Enoch A Osekre

Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science and Technology | KNUST · Crop and Soil Sciences

Using low-quality maize, resulting from insect pests and fungal attack, for formulating feed reduces chicken performance. This study evaluated the effectiveness of hermetic storage bags to keep insect pest and mycotoxin levels in check in yellow maize. The study was conducted in storehouses at three poultry farms in Dormaa Ahenkro, Bono Region, Gha...

High post-harvest loss of maize due to stored product insect pests remains a food security challenge in Ghana. This field study evaluated the effectiveness of a novel technology, ZeroFly® Hermetic storage bags with different inner liners, to protect maize against infestation by Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky and Prostephanus truncatus Horn. The stu...

Understanding what insect species are present and their temporal and spatial patterns of distribution is important for developing a successful integrated pest management strategy for food storage in warehouses. Maize is stored in bags in warehouses in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but little monitoring information is available on insect act...

Palm agriculture has received strong criticism in recent years due to its link with deforestation, especially in Asia. Here we propose that there is instead an opportunity for sustainable palm futures in Africa. Applying interdisciplinary systems thinking and circular production models, food and economic security can be achieved sustainably by (i)...

Bifenthrin is one of the insecticides approved by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) for the control of cocoa mirids. Bifenthrin-resistance levels of D. theobroma and S. singularis collected from different locations in the Eastern Region (ER), Volta Region (VR) and Central Region (CR) were determined by calculating their resistance ratios (RRs). The h...

The Solar Biomass Hybrid Dryer (SBHD) is a new technology developed in Ghana for grain drying and utilizes biomass (agro-residues, timber scraps, etc.) along with solar drying, and is especially useful for drying during rainy periods of the year when solar drying cannot be relied on. This study assessed the effectiveness of a 5.0-MT SBHD comprising...

Insect pests and fungal pathogens can cause extensive product losses and pose health risks in sub-Saharan Africa. In this experiment, maize stored as de-husked cobs or shelled maize in a ventilated crib and a metal bin, and in bags in warehouses, was monitored monthly in Ghana from October of 2015 to December of 2015 (the major season) and from Jan...

Reliable quantitative data on maize post-harvest losses and factors that cause them in northern Ghana are limited. In this study we assessed maize at six markets in the Northern Region of Ghana, in and around Tamale, during the harvest and storage period of October 2015–June 2016. Across all the markets and sampling periods grain temperature was 32...

This study focused on assessing maize post-harvest losses in three maize markets in the Middle Belt of Ghana during the storage periods after the harvest of major and minor cropping seasons, September to December and January to April, respectively. The major and minor cropping seasons in the Middle Belt occur during the periods April to August and...

In Ghana, several farm management practices are employed by cocoa farmers to control insect pests in cocoa farms. In the present study, four plots of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, New Tafo-Akim, Ghana, were monitored for four months (October 2014 – January 2015) to determine the impact of farm management practices on abundance and richness...

The leaf plays key roles in plant functions. In this study, we evaluated major nutrients (N, P, and K) contents of the leaves of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) following applications of two foliar nutrients sources. Pest population dynamics as well as disease incidence and severity of the crop were also evaluated. The study was conducted at the Plan...

Grain moisture content (MC), insect pest infestation and mycotoxin contamination of maize are challenges to food safety and security, especially in the tropics where maize is a staple grain. However, very little documentation is available on the impact of these factors on maize in Ghana. This study focused on post-harvest losses of maize and assess...

A low-cost meter was developed as a part of a USAID funded Feed the Future project headquartered at Kansas State University to reduce post-harvest loss (PHL) of grains and is referred to as the PHL moisture meter. it actually measures the temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) of the air space between grain kernels and calculates the equilibriu...

The deltamethrin incorporated polypropylene (PP) bag, ZeroFly® Storage Bag, is a new technology to reduce postharvest losses caused by stored-product insect pests. Maize was pre-fumigated and used for the following treatments: ZeroFly bags filled with untreated maize, PP bags filled with maize treated with Betallic Super (80 g pirimiphos-methyl and...

Storage of grain in bags is common in Africa, Asia, and many other less developed countries making a bag probing method well-suited for moisture content (MC) measurement. A low-cost meter was developed under a USAID project to reduce post-harvest loss (PHL). The meter, referred to as the PHL meter, measures the MC of maize and other grains based on...

Management of insect pests of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) using insecticides began in 1950 and has since gone through various programmes with concomitant challenges and successes. Presently Imidacloprid (Confidor®), Bifenthrin (Akatemaster®) and Thiamethoxam (Actara®) are recommended by Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) for the management of insect pests....

This study evaluated the social and ecological factors that affect entomophagy in Ghana with a view to instigate the initiation of programmes for the use of insects for human and poultry nutrition in Africa. Two thousand questionnaires were administered to randomly selected respondents in all the ten regions of Ghana. With regards to social factors...

A survey was conducted to identify and taxonomically classify the major neglected and underutilized edible insects of Ghana as the basis for developing programmes for their enhanced utilisation for human food and animal feed. Two thousand questionnaires were administered using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and direct observation...

Chemical control of insect pests of cocoa started in 1950, and insecticides from the various classes have been recommended and used by farmers since then. Presently, Imidacloprid (Confidor®), Bifenthrin (Akatemaster®) and Thiamethoxam (Actara®) are recommended by Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) for insect pest management. A survey was conducted in the...

This research reviews the contribution of insects to man in his zeal to improve and widen his sources of food, feed and nutrition. It critically looks at major edible insects and how flies and other insects can contribute to the growing demand for cheap protein in the food and feed industry. Priority is also given to nutrition and some rearing mode...

Chemical control of insect pests of cocoa started since 1950. Several classes of insecticides have been used by farmers. Presently Imidacloprid (Confidor), Bifenthrin (Akatemaster) and Thiamethoxam (Actara) are approved by Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) for insect pests control. A survey was conducted among 147 cocoa farmers in the Ashanti, Eastern, V...

Eggplant (Solanum spp.) germplasm from CSIR – Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, Bunso, Ghana were evaluated in field experiments against insect pests' infestation during the major rainy seasons of 2009 and 2010. Twenty-six accessions were evaluated in 2009 and five were subjected to further evaluation in 2010. Insect species recorded on e...

Thrips cause damage to seedling cotton, and they are associated with the spread of Fusarium hardlock, a serious disease affecting cotton bolls that reduces lint yield in the southern United States. The population dynamics and within-plant distribution of Frankliniella spp. thrips in cotton were determined in 2005, 2006, and 2007 in Quincy and in 20...

Cotton hardlock caused by Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc. Nirenberg) can reduce cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., yields > 70% in the southeastern United States. The spores infect flowers on the day of pollination, resulting in hardlock, which is the failure of the fiber to fluff as the boll opens at maturity. Frankliniella spp. Thrips (Thysanoptera:...

Edible wild fruits were collected in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Interviews and group discussions were the methods used to know the locations and subsequent collecting of the fruits. Twelve accessions of fruits were collected of which most were from trees. Cash crop (cocoa) farms were the habitats for most fruit trees in the region. Chrysophyllum...

The insidious flower bug, Orius insidiosus (Say), is reported to effectively suppress Frankliniella species thrips populations. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of this predator in reducing thrips populations in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Population fluctuations of the predator and thrips on the leaves, squares, a...

Kerosene was evaluated in the laboratory as a protectant of stored cowpea and maize seeds against infestation by Callosobruchus maculates (F.) and Sitophilus zeamais L., respectively. The kerosene was applied at the rate of 5 and 10 ml kg-1 of cowpea and maize seeds. The results showed that it significantly (P<0.05) reduced oviposition and progeny...

A commercially produced palm oil brand, Palmin oil, was evaluated for its effect on eggs and larvae of Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) (L.) Walp. Application of 1 μ1 of the oil on eggs deposited on 10 cowpea seeds, or directly on larvae growing inside seeds resulted in their death. Embryo mortalit...