Faculty of Agriculture & Veterinary Medicine (FAg / FVM)

Performance of East African Short Horned Zebu Heifers Fed on Grass Supplemented With Cassava Leaf Meal and Azolla

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Performance of East African Short Horned Zebu Heifers Fed on Grass Supplemented With Cassava Leaf Meal and Azolla Korir, Benard K A major constraint to livestock productivity in the tropics is feed availability, both quantity and quality. To improve productivity, there is need to expand the feed base through utilization of non-conventional feedstuffs. A study was done to (i) Assess and document cassava production and utilization as livestock feed in selected farms (ii) Evaluate the effect of inclusion of Cassava leaf meal and Azolla in basal grass based diets on the performance of zebu heifers and (iii) To determine the effect of supplementation with Cassava leaves and Azolla on rumen microbial diversification in zebu heifers. In the first study, a structured questionnaire was administered to 120 respondents in two sub counties of Makueni county, Kenya. The data collected included, among others, cassava production (area, varieties), constraints to production, and the use of cassava as livestock feed...

A Region-based Histogram and Fusion Technique for Enhancing Backlit Images for Cell Phone Applications

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

A Region-based Histogram and Fusion Technique for Enhancing Backlit Images for Cell Phone Applications Shaffa, Korvawu K Many cell phone cameras perform poorly in backlighting situations due to low dynamic range, which then leads to the creation of low-quality pictures known as backlit images. Conventional image enhancement algorithms are not well suited to improve the quality of backlit images. Over-saturation or a loss of contrast are typical outcomes when these methods are applied. In this thesis, a novel image enhancement algorithm is presented for improving the visual perception of a single backlit image. The algorithm uses a region-based histogram specification scheme in combination with the discrete wavelet transform image fusion to correct exposure disparities between foreground and background scenes. Computer simulations in MATLAB R2018a and on a dataset of 162 backlit images revealed that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the backlit image's visual perception without distorting colours or adding artefacts. The Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio, Structural Similarity Index Measure, and Naturalness Image Quality Evaluator metrics objectively validated these results. The algorithm produced PSNR values ranging from 19 dB to 30 dB for images with low backlit degradation while retaining more than (60-70) % structural similarity to the inputs. Lower PSNR and SSIM values were consistent with severely degraded images. These findings agreed with the outcomes of the subjective evaluations. However, multiple iterations of the proposed algorithm increased the PSNR quality by up to 12 dB after the first three iterations. By comparison, the proposed algorithm significantly outperformed existing image enhancement techniques such as Histogram Equalization, Multiscale Retinex, and Low-light Image Enhancement via Illumination Map Estimation.

Adoption of Improved Forage Technologies and Its Effect on Household Income Among Dairy Farmers in Bomet County, Kenya

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Adoption of Improved Forage Technologies and Its Effect on Household Income Among Dairy Farmers in Bomet County, Kenya Dut, Malual D Promoting the adoption of improved forage legumes among dairy farmers is pertinent to improving protein intake by the animals and hence increasing dairy productivity. This study characterized dairy forage technologies, assessed the factors influencing the adoption of improved forage technologies and established their effects on household income. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design and a multistage sampling technique for the 282 dairy farmers. Data was collected using both structured and semi-structured questionnaires. The factors influencing the adoption of improved forage technologies was analyzed using Multivariate probit. The effects of improved forage technologies on household income was analyzed using the endogenous treatment regression model. The results show that 11 percent, 5 percent, 6 percent and 8 percent of farmers adopted the four technologies of desmodium, lucerne, sesbania sesban and calliandra respectively. The multivariate probit results showed that membership in dairy cooperative, years of schooling, distance to market, gender, experience, farm size, extension services, perceived benefit of the technology, breed type and the number of lactating cows significantly influenced adoption of improved forage technologies. The endogenous treatment regression model results show that adopting improved forage technologies increased household income. It was concluded that the adoption of improved forage technologies has an impact on household income and the adoption of forage legumes was still low. The study recommends that government and policy makers should come up with ways to encourage adoption of forage legumes, mainly fodder trees such as organizing field days, establishment of demonstration fields and research stations, training centers for forage training and encourage more farmers to join dairy cooperatives.

Development of a Ready-to-eat Sorghum Snack Supplemented With Sesame and Baobab Fruit for Nutritional and Sensory Quality

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Development of a Ready-to-eat Sorghum Snack Supplemented With Sesame and Baobab Fruit for Nutritional and Sensory Quality Kimani, David E Orphan crops of sorghum, sesame and baobab fruit remain underutilized despite their nutritional and commercial advantages to modern high value food products that can address food and nutrition security in majority of sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed at evaluating the nutritional, antinutrients and shelf-life stability of a ready to eat snack bar as influenced by the processing method and storage conditions. The study employed an experimental study design of a 3 × 4 factorial arrangement with three factors of malting, fermenting and roasting with four supplementation blends of 60:25:15; 70:20:10; 80:15:5; and 100:0:0 of sorghum, sesame and baobab fruit pulp respectively. Raw unprocessed samples of sorghum, sesame and baobab fruit pulp were acted as controls. The results showed that the nutritional composition of the snack bars made by supplementing with sesame and baobab fruit improved significantly (p<0.05). The protein and fat content improved significantly at 25% sesame and 15% baobab fruit pulp supplementation with roasted formulation RSF1 recording the highest at 16.74% for protein, and fermented sorghum formulation FSF1 at 19.73% for fat content respectively. Fiber content ranged between 5.59g/100g and 9.46 g/100g with formulations FSF4, RSF1, and MSF1 exhibiting high contents at 10.46%, 8.18% and 7.9% respectively. The mineral contents were significantly different (p<0.05) to the control samples with Iron levels ranging between 5.46 mg/100g and 14.611 mg/100g, with roasted formulation RSF1 having high content at 14.61 mg/100g as compared to MSF1 at 11.44 mg/100g, and FSF1 at 11.45 mg/100g respectively at 25% sesame and 15% baobab fruit pulp supplementation. Calcium levels in the snack formulations ranged between 82 mg/100g and 246 mg/100g, with malted formulation MSF1 at 25% sesame and 15% baobab fruit pulp supplementation having high content at 246.7 mg/100g, followed by RSF1 and FSF1 at 227.2 mg/100g and 171.5 mg/100g respectively. Zinc concentrations were significant for roasted and malted formulations at 25% sesame and 15% baobab fruit pulp supplementation at 4.82 mg/100g and 4.98 mg/100g respectively. The carbohydrate content in roasted sorghum snacks ranging between 48.20-59.85%, malted sorghum snacks between 48.54-59.71%, and fermented sorghum snacks between 46.37-60.31%. The calculated energy content ranged between 397-426.9kcal/100g in roasted sorghum formulations, 387.1-428.8 kcal/100g for malted sorghum formulations and between 377.3-425.1 xviii kcal/100g for fermented sorghum formulations respectively. The sensory evaluation of the snacks was done by use of a 5-point hedonic scale and revealed significance differences (p<0.05) in color, taste and overall acceptability with mean scores above 3.5. The aroma and crunchiness of the snacks were found to not be significant (p>0.05) with mean scores of 3 indicating neither like or dislike. Snack bars with no added baobab were found to be generally acceptable with RSF4 (3.853±0.99), MSF4 (3.529±0.99) and FSF4 (3.676±1.34) being the most preferred. The effect of processing method on antinutrients in the snack bars differed significantly (p<0.05). Roasting averagely reduced tannic content by 82.71%, phytates by 53.26%. Malting process decreased on average the tannic content by 78.66%, phytates by 48.89%, while fermentation was 78.71% on tannins and 51.54% phytates respectively. The phenolic content retention in the snack bars was significantly different (p<0.05) with average retentions at 59.58% for roasted formulations, 59.6% for malted formulations and 58.31% for fermented sorghum formulations respectively. The microbial and physicochemical properties of the snack bars were within acceptable limit up to day 3 of accelerated shelf-life storage at 55±2ºC. Snack bars stored in Flexible package exhibited better keeping quality than Kraft and Poly/PE-coated packages. The mean count of TVC and yeast and molds for samples stored in kraft and poly/PE-coated packages were highest at the second day of storage as compared to the flexible package which recorded high mean counts at day 3 of storage (p<0.05). The S. aureus mean counts were found to be of acceptable limits of 102 log cfu g-1. The pathogenic microorganisms were not detected in the formulations during the duration of storage. The oxidative stability of the snack bar formulations was significant (p<0.05) among the packaging materials with Kraft package exhibiting faster detection after day 2 of accelerated storage period at 5.084 meq O2/kg. Autooxidation was detected in poly/PE-coated and Flexible packages at day 3 of accelerated storage at 4.942 meq O2/kg and 2.031 meq O2/kg respectively. The FFA content among the snack formulations was not significantly different (p>0.05) during the accelerated shelf-life period in the three packaging materials. Oxidative stability of the snack formulations was best after three months of storage in Flexible packaging material as compared to Kraft and poly/PE-coated materials. The study concludes that sorghum, sesame and baobab are viable crop alternatives for food and nutrition security and innovative opportunities in food product development. This can support the xix economic wellbeing to sorghum farmers, micro-processors along the sorghum value chain. However, to achieve full utilization of orphan crops, more research should be extended on accessible processing technologies to achieve these objectives.