African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6831

Table of Content: 26 November 2011; 6(28)

November 2011

The effect of demographic factors (in floriculture) in acquiring ornamental plants marketing as a profession

  There are several factors in acquiring a profession in the present day, that is, in the late 20th century and beginning of 21st century. The most important of these factors are demographic factors. Of those demographic factors, the characteristics such as gender, education level, income level and age are effective. Therefore, people prefer jobs suitable to their own socio-economic structures and gender when...

Author(s): Ehlinaz TORUN

November 2011

In vitro pollen germination in stone fruit tree of Rosaceae family

  In the tone fruit trees including almond, apricot, plum, prune, sour cherry and sweet cherry, pollen performance includes pollen quantity produced in a flower and pollen quality consists of viability, longevity, morphological homogeneity, pollen germination and pollen tube growth rate which are very important component of fertilization and fruit setting. However, study of pollen...

Author(s): Yavar Sharafi

November 2011

An examination of technical, allocative and economic efficiencies in Ofada rice farming in Ogun State, Nigeria

  The need to improve efficiency of rice production is accentuated through high level of importation of rice needs in Nigeria. This paper examined technical, allocative and economic efficiencies in Ofada rice farming in Ogun state, South-West Nigeria and determined factors affecting them among others. A total of 192 rice farmers were sampled through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were analyzed...

Author(s): Akinbode S.O, Dipeolu A.O and Ayinde I.A

November 2011

Factors determining the demand for water recreation in the Middle Olifant Sub-Basin: A case study of Loskop Recreation Centre in South Africa

  The aim of the study was to estimate the parameters determining the demand for water recreation and the relationship between the number of trips and the costs to the Loskop Dam recreation site of the Middle Olifant Sub-Basin. Simple random sampling was used to select 48 respondents from the study site and data were collected from the sampled respondents using a structured questionnaire. Factors that...

Author(s): L. J. Ledwaba, A. Belete, G. M. Senyolo, J. J. Hlongwane and M. P. Senyolo

November 2011

The socio-economic dimension of rural development for the North-East Region of Romania

  This paper is aimed at the approach of social and economic dimension of rural development at the level of the North-Eastern Romanian Region, in order to identify the main problems and perspectives of the region, offering suitable solutions for the implementation and improvement of the actual development strategy of the region. The methodology used SWOT analysis, in order to highlight the actual dimension and...

Author(s):   Beciu Silviu, Popa Oana, Nistor Stefania, and Olteanu Victor

November 2011

Appropriate way of accessing the Internet among villages of Khuzestan Province using AHP model

  In order to achieve the rural development destination, human development is necessary. Information and communication technology (ICT) as a knowledge extension innovation can help to improve the human development level of rural stakeholders. This paper explores the use of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for selecting an appropriate way of Internet access in Khuzestan villages. A panel of 24 experts of...

Author(s): Abdolhasan Torfi, Khalil Kalantariand and Amir Hossein Pirmoradi

November 2011

Uplift response of symmetrical circular anchor plate in sand

  Experimental and numerical analysis investing the uplift response of 0.1 m diameter of circular horizontal anchor plates in cohesion less soil show that maximum uplift increase with embedment ratio in cohesion less soil. This paper investigated the response of circular horizontal anchor plate in loose cohesion less soils subjected to uplift. An agreement between uplift loads from laboratory model and finite...

Author(s): H. Niroumand, Kh. A. Kassim and R. Nazir

November 2011

Determination of accuracy level of agricultural spraying application in Sanliurfa/ Turkey

  When calibration, spraying height, applied pressure, volume rate, nozzle type and application time of equipment used in pesticide applications are incorrect, this causes the amount of agricultural pesticide applied per unit area to be more or less needed. A survey study was carried out on farmers in order to determine whether or not they adjust application pressure of pesticide equipment,...

Author(s): Ibrahim Tobi, Ramazan Saglam, Ferhat Kup, Hasan Sahin, A. Musa Bozdogan, Bulent Piskin and Cevdet Saglam

November 2011

Sound absorption and print density properties of recycled sheets made from waste paper and agricultural plant fibres

  A number of thin biocomposites through wet lying methods were prepared from old corrugated boards with blends of luffa fibres (LF) and yarn waste (YW) at 15 and 30%. Mechanical, optical, printability and sound absorption properties of manufactured materials were determined. Addition of both LF and YW improved the brightness of control sheets, but unfortunately significantly reduced the burst and tensile...

Author(s): Arif Karademir, Cem Aydemir and Semiha YenidoÄŸan

November 2011

Adaptation of cassava (Manihot esculenta) to the dry environments of Limpopo, South Africa: growth, yield and yield components

  Cassava is considered one of the most productive tropical crops on marginal lands although high growth rates are achieved when it is grown under optimal conditions. This study assessed the growth and root yield of three cassava cultivars (LOCAL-MZINTI, LAL and I-89/00715) in the dry environments of Limpopo Province. A field experiment was undertaken in 2009/2010 at the University of Venda’s experimental...

Author(s): JBO Ogola and C Mathews

November 2011

Relation between dryness tension and some of antioxidant enzymes with cell membrane stability and chlorophyll in six sensitive and resistant wheat lines

  This study describes the changes in catalase and peroxidase activities in dryness tension condition on two levels (tension and without tension) and its effect on the rate of cell membrane stability and chlorophyll content in probable lines (Sardari and Azar2), half-probable (DH-2049-3 and HN7/OROFEN//BGN8/3/SERI/4/ (and sensitive (SARA-BW-F6-06-85-86-29-1 and TEVEE'S'//CROW/VEE'S) of...

Author(s): Parisa Sharifi, Reza Amirnia, Eslam Majidi, Hashem Hadi, Mozafar roostaei, Jafar Jafarzadeh, Hadi mohammad Alipoor and Foad Moradi

November 2011

Effect of seed priming with NaCl on maize germination under different saline conditions

  To study the effects of seed priming on agronomic traits of maize under different salt concentration a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with 3 replications was employed. The experiment was carried out in Valiasr University of Rafsanjan, Iran in 2009. Salinity treatments were 0, 4, 8 and 12 dSm-1 and priming treatments were 0.0, 0.5 and 1.0 M NaCl. Shoot dry weight (SDW), shoot...

Author(s): H. Farahbakhsh and M. Shamsaddin Saiid

November 2011

Sequential path analysis for determination of relationships between yield-related characters with yield in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

  Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops in the world. Path coefficient analysis has been widely used in crop breeding to determine the nature of relationships between the grain yield (GY) and its contributing components. A field experiment was conducted in 2009 at Rice Research Station in Tonekabon, north of Iran. This experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design...

Author(s): Hashem Aminpanah and Peyman Sharifi

November 2011

Variation of Anaeromyxobacter community structure and abundance in paddy soil slurry over flooding time

  Cultivation-independent techniques like PCR-amplified restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) of 16S rRNA genes and real-time PCR were applied to assess the abundance, diversity and phylogenetic composition of Anaeromyxobacter communities over time in flooded, unplanted paddy soil slurries. Six Anaeromyxobacter communities were sampled from anoxic slurries at 1 h, and 1, 5, 10,...

Author(s): Chao Zhu, Shu-Hong Xia, Bao-li Wang and Dong Qu

November 2011

Genotype × environment ınteraction and stability analysis of some Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonica Crantz.) genotypes

  The aim of this research was to determine genotype × environment interactions and stability parameters for forage and seed yield of some Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonica Crantz.) genotypes. Seven Hungarian vetch genotypes were grown for forage and seed yield at three locations (Tekirdag, Kirklareli and Hayrabolu) in Trakya region of Turkey for two years (2002-2003 and 2003-2004 growing periods)....

Author(s): Nizam, I., Cubuk, M. G. and  Moralar, E.

November 2011

Molecular study of a diallel chilli with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers

Molecular markers, such as Amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) were used to study genetic diversity in four chilli varieties. Two wild chilli’s (Amashito and Ojo de cangrejo: Capsicum annuum var.glabriusculum) and two growers (Jalapeño and Habanero: C. annuum and Capsicum chinense Jacq.), were used as parents in a diallel cross, with no reciprocal crosses, to produce...

Author(s): Guillermo Castañon-Najera, Netzahualcóyotl Mayek-Pérez, Régulo Ruiz-Salazar  and Araceli C. Garcia

November 2011

Biochemical and molecular investigations on prime mechanisms of induced resistance in French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.)

  The prime mechanisms of induced resistance in French bean and soybean plants were investigated against three pathogenic fungi, namely Fusarium solani f. sp. phaseoli, Fusarium solani f. sp. glycine andColletotricum lindemothianum. This latter fungal pathogen was chosen for a comparative purpose, as it represents a non related genus of the main fungal pathogens used in this study....

Author(s): Haddad El Rabey, Suzan Abdallah and Attia Ahmed

November 2011

Grain yield and associated traits of maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes in Malaysian tropical environment

  Twenty two tropical composite maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes from International maize and Wheat Improvement centre (CIMMYT) were grown in randomized complete block design with two replicates to assess the correlation between yield and other traits such as 50% silking (female flowering date), 50% tasseling date (male flowering date, Ear/plant, thousand grain weight, plant height and ear height in the...

Author(s): Faruq Golam, Nurul Farhana, Mohamad Firdaus Zain, Nazia Abdul Majid, M.M Rahman, M. Motior Rahman and Mihdzar Abdul Kadir

November 2011

Morphological and phenological characterization of Turkish bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes and their present variation states

  In this study, seeds from 51 bean genotypes obtained from the Izmir Aegean Agricultural Research Institute were multiplied under ecological conditions of the Samsun province in 2006. Similarities and differences in terms of morphological variation were identified for 16 genotypes carrying the phenological, morphological and pod characteristics of fresh bean in 2007. It was determined that the length of...

Author(s): Seher Yıldız MADAKBAŞ and Meral ERGİN

November 2011

Evaluating sustainability of wetland system: A case study in East Dongting Lake Area, China

  The functions of wetlands are of significant value to social economy and ecology. However, in the past 50 years, wetlands in China have suffered severely from development pressure and are confronted with the threats of area loss. In recent years, assessment of wetland resources has aroused enormous attention, since it can further protect wetland resources and provide scientific basis for decision-makers. In...

Author(s): Yaxin Wang, Shi Cheng, Hongbo Ju, Huaiqing Zhang, Dong Jiang, and Dafang Zhuang

November 2011

Growth performance, hematological and biochemical responses of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) reared at different stocking densities

  African catfish (30.71 ± 0.89 g) were stocked at four different densities of 35, 65, 95 and 125 kg m-3 in 120 L aerated tanks for 60 days, with one and a half tanks of water being renewed daily. The effects of stocking density were examined in growth performance and welfare indicators, such as hematological and biochemical indices. Growth decreased with the increasing stocking density, and there...

Author(s): Wei Dai, Xiaomei Wang, Yongjun Guo, Qian Wang and Jinhong Ma

November 2011

Analysis of Magnaporthe oryzae population structure in Benin

  The study aimed at analyzing Magnaporthe oryzae population structure in Benin Republic, using Near Isogenic Lines and differential rice varieties in order to characterize the virulence spectrum of blast populations, as well as identifying the best blast disease hotspot screening sites. Blast trapping nurseries using 30 Near Isogenic Lines and 2 other rice varieties were...

Author(s): T. Odjo, B. C. Ahohuendo, A. Onasanya, K. Akator and Y. Séré

November 2011

Productivity changes of forest enterprises in Turkey: A non-parametric Malmquist approach

  The aim of this study is to determine the total factor productivity changes between the years 2006 and 2010 at the state forest enterprises bound to Isparta Regional Forest Directorate located at the Western Mediterranean Region in Turkey. The Malmquist productivity index (MPI) as a non-parametric approach was used in the study. The MPI is evaluated based on the data envelopment analysis. The technical...

Author(s): Mehmet KORKMAZ

November 2011

QTL mapping for resistance to southern leaf blight in sweet corn

  To identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with southern leaf blight (SLB) in sweet corn, a population consisting of 330 F2:3 families was developed from a T14 (resistant) × T4 (susceptible) cross. The genetic linkage map was constructed based on the F2 population, with 192 SSR markers covering a total map distance of 1260 cm, and an average interval length of 6.56 cm. These 330...

Author(s): Liu Pengfei, Jiang Feng, Zhang Jinfeng, Zhang Zili, Wang Hanning and Wang Xiaoming,

November 2011

Evaluation of West African dwarf goat for some qualitative traits in Southwestern Nigeria

  Two hundred West African Dwarf (WAD) goats aged 1 to 6 years were examined during a ten months period, from October 2003 to July 2004 in randomly selected locations within Southwestern zone of Nigeria. Qualitative traits namely coat colour, polled trait, presence or absence of teat, wattle and beard were examined and described in all the experimental animals. Black colour observed in 54% of the animals...

Author(s): JO Adebayo and CA Chineke