Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1976. / Bibliography: leaves 170-175. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

No description available.

Thesis (M.Inst.Agrar.(Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 1999. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Economics)--Vanderbilt. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-208).

Orientador: Leonardo de Barros Pinto / Banca: Luiz Cesar Ribas / Banca: Marcelo ChiaradiaMasselli / Resumo: A mandioca é cultivada em grande parte do território nacional, portanto, em distintas regiões, sob diferentes sistemas de produção. Na produção de alimentos, chamada "mandioca de mesa", é considerada uma das principais fontes de carboidratos, vitaminas e sais minerais, o que representa um aspecto importante à alimentação de populações em países pobres. Para a indústria, a mandioca assume destaque na composição de embalagens, colas, mineração, têxtil e farmacêutica e também o de alimentos embutidos, dentre outros, por meio da utilização da fécula. Devido à necessidade do desenvolvimento de sistemas produtivos sustentáveis (melhores desempenhos ambientais, econômicos e sociais), e, em razão da importância da mandioca no cenário agrícola brasileiro, este estudo teve como finalidade realizar o balanço emergético, comparando e analisando distintos sistemas produtivos de mandioca. Ademais, índices emergéticos podem ser utilizados para se ter uma correlação e interação do homem com o meio ambiente, servindo também para se avaliar como estes sistemas se comportam econômica e ecologicamente. Assim, a utilização da análise emergética permite que os custos emergéticos e benefícios sejam comparados, e desta forma, contribuem para gestão de recursos de forma sustentável. Por meio de instrumentos de coleta de dados, foram determinados todos os recursos renováveis (R), não renováveis (N) e financeiros (F) para cada um dos 35 estabelecimentos rurais participantes desta pesquisa. Devido algum... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Cassava is cultivated in much of the national territory, therefore, in different regions, under different production systems. In food production, called "table cassava", it is considered one of the main sources of carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, which represents an important aspect for the feeding of populations in poor countries. For the industry, cassava assumes prominence in the composition of packaging, glues, mining, textiles and pharmaceuticals and also of embedded foods, among others, through the use of starch. Due to the need for the development of sustainable production systems (better environmental, economic and social performances), and, due to the importance of cassava in the Brazilian agricultural scenario, this study aimed to carry out the emergy balance, comparing and analyzing different cassava production systems. Moreover, emergy indexes can be used to have a correlation and interaction between man and the environment, also serving to evaluate how these systems behave economically and ecologically. Thus, the use of emergy analysis enables emergy costs and benefits to be compared, and thus contributes to sustainable resource management. Through data collection instruments, all renewable (R), non-renewable (N) and financial (F) resources were determined for each of the 35 rural establishments participating in this research. Due to some similarities, these establishments were grouped into clusters, thus, patterns and relationships between the components of each group formed were identified and verified. With information on the amount of resources R, N and F, the emergy calculation was performed, which accounts for all inputs and outputs of these resources. While the traditional economic method only analyzes fixed costs, variable costs and the market, therefore, for the commercialization of this product, the contributions of nature and ecosystems that are directly involved ... / Mestre

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Biotechnology, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / Cassava, (Manihot esculenta Crantz), is used for the production of a variety of West African foods and ranks fourth in the list of major crops in developing countries after rice, wheat and maize. Gari is one of the most popular foods produced from cassava. Cassava may contain high levels of linamarin, a cyanogenic glucoside, which in its natural state is toxic to man. Therefore, some processing methods that can enhance the detoxification of cassava and lead to the improvement of the quality and hygienic safety of the food are vitally important for less toxic products to be obtained. Quality, safety and acceptability of traditional fermented foods may be improved through the use of starter cultures. There has been a trend recently to isolate wild-type strains from traditional products for use as starter cultures in food fermentation. A total of 74 bacterial strains and 21 yeast strains were isolated from a cassava mash fermentation process in a rural village in Benin, West Africa. These strains were assessed, together with 26 strains isolated at the CSIR from cassava samples sent from Benin previously, for phenotypic and technological properties. Twenty four presumptive lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were selected for further phenotypic, genotypic and technological characterization during a research visit to the BFE (now Max Rubner Institute of Nutrition and Food). After assessment, the strains VE 20, VE 36, VE 65b, VE 77 and VE 82 were chosen for further study as starter cultures. These L. plantarum strains were chosen on the basis of predominance and possession of suitable technological properties. The investigation of this study was complemented by further, similar studies on further Gari isolates in Germany by the BFE. That study was done independently from this study, but both studies served to select potential starter cultures for cassava fermentation for the production of Gari, as this was the common goal of the project. Thus, a wider final selection of potential starter cultures was decided on at the project level and this selection was further tested in fermentation experiments. A total of 17 strains were grown in optimized media in 2 L fermenters. These strains were freeze-dried and thereafter tested in lab-scale cassava mash fermentation trials. xiii The strains performed well in the small scale bucket fermentations. There was a rapid acidification evidenced by the increase in titratable acidity, ranging from 1.1 to 1.3 % at 24 hours, and 1.3 to 1.6 % at 48 hours. The effect of the starter was obvious in that it lowered the pH much faster and to lower levels than the control. It appeared that both the processing and starter culture addition played a role in the removal of cyanide during processing of the cassava into Gari. This was evident from the lower cyanide values obtained for fermentations that included starter cultures. The study also showed that especially the L. plantarum group strains could be produced as starter cultures at lower costs than compared to L. fermentum, W. paramesenteroides or L. mesenteroides strains. Overall the results of this study were crucial for the project in showing that a starter culture which is easy and economical to produce and which has the desired attributes is a feasible possibility for application in the field.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009. / Submitted to the African Centre for Crop Improvement. Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important food security crop in the semi-arid areas of Eastern Kenya. It provides food for more days in a calendar year than any other crop grown. Kenya has relied on varieties bred in other countries and because of this, local breeding methodologies and expertise are lacking. Access to appropriate varieties and adequate planting materials are major limiting factors to cassava production. Farmers grow late bulking landraces that take up to 18 mo to harvest. Efforts to introduce early bulking genotypes from IITA failed because of poor end-use quality. Local cassava breeding is necessary to alleviate the production constraints. Before a local breeding program can be established, farmers' preferences and production constraints must be identified and methodology appropriate to the Kenyan environment must be developed. The aims of this study were to identify farmer production constraints and preferences, to develop methods appropriate for cassava breeding in the semi-arid areas of Kenya, develop a population segregating for bulking period to estimate genetic variances that would explain the gene effects controlling yield components, and through participatory selection identify varieties that combine early bulking and preferred end-user traits. PRA tools, focus groups and individual interviews were used to identify production constraints and farmer preferences for cassava varieties. The PRA found that farmers grow 13 landraces in the area and 11 production constraints were identified and prioritised. The four most limiting in the order of importance were drought, lack of planting material, pests and diseases. Crosses between cassava varieties often do not produce much seed and the seed produced does not germinate well. Germination studies were done with open pollinated seeds to identify conditions favourable for seed germination in Kenya. The highest germination of the seeds was at 36°C. The control seeds had a higher germination percent (77%) compared to the seeds which were pre-heated at 36°C (57%). Crosses were made between selected IITA and local Kenyan genotypes following the NC 11 mating design to develop new genotypes which combine early bulking along with other farmer/end-user preferred characteristics. The hybrid progenies were evaluated in a seedling trial and clone genotypes advanced to a clonal trial and performance trial. The clonal trial was destroyed by red spider mites and cassava green mites, and only the tolerant 225 genotypes were planted in a performance trial that was harvested at 6, 7 and 8 mo after planting. The SCA effects were estimated to be 57% to 75% for most of the traits, except root number, which was mainly controlled by GCA effects (55%). Participatory selection of genotypes that combined early bulking and end-user qualities at the 7 and 8 mo after planting was done by farmers. Thirty genotypes that combined early bulking and end-user qualities were identified and ranked according to their performance in both agronomic and end-use traits using a selection index. A number of selected genotypes yielded more than three times the yield of the best parents, showing strong progress in breeding. Combining the farmers' preference aggregate score and the selection index based on the agronomic data, assisted in the final identification of the best genotypes developed in the breeding process. These results clearly demonstrated that it is possible to breed early bulking varieties with good end-use quality in the semiarid areas. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

High starch content is an important component of root quantity and quality for almost all uses of cassava (flour, chips, and industrial raw material). However, there is scanty information on genetic variability for dry matter and starch contents and relatively little attention has been paid to genetic improvement of root dry matter content and starch content in Tanzania. The major objective of this research was to develop improved cassava varieties that are high yielding, with high dry matter and starch content for Tanzania and specifically to: i) identify farmers’ preferences and selection criteria for cassava storage root quality characteristics and other traits of agronomic relevance for research intervention through a participatory rural appraisal; ii) determine the genotypic variability for starch quantity and dry matter content evaluated for three harvesting times in four sites; iii) determine the inheritance of dry matter and starch content in cassava genotypes; and iv) develop and evaluate clones for high storage root yield, high dry matter content and starch. Attributes desired by farmers were yield, earliness, tolerance to pests and diseases. The complementing attributes associated with culinary qualities were sweetness, good cookability, high dry matter content or mealyness and marketability. The preliminary study conducted to evaluate the variability in root dry matter content (RDMC) and starch quantity and yield of ten cassava cultivars indicated that RDMC ranged from 29 to 40% with the mean of 34.3%. The RDMC at 7 months after planting (MAP) was higher than at 11 and 14 MAP. Starch content (StC) ranged from 20.3% to 24.9% with the mean of 22.8%. The StC differed significantly between cultivars, harvesting time and sites. An increase in StC was observed between 0 and 7 MAP, followed by a decline between 7 and 11 MAP, and finally an increase again noted between 11 and 14 MAP. However, for most of the cultivars at Kibaha an increase in StC between 11 and 14 MAP could not surpass values recorded at 7 MAP. At Kizimbani, cultivar Kalolo and Vumbi could not increase in StC after 11 MAP. At Chambezi and Hombolo, a dramatic gain in StC was observed for most of the cultivars between 11 and 14 MAP. Starch yield ranged from 0.54 to 4.09 t ha-1. Both StC and fresh storage root yield are important traits when selecting for commercial cultivars for starch production. Generation of the F1 population was done using a 10 x 10 half diallel design, followed by evaluation of genotypes using a 4 x 10 á-lattice. Results from the diallel analysis indicated that significant differences in fresh storage root yield (FSRY), fresh biomass (FBM), storage root number (SRN), RDMC, starch content (StC), and starch yield (StY), and cassava brown streak disease root necrosis (CBSRN) were observed between families and progeny. The FSRY for the families ranged from 15.0 to 36.3 t ha-1; StC ranged from 23.0 to 29.9%; RDMC ranged from 31.4 to 40.1%; and StY ranged from 3.3 to 8.3 t ha-1. The cassava mosaic disease (CMD) severity ranged from 1.7 to 2.7, while cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) severity for above ground symptoms ranged from 1.0 to 1.9. Additive genetic effects were predominant over non-additive genetic effects for RDMC, StC, and CBSRN, while for FSRY, FBM, SRN, and StY non-additive genetic effects predominated. Negative and non-significant correlation between RDMC and FSRY was observed at the seedling stage (r=-0.018), while at clonal stage the correlation was positive but not significant (0.01). The RDMC and StC were positive and significantly correlated (r=0.55***) at clonal stage. However, the StC negatively and non-significantly correlated with FSRY (r=- 0.01). High, positive and significant correlation (r=0.94; p.0.001) was observed between the StY and FSRY at clonal stage. High, positive and significant correlations between the seedling and clonal stage in FSRM (r=0.50; p.0.01), RDMC (r=0.67; p.0.001), HI (r=0.69; p.0.001), and SRN (r=0.52; p.0.01) were observed, suggesting that indirect selection could start at seedling stage for FSRM, RDMC, HI, and SRN. The best overall genotype for StC was 6256 (40.9%) from family Kiroba x Namikonga followed by genotype 6731 (40.6%; Vumbi x Namikonga). Among the parents, Kiroba and Namikonga were identified as the best combiners in terms of GCA effects for StC. Genotype 6879 from family Vumbi x AR 42-3 had the highest StY value of 34.8 t ha-1 followed by genotype 6086 (30.4 t ha-1; Kalolo x AR 40-6). Among the parents, Kalolo and AR 42-3 were identified as good combiners for the trait. Mid-parent heterosis for StC ranged from 41.6 to 134.1%, while best parent heterosis ranged from 30.4 to 119.6%. Genotype KBH/08/6807 from family Vumbi x TMS 30001 had the highest mid-and best parent heterosis percentage for StC. For StY, mid-parent and best parent heterosis ranged from 168.0 to 1391.0%, and from 140.4 to 1079.0%, respectively, with the genotype 6879 (Vumbi x AR 42-3) exhibiting the highest mid- and best parent heterosis percentage for StY. Improvement for StC, RDMC, and CBSRN may be realized by selecting parents with the highest GCA effects for the traits and hybridize with those that combine well to maximize the positive SCA effects for the StC, RDMC and CBSRN. Selected genotypes from the clonal stage will be evaluated in preliminary yield trial and advanced further to multi-locational trials while implementing participatory approaches involving farmers and processors in selection. New promising lines should be tested at different sites and the best harvesting dates should be established. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.