February 2012
Humic acid application alleviate salinity stress of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plants decreasing membrane leakage
The effect of varying humic acid supplies (0, 0.05 and 0.1% w/w) on some agro-physiological properties and ionic balance of bean plants in different salt source and doses were investigated. Plants were treated with eight salt sources [sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium sulphate (Na2SO4), calcium chloride (CaCl2), calcium sulphate (CaSO4), potassium chloride (KCl), potassium sulphate (K2SO4), magnesium chloride (MgCl2) and...
February 2012
Effects of tillage, plant spacing and soybean genotypes on speargrass (Imperata cylindrica L.) Reauschel suppression
Soybean genotypes differed significantly in their ability to suppress speargrass due to their inherent traits to compete with speargrass under different management practices. Soybean genotypes and velvet bean (control) were sown in tilled and slashed at two different row spacing of 75 × 10 cm and 50 × 10 cm. The result showed that soybean plants were taller with thicker canopy cover in the tilled plots than...
February 2012
A critical analysis of 2010 floods in Pakistan
Pakistan has diverse geography with Northern alpines covered with glaciers and Southern Plains bordering the Arabian Sea. There are five big rivers flowing through the country from north to south namely the mighty Indus and its tributaries, that is, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej. There is a well marked monsoon season from July to mid September in which most of the country receives rainfall. Riverine flooding is common...
February 2012
Trace and rare earth element (REE) status of Çarsamba fan soils in the Ancient Konya lake region, Turkey
Agricultural practices and long-term application of phosphate and nitrogene fertilizers causes the accumulation of U and some heavy metals in the surface soil of agricultural fields. We investigated the soil constituents that contribute to the accumulation of U and some trace heavy metals. For this purpose, the concentrations of some rare earth element (REE) and trace elements collected from 17 sampling sites in the...
February 2012
Comparing reference evapotranspiration using actual and estimated sunshine hours in south of Iran
Reference crop potential evapotranspiration (ETo) is needed for calculating crop water requirement, however its direct measurement by using lysimeter is difficult and time consuming. Although, many equations have been derived for estimating ETo, however the Penman-Monteith equation is the most common method that has been used for different climates and locations of the world. However, the Penman-Monteith equation needs...
February 2012
Statistics-induced data from meteorological station characteristics of air temperature variation in Sichuan-Chongqing for about 50 years
This paper characterizes the spatial features and trends of temperature change during 1960 to 2009 using the daily temperature data of 48 stations in Sichuan-Chongqing and 47 stations close to Sichuan-Chongqing from 691 national meteorological stations adopting the GIS spatial analysis function and the linear trend method. The results showed that firstly, the annual mean temperature change of Sichuan-Chongqing presented...
February 2012
Effect of packaging materials on the quality of banana cultivars
Four packaging materials namely, micro-perforated low density polyethylene bag, micro-perforated high density polyethylene bag, dried banana leaf, teff straw and no packaging materials (control) were used with three banana cultivars (Musa spp.), locally known as, Poyo, Giant Cavendish and Williams I. Randomized Complete Block Design in a factorial combination with three replications was used in the study. Chemical...
February 2012
Effect of planting methods and vine harvesting on shoot and tuberous root yields of sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] in the Afar region of Ethiopia
In the arid pastoralist Afar region of Ethiopia, scarcity of food and fodder owing to recurring droughts is a major problem imperilling livestock and human survival. Therefore, sweet potato production as a dual purpose food-security crop has been steadily increasing in the region. However, there is scarcity of information on agronomic practices that may lead to optimum production of tuberous roots and shoots. Therefore,...
February 2012
Effects of bio, mineral nitrogen fertilizer management, under humic acid foliar spraying on fruit yield and several traits of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)
To study the effect of nitrogen fertilizer and foliar spraying of humic acid on yield and yield components of eggplant, an experiment was conducted in factorial format based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Astaneh Ashrafiyeh (north of Iran) during 2011 farming year. Factors of experiment consist of humic acid foliar spraying in three levels; H1: control (without humic acid spraying), H2:...
February 2012
Evaluation of three organic fertilizers for growing the widely cultivated crop Cucurbita pepo L.
As a result of an increase in the urban demand for organic horticultural products, locally available soil amendments need to be evaluated. Here, the effects on growth and reproductive output of Cucurbita pepo, were assessed for the aquatic invasive Eichornia crassipes, a commercially produced vermicompost, and chicken manure. In addition, their effects were contrasted with those of a Nitrogen (N) dose-response...
February 2012
Sugarcane plantation effects on the soil hydraulic conductivity in South-West of Iran
Soil hydraulic conductivity is a crucial parameter in modeling flow process in soils, water management strategies and determining distance between drainage networks. This study aims to investigate and assess hydraulic conductivity and its variation for soil layers under different tillage practices (fallow with non-leaching process, new cultivation with leached soil, first and second Ratoon) in sugarcane fields of...
February 2012
Application of color features for the rapid determination of internal qualities of grapes (Vitis labrusca)
The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using color features for the rapid determination of internal qualities expressed as soluble solids content (SSC) and pH in grapes (Vitis labrusca). A total of 120 color features were obtained from the mean and standard deviation of pixel intensity within the interested area at each color channel of RGB, HIS, NTSC, YCbCr, and HSV color spaces. Least-squares support...
February 2012
Quantification of urbanization impacts on discharge volume using H2U model
Urbanization tends to change in peak discharge and runoff volumes of natural catchments. In this study, the results of H2U model with the production function used for net rainfall calculation were compared to observed hydrographs. In the production function, mapped impervious area (MIA) and effective impervious area (EIA) values were tested for imperviousness parameter. A test catchment located in Tehran City was...
February 2012
Determination of pathotypes and physiological races in Ascochyta rabiei, the agent of ascochyta blight in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Algeria
Pathogenic determination of sixteen Ascochyta rabies isolates obtained from seven different provinces of western north of Algeria was the aim of this study. The pathotypes and physiological races were determined using seven differential chickpea lines (ILC1929, F8, ICC1903, ILC247, ILC482, ILC3279 and ICC3996). All isolates were classified into three pathotypes and six physiological races according to their...
February 2012
Acute and sub-chronic toxicological assessment of Nannochloropsis oculata in rats
The aim of this study was to investigate the acute and sub-chronic toxicities of Nannochloropsis oculata biomass. In the acute toxicity study, twelve Sprague-Dawley rats of both sexes were gavaged with 12 g/kg body weight (bw) of N. oculata one time, and then tested for morbidity and mortality in 14 days. The oral LD50 of N. oculata in rats was greater than 12 g/kg bw, and no toxicity effects were observed on biomass in...
February 2012
Comparison of noise level of tractors with cab and without in different gears on driver ear and bystander
Tractor operator comfort is affected by how much noise tractor produces during continuous operation. Noise at work in agriculture or horticulture can cause hearing loss. A tractor without cabin and one with cabin (closed window and open window) loaded with mounted moldboard plow and disk harrow were tested for noise level in different gears at the driver's ear and bystander ear. The permissible exposure time for...
February 2012
Potential geographic distribution of the cassava green mite Mononychellus tanajoa in Hainan, China
The cassava green mite, Mononychellus tanajoa, has been recently recorded as a quarantine pest in Hainan, China. It heavily damaged cassava growth and has caused serious economic losses in some main cassava production areas. In order to effectively monitor and manage this pest, it is necessary to investigate its potential geographical distribution worldwide. In this study, we used the ecological niche models, maximum...
February 2012
Genetic diversity of an invasive pest (Oryctes agamemnon Burmeister, Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of date palm in Tunisia, inferred from random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers
The root borer (Rhinoceros beetle), Oryctes agamemnon (Burmeister, 1847) is an invasive coleopteran pest of date palm trees in southwestern Tunisia introduced accidentally in “Mrah Lahwar” (Department of Tozeur), spread out into “Rjim Maatoug” (Department of Kebili), then into most oases of Tozeur and Kebili departments, where it is now causing a serious damage. We used 101 samples of O....
February 2012
Development of performance evaluation scale for forest engineers using confirmatory factor analysis method
Managers of forest enterprises, as managers of many other enterprises and organizations want to know the performance levels of their employees. For this reason, many enterprises use various methods to determine the performance levels. The primary purpose of this study is to develop a Performance Evaluation Scale (PES) in order to determine the performances of the forest engineers who are currently working at the forest...
February 2012
Determination of optimal diameter of sex pheromone trap for oriental fruit moth
The oriental fruit moth (OFM) is one of the major fruit pests worldwide. Although the application of insect pheromones partially relieves the pressure of chemical pesticide on environmental pollution and food safety, the controlling effect is still poor because of the incompatibility of field application standard. This study was designed to examine the correlationship between the OFM catch and the diameter of sex...
February 2012
Selection indices in the improvement of wheat grain yield on drought stress conditions
Drought is considered as one of the most important factors limiting crop yields around the world. Drought often causes serious problems in wheat production areas. In this regard, a field study of thirty bread wheat cultivars was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station of Islamic Azad University in Tabriz, Iran during 2009 to 2010 growing season to determine the most effective traits in the improvement of grain...
February 2012
Patterns and its disaster shelter of urban green space: Empirical evidence from Jiaozuo city, China
Urban green space systems play important roles in improving the ecological environment and diversity of the urban landscape. Additionally, they can also aid in disaster prevention and reduction. In the present study, the composition and patterns of the green space of Jiaozuo city and its suitability for use as disaster shelter were studied using landscape indices of ecological analysis. The results of our study revealed...
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