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Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are the most important legume staple food in Kenya coming second to maize. In Central Highlands of Kenya, the 0.4-0.5ton ha-1 output is below the genetic yield potential of 1.5-2ton ha-1 partly due pests and diseases. Plant parasitic nematodes (PPN) have been reported to cause yield losses of up to 60% on beans. Though bean production is important in the Central highlands of Kenya, information on PPN associated with the beans in the region is lacking. This study was therefore undertaken to establish the diversity of PPN associated with common beans and to assess the root knot nematode damage on beans in the region. The study covered 50 farms (32 in Kirinyaga and 18 in Embu Counties) distributed in eight localities namely Kibirigwi (L1), Makutano (L2), Kagio (L3), Mwea (L4) and Kutus (L5) in Kirinyaga County and Nembure (L6), Manyatta (L7) and Runyenjes (L8) in Embu County and covering three Agro Ecological Zones (AEZs); UM2 (L1, L2, L3 & L4), UM3 (L5, L7 & L8) and UM4 (L6) AEZs. Manyatta (L7) and Nembure (L6), had the highest and second highest gall indices, respectively, while Kibirigwi (L1), Makutano (L2) and Mwea (L4) had some of the lowest gall indices. The most common PPN in bean roots were Meloidogyne spp. Pratylenchus spp. and Scutellonema spp. with a frequency of 94.38%, 78.25% and 59.13%, respectively. This further confirm the importance of these nematodes in bean production systems. Upper Midland 3 (UM3) AEZs and UM4 had higher nematode population densities and diversity than UM2. Disease severity and nematode composition and distribution were notably low in the irrigated areas Kibirigwi, Kagio and Mwea compared to rain-fed areas such as Makutano, Nembure and Manyatta.

A study was conducted to examine fodder yield and silage quality of maize (Zea mays L.) and climbing bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) intercropping with different planting structure. Maize was cultivated alone and intercropped with climbing bean as follows;1 row maize to 1 row climbing bean (1M1K), 1 row maize to 2 rows climbing bean (1M2K) and 2 rows maize to 1 row climbing bean (2M1K). The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with four treatments and three replications. The crops were harvested when the maize reached at milk stage and climbing bean at R7 stage. The results indicated significant increase in fresh biomass and dry matter production of maize fodder alone as compared to maize intercropped with climbing bean fodder. However, no difference (p>0.05) was observed in ether extract (EE), and ash (%) of nutrient composition of fodder among the four treatments After 45 days of ensiling period, silage samples were analysed for pH, organic acids (lactic, acetic, and butyric), ammonia-N(NH3-N), dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), water soluble carbohydrate (WSC), calcium (Ca), sodium (Na) and potassium (K). All intercropped silages had higher CP values (1M1K, 12.0%; 1M2K, 12.3%; 2M1K, 11.1%) than the monocrop maize (SM, 8.9%) silage. Higher organic acids and ammonia-N (p<0.05) were produced in the 1M2K silages as compared to others silages. The study showed that among all intercropped silages the 1M2K (1 row maize to 2 rows climbing bean) was preferable according to nutrient composition than other intercropped silages. This research work has been done by Maw Ni Soe Htet1, Rab Nawaz Soomro 2,Hai Jiang bo under College of Agronomy, Northwest A & F University, Yangling Shaanxi, P.R China and College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A & F University, Yangling Shaanxi, P.R. China.