Chapters authored
Greenhouse Tomato Production for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security in the Tropics
Greenhouse vegetable cultivation offers one of the optimistic approaches to ensuring sustainable food and nutrition security in the tropics. Although greenhouse vegetable production is known to be costly, this system of production is gaining popularity and contributes to sustainable tomato production with improved fruit quality and productivity, which results in higher economic returns. Among vegetable crops, tomato is the most cultivated under this system. A study was conducted to identify suitable soilless media for regenerating tomato cuttings from axillary stem of tomato plants and to assess the agronomic performance of the regenerated cuttings under greenhouse condition. The tomato cuttings were raised using 100% rice husk biochar, 100% rice husk, 100% cocopeat, 50% biochar +50% cocopeat, 50% cocopeat +50% rice husk. Two tomato hybrid varieties (Lebombo and Anna) were used. Cuttings from axillary stems were compared with those raised from seed. A 2 × 2 factorial experiment was arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications. From the study, 100% rice husk biochar was found to induce root development in stem cuttings of tomato. However, no significant differences in yield and fruit quality were found between plants raised from seed and those from stem cuttings.
Part of the book: Tomato
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta
Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (Cs) is a medicinal plant, indigenous to the West Africa sub-region and has been utilized in Ghana to treat malaria for generations. Besides being used as an antimalarial treatment in Ghana, Cs has been noted as being used in the US to treat Babesia, Lyme disease (Borreliosis burgdorferi), Bartonella, among others. The plant contains several indoloquinoline alkaloids, mainly concentrated in its root system, giving the plant its antimicrobial, antihyperglycemic, and anticancer properties. However, the destructive harvesting of the entire plant, along with its root system, is not sustainable over the long term and has already resulted in a substantial decrease in wild populations, threatening its long-term potential and survivability. This book chapter will discuss its uses, conservation strategies and cultivation protocols developed for Cs to ensure a reliable supply of plant material as well as its sustainable utilization.
Part of the book: Herbs and Spices