October 2012
Determinants of labour mobility within smallholder farms in western Kenya and implications for labour use efficiency
Significant gains can be made if smallholder farms’ households can change their livelihood strategy. This paper is concerned with how smallholder farmers allocate labour within their farms and the barriers to cropping activities with higher outcomes. Efficiency of households in labour use across the farm was evaluated by comparing labour returns across various crops while controlling the variability in...
October 2012
Profitability analysis of commercial chemical and biological crop products among farm households in agro-ecological zones of West Africa
This paper evaluates the costs and returns incurred by the use of chemical and biological crop products among households in five selected Compro communities in the derived, Southern Guinea, Northern Guinea, Sudan and Sahel Savanna agro-ecological zones (AEZs) in West Africa. Sixty households were randomly selected in each of the communities to give a total of 300 households. Data were collected on...
October 2012
Phenology of flowering in cacao (Theobroma cacao) and its related species in Nigeria
Adequate utilization of genetic variability in both cultivated and wild relatives of any crop species is a major objective in genetic improvement and crop breeding programs. The timing of onset of flowering is also crucial to reproductive success of flowering plant. Flowering pattern in five species in the genus Theobroma and oneHerrania spp. was studied over a 10 year period in Nigeria. Results showed...
October 2012
Genetic analysis of morpho-physiological and quality traits in chickpea genotypes (Cicer arietinum L.)
The present study was conducted on two different locations, (1) fields of the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan and (2) the field of Chaudhary Agriculture farms, Kasur, Pakistan, during the crop season of 2010-2011. Eighty chickpea genotypes (seventy lines and ten check varieties) were evaluated for genetic variability in morpho-physiological and quality traits in...
October 2012
Impact of extractive industry on an agricultural soil in San Luis PotosÃ, México
This case study arose from the opening of an ordinary civil trial, brought by a farmer against a company in the extractive industry sector. The judge required an investigation of: 1) whether the plot of the producer contained waste materials; 2) if there were chemical residues present; 3) the nature of such residues; 4) whether the plot was suitable for agriculture; 5) what were the factors which made the soil...
October 2012
Evaluation of drought tolerance indices in Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.)Trotter]
Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.)Trotter] is an ancient and major cereal crop in Ethiopia. Increasing tef yield partly requires developing cultivars that are tolerant to low moisture supply. An experiment was carried out using 18 tef genotypes grown during September to December, 2010, under two water supply environments (stress during grain filling period, and non-stress) to identify genotypic variations in drought...
October 2012
Changes in nutrient and antinutrient composition of popcorn and groundnut composite flour subjected to solid substrate fermentation
Popcorn and groundnut composite flours were fermented by solid substrate fermentation method for 96 h. The following isolates were isolated from the fermentation; Staphylococcus sp., Lactobacillus fermentum, Bacillus sp., Aspergillus sp., Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rhizopus nigricans and Penicillium sp. There was decrease in pH with increase in titratable acidity (TTA) in...
October 2012
Effect of post-anthesis water deficit on yield and some physiological parameters on two wheat cultivars
This work investigates the effects of water deficit on physiologic parameters related to yield in two wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.), Marvdasht and Zagros (sensitive and tolerant to terminal season drought, respectively) grown in pots under well watered and water-stressed starting from anthesis until maturity. All physiological parameters were affected by drought stress. Results showed that, water deficits...
October 2012
Date-peat as an alternative in hydroponic strawberry production
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is one of the most important agricultural products for export in Iran. According to published statistics by FAO in 2008, more than 244000 ha of farm lands in Iran have been allocated to palm cultivation. Large amounts of palm wastage are thrown away without any usage annually. By contrast, cocopeat, which is produced from coconut trees, is imported for different purposes per annum. Thus,...
October 2012
Horticultural mineral oil application and tree canopy management improve cosmetic fruit quality of Kinnow mandarin
Citrus peel blemishes are considered as one of the major issues from marketing perspectives as they downgrade fruit quality resulting in high rejection at farm gate. Fruit blemishes are associated with various biotic (mites, thrips and other insects) and abiotic (wind rub etc.) factors. Keeping in view the increased awareness about pesticide use and food safety concerns in fresh produce, these two years studies...
October 2012
Detection of predators within Brassica crops: A search for predators of diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and other important pests
Techniques based on the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) have been shown to be powerful tools for ecological studies of predator-prey interactions. By using developed species-specific primers from the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene for six insect pests of Brassica crops (Plutella xylostella, Pieris rapae, Hellula hydralis, Helicoverpa punctigera, Brevicoryne...
October 2012
Critical factors of farmers’s participation in kenaf cultivation: Malaysian context
The Malaysian government has given support and priority to Kenaf as a new national commodity. However, the progress in Kenaf cultivation has not met the expectation of the government. The main objective of this study is to determine the critical factors influencing the limited farmer participations in Kenaf cultivation. Data were collected through interviews using a structured questionnaire that is designed to map out...
October 2012
Muga silkworm (Antheraea assamensis helfer) indoor rearing by integrated “leaf freshness technologyâ€- A new technology
Integrated Muga silkworm indoor rearing technology includes “leaf freshness technology” (LFT), “Nutrient Supplemented Phago-stimulant” and bacterial disease control by streptomycin sulfate. All these techniques were applied in complete indoor conditions up to cocoon formation and, very high positive significant results were achieved in respect of larval survivability, larval biomass growth and...
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