Early pregnancy diagnosis is an important management practice for reducing calving interval, increasing cattle reproductive efficiency, and the overall herd productivity. This study was undertaken to assess the viability of seed germination inhibition technique (Punyakoti test) for early pregnancy detection in cattle under the tropical rearing conditions. Twenty-four randomly selected cows were used for the experiment. Urine samples were collected and subjected to Punyakoti test, using maize seeds, within 6 hours of collection. Descriptive statistics employing means and standard error were used to analyse data, also, inferential statistics including analysis of variance and t-tests were employed to ascertain differences between the variables under study. Urine from pregnant cows had the highest (80.03±3.99) inhibitory effect while the distilled water group had the least (7.50±3.81) mean seed germination inhibition. The means of germinated maize seeds in pregnant and non-pregnant cow urine treatment groups were significantly different. The means of germinated maize seeds in unstripped and stripped pregnant cow urine were significantly different, while the mean shoot length values for the same treatments were not significantly different. Urine from 42 days’ pregnant cows had the highest germination inhibition (80.21±3.59) while the least (25.00±4.35) was observed on day 10. The Punyakoti test reliably detected pregnancy starting from 26 days after insemination. In conclusion, this technique can be used for detecting pregnancy as early 26 days after insemination. The potential role of steroids and involvement of abscisic acid (ABA) in seed germination inhibition requires further investigation.

In Zambia fish farms, Oreochromis andersonii is an important common indigenous fish species. Naturally, safe phytochemicals can effectively improve fish reproduction performance and their production potential. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of Kigelia africana on the gonadal development and the performance of Oreochromis andersonii. A total of 96 male fingerlings were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments (D1-D4), and each treatment group had three replicates. The D1, D2, D3, and D4 groups were formulated to receive 0, 50, 100, and 150 g of powdered Kigelia africana/kg, respectively. The fish were fed the diets for 9 weeks, followed by the study parameter measurements at the end of the experiment. The highest mean body weight and gonadal weight were (29.8 ± 0.63 and 0.09 ± 0.010 g, respectively) for fish in the D2 group. There was no significant difference between the mean body weight of fish in different groups, but their mean gonadal weights differed significantly. The gonadal somatic index of fish differed significantly among treatment groups, with those in D2 having the highest mean value (0.36 ± 0.060). The highest mean standard length (103.3 ± 0.63 mm) and total length (126.0 ± 0.11 mm) of fish were observed for D1 and D2 groups, respectively. Additionally, the mean values for those parameters decreased with increasing Kigelia africana in the diet. The physicochemical parameters of water, including temperature and dissolved oxygen, ranged 16.8-23.1℃ and 0.6-2.2 mg/L, respectively; these were generally at low levels considering the optimum requirements for this fish species. In conclusion, Kigelia africana improved gonadal growth and development but did not promote overall fish growth. The best gonadal growth/development results of Kigelia africana powder were observed at a level of 50 g/kg, which can be used as a performance booster in the aquaculture production of Oreochromis andersonii.