Flora Pule-Meulenberg
Bergen County Academies, Crop Science and Production, Faculty Member
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The growth and development of wheat and quality of wheat flour is dependent on the genotype, fertilizer application, sowing date and plant density. Therefore, plant growth and protein content studies were conducted on two wheat genotypes... more
The growth and development of wheat and quality of wheat flour is dependent on the genotype, fertilizer application, sowing date and plant density. Therefore, plant growth and protein content studies were conducted on two wheat genotypes during the winter planting seasons of 2015 and 2016. The experiment was laid out in a Randomised Complete Block Design in a split-split-plot arrangement, with the main plots being two wheat genotypes; sub plots being two plant density treatments, sub-sub plots being five nitrogen doses and sub-sub-sub plots of two planting dates, replicated three times. The application of 125 kg/ha nitrogen increased the number of days to anthesis, grain protein content and plant height. Early planting reduced days to emergence but delayed days to anthesis and physiological maturity, whereas the protein content and plant height were increased by early planting. The leaf dry mass, crop growth rate and net assimilation rate were similar at each crop stage for the plan...
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Background: Cowpea is the most important food grain legume in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, no study has so far assessed rhizobial biodiversity and/or nodule functioning in relation to strain IGS types at the continent level. In this... more
Background: Cowpea is the most important food grain legume in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, no study has so far assessed rhizobial biodiversity and/or nodule functioning in relation to strain IGS types at the continent level. In this study, 9 cowpea genotypes were planted in field experiments in Botswana, South Africa and Ghana with the aim of i) trapping indigenous cowpea root-nodule bacteria (cowpea “rhizobia”) in the 3 countries for isolation, molecular characterisation using PCR-RFLP analysis, and sequencing of the 16S- 23S rDNA IGS gene, ii) quantifying N-fixed in the cowpea genotypes using the 15 N natural abundance technique, and iii) relating the levels of nodule functioning (i.e. N-fixed) to the IGS types found inside nodules. Results: Field measurements of N2 fixation revealed significant differences in plant growth, δ 15 N values, %Ndfa and amounts of N-fixed between and among the 9 cowpea genotypes in Ghana and South Africa. Following DNA analysis of 270 nodules from the ...
field study was conducted at five villages of Botswana namely, Tsabong, Tshane, Mathathane, Motlhabaneng and Tsetsejwe during the periods of June to August 1999 and June to August 2000. The objective of the study was to assess and compare... more
field study was conducted at five villages of Botswana namely, Tsabong, Tshane, Mathathane, Motlhabaneng and Tsetsejwe during the periods of June to August 1999 and June to August 2000. The objective of the study was to assess and compare the soil physicochemical properties of soils at the five villages and to study the effect of cultivation on some soil physical properties. Parameters measured in the field included soil pH, organic carbon (OC), phosphorus (P), cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K and Na), bulk density (BD), soil penetration resistance and infiltration rate. Soil pH, OC, CEC, Mg, Ca and BD were found to be significantly different in the five villages. The non-cultivated soil was found to have significantly lower bulk density, higher infiltration rate and higher penetration resistance compared to the cultivated soil. Soil from the Kgalagadi area was found to be significantly lower in nutrients in comparison with the soil from the Bobirwa ar...
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Research Interests: Biology()
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Background: Scientific progress and developments in technology have improved our understanding of climate change and its potential impacts on smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The persistence of such smallholder... more
Background: Scientific progress and developments in technology have improved our understanding of climate change and its potential impacts on smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The persistence of such smallholder farming systems, despite multiple exposures to climate hazards, demonstrates a capacity to respond or adapt. However, the scale and intensity of climate change impacts on smallholder farming systems in SSA will overwhelm any indigenous coping mechanisms developed over centuries. Therefore, there is need to co-develop resilient farming systems with farmers and extension workers in anticipation of the looming food security challenges in the midst of climate change.A survey comprising of participatory rural appraisal, focus group discussions, participatory resource mapping, and SWOT analysis was carried out for the purposes of farming systems diagnosis in reference to their resilience to climate change in three districts cutting across dry arid zones of B...
As the world population increases, improvements in crop growth and yield will be needed to meet rising food demands, especially in countries that have not developed agricultural practices optimized for their own soils and crops. In many... more
As the world population increases, improvements in crop growth and yield will be needed to meet rising food demands, especially in countries that have not developed agricultural practices optimized for their own soils and crops. In many African countries, farmers improve agricultural productivity by applying synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to crops, but their continued use over the years has had serious environmental consequences including air and water pollution as well as loss of soil fertility. To reduce the overuse of synthetic amendments, we are developing inocula for crops that are based on indigenous soil microbes, especially those that enhance plant growth and improve agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner. We first isolated environmental DNA from soil samples collected from an agricultural region to study the composition of the soil microbiomes and then used Vigna unguiculata (cowpea), an important legume crop in Botswana and other legumes as “trap” plants u...
These articles may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is... more
These articles may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
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The Green Revolution developed new crop varieties, which greatly improved food security worldwide. However, the growth of these plants relied heavily on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which have led to an overuse of synthetic... more
The Green Revolution developed new crop varieties, which greatly improved food security worldwide. However, the growth of these plants relied heavily on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which have led to an overuse of synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides with serious environmental consequences and negative effects on human health. Environmentally friendly plant-growth promoting methods to replace our current reliance on synthetic chemicals and to develop more sustainable agricultural practices to offset the damage caused by many agrochemicals are proposed herein. The increased use of bioinoculants, which consist of microorganisms that establish synergies with target crops and influence production and yield by enhancing plant growth, controlling disease, and providing critical mineral nutrients, is a potential solution. The microorganisms found in bioinoculants are often bacteria or fungi that reside either within external or internal plant microbiomes. However, be...
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The Leguminosae are a major source of food, fodder, timber, phytochemicals, phytomedicine, nutriceuticals and N fertility in Botswana. Although the country is beset by drought as a result of low rainfall (150 – 650 mm per year) and high... more
The Leguminosae are a major source of food, fodder, timber, phytochemicals, phytomedicine, nutriceuticals and N fertility in Botswana. Although the country is beset by drought as a result of low rainfall (150 – 650 mm per year) and high potential evapotranspiration, the Leguminosae appear adapted to this low-nutrient environment. Conducting field inoculation trials with infective rhizobia and selecting legume genotypes or host/strain combinations for increased plant growth would help identify superior symbiotic performers under the environmental stress conditions of Botswana. Thus, selecting high N2-fixing legume genotypes has the potential to overcome low soil fertility as a production constraint in Botswana, and increase fodder and grain production to support the growing local livestock and wildlife industries. Additionally, identifying native rhizobia in Botswana that alleviate water stress when in symbioses with legumes could be a first step to tapping the biological potential o...
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Research Interests: Biology()
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In Africa, arid and semi-arid soils are characterized by a diverse occurrence of plants including nodulated legumes which are adapted to the prevailing and often harsh environmental conditions. Such soils also harbour a large diversity of... more
In Africa, arid and semi-arid soils are characterized by a diverse occurrence of plants including nodulated legumes which are adapted to the prevailing and often harsh environmental conditions. Such soils also harbour a large diversity of indigenous rhizobial symbionts (comparable to legume diversity) and other bacterial endophytes that have a potential to be developed into elite strains to be used as inoculum. However, very few studies have investigated the diversity of root-nodule bacteria on African soils, the main reason being that funds for research are often lacking. Discoveries of new rhizobial species are to be expected from different soil ecologies that are likely to be inhabited by various types of microorganisms. It is concluded that the semi-arid and arid African soils have rhizobia that is possibly as equally diverse as their host legumes. Research in these areas is likely to find novel species with a great potential for use in agricultural systems.
Research Interests: Biology()
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Little information currently exists on the relationship between rhizobial symbiosis and mineral accumulation in nodulated legumes. The aim of this study was to measure fixed nitrogen (N) in whole plants and in young fully expanded... more
Little information currently exists on the relationship between rhizobial symbiosis and mineral accumulation in nodulated legumes. The aim of this study was to measure fixed nitrogen (N) in whole plants and in young fully expanded trifoliate leaves of cowpea genotypes, and to relate this to mineral accumulation in the leaves. The data revealed marked differences between high and low N2-fixing genotypes, with the former consistently showing greater %N, plant or leaf total N, and amount of N fixed compared with the latter. There was a 2.0–3.8-fold difference in amount of N fixed at whole-plant level between high- and low-fixing cowpea genotypes at Taung, South Africa, and 2.4–4.0-fold at Manga, Ghana. Furthermore, the genotypes with high N2 fixation consistently exhibited greater concentration and content of minerals (e.g. P, K, Mg, S, Na, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn and B) in their trifoliate leaves, whereas those that recorded low N2 fixation accumulated lesser amounts of mineral nutrients in le...
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ABSTRACT Six genera (Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Azorhizobium and Allorhizobium) within the Rhizobiaceae have the ability to infect roots and form N2-fixing nodules on members of the Leguminosae and in the... more
ABSTRACT Six genera (Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Azorhizobium and Allorhizobium) within the Rhizobiaceae have the ability to infect roots and form N2-fixing nodules on members of the Leguminosae and in the non-legume Parasponia (Ulmaceae). The major aim of this study was to determine whether the different agro-ecological zones of Botswana have an effect on the natural distribution of rhizobia and the local Leguminosae.