Aquaculture, a sub-component within the fisheries sector is a vital economic activity and livelihood component of rural communities living beside rivers and river floodplains in East Africa. It provides a good alternative source of income and proteins for rural communities. This study aimed to characterize fish production and marketing practices in smallholder farming systems under a national Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) in the Eastern province of Kenya, and to determine the traits of economic importance to the farmers. Information was collated from 198 farmers, 13 traders and three key informants within Meru District of Eastern Province. The predominant species of fish reared was the Nile Tilapia, followed by the African Catfish and in some instances a combination of the two species were reared under polyculture. Good growth rate and survival of fish were noted to be the most important traits of economic importance to the farmers. Fish produced was mainly sold to the local community and within local markets. Traders, however, indicated that the demand for fish was much higher than the supply, hence also sourced fish from Lake Victoria in Nyanza for sale. It was also indicated that the taste of fish differed greatly depending on the source, with wild fish strains from Lake Victoria having a “sweeter” taste than the farmed strains. Strains of fish selected for improved growth and reproduction were not available for aquaculture. Feeds and feeding management of farmed fish was also a challenge. It was evident that there is a great need for supportive research on environmental impacts, productivity and quality of fish reared, and marketing of fish products within the riverine environments of Kenya. Key words: aquaculture, fish marketing, traits of economic importance

Objectives of this study were to compare costs and expected benefits of feed supplementation in cattle with alternative shrub legumes during the dry season using as a case study the hillsides of Central Nicaragua. The information used was gathered in a survey of 32 farms in the states of Boaco and Chontales in Central Nicaragua. The survey was designed to determine herd structure, land use patterns, milk and beef production, and use of inputs for animal nutrition, in order to estimate production, reproductive parameters and employment of family/contracted labor, as well as indicators of profitability of the alternatives under study. To calculate the economic return to the investment in alternative forages, a simulation model that applies optimization techniques through linear programming, implemented as a spreadsheet, was used to perform an ex ante evaluation of the costs and benefits of different land use alternatives and of interactions between technological components and biological productivity. The model compares the costs and benefits of the traditional feeding system versus an improved feeding system. The traditional system consists of grazing naturalized pastures (Hyparrhenia rufa) during the rainy season. In the dry season producers supplement the herd with small areas of king grass (Pennisetum spp.). The improved feeding system consists of establishing forage legumes for dry season feeding as a supplement to replace king grass during the dry season. Supplements to evaluate are the shrub legume Calliandra calothyrsus as partial replacement of the herbaceous high quality legume Vigna unguiculata, commonly known as Cowpea. Under the new feeding system, herd size can be increased by 60% due in part to the increase in stocking rate as well as to the increase in the quality of the diet offered with higher protein content. This increase in herd size raises both milk and beef output that generates an increase in farm income by 1.8 times more (i.e., from $1,314/farm/yr to $2,386). The economic return to family labor is increased by 20% to $ 5.26/day equivalent to 2.3 times higher than the local wage rate. The adoption of Vigna (Cowpea) after the harvest of maize/beans and a shrub legume as Calliandra to replace king grass seem to have the potential to significantly improve the productivity in smallholder farms. with the resulting increase in the economic return to family labor.

The effect of boar genotype on the reproductive performance of local sows was investigated. Large White (LW) and local Mukota boars were mated to 20 sows over 3 parities and the performance of the sows and litters were compared up to weaning. Data on the gestation length, number of piglets born alive (NBA), the number of piglets born dead (NBD), number weaned and the sex ratio were recorded. The weights of the piglets were recorded within 16 hours of birth and also at weaning. No creep feeding of the piglets was done and weaning was done at 35 days of age. There were no differences in the number of services per conception and the NBD. Litter size at birth, NBA and the number of piglets that were weaned were higher in sows mated to LW boars than to indigenous boars. These findings indicate that imported boars can be used under smallholder pig production systems as they complement traits of both the local and imported breeds.

The aim of this article was to provide an overview on the current status of fruit tree diseases caused by Pseudomonas syringae, their importance and distribution, epidemiology and control possibilities with emphasis on plums and cherry. The plant diseases caused by Pseudomonas syringae are economically important and occur worldwide on large diversity of plants. On stone fruits, diseases caused by different pathovars of Pseudomonas syringae are economically important in major fruit growing regions. The severity of damages and economic importance depends on the geographical region, host plant species and pathovar of P. syringae involved in the disease. Bacterial canker induced by P. syringae pv. syringae on all commercially grown stone fruit species and by pv. morsprunorum predominantly on cherries and plums is considered to be the most serious one. Bacterial decline caused by P. syringae pv. persicae is severe on nectarine and peach. Despite the wide spread and economic importance in the most stone fruit growing areas the diseases caused by Pseudomonas syringae in some areas, e.g. Baltic States, are poorly studied, and the data on distribution and pathovars involved in the diseases observed are still missing.

European pear scab (Venturia pyrina Aderh.) is common and economically important disease in commercial orchards in most of the pear (Pyrus communis L.) growing areas worldwide. Studies on pear scab pathogen V. pyrina diversity in general and among different geographical regions are scars at an early stage. In the limited number of studies reported so far, some attempts have been made to characterize and define races or biotypes of V. pyrina and new biotypes co-adapteted to specific cultivars have been recorded recently. Despite the long history, worldwide distribution and increasing economic significance of the European pear scab, the research on control methods, and pathogen biology and disease epidemiology that could aid to develop more effective and also alternative to fungicide application control methods are still limited. Mechanisms of European pear resistance to scab remains uncertain and currently only one major resistance gene Rvp1 has been identified and characterised. Although the disease is important in many European countries, breeding programs of pear scab-resistant varieties are still under development. In this paper we provide an overview on V. pyrina, its significance and distribution, control methods and current scientific progress in understanding of the pathogen and the disease. Overview of literature on V. pyrina characterization, ecology, biology and diseases epidemiology from Latvia and other countries has been used for the study.

Assortment improvement is a natural process of updating varieties and improving the quality of variety assortment. The article presents the results of studying the introduced grape (Vitis vinifera) varieties in the conditions of the southeast of Kazakhstan, in particular in the bottom-mountain area of Almaty region. The beginning and the end of the main phenological phases passing for the vegetative period in a grape plant directly depended on climatic and weather conditions of this district. It is established that varieties ‘Kuibyshevsk early-maturing’, ‘Iyulsky’ and ‘Priusadebny’ have a good degree of eyes wintering buds and are able to give a yield of high quality in this area in comparison with recognized variety ‘Almaty early-maturing’.

The characteristics of the new potato cyst nematode (Globodera rostochiensis, pathotype RO1) resistant, medium ripening potato variety ‘Teele’ (‘Cinja’ ´ ‘Paola’) developed at the Estonian Crop Research Institute (ECRI) is discussed in this paper. The variety ‘Teele’ was included in Estonian and European Variety List in 2013.The variety ‘Teele’ passed the preliminary, dynamic and final trials in 2008 - 2012 at the ECRI, where it was compared with standard varieties ‘Maret’ (early), ‘Piret’ (medium) and ‘Anti’ (late). The official trials in Estonia and the technical examination (DUS test) in Czech Republic were carried out in 2011 – 2012. Potato cyst nematode (Ro1) and wart (Synchytrium endobioticum (Schilbersky) pathotype 1 (D 1)) resistance of the new variety were determined in Poland in the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute. Tuber yield and tuber weight of the variety ‘Teele’ were equal to ‘Maret’ and ‘Anti’ but higher than ‘Piret’. The number of tubers per plant was equal in all standard varieties. Tuber yield and yield of marketable tubers of dynamic trials present the medium ripening of the variety ‘Teele’. The potato variety ‘Teele’ had good quality characteristics (shallow eyes, regular shape) and good culinary traits of table potato variety. It had a relatively good resistance to late blight (Phytophthora infestans) (field resistance), overcoming standard varieties ‘Maret’ and ‘Piret’.

The article discusses the results of comprehensive studies histomorphological signs of skin and hair of sheep (Degeress) of various stripes, especially the thickness of the skin and its layers that are commonly identified indicators. Studies allow to bring the scientific basis for the proper development of activities aimed at increasing production of wool, quantity and quality of which skin microstructure largely depends on. Sheep of different colors have a specific feature on the histological structure of the skin, which is essential for the development of effective methods of selection that enhance productivity of sheep wool. The researches have established that brown suit sheep has thickened skin as compared to red and gray color (p is less than 0.01). In turn, pilar layer of the skin is also much thicker at brown coloration sheep (2029.7 ×10E-6 m) than in sheep red (1850.6×10E-6 m) and sulfur (1773.7×10E-6 m) suits, the difference is statistically highly significant (p is less than 0.001). The thickness of the pilar layer is up to 70% of the dermis, which varies depending on sheep lear ranging from 1773.7×10E-6 m to 2029.7×10E-6 m. Reticular layer thickness varies depending on sheep lear ranging from 743.5×10E-6 m to 826.4×10E-6 m.

Pulses (Fabaceae) are an excellent source of nutrients with protein content equal to the protein of meats. Regularly choosing such meat alternatives as pulses can help minimize the amount of saturated fat and increase the amount of fibre in the diet. New pulse products could benefit vegetarians and people struggling with new diet changes. The aim of this study was to determine pulse consumption patterns of Latvian adults. An 11 question survey was developed on an online survey website www.visidati.lv to analyse consumer attitudes towards pulse consumption in Latvia. The questionnaire was completed by 780 respondents from September to December 2013. During the Baltics food industry fair ‘Riga Food 2013’ five question survey was carried out after vegetarian bean spread tasting. The questions were related to pulse consumption and preference; five questions survey consisted of overall preference and quality determination of the product. The results show that the majority of Latvian omnivore adults consume pulses about once a week or less; while pulse intake in vegetarian adults is significantly higher (p is less than 0.05). Latvian adults prefer green peas (Pisum sativum L.), navy and broad beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), lentils (Lens culinaris Medik.), chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) and maple peas (Pisum sativum L. var. arvense). Overall preference of vegetarian bean spread with sun-dried tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is ‘like very much’ (4.5 – 4.6) and most of the respondents would purchase this product if it was available in a store.