African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6900

Table of Content: 13 October, 2016; 11(41)

October 2016

Effect of gypsum application on agro-energy performance of sugarcane varieties cultivated in a semi-arid environment

Brazilian semi-arid soils can be dystrophic and often occur in areas with high agricultural potential. Gypsum application improves chemical and physical soil conditions, favoring root system development of plants and can improve sugarcane production for energy production, as a strategy for sustainable development, avoiding native vegetation destruction in semi-arid regions. This study aimed to analyze the impact of...

Author(s): Henrique Soares de Albuquerque, Alexandre Tavares da Rocha, Tiago Barreto Garcez, Renato Lemos dos Santos, Emídio Cantídio Almeida de Oliveira and Fernando José Freire

October 2016

Gas exchange in castor bean cultivars in response to foliar application of potassium silicate

Since silicon and potassium are nutrients that influence plant physiological and biochemical aspects, the combined use of these minerals in the fertilization of cultivated plants has been increasingly investigated. This study aimed to evaluate the gas exchanges (Net photosynthesis, Stomatal conductance, Transpiration, Water use efficiency, Carboxylation efficiency, Internal carbon concentration, Chlorophyll a, b, total,...

Author(s): Jussara Cristina Firmino da Costa, Genelicio Souza Carvalho Júnior, Rosiane de Lourdes Silva de Lima, Hans Raj Gheyi, Valdinei Sofiatti and Maria Roselita André Soares

October 2016

Vermicompost of tannery sludge and sewage as conditioners soil with grown tomato#

The objective was to evaluate the effect of tannery sludge vermicompost in the chemical properties of soil cultivated with tomato and irrigated with wastewater. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial 6 × 2, totaling twelve treatments with three replications. The treatments were: four tannery sludge vermicompost (25% Sludge tannery(LC) + manure - T1, 25% Sludge tannery(LC) + rice husk -...

Author(s): Cunha, A. H. N., Brasil, E. P. F., Ferreira, R. B., Vieira, J. A., Araújo, C. S. T., Silva, S. M. C.

October 2016

Water use efficiency and growth variables of Operculina macrocarpa L. Urban grown in tropical environment

Most of the population in developing countries still uses medicinal plants as the main source to meet their medical needs. Field experiments were carried out at tropical environment in Brazil in order to determine the main characteristics of ‘batata-de-purga’ (Operculina macrocarpa L. Urban), cultivated under 5 different levels of irrigation. The crop was cultivated with and without shading, using a plastic...

Author(s): Vicente de Paulo R. da Silva, Ricardo Pereira Veras, José Dantas Neto, Célia Campos Braga, Romildo Morant de Holanda and João Hugo Baracuy da Cunha Campos

October 2016

Water content and soil nutrient in consortium of native fruit trees with cover crops

The use of cover crops in intercropping is an important strategy for soil management and conservation, the improvement of edaphic conditions, and the optimization of cultivation of intercropped plants of commercial interest. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the water content and soil nutrient as well as initial growth of some fruit trees native to the Cerrado, Brazil. That is, Eugenia dysenterica Mart. ex...

Author(s): Paulo Dornelles, Adriano Perin, Fabiano Guimarães Silva, Aurélio Rubio Neto and Gabriel Bressiani Melo

October 2016

Characterizing commercial cattle farms in Namibia: Risk, management, and sustainability

Commercial cattle farming in semi-arid regions is subject to high rainfall risk. At the same time, it is prone to rangeland degradation. Theoretical works suggest that rainfall risk management by means of financial instruments may stabilize farming-derived income over the short-term, but provides little incentives for conservative rangeland management. Thus, the use of financial strategies of income stabilization may...

Author(s): Roland Olbrich, Martin F. Quaas and Stefan Baumgärtner,

October 2016

Shape and size relationships of Araucaria angustifolia in South Brazil

Studies on morphology and occupancy area of trees provide knowledge on features and functions of forest ecosystem, especially in terms of competition and growth of trees. The main purpose of this work was to develop models for shape and size relationships of Araucaria angustifolia in natural forest remains of species. Dendrometric and morphometric variables from 210 trees from three sites were used. Results showed that...

Author(s): Myrcia Minatti, André Felipe Hess, Pollyni Ricken, Tascilla Magalhães Loiola and Isadora Arruda de Souza

October 2016

Multiple uses of forest resources in small and medium farms in the tropics: Economic and social contributions

In complex systems, small anthropogenic changes of the initial conditions could lead to profound changes in the entire system. In this sense, the present literature review has surveyed several studies related to the multiple uses of forest resources and sustainability in small and medium-sized farms in the tropics. In 1985, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published a work addressing...

Author(s): Benedito Albuquerque da Silva, Nidia Martineia Guerra Gomes, Leandro Skowronski, Michel Angelo Constantino de Oliveira and Reginaldo Brito da Costa

October 2016

Factors influencing smallholder crop commercialisation: Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire

In this study, we analysed factors that influence crop output commercialisation among smallholder farmers in Cote d’Ivoire. Unlike previous studies, we correct for sample selection bias by using the Heckman maximum likelihood sample selection model with village fixed effects. We rely on a unique and detailed dataset that covers 3,393 smallholder farmers. The dataset was gathered from the 2014 National employment...

Author(s): Kotchikpa Gabriel Lawin and Wendkouni Jean-Baptiste Zongo

October 2016

Effects of rhizobacteria on Meloidogyne javanica infection on eggplants

The effect of two rhizobacteria, Pantoea agglomerans and Bacillus subtilis on parasitism of the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne javanica on eggplants was evaluated in laboratory and greenhouse experiments. The impacts of the bacteria application as seed treatment, root dipping, and soil drench on early nematode penetration into plant roots, as well as, on eggplant growth were tested. The number of penetrated second...

Author(s): Melika Mohamedova, Donka Draganova, Iliyana Valcheva and Mladen Naydenov

October 2016

Rice development and water demand under drought stress imposed at distinct growth stages

This study aimed to establish a comparison for theoretical water demand between rice plants grown under flooding and under different levels of water stress, imposed at distinct crop stages, in terms of plant morpho-physiology and phenology. The experiment was installed in a greenhouse, using complete randomized design and factorial scheme 3 × 4 + 1, with four replications. Factor...

Author(s): Germani Concenço, José Maria Barbat Parfitt, Kelly Downing, Jacob Larue and Jaqueline Trombetta da Silva

October 2016

Evaluation of the gross and net calorific value of residues of wood pine and araucaria from reforestation

The objective of this study was to assess the energy value of waste timber in the form of sawdust. Two types of wood: Araucaria (Araucaria angustifolia) and Pinus were evaluated with no defined species (Pinus sp). The sawdust was collected from a timber that receives wood from reforestation of these species in Southwestern Paraná, Brazil. The material collected was evaluated with a calorimeter bomb to determine...

Author(s): Marta Juliana Schmatz, Jair Antonio Cruz Siqueira, Carlos Eduardo Camargo Nogueira, Samuel Nelson Melegari de Souza, Luciene Kazue Tokura and Kleberson Luis Menezes and Darlisson Bentes dos Santos