Determinants of pesticides use among tomato farmers in the Bono and Ahafo regions of Ghana.

Tomato production plays a crucial role in the livelihoods of farmers and agricultural households in the forest savanna transitional belt of Ghana. However, the success of tomato cultivation is hindered by the presence of insect pests and diseases, necessitating the use of agricultural inputs. This study aimed to identify the pesticides used in tomato farming, assess their World Health Organization (WHO) active ingredient hazard class, determine the precautionary behaviour associated with pesticide use by tomato farmers, and elucidate the socio-economic factors influencing pesticide usage in the Bono and Ahafo regions of Ghana. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 1009 respondents, who were administered a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were used to analyse the collected data. The results revealed that tomato farmers utilized 15 types of insecticides (e.g., lambda and chlorpyrifos ethyl based), 8 types of fungicides (e.g., mancozeb and sulphur + copper based), and 6 types of weedicides (mostly glyphosate based) on their crops. Notably, four insecticides and two fungicides types were found to be unregistered products. Lambda-cyhalothrin-based insecticides and mancozeb-based fungicides were predominantly used by the farmers. The assessed pesticides exhibited varying levels of hazard, ranging from slight to moderate. The study found that farmer training was a significant driver influencing insecticide use, while the educational level of farmers and average yield played important roles in determining fungicide use. Socio-economic factors such as being the head of the household, employing farm workers, the cultivated tomato variety, and farmer training influenced weedicide use. The type of tomato variety cultivated emerged as the primary socio-economic driver of pesticide use. The study recommended the establishment and implementation of a systematic monitoring regime for pesticide product marketing and use, with the aim of reducing the utilization of unregistered products by farmers. Implementing these measures supports sustainable tomato farming in the Bono and Ahafo regions of Ghana.

Factors influencing rice production in the south-eastern belt of Ghana.

Ghana has great potential to produce rice for local consumption, however, the average rice produced barely meets half of the country's consumption needs. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and surveys were held within the coastal lowland rice production belt in Ghana. The FGDs were held at Okyereko and Afife followed by surveys in the two communities in addition to Dawenya and Ashaiman. The objectives were to assess the production challenges faced by farmers in the four communities and determine the rice traits preferred by the farmers. Twenty farmers were involved in each of the FGDs while 227 respondents were selected through convenient sampling for the interviews. Sixty-nine percent of respondent farmers were male, 53% were above 50 years while 44% had varied levels of education. Farmers preferences mainly related to marketable traits such as aroma (87%), taste (83%) and yield potential (78%). There was special preference for Jasmine 85 (62.8%) and Togo Marshal l (25%), an indication of the high adoption of aromatic rice varieties in the study areas. Challenges such as securing credit, input supplies, soil salinity and ageing work force were matters of grave concern to respondent farmers. Given the importance of rice cultivation in the study areas to Ghana's quest to achieve self-sufficiency in rice, targeted and coordinated support from relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations is needed to sustain a higher level of production in the study areas.

High-frequency synthetic apomixis in hybrid rice.

Introducing asexual reproduction through seeds - apomixis - into crop species could revolutionize agriculture by allowing F1 hybrids with enhanced yield and stability to be clonally propagated. Engineering synthetic apomixis has proven feasible in inbred rice through the inactivation of three genes (MiMe), which results in the conversion of meiosis into mitosis in a line ectopically expressing the BABYBOOM1 (BBM1) parthenogenetic trigger in egg cells. However, only 10-30% of the seeds are clonal. Here, we show that synthetic apomixis can be achieved in an F1 hybrid of rice by inducing MiMe mutations and egg cell expression of BBM1 in a single step. We generate hybrid plants that produce more than 95% of clonal seeds across multiple generations. Clonal apomictic plants maintain the phenotype of the F1 hybrid along successive generations. Our results demonstrate that there is no barrier to almost fully penetrant synthetic apomixis in an important crop species, rendering it compatible with use in agriculture.