Sorghum (Sorghum bicolar (L) Moench) is an important cereal crop grown in arid and semi-arid areas. It is ranked as the fifth key cereal crop globally and acts as a source of grain, animal feed, pasturage, fodder, fiber, fuel, bioethanol, alcoholic beverages as well as building materials.  In Kenya, sorghum production is done mainly by smallholder farmers as a key food and cash crop. Most of the country’s crop production is mainly in the arid and semi-arid regions with an altitude of between 800 and 2,000 m above sea level. The country’s average sorghum yield ranges between 0.7-1ton/ha compared to variety specific average yield of >2 tons/ha. The production is mainly constrained by myriad of factors such as climate change effects, poor agronomic practices, poor fertility management practices, poor pest and disease management, lack of ready markets, lack of organized market infrastructure, poor research- extension- farmer linkages and access to credit facilities as well as poor sorghum processing and value addition technologies. The current work reviews sorghum crop, with emphasis on its biology, economic importance, ecological requirements, current production status in Kenya and production constraints.

Mining is an important economic activity that promotes income generation, job creation, and industrialization globally. In spite its economic importance, it is classified as land degradation form that disrupts natural ecosystem through loss of biota and soil health. Paucity of information regarding the performance of reclaimed mined soils in supporting crop production abound in Kenya. To contribute to this knowledge gap, a study was conducted at Base titanium limited -Kwale to investigate the response of performance of bulb onions (red creole onion variety) to farmyard manure and inorganic fertilizer application on post mined soils. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates Treatments included: inorganic fertilizer, farmyard manure, inorganic fertilizer +farmyard manure and control. Obtained data that included: soil characterization, onion growth and yield parameters was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using R packages and means separated using the Fisher’s protected least significant difference (LSD) at (P≤0.05). Results showed that the soils had low TN, exchangeable P, K, S, Bo and Cu levels. Manure+ fertilizer significantly (P≤0.05) increased plant height by 38%, bulb diameter by 44%, neck thickness by 19.5% total bulb yield by 89% and marketable yield by 88% compared to control. A significant positive relationship between manure, fertilizer, fertilizer+ manure with plant height, number of leaves, bulb diameter, neck thickness and total yield was observed indicating that manure + fertilizer can support optimal onion production in these post mined soils. Further research is however, required to ascertain production approaches that promote sustainable soil development and onion yield.

Inadequate rain is a major hindrance to soil moisture and crop root growth in arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya. A field study was conducted in Ganda, Vitengeni and Matuga locations within the coastal lowland region of Kenya from May, 2012 to April, 2015 to evaluate the effects of three leguminous cover crops on soil moisture retention and orange tree feeder root distribution. Treatments included mucuna (Mucuna pruriens), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), dolichos (Lablab purpureus) cover crops and unplowed fallow of natural vegetation as a control. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) and each treatment was replicated four times. Data collected were: soil particle size distribution, soil moisture content and orange dry root density. The data collected was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using procedures of R statistical analysis version 3.3.2. Mean separation was done using the least significant difference (LSD) value at 5% level of significance. Results indicated that mucuna, dolichos and cowpea cover crops significantly (P=.05) increased soil moisture content. The mucuna treated plots recorded an Original Research Article

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