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Experiments conducted in Ghana show that cocoyam exists as mixtures of clones in farmers farms.This work aimed to use RAPD markers to determine the extent of diversity in cocoyam genotypes collected from farms at different locations in the Eastern region of Ghana. The study also investigated whether the genotypes have different adaptation to different farming systems (intercropping with plantain and sole cropping) and tillage methods (mounds and flat). The genotypes were grouped into two main clusters at 0.65 similarity coefficient of variation with accessions Pameng Red 3 and Pramkese 2 being the most diverse. The genotypes began separating at 85% similarity index into three discrete groups. Group I, (Pameng 1, Dwenase 2 and 3) did not separate at 100% similarity index. The other two groups consisted of (Pameng 2, Gyampomani 1, Gyampomani 2, Dwenase 1) and (Pramkesse 1 and Gyampomani 3). The analysis of variance of the growth parameters of the genotypes under the tillage and farming systems revealed significant differences. Generally, genotypes in group II grew better under the farming systems and tillage practices studied whiles Pramkesse 2, which did not cluster with any other genotypes in its major cluster, grew poorly under the two farming systems.

Coconut production is significantly constrained by agricultural pests. Given that management of these pests is influenced by gender differences, there was a need to assess farmers’ knowledge about coconut pests, farm-level pest management strategies, and institutions offering training to farmers to develop an ecologically sound management strategy. To achieve this, we surveyed six coconut growing districts, three each from the Western and Central Regions of Ghana using face-to-face interviews, discussions, and direct observations. In addition, a multistage sampling technique was used to sample the coconut farmers. The sample population for each town was determined using a proportion to population size approach. The sample population was randomly drawn from each town/village using a sampling frame based on the agricultural sector records. Most of the farmers mentioned Oryctes monoceros as the most important pest of coconut. Significantly, more females than males mentioned weaver birds in their plantations (p = 0.035). Women who did not mention pests in their farms were significantly higher than men (P = 0.007). We observed a significant difference (p = 0.018) between male and female farmers who used indigenous knowledge (i.e., knowledge accumulated by an indigenous (local) population over generations of living in a certain area). However, pest management strategy did not vary in Central Region. Our findings showed that some of the farmers did not use any of the management strategies, suggesting that future studies and training are required to develop sustainable pest management strategies for the coconut pests.

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