknesses of EAP individual counselling. The study was qualitative and used a case study as the research design. The population of the study was affiliates, registered to practice in South Africa with over 3 years of work experience. A sample of 10-15 affiliates was selected using purposive sampling. The collection of data was completed over a semi-structured interview schedule and face to face interviews and data was analyzed through thematic content analysis. The findings of this study presented that employee counselling benefits both employees and organisations and the execution of the programme vary from one company to the other. Additionally, affiliates are faced with numerous challenges while providing counselling to employees as well as successes such as reduced absenteeism, high motivation, increased productivity, and increased concentration. However, there is still a need for effective management strategies to manage challenges experienced within the external model of EAPC

Cowpea yield under the influence of cropping system, location and nitrogen fertilization

Yield production of cowpea depends largely on the environmental factors, cropping systems and soil type of the location. In this way, an experiment was conducted to investigate the interaction effect of cropping system, location, season and nitrogen fertilization on cowpea yield. The study comprised of three cropping systems (Maize-cowpea rotation, monocropping cowpea and intercropped cowpea), three locations (Potchefstroom, Taung, and Rustenburg, South Africa) and two rates of nitrogen fertilizers applied in kg ha-1 at each site (0 and 20 at Potchefstroom, 0 and 17 at Rustenburg, 0 and 23 at Taung). A factorial experiment randomized in complete block design with three replications was conducted during 2011/12 and 2012/13 planting seasons. The measured yield and yield components were pod length, seed per pod, pods mass at harvest, grain yield and field biomass yield. Cowpea planted on monocropping and rotational systems had significantly (P < 0.05) higher seed number per pod at harvest, grain yield and field biomass yield than cowpea planted on intercropping. The interaction of location x season plays a vital role on cowpea production by increasing yield. A single cultivar might differ significantly across different locations due to different soil types and climatic factors

Drybean Yield under the Influence of Cultivar, Phosphorus Fertilizer Rate and Location

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of phosphorus fertilizer rates, cultivar and location on drybean yield production at three different locations of North West province, South Africa. The experimental design was a 5 x 3 x 3 factorial experiment fitted into a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. The three drybean cultivars used were PAN 123, PAN 148 and PAN 9292. Three locations of the study were Taung, Ventersdorp and Mafikeng. The Five levels (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4) of phosphorus fertilizer were applied during planting and these differed according to each location. Drybean cultivar and location had significant effect (P 0.005) on the number of pods per plant, 100- seed mass and grain yield. Drybean cultivar PAN 9292 is recommended for production due to its higher seed yield.</jats:p