March 2012
The status of the agro-processing industry in Zimbabwe with particular reference to small- and medium-scale enterprises
The review examined what small and medium agro-processing systems require to effectively manufacture and market processed products; and analysed agro-processing service provision, and research and extension linkages in Zimbabwe. The number of agro-processors has increased, creating employment opportunities, but the prevailing economic environment tend to favour growth of mediumscale...
March 2012
Repellence property of traditional plant leaf extracts against Aphis gossypii Glover and Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley
Aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) are major polyphagous pests in Vadodara agricultural fields. To control these sap sucking insect pests; farmers are using broad spectrum insecticides which are toxic to non target insects. Therefore, the objective of this study is to control these pests by using...
March 2012
Pollinator diversity, behaviour and limitation on yield of karela (Momordica charantia L. Cucurbitaceae) in Western Kenya
Inadequate pollination is a major constraint to crop yield. Momordica charantia L. is a fruit crop of economic interest in Kenya. Pollination ecology, pollinator diversity and their behaviour were studied in Western Kenya. Pollination treatments included insect exclusion, open pollination (unrestricted insect visits), hand cross-pollination and pollen augmentation. Yield components from...
March 2012
Mineralogy and aggregate stability of soils in the arid region of Southeastern Iran
The stability of arid soils can be affected by their chemical and mineralogical properties. A study was conducted to investigate the influence of soil chemical and mineralogical properties on soil stability indices in the Shamil-Ashkara Catchment area of Iran. Eight soil profiles were dug and all the soils were classified as Entisols and Aridisols. These soils are calcareous in nature with...
March 2012
Effects of soil properties and agronomic practices on wheat yield variability in Fengqiu County of North China Plain
To produce sufficient food with limited arable lands has been a challenging issue. Thus, identification of the main factors influencing crop productivity has attracted the attention of many researchers. Fengqiu County of Henan Province, located in North China was chosen as study area; soil property and agronomic practice data of 111 sites were collected during the 2009 growing season....
March 2012
Effect of soil acidification on growth indices and microelements uptake by greenhouse cucumber
Based on the climate condition of Iran and most of its soils that are calcareous, it is important to prepare the nutritional requirements of cucumber and decrease the growth and development limitations of greenhouse cucumber. In this way, notation to pH properties is essential. Optimum pH for plants production is slightly acidic such that it is necessary to correct soil pH to a more...
March 2012
Red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier) infestation and its chemical control in Sindh province of Pakistan
The survey on various parameters showed that the degree of orchard infestation fluctuated by time period/seasons, so attack of red palm weevil varied on different months of the year during the study period. It was observed that this insect pest had significantly higher (16%) infestation in the months of June, July and August, during experimental period. The least attack (8%) of the weevil...
March 2012
Growth response and carcass quality of broiler chickens fed on diets supplemented with dietary copper sources
An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of dietary sources of copper on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. Three dietary sources of copper (Cu) namely: copper sulphate (CuSO4), copper oxide (CuO) and copper acetate were added to a corn-soy basal diet, which was formulated to meet the nutrient requirements of broilers, at 150, 200 and 250...
March 2012
The effects of using different levels of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) medicinal plant on performance, egg traits, blood biochemical parameters and Immunity cells of laying hens
This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) medicinal plant dried aerial part powder on performance, egg traits, blood biochemical and Immunity cells of laying hens. 180 laying hens (W36 strain) from 46 until 58 weeks of age were used in a completely randomized design in five treatments (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2%) and three...
March 2012
Weed competitiveness and yield of inter-and intraspecific upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) under different weed control practices at Badeggi, Niger State, Nigeria
A field study was conducted at the National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi (9°04 N, 6°7 E), Niger ia in 2007 and 2008 to compare the weed competitiveness and yield of inter- and intra-specific upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) under different weed control practices. The trial was laid out in a split-plot and arranged in a randomized block design with the two varieties of rice...
March 2012
Notes on the genus Viscum (Viscaceae) in Iran: A new combination based on morphological evidence
The genus Viscum L. (Viscaceae) with 150 species in the world was known in Iran only by V. album L. subsp. album. The plants of Viscum are hemiparasites growing on various host trees such as Crataegus sp., Parrotia persica and Pyrus sp. To investigate the range of morphological variation in different populations of these subspecies authors conducted detailed morphological...
March 2012
Non-destructive measurement of crude fat and crude protein contents of oats from different geographical zones in China using visible and near-infrared spectroscopy
Oats’ geographical origin and internal component contents have great impacts on their flavor, off-flavor, emulsifying and binding properties. Geographical origin identification was done by classical Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) and least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM), respectively. The correct answer rate of the LS-SVM model was 98.3%, better than that...
March 2012
Research of the remote and real-time data collection platform toward distributed greenhouse structure
In order to elevate the whole management level of distributed greenhouse systems, research into the data with different network conditions. Analysis into the requirement of distributed greenhouse system, an OPC-based remote and real-time data collected platform was suggested for different network conditions. The system was realized by OPC XML including the client, server, software...
March 2012
Determination of the best cotton cultivars and selection criteria to improve yield in Gorgan climatic region
The purpose of this research was to introduce cultivars of high products in Gorgan region climatic condition and study the interrelationships between the seed cotton yields and several traits of 8 cotton genotypes at Plant Institute, Gorgan, Iran. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replications. A positive significant (P<1%) correlation was observed...
March 2012
Deforestation modeling using logistic regression and GIS (Case study: Northern Ilam forests, Ilam Province, Iran)
This study aims to predict spatial distribution of deforestation and detects factors influencing forest degradation of Northern forests of Ilam province. For this purpose, effects of six factors including distance from road and settlement areas, forest fragmentation index, elevation, slope and distance from the forest edge on the forest deforestation are studied. In order to evaluate the...
March 2012
Effect of plant population, stem and flower pruning on hydroponically grown sweet pepper in a shadenet structure
A study was conducted in 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 to investigate the effect of plant population, flower and stem pruning of hydroponically grown peppers in a 40% (black and white) shadenet structure at the ARC-Roodeplaat VOPI. The research was done in an open bag hydroponic system with sawdust as growing medium. Pepper plants were subjected to three plant populations (2, 2.5 and 3...
March 2012
Lepidoptera fauna of Yuvacik dam watershed in Kocaeli, Turkey
The aim of this study is to determine Lepidoptera fauna of the Yuvacik Dam Watershed in Kocaeli. The study was conducted in 2007 from March to November. 493 specimens were collected from study area. A total of 119 species belonging to 16 families of Lepidoptera order were identified. Polyommatus dorylas [(Den and Schiff, 1775) and Zerynthia cerisy (Godart, 1822)] are considered as Near...
March 2012
Yield and water productivity of maize and wheat under deficit and raised bed irrigation practices in Egypt
This work aims at evaluating the performance of deficit irrigation (DI) and raised bed techniques (RB) of maize (Zea mays L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) as compared to farmers’ practice (FT) and full irrigation (FWR) in the Nile Delta of Egypt in 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 seasons. In maize, results showed that the application of FWR as compared to the FT reduced water application by 640...
March 2012
Some physiological characteristics in maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines tolerant to low potassium from grain filling to maturity
Northeast China produces an abundance of maize (Zea mays L.). In recent years, deficiency or relative deficiency of potassium (K) in the soil is an important limitation to maize production. Maize inbred lines tolerant to K deficiency (90-21-3) and sensitive to K deficiency (D937) were grown in potassium deficiency field conditions. We investigated the root morphology, leaves stay-green, K...
March 2012
Potential ecotourism in the protected area: A case study at Kazdağı (Mt. Ida), Turkey
Kazdaglari (Mount Ida) is one of the important mountain chains situated on the provincial borders of Çanakkale and Balikesir, on the South of Biga peninsula. Part of the region, which possesses rich resources in terms of natural and cultural aspects, within the borders of Edremit District of Balikesir Province has been announced as a “National Park”. National Park and its...
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