https://hdl.handle.net/13049/11 2026-11-01T09:05:51Z https://hdl.handle.net/13049/859 In Situ production environment of domesticated helmeted guinea fowl and phenotypic characterisation of domesticated and wild helmeted guinea fowl in the southern part of Botswana Rachaba, Gordon In Situ production environment of domesticated helmeted guinea fowl and phenotypic characterisation of domesticated and wild helmeted guinea fowl in the southern part of Botswana The objective of the first study was to characterize guinea fowl production environment in the Southern part of Botswana. A structured questionnaire was administered to a total forty two (42) guinea fowl farmers from Kgatleng (n=10), Kweneng (n=18), South East (n=6) and Southern Districts (n=8) to gather data on demographic information of guinea fowl farmers and breeding practices, husbandry practices, feeding, flock health, and marketing channels of guinea fowl. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, 2007) was used to generate descriptive statistics, including means, frequencies and percentages. The Chi-square (X2 ) test was used to determine statistical differences of categorical data across the districts. The survey revealed that 76.2% of guinea fowl farmers were males. Majority of the respondents (73.8%) had secondary or tertiary education and the households comprised of 2-5 individuals. Most farmers (76.2%) kept guinea fowl for aesthetic value and for own consumption during special occasions. The source of foundation stock was mainly from other local guinea fowl farmers and most farmers (50%) kept less than 20 birds per farm. The most predominant guinea fowl variety was the pearl (95 %). Most farmers (78.6%) did not have any breeding strategy for their birds and did not have selection criteria for both males and females hence ignored animal traits. Guinea fowls were mostly kept on communal farms (57.1%) under an intensive management system (61.9%) and were mostly sold to individuals (57.1%) as live birds. The second study aimed to compare the body weights and linear body measurements of domesticated and wild helmeted guinea fowl varieties in the southern region of Botswana. This study employed 40 adult wild and 160 adult domesticated guinea fowl of both sexes. The collected data were analyzed using general linear models (GLM) procedures of Statistical Analysis System (SAS) and the model included fixed effects of breed and sex and the interaction between breed and sex. Results were summarized as least squares means± standard ii error and means separation were done by paired t-tests. Live birds were measured for live body weight, body length, wingspan, shank length, and chest circumference. No significant weight differences were seen across domesticated helmeted guinea fowl varieties. All domesticated helmeted guinea fowl varieties were heavier than their wild counterparts. The White guinea fowl variety was longer than other domesticated and wild varieties. The wild guinea fowl had similar shank length with the pearl grey and lavender varieties. There was no significant sex influence on guinea fowl body weight, body length and chest circumference Sexual dimorphism in favor of males was only found for shank length in pearl grey and lavender varieties of domesticated helmeted guinea fowl. Thesis 2024-09-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/13049/858 Response of safflower to chilling temperature and duration of exposure Kereilwe, Dineo Cold stress causes substantial losses in global agricultural productivity by impairing plant growth, physiology, and survival. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), an ancient, marginalized, neglected yet multipurpose domesticated oilseed crop, is known for its cold and drought tolerance. However, the crop has shown phenological stage-dependent susceptibility to cold stress, especially under Mediterranean type climates, posing a major threat to safflower growers. Moreover, the underlying physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms of cold signal transduction in different developmental stages of safflower are poorly understood due to a lack of systematic research on cold signalling pathways and gene regulatory networks. To address this knowledge gap and issues of chilling injury (CI), this study investigatedchilling incidence, physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of safflower to chilling stress at two phenological stages (rosette and bolling) under both controlled (artificial) and natural (field) conditions. The experimental designs were 2 x 4 x 4 factorial design in artificial chilling condition and 2 x 4 factorial laid down in a completely randomized block design (RCBD) in natural conditions. The results demonstrated that chilling injury incidence (CII) occurred when safflower plants at the bolling stage were exposed to 0 and 4°C for durations of 8 and 12 hours, respectively under artificial chilling stress (refrigerator). While safflower plants at the rosette stage under artificial chilling stress induction did not show any symptoms of CI. On the other hand, plants naturally chilled did not exhibit any signs of CII at either the rosette or bolling stage. Moreover, safflower plants chilled at 4°C for 8 to 12 hours showed moderate increases in relative electrolyte leakage (REL), up to 17.1% and reduced proline levels from 4.79 to 5.40 µmol/g FW under artificial cold stress. While at 0°C for 12 hours, plants at the bolling stage experienced severe membrane damage as indicated by a sharp increase in REL to 65.7%, compared to12.0% rise in rosette plants. This was accompanied by a drastic decline in total chlorophyll content (Chl a+b), from 2.64 to 1.19 mg/g FW and stomatal conductance (gs) reducing accumulation peaked at 8.84 µmol/g FW in rosette plants but remained low (~4.9 µmol/g FW) in bolling plants. Carotenoids increased in rosette plants from 1.04 to 1.77 mg/g FW but decreased in bolling plants from 0.91 to 0.37 mg/g FW. For the field experiment, exposure of plants to 2°C at night in the bolling stage increased REL (20.18%) compared to rosette plants (6.81%), with gs declining significantly but partially recovering by mid-day from 311.35 to Safflower plants at the rosette stage exposed xx to chilling stress at 0°C for 12 hours significantly (P < 0.05) produced higher proline content of 8.84 µmol/g FW than plants in both development stages exposed to low temperatures of 0 and 4°C for 8 and 12 hours and control. Proline levels increased to 11.65 µmol/g FW in rosette and 10.70 µmol/g FW in bolling plants under field conditions. Safflower genotypes in both phenological stages exposed to chilling stress of 2°C at night under had low leaf chlorophyll content in the morning than control plants. The reduction in leaf chlorophyll content in all genotypes was much higher in plants at the bolling stage compared to the rosette stage. The genotype Sina had higher leaf chlorophyll contents of 73.87 and 61.97 (SPAD) at rosette and bolling stages, respectively than other genotypes under field conditions. In artificial cold induced stress experiments, safflower plants at the rosette stage exhibited enhanced ) increasing from 0.35 (control) to 0.71 after exposure to 4°C for 12 hours, while plants at the bolling stage showed a decrease from 0.40 to 0.19 under the same conditions. Similarly, non-photochemical s at the rosette stage but dropped sharply from 0.56 to 0.23 in plants at the bolling stage exposed to 4°C for 8 hours. At 0°C for 8 hours, the bolling was later reversed with a 45.42% decrease after 12 hours. Nondeclined in safflower plants at the rosette stage from 0.21 (control) to 0.15 and 0.18 at 4°C and 0°C, respectively, but increased in plants at the bolling stage from 0.21 to 0.31 and 0.26. Cold stress drastically reduced ETR II from 220.17 (control) to 0.22 at both 0°C and 4°C across all stages. Under field conditions, morning cold exp to 0.57 for plants at the rosette stage, while plants at the bolling stage experienced a reduction from 0.57 to 0.51. Concurrently, plants at the rosette 0.16 to 0.17) than plants at the bolling stage (from 0.16 to 0.28). While mid-day recovery showed higher ETR II in plants at the rosette stage (312.23) than plants at the bolling stage (237.92). Among genotypes, Sina exhibited the highest ETR II (300.97), followed by Gila (272.02), PI 537636 (265.77), and Turkey (261.54). Antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, SOD, POD) also varied significantly. Under artificial cold stress, plants at the rosette stage showed peak activities at 0°C for 12 hours: CAT (1.80 U/mL FW), POD (2.29 U/mL FW), and SOD (4.45 U/mL FW). In contrast, plants at the bolling stage under prolonged cold exposure of 0°C for 12 hours led to a sharp decrease in CAT (0.31 U FW) and SOD (0.41 U FW) activities, and a significant reduction in POD activity (0.27 U FW), indicating differential stress responses across growth stages. Meanwhile, under natural cold stress, CAT, SOD, and POD activities were notably influenced by genotype and time of day. xxi Gila demonstrated the highest CAT activity of 1.58 U/mL FW in plants at the bolling stage, while Sina exhibited the highest mid-day SOD (3.21 U/mL FW) and POD (0.92 U/mL FW) activities. At the molecular level, expression analysis identified three cold-responsive genes: two E3 ligase genes (CtAH10T0001700.1, CtAH10T0001500.1) with RING finger domains, and a GRAS family gene (CtAH10T0000500). These genes successfully exhibited similar cold responses as per their respective family. Overexpression of some E3 genes like CIP8 and HOS 1 could be associated with the cold susceptibility of plants at the bolling stage. Additionally, CtAH10T0001700.1 expression was found to be positively correlated with electrolyte leakage and proline content in safflower plants at the rosette stage. Meanwhile CtAH10T0001500.1, a negative cold regulator significantly correlated with electrolyte leakage and proline content. While CtAH10T0000500, a positive cold regulator significantly correlated with electrolyte leakage and proline at the rosette stage but negatively associated with the two parameters in plants at the bolling stage. Overall, the genes were found to play a significant role in cold responsiveness of safflower plants at the rosette and bolling phenological stages. In conclusion, safflower exhibited developmental stage-specific responses to cold stress, with plants at the rosette stage demonstrating better physiological resilience, antioxidant defence, and gene regulation than plants at the bolling stage. These findings provide novel insight into the cold signal transduction pathways and identified molecular markers for breeding cold-tolerant safflower genotypes. Therefore, the study recommended that future research and breeding efforts should focus on enhancing safflower cold tolerance, particularly at the bolling stage, by targeting physiological, biochemical, and molecular traits associated with resilience at this and yield stability under chilling conditions. Thesis 2026-03-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/13049/857 The Potential of Morama Bean Cake (Tylosema esculentum) as an Alternative Protein Source for Ruminants Mthetho, John K The biodiversity of plants in Botswana offers great opportunities for the development of ailing ruminant livestock farming. The qualitative and quantitative inadequacy of rangeland is the biggest challenge to livestock production in Botswana. Poor and rather irregular distribution of precipitation worsens the situation. However, pastures in these ecosystems harbour underutilized legumes that are endowed with essential nutrients. One of the potential protein sources that could improve ruminant nutrition is Morama bean cake (Tylosema esculentum). The nuts are often eaten raw or roasted by people who live where the plants are found, often in dry areas of the Kalahari Desert. To assess their potential in ruminant feeding, Morama beans were prepared using three distinct methods: roasted Morama bean cake (RMBC), whole Morama bean cake (WMBC), and decorticated Morama bean cake (MBCD). As feed formulations for ruminants typically include hulled sunflower seed cake (WSSC), a sunflower-based control diet was similarly prepared using hulled sunflower seed cake. The first study (comprising the first and second experiments) compared the differences between the nutritional attributes of the different Morama and sunflower seed cakes, as well as the in vitro DM and CP and in situ DM and CP rumen degradation properties. Therefore, the study objectives were achieved through laboratory methods (wet chemistry or close-up analysis and in vitro studies) and animal experiments (in situ). The techniques determined the nutritional values and potential rumen breakdown of the forage. xiii The in vitro and in situ results for Morama and sunflower seed cakes correlated in many ways, but the in vitro method appeared to significantly underestimate degradation rates compared to the in situ method. In this case, in vitro findings suggested that the crude proteins for WMBC and RMBC were less degradable in rumen fluid than MBCD and WSSC (P < 0.05). The CP disappearance values of WSSC and MBCD had reached 90% and 97.2%, respectively, within 24 hours of incubation. RMBC generally exhibited higher values for the a and b fractions, indicating a higher potential for CP degradation in the rumen. These findings underscore the importance of selecting appropriate feed treatments to optimize CP degradation and effective degradability in ruminants, ultimately enhancing nutrient utilization and animal performance. The second study objective was to compare the protein absorption capacity of roasted Morama bean cake and sunflower seed cake on a basal diet of rice straw at three different inclusion rates (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%). The effects of Morama bean cake or sunflower seed cake on DM, CP, EE, ADF, ADL, cellulose, and non-fiber carbohydrates were significantly different after mixing with rice straw (P < 0.05). The amount of RMBC or WSSC added to rice straw increased its protein content and improved nutrient digestibility, ammonia concentration, and total volatile fatty acid formation (P < 0.0001). The inclusion of 30% roasted Morama bean cake (RMBC) in the diet resulted in a reduction of various degradability metrics. Specifically, it decreased in vitro dry matter degradability (ivADMdeg) by 12.2%, in vitro true dry matter degradability (ivTDMdeg) by 5.4%, and in vitro organic matter degradability (ivOMdeg) by 4.6%. Therefore, it was concluded that RMBC would benefit ruminants at different incorporation rates, except for 30%, where the possible increased xiv levels of condensed tannins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, phytic acid, glucosinolates, and saponins in the oilseed cake could affect rumen microbial activity and overall feed degradability. The studies underscore the potential of optimally processed Morama bean cake to enhance nutrient utilization and animal performance in ruminants. They also highlight the necessity of selecting the appropriate processing method and inclusion rate to maximize benefits while avoiding negative impacts from anti-nutritional constituents. Thesis 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/13049/856 On-farm evaluation of selected indigenous local plants for the control of gastrointestinal nematodes between different breeds and sexes of goats in Botswana Lechani, Perfect Two objectives were set for this study, first; to identify local plants used to control internal parasites in goats in the Ngamiland district of Botswana and secondly; to determine the anthelmintic efficacy of most commonly used plants to treat different breeds and sexes of goats. To carry out the first objective, a total of 120 communal farmers were randomly identified from six villages and interviewed using a structured questionnaire consisting of demographic parameters and ethnobotanical information. The qualitative data was analyzed using SPSS software and the most popular plants were identified using fidelity levels. Most of the respondents were secondary educated males of 50 to 60 years and relied on livestock for their livelihoods. About 13 local plant species from 11 families were used for the treatment of intestinal parasites in goats and the most popular was family Fabaceae (27.3%). Terminalia sericea and Gnidia capitata plant species recorded the highest fidelity levels, scoring 89.3% and 88.0%, respectively. The roots (76.9%) were the most frequently used plant part while decoction (46%) was popular in medicinal preparations. To carry out objective 2, a total of thirty goats from two breeds; 15 Tswana and 15 Boer goats, aged 18-21 months were used. Thev study was carried out at Ngocho farmstead, with the goats allowed to graze and browse naturally in the veld from morning to evening.The goats were randomly allocated to three treatment groups; Treatment 1 and 2 were given Terminalia sericea and Gnidia capitata extracts. The extracts were prepared by soaking in water (infusion) for 24 hours nd were given to the goats orally, respectively, while Treatment 3 animals were given Ivermax 1% under the skin (subcutaneously). The animal sexes were allocated across all treatments with each treatment having 6 females and 4 males. The body condition score (BCS) and faecal egg count were performed at the beginning of the trial (day 0) and at days 30, 60 and 90. The data were analyzed using statistical analysis system (SAS). At day 0 the animals recorded a body condition score of 2 (emaciated) and improved post treatment to a score of 4 at day 60. Generally, faecal egg count decreased across the goat breeds and sexes after treatment with plant remedies. Tswana goats recorded an overall better reduction in faecal egg counts compared to Boer goats. At day 60, males had lower faecal egg count than females for both plant remedies with males treated with Gnidia capitata plant extract showing a better response. The studied plants contain some phytochemical compounds responsible for their anthelminthic properties. It is important to III incorporate these local plants in flock health management to improve animal productivity, food security and livelihoods. Thesis 2026-05-01T00:00:00Z