A study was conducted to determine the effects of liquid manure on growth, development and yield of spinach. A randomized complete block design experiment was conducted in pots, in a 50% semi shaded lath house. The four treatments were solid kraal manure applied at 40 t/ha; liquid manure applied at 40 m 3 /ha; liquid manures solid remains applied at 40 t/ha and control of inorganic chemical fertilizer applied at 150 kg/ha. There were four replications per treatment. The growth parameters that were measured included the average number of leaf development per week, leaf height, leaf width, leaf area, leaf area index and the fresh biomass. For the growth parameters measured the results showed that the highest values were obtained in spinach plants fertilized with inorganic fertilizer followed in decreasing order by those fertilized with solid kraal manure, liquid manure solid remains and lastly liquid manure. The spinach fresh biomass mean yield for the treatment of inorganic chemical fertilizers was the highest at 54.4 g per plant. The lowest spinach yield of 17.9 g per plant was obtained from liquid manure treatment. The spinach yield from inorganic fertilized plants was significantly (p≤0.05) different from that of liquid manure and liquid manure solid remains. However, the yield from solid kraal manure treatment and inorganic chemical fertilizers was not significantly different, implying that kraal manure could be used to produce a high yield of the vegetable at a lower cost compared to inorganic fertilizer. Therefore it is recommended that farmers should continue to use solid kraal manure since the yields produced were similar to that of chemical fertilizers.

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Environmental concerns, increase labour cost and increase in demand for food has urged farmer to use the most economic and concomitant method to their farming objectives. Therefore, this study focused on ascertaining maize farmer’s perceptions on the weed control methods they choose and the socio-economic characteristics that determine these perceptions. This study was conduct countrywide in the four agro-ecological zones of Eswatini. Primary data was collected from 240 randomly selected maize farmers in the four Agro-ecological Zone of Eswatini. Factor analysis was used to estimate principal components about farmer’s perception on the different weed control methods. Multiple regression method was used to ascertain the socio-economic factors determining farmers’ perceptions. Farmers were interviewed about their perception on the usage of herbicides and integrated weed control method. The five likert scale of attitudinal statements related to herbicide and integrated weed control methods was developed. Four principal components were generated by the analysis from the positive attitudinal statement on the use of herbicides. These include productivity and economical, inclusive and confidence, knowledgeable and readiness, environmental impact. Farmer perceived that herbicides are associated with increased productive, can be used with confidence, farmers were ready to use herbicides, on the other hand, farmers perceived herbicides to have a negative impact on the environment. The socio-economic drivers of these farmers’ perceptions included sex of the farmer, education level, farming experience, access to agricultural trainings, amount of farm incomes and group membership. Integrated weeding method (hand hoe weeding + herbicide use) was perceived to be labour saving, productive and has no harm on the environment. The socio-economic drivers of these farmers’ perception towards the use of integrated weed control method included group membership and education. The study recommends that government should increase the number of extension officers to extend extension contact to more farmers, thus improve information sharing to farmers on best agricultural practices. Sensitization workshops, trainings and On-farm demonstration related to the usage of the improved weed control technologies is desired to increase farmers’ access to knowledge about the use of these improved weeding technologies.

The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of organic food waste on the condition of soil and the yield of vegetables. The experiment was a randomized block design with N:P:K at ratio of 2:3:2(37) inorganic fertilizer, organic fertilizer (vegetable food waste) and no fertilizer as the three treatments using no fertilizer as a control. There were three replications per treatment. The vegetable food waste was processed in a closed container along with addition of stillage and sugar in anaerobic conditions for 3 weeks. The vegetable food waste liquid fertilizer was analysed and the NPK values were found to be 0.83 %, 16.5 mg/kg, 20.62 cmol/kg, respectively. After application of treatments in the soil, the results of the study showed that vegetable waste had the highest yield per head (355.5 g) followed by synthetic fertilizer and no fertilizer treatment (control) with 283.2 g, and 253.1 g, respectively. Similarly, vegetable food waste had the higher moisture holding capacity of 0.237 cm 3 /cm 3 while synthetic fertilizer and the control both were 0.139 cm 3 /cm 3 . The results obtained from the study showed that liquid vegetable food waste fertilizer can be used as an alternative to synthetic fertilizer to increase crop yield and improve soil physical properties while reducing the negative impact of synthetic fertilizers on the environment as well as the environmental effect of disposing vegetable food waste in landfills.