ABSTRACT
Antirrhinum majus L. is one of the most significant ornamental plants in the international flower industry, but has a relatively limited vase life, as evidenced by petal abscission and flower spike bending. The current study focuses on examining the efficacy of salicylic acid on the vase life and postharvest attributes of A. majus flower spikes. The spikes with the oldest floral bud at one day before anthesis stage were harvested and divided into 4 sets, with one set of spikes held in distilled water (DW) designated as control. The remaining three sets were supplemented with various concentrations of SA viz., 1, 2 and 3 mM. Among the concentrations studied, 2 mM was found to be the most promising SA concentration for increasing the postharvest performance of flowers of A. majus cut spikes. The enhanced vase life of A.majus spikes was characterised by increased floral diameter, a higher membrane stability index and elevated levels of total phenols and sugars as compared to the control. SA has been proven to suppress protein degradation and lipoxygenase activity during the vase life of flower spikes. Furthermore, SA-treated flower spikes with enhanced postharvest properties were shown to have higher levels of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activity.

ABSTRACT
Information on health of fish populations and sexual maturity is useful in formulating fisheries management regulations. There is little such information on fish species of upper Tana River basin of Mt. Kenya. Therefore, a study was conducted to estimate condition factor, length-weight relationship, sexual maturity and length at 50% maturity of Labeobarbus tanensis during March - August 2020. Fish were caught in River Kathita and in adjacent four dams on upper Tana River using electrofishing equipment and gillnets respectively. Specimen of L. tanensis were sorted from the catch and lengths measured to the nearest 0.1 cm TL using a measuring board and weights to the nearest gram using a weighing balance. Specimens were dissected to reveal gonads which were further dissected to evaluate the sexual maturity stages of eggs on a 1 to 6 scale (Witte & Vandensen, 1995). Estimated condition factor was greater than 1 indicating that the fish populations were healthy. Smallest mature male and female were 12.0 and 12.89 cm TL respectively. Length at 50% maturity for males and females were 13.9 and 14.9 cm TL respectively. Over 90% of mature fish were caught in Kathita River and few in dams. Length-weight relationship for both sexes are as follows: Females: Log W = 3.154 log TL - 2.104; R2 = 0.958. Males: log W = 3.184 log TL - 2.125; R2=0.960. Information obtained will be useful in formulating mesh-size regulations for sustainable exploitation of the fish.

ABSTRACT
To find out the effect of nitrogen and elixr on soybean attributes, this experiment is set up in (RCBD), with four replications. The treatments are zero fertilizer (Z0), two doses of both nitrogen (N1=50; N2 =100 Kg fed-1) and elxir (E1=10; E2=20 L fed-1). The findings show that the treatments have no effect on the plant height, number of branches and days to reach 50% flowering, however the number of leaves increased significantly with increasing nitrogen (N2) and declined with increasing of elixr (E2). The lower nitrogen dose (N1) enhnce plant fresh and dry weight, however treatments of elixr (E1; E2) deteriorated both weights. Number of pod per plant, seeds per pod and seed weight have a liner increase with increasing nitrogen (N1; N2), followed by the higher dose of elxir (E2), however the low dose of elxir (E1) record the minimum. The yield per plant and hectare are a greatest with lower (N1) and higher (N2) dose of nitrogen respectively, followed by control (Z0), however yield attributes fail with applying elxir.

ABSTRACT
Potato is the second most valued food crop after maize contributing to national domestic consumption and food needs in Kenya. Despite the ease in cultivation and fewer labor requirements, potato production in Kenya is not yet promising as compared to neighboring countries like Tanzania especially in the major growing areas like Molo Sub-County. Low potato in Kenya is due to several biotic and abiotic stresses. In order to develop appropriate interventions to improve production, it is important to first understand farmers’ characteristics, prevailing production practices, potato production constraints, and suggestions for improvement as it is important in providing the basis for addressing the numerous challenges that the farmers face. This study was thus carried out in Molo Sub-County, Kenya with the main objective of analyzing and documenting key information characterizing the socio-demographics of smallholder potato farmers, their production practices, potato production constraints, and their suggestions for improvement in the area. Data was collected from 152 smallholder potato farmers sampled randomly from the accessible population of 6000 potato growers. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results indicate that 44.7% of the land in the study area was self-owned. 62.5 % of the farmers belonged to a farmer group. Majority of the farmers 48 % had 1 -5 years of potato farming experience. Literacy levels in the study area were high with over 92.8 % of respondents attaining formal education. There was a higher percentage of women respondents than men 52.6 % and 47.4 % respectively. In terms of age majority of the respondents were middle-aged. The potato variety most preferred and grown by the respondents was shangi. In terms of potato yields, the majority 78.3% had potato yields less than 5tons/ha. The major potato production constraints were high pests and diseases, high costs of inputs, and market ..........

ABSTRACT
The objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of rice bran, rice hull, sawdust and quicklime on the production of edible mushrooms, in particular Pleurotus ostreatus. The cultivation method used is that of the culture technique on pasteurized substrate. The experimental device adopted was that in complete random blocks with four treatments repeated three and made up of different quantities of the prepared substrate (T1= 0.5 kg T2 = 0.75 kg T3 = 1.0 kg and T4 = 1.25 kg). The results obtained revealed that the average diameters of the cap and the height of the stem of the mushrooms from the T2 treatment were greater than those obtained from the mushrooms of the T1 treatment. No significant difference between these parameters was observed under the different treatments. The highest mushroom production (800.0 ± 23.31g) and the lowest (490.8 ± 7.60g) are obtained respectively under the T3 and T1 treatments. Thus the one-kilogram substrate used under the T3 treatment was identified by its high production of Pleurotus ostreatus.