March 2014
Compatibility among insecticides, acaricides, and Bacillus thuringiensis used to control Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) and Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in cotton fields
Tetranychus urticae and Heliothis virescens are major pests of cotton and have been managed by the indiscriminate use of acaricides and insecticides. The combined use of chemical and biological products, in particular Bacillus thuringiensis-based products, and the rotation of active ingredients can reduce the negative effects of pesticides and can contribute to the management of resistance, control costs, and help the...
March 2014
Performance of a local open pollinated maize variety and a common hybrid variety under intensive small-scale farming practices
Given that the majority of maize farmers in Kenya are small-scale, improvement in maize production must focus on increased production per unit area. While hybrid maize varieties outperform local open pollinated varieties under conventional farming practices, their relative performance has not been tested under small-scale intensive production practices. A study was conducted in 2013 in Kitale, western Kenya, to evaluate...
March 2014
Effect of silicate on nutrition and yield of wheat
An improvement in soil properties and crop development with silicate application has been confirmed in several plant species. This study investigated the effect of application of calcium silicate on nutrition and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Wheat plants were grown in 8-L pots filled with clayey Rhodic Hapludox in a greenhouse. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design, with five...
March 2014
Soil and foliar application of Zinc to maize and wheat grown on a Zambian Alfisol
The deficiency of zinc (Zn) in human nutrition, commonly found in cereal-based diets accounts for impaired growth (stunting) in children. Since cereals are generally low in this element, bio-fortification may represent an opportunity to increase Zn intake by humans. A study was carried out to evaluate Zn uptake by maize and wheat when they are supplied with increasing rates of foliar or soil applied Zn. Maize and wheat...
March 2014
Activation of biochemical defense mechanisms in bean plants for homeopathic preparations
To evaluate the potential elicitor of homeopathic preparations on bean plants cv Carioca, homeopathics of Corymbia citriodora, Calcarea carbonica, Silicea and Sulphur in dynamisations 12, 24, 30 and 60CH were applied by pulverization throughout the aerial part. Samples of leaf tissue were taken at 6, 12, 24, 48 and 126 h after the treatment (HAT) to analyze the activity of peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT), chitinase...
March 2014
Growth and yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes in response to water stress
Twenty chickpea genotypes were grown under rainout shelter to investigate the influence of water stress treatments imposed at varied growth stages; T1; Control, T2; One pre-sowing irrigation, T3; withholding irrigation at flower-initiation, T4; withholding irrigation at pod-initiation stage. The plant height, branches, dry weight of stem, leaves and root plant-1, leaf area, leaf area index were recorded at 120 days...
March 2014
Productivity of fertirrigated sugarcane in subsurface drip irrigation system
The productivity and fresh phytomass index of sugarcane cultivated at different water replacement levels using a subsurface drip system, with or without N, were analyzed. Sugarcane plants underwent five water replacement levels (100, 75, 50, 25 and 0%), with or without N application (100 kg ha-1) in urea. At harvest-time, stalk productivity, water-use efficiency, gross sugar yield, gross alcohol yield, fresh phytomass...
March 2014
Economic impacts of climate change on agriculture and implications for food security in Zimbabwe
This study measured the economic impacts of climate change on agriculture in Zimbabwe based on a cross-section survey of over 700 farming households. We applied the Ricardian approach to analyse the response of net revenue from crop and livestock agriculture across smallholder farming systems in the country to changes in climate normals (that is, mean rainfall and temperature). The sensitivity of net farm revenues was...
March 2014
Parametric stability analyses for green forge yielding traits in oats (Avena sativa L.)
The objectives of this research were to assess genotype environment interaction and determine stable oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivar in Kashmir division over three locations for fodder yield and its components in 10 genetically diverse genotypes using randomized block design. There was considerable variation in forage yield within and across environments. Stability analysis for forage yield was conducted to check the...
March 2014
Genetic diversity of citrus (Rutaceae) in Iraq based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers
Citrus is an economically important fruit crop with a long history of cultivation worldwide. A great number of varieties of citrus are extensively grown in the Middle East including Iraq for domestic consumption and exports. However, the genetic diversity of this genus in Iraq has not been reported. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate genetic relationships of Iragi citrus genotypes to provide useful...
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