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Application of Response Surface Methodology for Determining Optimal Factors in Maximization of Maize Grain Yield and Total Microbial Count in Long Term Agricultural Experiment, Kenya

Received: 20 September 2017    Accepted: 8 October 2017    Published: 11 November 2017
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Abstract

The Agriculture sector is the main stay of the Kenyan economic development contributing over 70% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The sector is faced with numerous challenges leading to frequent and recurrent food shortages. Declining maize grain yield is one among the major challenges that call for urgent interventions to address the looming food crisis in the country. Maize play a big role in the Kenyan food security and in most case lack of the same is taken to mean food insecurity. It is due the importance attached to the crop that a Long Term Agricultural Experiments (LTAE) was set up specifically to research on the Maize grain yield. Many paper published on the LTAE in the country are only single factors analysis and lack the application of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approaches in solving challenges facing the low and declining maize grain yield (y1), total microbe population (y2) a crucial component of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) and their optimization. The focus of this paper therefore is the application of RSM in maize grain yield and total microbial population optimization. Specifically, the paper determined the most significant factors for maize grain yield and total microbial population (bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, rhizobia), (screening phase of the paper), constructed of an efficient and appropriate experimental design for evaluating the optimal settings of maize yield and total microbial population count and determined univariate optimal settings for maize grain yield and total microbial population. The primary data was summarized from LTAE in National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL) in Kabete under the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and secondary data imputed for experimental points falling outside the set field experimental design points. Two treatment factors were identified as the most significant treatment factors (Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and Nitrogen and Phosphorus (NP)) at their low levels and Circumscribed Central Composite Design (CCCD) with two star points as the most efficient design. CCCD passed most optimal criteria of DAET. Univariately, optimal setting for maize grain yield was realized at 3.8x103 kg/ha and that of the total microbial population at 3.6x106 count. The study confirmed that it was possible to optimize the input treatment factor that lead to the optimization of both maize grain yield and maintaining maximal total microbial population count at its optimal levels.

Published in Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics (Volume 5, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjams.20170506.12
Page(s) 200-209
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Response Surface Methodology, Long Term Agricultural Experiments, Univariate Optimization, Circumscribed Central Composite Design

References
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[3] Cochran, W. G., & Cox, G. M. (1950). Experimental Designs. New York: Wiley.
[4] Edmondson, R. N. (1991). Agricultural response surface experiments based on four level-factorial designs. Biometrics, 1435-1448.
[5] Food and Agriculture Organization for United Nation. (2012). The state of food insecurity in the world. Rome: United Nations.
[6] Food and Agriculture for United Nation. (2014). The state of food insecurity in the world. Rome: United Nation.
[7] Food and Agriculture Organization for United Nation. (2013). The state of food and agriculture. Rome: United Nation.
[8] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation. (2015). The State of Food and Agriculture Report 2015: Social protection and agriculture: breaking the cycle of rural poverty. Rome: United Nation.
[9] George, E. P., Hunter, J. S., & Hunter, W. G. (2005). Statistics for experinters: Design, innovation and discovery 2nd edition.
[10] Greenland, D. (1994). Soil science and sustainable land management. Soil science and sustainable land management in the tropics, 1-15.
[11] Hill, W. J., & Hunter, W. G. (1966). A review of response surface methodology-a literature survey. Techno Metric, 8, 571-590.
[12] Kariuki, J. G. (2011). The future of agriculture in Africa (The Pardee Paper No. 15). Boston: Boston University.
[13] Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. (2016). Economic survey. Nairobi: Government of Kenya.
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    Wambua Alex Mwaniki, Koske Joseph, Mutiso John, Mulinge Wellington, Kibunja Catherine, et al. (2017). Application of Response Surface Methodology for Determining Optimal Factors in Maximization of Maize Grain Yield and Total Microbial Count in Long Term Agricultural Experiment, Kenya. Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, 5(6), 200-209. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjams.20170506.12

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    Wambua Alex Mwaniki; Koske Joseph; Mutiso John; Mulinge Wellington; Kibunja Catherine, et al. Application of Response Surface Methodology for Determining Optimal Factors in Maximization of Maize Grain Yield and Total Microbial Count in Long Term Agricultural Experiment, Kenya. Sci. J. Appl. Math. Stat. 2017, 5(6), 200-209. doi: 10.11648/j.sjams.20170506.12

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    AMA Style

    Wambua Alex Mwaniki, Koske Joseph, Mutiso John, Mulinge Wellington, Kibunja Catherine, et al. Application of Response Surface Methodology for Determining Optimal Factors in Maximization of Maize Grain Yield and Total Microbial Count in Long Term Agricultural Experiment, Kenya. Sci J Appl Math Stat. 2017;5(6):200-209. doi: 10.11648/j.sjams.20170506.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjams.20170506.12,
      author = {Wambua Alex Mwaniki and Koske Joseph and Mutiso John and Mulinge Wellington and Kibunja Catherine and Eboi Bramuel},
      title = {Application of Response Surface Methodology for Determining Optimal Factors in Maximization of Maize Grain Yield and Total Microbial Count in Long Term Agricultural Experiment, Kenya},
      journal = {Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics},
      volume = {5},
      number = {6},
      pages = {200-209},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjams.20170506.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjams.20170506.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjams.20170506.12},
      abstract = {The Agriculture sector is the main stay of the Kenyan economic development contributing over 70% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The sector is faced with numerous challenges leading to frequent and recurrent food shortages. Declining maize grain yield is one among the major challenges that call for urgent interventions to address the looming food crisis in the country. Maize play a big role in the Kenyan food security and in most case lack of the same is taken to mean food insecurity. It is due the importance attached to the crop that a Long Term Agricultural Experiments (LTAE) was set up specifically to research on the Maize grain yield. Many paper published on the LTAE in the country are only single factors analysis and lack the application of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approaches in solving challenges facing the low and declining maize grain yield (y1), total microbe population (y2) a crucial component of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) and their optimization. The focus of this paper therefore is the application of RSM in maize grain yield and total microbial population optimization. Specifically, the paper determined the most significant factors for maize grain yield and total microbial population (bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, rhizobia), (screening phase of the paper), constructed of an efficient and appropriate experimental design for evaluating the optimal settings of maize yield and total microbial population count and determined univariate optimal settings for maize grain yield and total microbial population. The primary data was summarized from LTAE in National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL) in Kabete under the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and secondary data imputed for experimental points falling outside the set field experimental design points. Two treatment factors were identified as the most significant treatment factors (Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and Nitrogen and Phosphorus (NP)) at their low levels and Circumscribed Central Composite Design (CCCD) with two star points as the most efficient design. CCCD passed most optimal criteria of DAET. Univariately, optimal setting for maize grain yield was realized at 3.8x103 kg/ha and that of the total microbial population at 3.6x106 count. The study confirmed that it was possible to optimize the input treatment factor that lead to the optimization of both maize grain yield and maintaining maximal total microbial population count at its optimal levels.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Application of Response Surface Methodology for Determining Optimal Factors in Maximization of Maize Grain Yield and Total Microbial Count in Long Term Agricultural Experiment, Kenya
    AU  - Wambua Alex Mwaniki
    AU  - Koske Joseph
    AU  - Mutiso John
    AU  - Mulinge Wellington
    AU  - Kibunja Catherine
    AU  - Eboi Bramuel
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjams.20170506.12
    T2  - Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
    JF  - Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
    JO  - Science Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
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    EP  - 209
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2376-9513
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjams.20170506.12
    AB  - The Agriculture sector is the main stay of the Kenyan economic development contributing over 70% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The sector is faced with numerous challenges leading to frequent and recurrent food shortages. Declining maize grain yield is one among the major challenges that call for urgent interventions to address the looming food crisis in the country. Maize play a big role in the Kenyan food security and in most case lack of the same is taken to mean food insecurity. It is due the importance attached to the crop that a Long Term Agricultural Experiments (LTAE) was set up specifically to research on the Maize grain yield. Many paper published on the LTAE in the country are only single factors analysis and lack the application of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approaches in solving challenges facing the low and declining maize grain yield (y1), total microbe population (y2) a crucial component of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) and their optimization. The focus of this paper therefore is the application of RSM in maize grain yield and total microbial population optimization. Specifically, the paper determined the most significant factors for maize grain yield and total microbial population (bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, rhizobia), (screening phase of the paper), constructed of an efficient and appropriate experimental design for evaluating the optimal settings of maize yield and total microbial population count and determined univariate optimal settings for maize grain yield and total microbial population. The primary data was summarized from LTAE in National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL) in Kabete under the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and secondary data imputed for experimental points falling outside the set field experimental design points. Two treatment factors were identified as the most significant treatment factors (Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and Nitrogen and Phosphorus (NP)) at their low levels and Circumscribed Central Composite Design (CCCD) with two star points as the most efficient design. CCCD passed most optimal criteria of DAET. Univariately, optimal setting for maize grain yield was realized at 3.8x103 kg/ha and that of the total microbial population at 3.6x106 count. The study confirmed that it was possible to optimize the input treatment factor that lead to the optimization of both maize grain yield and maintaining maximal total microbial population count at its optimal levels.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Planning and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya

  • Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya

  • Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Department of Planning and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Nairobi, Kenya

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