June 2013
Smallholder agricultural commercialization for income growth and poverty alleviation in southern Africa: A review
This review paper explores the concept of smallholder agricultural commercialization highlighting cases from Southern Africa. With most of southern Africa’s rural poor primarily depending on agriculture for livelihoods, shifting production from current subsistence towards market orientation (commercializing) can significantly increase the income and welfare of small farmers (smallholders) as well as contribute to...
June 2013
Production of couscous using the traditional method in Turkey and couscous in the world
Couscous is a semi-prepared foodstuff produced since the ancient times within the scope of winter preparations. It is known by many different names in different countries. In Turkey, first, bulgur is rubbed with egg white and allowed to swell. After which, a handful of flour is sprinkled on it. Then, it is rolled right- left by hand. An amount of egg-milk mixture is sprinkled on it and rolled right-left by hand....
June 2013
A review on axle torque sensing devices for energy harvesting of tractor implement combination
Agricultural machines contribute a major portion of the total cost of crop production. Proper matching of tractors and implements is crucial for maintaining high operational efficiency on the farm. If the implementation is specified, the draft will be a function of travel speed for a given soil condition and a cultivation depth. Operating costs for any given tractor or implement can be minimized by selecting an optimum...
June 2013
A review on the role of packaging in securing food system: Adding value to food products and reducing losses and waste
Packaging is an essential component of the food system, assuring the safe handling and delivery of fresh and processed food products from the point of production to the end user. Technological developments in packaging offer new prospects to reduce losses, maintain quality, add value and extend shelf-life of agricultural produce and consequently secure the food system. The objective of this review is to highlight the...
June 2013
Inter-state variations in technical efficiency in Indian Agriculture: A non-parametric frontier approach
The study endeavors to evaluate the efficiency performance of Indian Agriculture over the period of 1971 to 2004 using the technique of Data Envelopment Analysis. The empirical results reveal that the agriculture sector in India is operating with technical inefficiency to the tune of 18% which is high by all standards. Further, it has been observed that the technical inefficiency is mainly caused by improper selection...
June 2013
Effect of different feeding system on body weight, testicular size developments, and testosterone level in pre-pubertal male camel (Camelus dromedarius)
Eighteen dromedary males (Camelus dromedarius) were used to investigate the effect of nutrition on body weight, size of the testes, and blood testosterone concentrations in pre-pubertal male camels. Animals were divided into two groups of 9 animals each. Group A received a diet with 13% crude protein (CP) and 2.9 MCal (ME), whereas Group B received the traditional diet of the farm, and each animals’ feed intake...
June 2013
Effect of salinity on the growth performance and macronutrient status of four citrus cultivars grafted on trifoliate orange
To test the scions whether or not affect salt tolerance of citrus at the whole-plant level, four common cultivars belonging to sweet oranges (Newhall and Lane late) and loose-skin mandarins (Egan#1 and Guoqing#1) were grafted on trifoliate orange, and exposed to 0, 30, 60 or 90 mM Sodium chloride (NaCl). Results showed that, the NaCl treatment induced less reduction in dry weight (DW), leaf area, photosynthetic rate...
June 2013
Studies on impact of organic, inorganic and integrated use of nutrients on symbiotic parameters, yield, quality of French-bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) vis-Ã -vis soil properties of an acid alfisol
A field experiment was conducted on French bean with eight treatments in a randomized block design during the four years starting from 2005 to 2008 at the research farm of CSKHPKV, Palampur to assess the impact of different management practices on symbiotic parameters yield, and quality of French bean and soil properties. Organic and integrated nutrient management practices increased symbiotic parameters, green pod...
June 2013
Incidence of the endophyte fungus Neotyphodium coenophialum in pastures of tall fescue differing in age and soil characteristics
Neotyphodium coenophialum is an endophyte fungus living in a mutualistic symbiosis with tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumont]. The endophyte infection affects both health and animal production given the toxicity of the infected plants (fescue toxicosis). Our objective was to determine the incidence of N. coenophialum in some fescue populations placed in both high and low...
June 2013
Genetics of stability and adaptability of rice hybrids (Oryza sativa L.) for grain quality traits
An experiment was conducted during 2011-12 at three environments namely, Aduthurai (E1), Coimbatore (E2) and Bhavanisagar (E3) to assess the stability of thirteen different grain quality traits among the 40 CMS hybrids of rice (Oryza sativa L.). ANOVA of Eberhart and Russell revealed that, performance of different hybrids fluctuated significantly from their respective linear path of response to environment. Most of...
June 2013
Effects of phosphorus fertilizer treatments on vegetative growth, tuberous yield and phosphorus uptake of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)
A variety of sweet potato (Shaba) was studied for its vegetative growth, yield and phosphorus uptake under the influence of four different fertilizers using randomized complete block design (RCBD) in the experimental area of the University of Ibadan. Incubation study revealed that, single super phosphate was the best among them in phosphorus release despite that it favoured suppressed tuberous yield of the experimented...
June 2013
Impact of halophytic compost on growth and yield characteristics of Vigna radiata L.
Soil fertility is a dynamic concept influenced by climate and cultural practices. Soil organic matter whether fresh or composted plays a vital role in maintaining nutrient availability and thus plant productivity. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of halophytic herbs which are normally available in coastal areas on growth and yield characteristics of Vigna radiata L. From the results, it...
June 2013
Path models-approach to the study of the effect of climatic factors and tree age on radial growth of juvenile Eucalyptus hybrid clones
Due to increasing wood consumption and pulp and paper demands, plantations of fast growing tree species,have a growing importance for the sustainability of industrial wood raw material. Consequently, the efficient utilization of fast growing plantations can have a large impact on productivity. Adequate management requires good understanding of factors affecting tree growth. This study...
June 2013
Study on management practices and marketing systems of village chicken in East Shewa, Ethiopia
A cross sectional study was conducted with the objectives of assessing management practices and marketing systems of village chicken production from November 2011 to May 2012 in Ada’a and Lume districts of East Shewa, Ethiopia. Totally, 180 randomly selected respondents were included in the study from six purposively selected Peasant Associations (PA’s) from two districts. In both districts, 97.8% of the...
June 2013
Rice traits preferred by farmers and their perceptions of rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) disease in Cascades Region of Burkina Faso
A participatory research appraisal (PRA) was conducted in ten villages of the Cascades Region of Burkina Faso. Group discussions and individual interviews were employed. A total of 212 farmers including 176 women and 36 men were interviewed on their rice cropping management, the rice traits they preferred, and their perception on rice diseases with a focus on rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV). Taste, yield, grain quality,...
June 2013
Management practices and perceived training needs of small ruminant farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria
The study was conducted to assess management practices and perceived training needs of small ruminant farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. Interview schedule was used to collect data from sixty randomly selected farmers. Data was presented using descriptive statistics. Majority (68.3%) of the respondents were males. Fifty-five percent of the farmers kept goats only. Majority (96.7%) kept their animals under the intensive...
June 2013
Efficiency of resettled farmers in Mashonaland Central Province of Zimbabwe in crop production: A DEA approach
The main aim of the paper is to determine the technical, allocative and economic efficiency of the resettled farmers in Zimbabwe in the production of field crops. Data were collected from 245 land reform beneficiaries using a structured questionnaire during the 2010/2011 agricultural production season. To empirically calculate efficiency, Data Envelop Analysis (DEA) was adopted mainly because of its capability of...
June 2013
Efficacy of plant leaf extracts on the mycelial growth of kolanuts storage pathogens, Lasiodioplodia theobromae and Fusarium pallidoroseum
The efficacy of leaf extracts of five plant species namely: Glyricidia sepium (Jacq.) Linn, Tectona grandis Linn.Ocimum gratissimum Linn. Anacardium occidentales Linn. and Carica papaya Linn. against storage fungiLasiodioplodia theobromae and Fusarium pallidoroseum was evaluated. The potency of these leaf extracts after storage at ambient temperature for 15 and...
June 2013
Design and implementation of web-based database of rapeseed-mustard germplasm using Linux - Apache - MySQL - PHP (LAMP) technology
Rapeseed-mustard are major crops used for producing edible oil and are grown in nearly 6 million hectares in India. Germplasm collection is valuable gene pool providing diverse genetic material that may be applied for the improvement of cultivars. As more information is available about the germplasm, the wider selection and diversity of materials can be utilized for varietal improvement. The large number of...
June 2013
Biological efficacy of perfecto 175 sc (lambdacyhalothrin 5% plus imidacloprid 12.5%) for the control of major insect pests of cotton in eastern cotton growing area, Tanzania
A mixture of lambdacyhalothrin 5% and Imidacloprid 12.5% SC (perfecto 175 SC) was evaluated for use on cotton in the Eastern cotton growing area (ECGA) of Tanzania during the 2008, 2009 and 2010 growing seasons at a rate of 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 L/ha. Testing sites were Ilonga (Kilosa district) and Makuyu (Mvomero district). The product was evaluated in comparison with lambdacyhalothrin 5% e.c at 0.4 L/ha and the...
June 2013
Performance, storability and microbiological assay of pelletized and un-pelletized cassava based diets fed to Muturu calves
This study was carried out to determine performance, digestibility, storability and microbiological assay of pelletized and un-pelletized cassava based diets. Four experimental diets were used as follows: T1, T3contained 0 g/kg foliage with 600 g/kg peels each while T2 and T4 contained 200 g/kg foliage with 400 g/kg peels. T1, T2 were pelletized, T3, T4 un-pelletized. Other ingredients (g/kg) that...
June 2013
Response of Onion (Allium cepa L.) to sowing dates
Onion are the third most important vegetable crop sold in South Africa. Optimum sowing dates for new cultivars was determined in Bloemfontein (South Africa) during 2009 and 2010. Cultivars planted in 2009 and 2010 were ‘Charlize’, ‘Jaquar’, ‘Python’, (South Wester, 2009; Ceres Gold, 2010). Unavailability of ‘South Wester’ seed resulted in replacement with ‘Ceres...
June 2013
Bioaccumulation and distribution of heavy metals in water chestnut (Trapa natans var. bispinosa Roxb.) in the Lucknow Region
Water bodies are primarily contaminated with heavy metals due to increasing urbanization, intensive practices of agricultural and industrial developments, etc. Heavy metals have been reported to be highly toxic to human health since they are not easily disintegrated and decomposed and can be bioaccumulated along the food chain. Therefore, heavy metal contamination in aquatic ecosystems, such as those being used for the...
June 2013
Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) varietal response to spacing in the Guinea savanna agro-ecological zone of Ghana: Growth and yield
An experiment was conducted at the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in 2006 and 2007 to assess the effect of spacing arrangement on the growth and yield of six new groundnut varieties (Adepa, Azivivi, Jenkaar, Kpanieli, Manipintar and Nkosuor) in three (3) spacing arrangements (30 cm × 15 cm, 40 cm × 10 cm and 50 cm × 10 cm). The factorial experiment was laid in randomized complete block...
June 2013
Effect of hemicellulase, cellulase, xylanase and alkali pretreatment on the saccharification of Miscanthus sacchariflorus var. No.1
The optimum conditions for enzymatic treatment of Miscanthus sacchariflorus var. No. 1, a newly developed genotype in Korea, to produce water soluble carbohydrate were investigated using statistical methods. The individual effects of cellulase, hemicellulase and xylanase on water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) production were investigated. Then, the effects of combined addition of enzyme and M....
June 2013
Effect of osmotic potential of activator solution and temperature on viability and vigour of wheat seed
Experiment was conducted to investigate if seed priming with polyethylene glycol (PEG) activator solutions affects the viability and vigour of deteriorating wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Caxton) seed lot. Seeds were subjected to PEG priming solutions with varying osmotic potentials (-1, -2, -3 MPa) at temperatures of 15 or 20°C for 6, 12, 18 or 24 h and compared to the non-primed control. Highest germination...
June 2013
Comparative study on agar and cassava gelled media in in-vitro propagation of ginger
Ginger is propagated vegetatively using underground rhizomes. Most farmers use planting materials saved from previous harvest. These materials could have been sold for cash. Contingent on this, many farmers are reluctant to use healthy succulent rhizomes for planting. These are rather sold thereby resulting in acute shortage of planting materials. Tissue culture technique can be applied to mass-produce seedlings for...
June 2013
Fishes and smoked meat delicacies as sources of multidrug resistant bacteria and parasitic worms
Frozen fishes, stock fishes, smoked pork and smoked beef (suya) that have become popular delicacies in eateries, road side stalls and similar places were analysed for bacteriological and parasitological burden. Samples were collected from Nsukka and Obollo-Afor districts of Enugu State, Nigeria and were screened using basic microbiological procedures. One hundred and eighty four persons from the study areas were also...
Advertisement
Advertisement
