• MSc thesis “Adoption of improved soyabean varieties: the case of Buno Bedele and East Wollega zones of Oromia Region, Ethiopia“ by Galmesa Abebe;
• MSc thesis “Influence of potassium fertilization and liming on growth, grain yield, and quality of soybean (Glycine max L.

Joseph Mhango, a Malawian former N2Africa sponsored MSc student, completed his MSc in Soil Science at Egerton University (Kenya) in 2015. His research was on bio-prospecting for physiological diversity of indigenous Bradyrhizobia species testing their nitrogen fixation efficiency in comparison with the USDA110 strain. After his MSc, he worked for 2 years as a soyabean seed production and technology dissemination officer at IITA in Malawi.

Dr Amaral M. Chibeba, from Mozambique, was awarded a PhD Scholarship by Wageningen University, through the N2Africa Project, and studied at Londrina State University in Brazil (2012 – 2016). He addressed the problem of inoculation barrier imposed by indigenous rhizobia to inoculant rhizobial strains resulting in low inoculation responses and low yields in soyabean.

This is the title of the PhD thesis that I will be defending on 12^th September 2018. It was a challenging year combining the last stretch of the PhD with a busy job, but I am glad to report progress. Our third paper ‘Exploring the yield gap of orange-fleshed sweet potato varieties on smallholder farmers’ fields in Malawi’ was published online in Field Crops Research in November 2017. (See link)

Zimbabwe has a long history of soyabean breeding programmes that have developed many improved soyabean varieties with various disease tolerances; and high yields, up to 5t/ha. Soyabean can depend on symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) with root nodule bacteria for their entire nitrogen requirements. In comparison to use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers, SNF is comparably inexpensive and environmentally friendly. Effective soyabean root nodule bacteria (RNB) populations in Zimbabwean soils are too erratic to be depended on for economic yields of soyabean.

After my last PhD updates, a paper was published in the N2Africa Special Issue of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment as Rurangwa, E., Vanlauwe, B., Giller, K.E., 2018. Benefits of inoculation, P fertilizer and manure on yields of common bean and soyabean also increase yield of subsequent maize. Agric. Ecosyst. Env. 261, 219-229. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880917303651.

Recently, we submitted a paper to the Nutrition Journal on the current and potential role of grain legumes on protein (both quantity and quality) and micronutrient adequacy of the diet of rural Ghanaian infants and young children.

In my last update, I presented portion of my second paper published in Field Crops Research (https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S037842901730727X).

Grain legume residues (GLRs) are among the main feed resources used by livestock producers in northern Ghana, especially during the dry season. GLRs are preferred to cereal residues as livestock feed because of their relatively higher nutrient levels. They are extensively used among major livestock production chain actors such as smallholder farmers, fatteners and trader. Opportunities for increasing livestock production and trade in northern Ghana strongly depend on the availability and accessibility of feed resources, such as the supply of GLRs by farmers.