Biofertilizer Activity of Azospirillum sp. B510 on the Rice Productivity in Ghana.

Rice production in Ghana has become unsustainable due to the extremely nutrient-poor soils. It is caused by inadequate soil fertility management, including the inefficient application of fertilizers. A practical solution could be the biofertilizers, Azospirillum sp. B510. We performed field trials in Ghana and Japan to compare the effects of B510 colonization on selected Ghanaian rice varieties grown. The B510 inoculation significantly enhanced the rice cultivars' growth and yield. The phenotypic characteristics observed in rice varieties Exbaika, Ex-Boako, AgraRice, and Amankwatia were mainly short length and high tillering capacity. These features are attributed to the host plant (cv. Nipponbare), from which the strain B510 was isolated. Furthermore, Azospirillum species has been identified as the dominant colonizing bacterium of rice rhizosphere across a diverse range of agroecologies in all major rice-growing regions in Ghana. Our results suggest that the utilization of B510 as a bio-fertilizer presents a promising way to improve rice growth, enhance soil fertility, and sustain rice productivity in Ghana.

High-density DArT-based SilicoDArT and SNP markers for genetic diversity and population structure studies in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz).

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important industrial and staple crop due to its high starch content, low input requirement, and resilience which makes it an ideal crop for sustainable agricultural systems and marginal lands in the tropics. However, the lack of genomic information on local genetic resources has impeded efficient conservation and improvement of the crop and the exploration of its full agronomic and breeding potential. This work was carried out to obtain information on population structure and extent of genetic variability among some local landraces conserved at the Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, Ghana and exotic cassava accessions with Diversity Array Technology based SilicoDArT and SNP markers to infer how the relatedness in the genetic materials can be used to enhance germplasm curation and future breeding efforts. A total of 10521 SilicoDArT and 10808 SNP markers were used with varying polymorphic information content (PIC) values. The average PIC was 0.36 and 0.28 for the SilicoDArT and SNPs respectively. Population structure and average linkage hierarchical clustering based on SNPs revealed two distinct subpopulations and a large number of admixtures. Both DArT platforms identified 22 landraces as potential duplicates based on Gower's genetic dissimilarity. The expected heterozygosity which defines the genetic variation within each subpopulation was 0.008 for subpop1 which were mainly landraces and 0.391 for subpop2 indicating the homogeneous and admixture nature of the two subpopulations. Further analysis upon removal of the duplicates increased the expected heterozygosity of subpop1 from 0.008 to 0.357. A mantel test indicated strong interdependence (r = 0.970; P < 0.001) between SilicoDArT and DArTSeq SNP genotypic data suggesting both marker platforms as a robust system for genomic studies in cassava. These findings provide important information for efficient ex-situ conservation of cassava, future heterosis breeding, and marker-assisted selection (MAS) to enhance cassava improvement.

Case Study: The Role of eLearning in Midwifery Pre-Service Education in Ghana.

The issues and challenges of implementing eLearning in pre-service health education were explored through a pilot study conducted in six nurse-midwifery education programs in Ghana. Case-based, interactive computer mediated eLearning modules, targeted to basic emergency and obstetrical signal functions, were delivered both online and offline using a free-for-use eLearning platform, skoool HE(®). Key success factors included broad stakeholder support, an established curriculum and student and tutor interest. Challenges included infrastructure limitations, large class sizes and added workloads for tutors and information technology staff. National scale up is planned.