Ministry of Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development

Bovine theileriosis (caused by Theileria parva) is the most important tick-borne transboundary animal disease endemic to Zimbabwe, yet its distribution dynamics data in the country remain scant and outdated. A retrospective study was conducted to determine high-risk areas of bovine theileriosis and associated risk factors in Zimbabwe. Records on bovine theileriosis spanning 23years (January 1995 to December 2018) were obtained from the Epidemiological Unit of the Division of Field Veterinary Services of Zimbabwe (DVSZ). Data were analysed using Studio R® version 11.0 for regression analysis and SatScan® version 9.4.6 for spatio-temporal clustering. Communal farmers (72%), adult cattle (29%), the year 2018 (60%) and the hot wet season (42%) had the highest proportion (p<.050) of bovine theileriosis cases recorded. Seven out of the country's ten provinces and 36 of its 59 districts were affected. Bovine theileriosis was observed to lose seasonality when cases rose exponentially in 2018. Five and four high-risk clusters of bovine theileriosis were detected using one-year and one-month time aggregate, respectively, all within the last eight years of the study (2011-2018). Two potential risk factors (province and farming system) were significantly (p<.050) associated with bovine theileriosis occurrence. Bovine theileriosis was found to be rampant and if left unchecked will spread and adversely affect the whole country. Improved theileriosis surveillance and control is warranted. Recommendations for control and prevention strategies revolve around better farmer awareness about the disease, correct and consistent use of acaricides, cattle movement control and disease surveillance among others.

Ten (10) medium staple cotton genotypes comprising of five commercial varieties and five experimental lines were evaluated for field performance, genetic and environmental variability. The trials were laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Analysis of variance was done for total seed cotton yield, lint yield, boll weight, earliness and gin out turn (GOT %) using Genstat 14th edition while stability and adaptability analysis was done using the AMMI model and the GGE biplot software. Significant differences (P<0.05) in genotype performances were observed in all the traits except for boll weight and earliness. The environment (E) effect was significant (P<0.05) for seed cotton yield and gin out-turn percentage (GOT %). The genotype (G) effect significantly (P<0.05) accounted for differences in boll weight and earliness index. The genetic x environment (GEI) interaction was not significant across the two seasons. SZ 9314 showed wide adaptation to all environments, a well-known and recommended characteristic of the commercial variety. These results show that 644-98-11, 917-05-7 and SZ-95-7 are promising genotypes that can be registered for production in upland cotton ecologies worldwide and they can be incorporated in future cotton improvement program. It is suggested that fibre quality traits for these experimental lines should be assessed. Key words: Stability, genetic variation, environmental variability, environment interaction (GEI), additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI), genetic by environment (GGE), gin out turn (GOT %).

From 2000, after Zimbabwe embarked on a major land reform programme, the country was isolated economically and diplomatically by Western countries. Agricultural financing dried up, and traditional Western donors only provided humanitarian assistance to communal farmers and refused to support any programmes in newly resettled areas. The government approached China and Brazil among other countries to help resuscitate the agricultural sector; including the newly resettled areas. While Brazilian assistance is yet to make a significant impact, as delivery modalities are still being worked out, Chinese assistance has made a significant impact particularly in the tobacco and cotton sectors. Only time will tell whether these new partnerships, as an alternative to Western aid, will become a success story of South–South cooperation.

Growth and digestibility experiments were conducted on growing East African type goats offered Chloris gayana hay supplemented with one of three high-protein (119-128 g CP/kg DM) legume hays, Cassia rotundifolia (cassia), Lablab purpureus (lablab) or Macroptilium atropurpureum (siratro), and crushed maize to investigate the feed intake, digestibility, growth and urinary excretion of purine derivatives. Goats in the supplemented groups had higher total dry matter and nitrogen intakes and higher N retention and body mass gains than unsupplemented counterparts. The digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and neutral detergent fibre were increased by protein supplementation. Animals on supplemented diets had higher fractional outflow rates of particulate matter from the rumen. The production of protein by ruminal microbes and the efficiency of microbial N production were increased by supplementation. It was concluded that a mixture of low-quality grass hay (61.9 CP/kg DM) and either cassia, lablab or siratro hay, and maize grain can provide a productive balanced diet for growing goats.