https://ajpojournals.org/journals/index.php/AJA <p>America Journal of Agriculture is a high factor journal accredited for its vital insight information published by AJPO Journals USA LLC. The journal aims at advancing agriculture in all its areas that include arid soil research and rehabilitation, agriculture genomics, stored product research, tree fruit production, agronomy, weed biology, pesticide science, post-harvest biology and technology. Its indexed in google scholar, Crossref (DOI), Ebscohost, Research Gate among others.</p> AJPO en-US American Journal of Agriculture 2790-5756 https://ajpojournals.org/journals/index.php/AJA/article/view/1315 <p><strong>Purpose:</strong> Tomato is one of the most popular and versatile vegetables in the world and organic production with high yields of desirable quality are a target of many producers. <a name="_Toc78472492"></a>However, the yield of tomatoes in Uganda are low compared to other parts of the world. The reason is that most soils in Uganda are low in fertility. There is widespread soil degradation, due to massive soil erosion resulting into loss of organic matter, high soil acidity and nutrient imbalance hence low crop yields. This study aimed at establishing the effect of different poultry manure on the performance of tomato<a name="_Toc78472493"></a>es.</p> <p><strong>Methodology: </strong>The field trials were conducted in the mid altitude environment at BSU farm.<a name="_Toc78472494"></a> Four treatments which included broiler, Layer, combination of Broiler and Layer chicken manure and the control were applied. The study was carried out in a randomized complete block design replicated four times. Measurements were made on number of leaves, number of flowers, plant height, fruit weight, fruit size, number of tomatoes and yield per hectare. Broiler and layer chicken manure increased the number of leaves, plant height number of flowers, number of fruits, fruit weight and fruit size significantly.</p> <p><strong>Findings: </strong>The results indicate that poultry manure is very rich in macro nutrients. <a name="_Toc78472495"></a>Among the treatments, broiler and layer chicken manure gave the highest fruit yield of 13.8 and 13.4 tons per hectare (t/ha) respectively. A combination of the manure produced 12.8 t/ha and the control treatment gave the lowest yield of 8.1 tons per hectare (t/ha). There was no significant difference between broiler and layer chicken manure. Both manures were equally good and enhanced yield. Therefore, farmers may opt for either of the two depending on the availability.</p> <p><strong>Recommendation: </strong>The study recommend that either broiler or layer chicken manure can be used for production of tomato in order to achieve high yields.</p> Julius Agaba D S Osiru Daniel Ndizihiwe Copyright (c) 2023 American Journal of Agriculture 2023-01-08 2023-01-08 5 1 1 21 10.47672/aja.1315 https://ajpojournals.org/journals/index.php/AJA/article/view/1368 <p><strong>Purpose:</strong> Water saving practices are crucial for crop production in drought prone areas.&nbsp; This study was conducted in Bugesera District, in the Eastern Province of Rwanda.&nbsp; The objective was to determine the effect of irrigation levels and mulching types on growth and yields of beans. &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Methodology: </strong>A split plot experiment consisting of three irrigation levels as main plots and three mulching types (no mulch, grass mulch and plastic mulch) as subplots, in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), with three replications was conducted.&nbsp; Climbing bean, Mac 44 variety, was planted at 50 cm × 20 cm spacing. Different levels of irrigation and mulching were applied from 3 weeks after crop emergence. Irrigation water was applied using a manual watering can.</p> <p><strong>Findings: </strong>Bean height and grain yield varied significantly due to the combined effects of irrigation × mulching. Highest value of plant height, 100 grain weight and yield value were obtained under the combination of 50% irrigation level with grass mulch. Compared to the control, yield improvement of 83%, 100 grains weight improvement of 39% and plant height increase of 20 % were observed under I₁M₁. Significant and positive correlations were observed between yield, plant height and yield parameters. The observed interdependence of yield parameters is illustrated by the positive and significant correlation between these parameters. Combining irrigation and mulching would improve climbing production while saving irrigation water up to 50%.</p> <p><strong>Recommendation: </strong>Both plastic and grass mulch gave similar results, however grass mulch is recommended for climbing bean production in the study area due to its&nbsp; additional advantages over the plastic mulch.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> Jeanine Uwanyirigira Seth F O Owido Joyce J Lelei Copyright (c) 2023 American Journal of Agriculture 2023-03-10 2023-03-10 5 1 22 41 10.47672/aja.1368