African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6894

Table of Content: 10 December, 2015; 10(50)

December 2015

Air pollution and their mitigation measures in Brazilian poultry production

The Brazilian broiler industry is the most prominent branch in farming, due to its high levels of productivity. However, there is a growing concern about the environmental damages caused by such an activity, in special the atmospheric air pollution, as a consequence of the high volume of residues generated and the damages made to the environment. Air pollution, despite being most of the time detected by undesirable...

Author(s): Felipe Santos Dalólio, Jadir Nogueira da Silva, Luiz Fernando Teixeira Albino, Joerley Moreira and Luciano Barreto Mendes

December 2015

Evaluation of sweetpotato accessions for end-user preferred traits improvement

This study assessed the genetic diversity and differentiation in sweetpotato accessions in Ghana to guide selection for genetic improvement on beta-carotene, dry matter and sugar contents to promote increased utilization. One hundred and fifteen sweetpotato accessions from four different sources, which were the International Potato Centre (CIP) collection, local collection from farmers’ field, local improved...

Author(s): Ernest Baafi, Vernon E. Gracen, Essie T. Blay, Kwadwo Ofori, Joe Manu-Aduening and Edward E. Carey

December 2015

Influence of lactation stage, delivery order of calving and genetic group on milk quality

Milk production and quality are influenced by environmental factors such as nutrition, genetic factors such as breed and physiological. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of lactation stage, delivery order and genetic group on the quality of milk from crossbred cows 3/4 Gyr, 7/8 Gyr and 15/16 Gyr. Fresh milk samples were collected from crossbred cows. Fat, protein, lactose, non fat dry extract...

Author(s): Ruthele Moraes do Carmo, Marco Antônio Pereira da Silva, Gustavo Machado Pereira, Guilherme Henrique de Paula, Thiago Vilela Abdelnoor Marques, Letícia Aparecida de Morais, Vanessa Souza Silva, Edmar Soares Nicolau, Rodrigo Balduíno Soares Neves and Moacir Evandro Lage

December 2015

Procedure for collecting milk sample and the number of milkings in relation to chemical composition and somatic cells of the fresh milk

This study was carried out to determine which system of milkings and sampling methodology presenting chemical composition results safer and lower variation of the results. In Properties I and II, the fresh milk samples were collected in 40 ml flasks containing bronopol in order to compare the chemical composition of the milk, as adopting two sample collection methods, that is two and three milkings. In order to compare...

Author(s): Jakeline Fernandes Cabral, Marco Antônio Pereira da Silva, Thiago Soares Carvalho, Rafaella Belchior Brasil, Julliano Costa Garcia, Rodrigo Balduíno Soares Neves, Edmar Soares Nicolau and Moacir Evandro Lage

December 2015

Isolation and identification of some pathogenic fungi associated with cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) root rot disease in Cameroon

Root rot diseases constitute a major constraint to cassava production in Cameroon. However, not much is known about the identity of pathogens associated with them. It is in this light that this study was realized with the aim of characterizing the various root rot diseases and identifying their associated fungal causal agents in Cameroon. Sixty four cassava stems with root rot symptoms were sampled in the Littoral,...

Author(s): Nyaka Ngobisa A. I. C, Kammegne Djidjou P., Ntsomboh Ntsefong Godswill, Mbenoun M., Zok Simon and Fontem Dominic

December 2015

Heat treatment to overcome seeds dormancy of Panicum maximum cultivars (Poaceae)

The guinea grass Panicum maximum, an African grass, is one of the main forage grasses in tropical America. Its propagation is mainly carried out by seeds, but seed dormancy hampers good pasture establishment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of heat treatment to overcome seed dormancy of P. maximum cultivars Milênio, Tanzânia and Mombaça. Seeds of each cultivar have been subjected to heat...

Author(s): Jucélia Dias Dutra, Adriana Paula D’agostini Contreiras Rodrigues, Silvia Rahe Pereira and Valdemir Antônio Laura,

December 2015

Nutritional valorization of ginger lily forage (Hedychium gardnerianum, Sheppard ex Ker-Gawl) for animal feeding: Treatment with urea

Fiber availability is not always ensured in all year long grazing systems. In this context, low quality fiber feeds may be of relevance for bovine feeding. We propose, thus, to study the effect of adding 5% of urea (on a dry matter basis) on the chemical composition and nutritional value of Hedychium gardnerianum, Sheppard ex Ker-Gawl (ginger lily or Kahili ginger), a traditional fiber source used by Azorean farmers....

Author(s): J. P. R. Borba, C. S. A. M. Maduro Dias, H. J. D. Rosa, C. F. M. Vouzela, O. A. Rego and A. E. S. Borba

December 2015

Grape pre-evaluation by berry-leaf biochemistry quantitative correlation analysis

The quality and characteristics of grape are fundamentally determined by its biochemical components. Quantitative detection of these components in berries is a classic method to evaluate grapevine resources. However, fruits are not always available for the new generated grape plantlets due to their long juvenile stage (3 to 4 years), as well as for many other potential valuable germplasm resources, such as wild grapes....

Author(s): Yong Yang, Miandi Ma, Hanbo Zhang, Mingquan Yuan, Wei Zhu, Jin Ning, Weixi Yang and Mingzhi Yang

December 2015

Cultivation of golden flax with application of nitrogen and irrigation

Flaxseed is the seed of the linen (Linum usitatissimum L.) and the most produced varieties are brown and golden flaxseed. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of irrigation and nitrogen application in cultivation of the golden flax cultivation. The irrigation it was made by dripping, daily, except for days of rain occurrences, according to evapotranspiration. The treatments were separated by 0,...

Author(s): Wellington Lucas Tondo, Flavio Gurgacz, Reginaldo Ferreira Santos and Eduardo De Rossi

December 2015

In vitro antifungal activity of polyphenols-rich plant extracts against Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands

Antifungal activity of water, ethanol, lanolin and cocoa butter plant extracts derived from seven Mexican Chihuahuan desert inhabiting plant species (Larrea tridentata, Flourensia cernua, Agave lechuguilla, Opuntia ficus-indica, Lippia graveolens, Carya illinoensis and Yucca filifera) were evaluated against Phytophthora cinnamomi. All plant extracts were active against Phytophthora cinnamomi. Two (L. tridentata and F....

Author(s): Francisco Castillo-Reyes, Francisco Daniel Hernández-Castillo, Julio Alberto Clemente-Constantino, Gabriel Gallegos-Morales, Raúl Rodríguez-Herrera and Cristóbal Noé Aguilar

December 2015

Integrated management of tomato fruit borer (Neoleucinodes elegantalis)

The management of Neoleucinodes elegantalis (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) with neem-based and registered insecticides most applied on tomato crops in the Agreste region on N. elegantalis (eggs, pre-pupae and pupae) were evaluated in this study; methomyl, chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothrin, beta-cypermethrin, deltamethrin, etofenprox, chlorantraniliprole and the neem-based insecticides (azadirachtin A/B and...

Author(s): Solange M. França, José V. Oliveira, César A. Badji, Carolina A. Guedes, Barbara L. R. Duarte and Mariana O. Breda

December 2015

Trichoderma: A magical weapon against soil borne pathogens

Trichoderma species occur worldwide. The members of the genus Trichoderma are widely used as bioagent for the control of phytopathogenic fungi in agriculture sector. Trichoderma not only parasites pathogen but it also enhance plant plant growth, help in the bioremediation of soil etc.Biocontrol activity of Trichoderma is known since 1930s.The effect of Trichoderma on soil borne pathogens is higher as compared to...

Author(s): Mukesh Srivastava, Sonika Pandey, Mohammad Shahid, Vipul Kumar, Anuradha Singh, Shubha Trivedi and Yatindra Kumar Srivastava

December 2015

Effect of traditional kerosene smoking and ethrel on ripening, shelf life and quality of Cavendish banana (Musa sp.)

The effect of banana treatment with traditional kerosene smoking and ethrel released ethylene were investigated to determine their efficacy on ripening, shelf life and physicochemical quality attributes. Fruits at full maturity stage that are light green and three quarter full were used. The study was consisted of three factors namely ripening techniques (conventional kerosene smoking and Ethrel), exposure times (that...

Author(s): Zenebe Woldu Adane, Ali Mohammed Ibrahim, Derbew Belew Yohannes and Tarekegn Argaw Welde-Meskel

December 2015

Effect of stocking rate on biomass variation and lamb performances for barley stubble in Tunisian semi arid region and under conservation agriculture conditions

The integration of livestock in the practices of conservation agriculture (CA) was assessed in Tunisian semi-arid conditions. Forty five Barbarine lambs (aged 220 ± 10 days, average body weight 20 ± 2.5 kg) were used in a performance trial, carried out in the experimental station of INRAT. During the experiment, lambs were grazing on a plot of barley stubble cultivated according to CA was divided into 6...

Author(s): Nizar MOUJAHED, Sourour ABIDI, Salah BEN YOUSSEF, Cyrine DAREJ, Mohamed CHAKROUN and Hichem BEN SALEM