November 2011
Effect of chitosan coating on some characteristics of mango (Mangifera indica L.) “Ataulfo†subjected to hydrothermal process
Because of the possible presence of immature stages of the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew), the mango fruits cv. Ataulfo are most often treated by immersion in hot water (46.1°C during 90 min. This hydrothermal process has been shown to accelerate the ripening of fruit, but undesirable effect can be reversed with the use of coatings of various compositions. The objective for this...
November 2011
Effect of salt stress on growth, gas exchange attributes and chlorophyll contents of pea (Pisum sativum)
Ten pea (Pisum sativum) genotypes (Samarina Zard, Euro, Early Green, Climax, 2001-20, Meteor, Olympia, 9200-1, 9800-5 and PF-400) were used to study the effects of salt stress on the growth, photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and chlorophyll contents. Pea seeds of different genotypes were grown in pots having fine sand as growth medium. After 30 days of germination, the plants were...
November 2011
Predicting photosynthetic rate of sunflowers using back propagation neural network based on uniform design
The new model to predict photosynthetic rate (Pn) using back propagation neural network (BPNN) based on uniform design (UD) was studied. Four parameters of BPNN were designed at six levels individually by UD experiment to optimize the architecture of the BPNN model. The optimal parameters were used to construct an intelligent, feasible BPNN model which could more accurately predict the photosynthetic rate of...
November 2011
Local-level assessment of watermelon genetic diversity in a village in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe: Structure and dynamics of landraces on farm
Watermelon landraces provide valuable food for human consumption as well as animal feed in the drought-prone parts of Zimbabwe, especially in the Masvingo area where subsistence agriculture is predominant. Using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), this study investigated intra- and inter-landrace genetic variation at the village level. Seedling offspring from 29 landraces, collected at four recently...
November 2011
Na+ localization and re-transportation of buckwheat seedlings
Salt-tolerant buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) variety Chuanqiao No.1 and salt-sensitive buckwheat variety were used as experimental materials. Na+ content of roots, stem base and leaves were determined to find out the localization and re-transportation traits of buckwheat under NaCl stress and removing NaCl stress. It showed that Na+ accumulation of roots and stem base of salt-tolerant...
November 2011
Preliminary DRIS model parameterization to access pineapple variety ‘Perola’ nutrient status in Benin (West Africa)
Nutritional diagnosis is an important tool for increasing fruit yield and fruit quality through efficient fertilization management. The aim of the study is to investigate whether there are specific DRIS norms for pineapple ‘Perola’ for a better soil fertility management in Benin. A preliminary Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) norms for ‘Perola’ pineapple growing in...
November 2011
Genetic variability in seed quality of African yam beans (Sphenostylis stenocarpa Hochst. Ex A. Rich Harms)
African yam bean (AYB) (Sphenostylis stenocarpa (Hochst ex. Rich) Harms) is an important food in most tropical African countries where it is consumed as either dry cooked seeds or as tuber. Seed quality properties play a major role in genetic improvement and conservation of AYB, if it will contribute to national food security, and prevention of the looming food crisis. The genetic variability in seeds of...
November 2011
Effect of cold stress on cell membrane stability, chlorophyll a and b contain and proline accumulation in wheat (Triticum aiestivum L.) variety
The aim of this research was to determine the effect of cold stress on chlorophyll content, proline accumulation and the cell membrane stability of 15 bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) at two stage of growth (2 leaf stage and 4 leaf stage). Experiment was carried out in complete block design with tree replications at year 2009 in west Azerbaijan Agriculture science and research center laboratory. 15...
November 2011
Effect of phosphorus application and strip-intercropping on yield and some wheat-grain components in a wheat/maize/potato intercropping system
Intercropping of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.) and potato (Solanum tuberosum)has been practiced in North-West China in the last several decades; however, the effects of this intercropping and phosphorus addition on crop yield and some wheat-grain components have not been adequately investigated. A 2-year field experiment was conducted from 2002 to 2003 in irrigated areas in...
November 2011
Metcalfa pruinosa Say (insecta: homoptera: flatidae): A new pest in Romania
A new invasive species has been detected in Romania in the past two years. The scientific name of this species is Metcalfa pruinosa Say (1830), also known as citrus flatid plant hopper. Its importance as a pest species is assessed it in different ways by specialists. In North America (where the insect comes from) minor damages have been reported, with insignificant economic importance, while in...
November 2011
Relatedness of Maize streak virus in maize (Zea mays L.) to some grass isolates collected from different regions in Nigeria
Maize streak virus (MSV; family Geminiviridae, genus Mastrevirus) is the most important virus of maize (Zea mays L.) in sub-Saharan Africa. The relatedness of this virus to others showing streak symptoms from grasses on or near maize fields from five ecological areas of Nigeria was studied using genetic scanning analyzer. The relationship dendogram showed 50-95% variations...
November 2011
Health problems and conditions of the forestry workers in Turkey
The first phase of supplying forest products to the producer is comprised of the production activities performed in the forests. As these activities are hard and difficult works carried out in forests, occupational accidents and safety usually remain current issues. Since the topographic structure in most of the forests in Turkey are not suitable for working with machines, forestry works are mostly performed...
November 2011
Diversity, cultural practices and domestication of Sesamum radiatum Thonn. ex Hornem and Justicia tenella (Nees) T., two neglected and underutilised traditional leafy vegetables consumed in Benin
Sesamum radiatum and Justicia tenella are two traditional leafy vegetables highly consumed in Benin. In spite of their importance in food security, nutrition, and income generation, they still remain very little known to the scientific communities. In order to document their diversity and the various traditional cultural practices associated with their production and identity as well...
November 2011
Non-hydraulic root-sourced signaling and grain yield stability under shade of maize during progressive soil drying in soybean
Production practice shows shaded soybean in wheat-maize-soybean; relay strip intercropping system has better tolerance to drought as compared with sole cropping soybean. Our researches are to understand the reasons through non-hydraulic root signals (nHRS), yield and the relationships among them. Pot experiments were conducted with two soybean cultivars, under shade of maize (LI) and normal irradiance (HI)....
November 2011
The exposure and adoption of New Rice for Africa (NERICAs) among Ghanaian rice farmers: What is the evidence?
The sustainable development of the rice sector in Ghana is constrained by environmental, socioeconomic, research and development factors. Productivity is generally low, about 1 mt/ha under upland and rain-fed lowland rice ecologies which dominate rice production systems in the country. The release and diffusion of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) varieties across many countries in Africa...
November 2011
Smallholder farmers’ perceptions on Bt maize and their relative influence towards its adoption: The case of Mqanduli communal area, South Africa
Lack of knowledge on the influence of perception based socio-economic factors capable of influencing smallholder farmers to adopt biotechnology has often been cited as a crucial policy gap. This scenario has been attributed to the retardation of the advancement of technology to smallholder farmers. Effectively, a widening gap seems to exist between large and smallholder farmers on the adoption rate of...
November 2011
Insect occurrence and losses due to phytophagous species in the amaranth Amaranthus hypocondriacus L. crop in Puebla, Mexico
A field survey for insects associated with amaranth Amaranthus hypocondriacus L. (Amaranthaceae) was conducted in the semiarid Region Mixteca of Puebla State in Mexico. Also, the losses to the crop caused by the phytophagous species were assessed. Samples were collected every fifteen days during one year in five plots to obtain a representation of the phytophagous and beneficial insects, and of the...
November 2011
Role of water in rural residents’ working outside of the village in China
Residents’ working outside of the village in China is the beginning of internal migration. Although there is a affluent literature on residents’ working outside of the village, few existing studies deal with the role of water at the village-level. This paper will fill this gap and deal with the working outside of the village choice made by rural migrants with the China Health and Retirement...
November 2011
Response of cockerels to graded levels of local and industrially processed palm kernel meal (Elaise guineasis)
One hundred and eighty (180) two weeks old cockerels were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial layout. They were used to compare the effects of two processing methods of palm kernel oil extraction (local and industrial) and three dietary levels of palm kernel meal (PKM) (0, 20 and 40%). Parameters considered were feed intake, daily weight gain, feed cost, carcass...
November 2011
Effects of pelleting on fertilizer quality of quail litter
The objectives of this work were to study the effects of a pelleting process on quail litter (QL) properties including basic physicochemical properties, nutrient contents and heavy metal contents. Results show that the pelleting process decreased variability in dry matter, electrical conductivity, urea N, K, Na, S, Fe, Cu and Cd contents. Dry matter content of pelleted QL showed correlation with...
November 2011
Evaluation of the nutritive values of quail litter for ruminants after pelleting
The aim of this work was to study the nutritional value of pelleted meat quail litter (PMQL) and pelleted layer quail litter (PLQL). Both types of litter were pelleted, and the nutritive values were analyzed. The results showed that the total ash (TA), crude protein and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents for the PMQL were much lower than those for the PLQL (P<0.05), whereas the dry matter (DM) was not...
November 2011
Evaluation of the recreation value of tourist strawberry gardens with organic farming in Dahu: An appreciation of CB combined with TCM
This study uses the travel cost method and contingent behavior to evaluate the recreation value of tourist strawberry gardens with conventional farming or organic farming in Dahu. The evaluation results show that the recreation value of tourist strawberry gardens in Dahu is 2,457 NT, and the annual recreation value is 2.702 billion NT. Under the assumption of “all the tourist strawberry gardens use...
November 2011
Effects of conservation tillage on soil water regimes and water use efficiency in farmland of Heihe River Basin in Northwest China
Shortage of water resources and extreme drought limit crop production in Heihe River Basin in Northwest China. Those areas are also strongly affected by serious wind erosion, and intensive tillage of conventional agriculture has worsened the situation. Therefore, conventional tillage and four conservation tillage were studied to analyze the effects of different tillage on soil water storage...
November 2011
Calcium alleviation of sodium toxicity in salt-treated Cyclocarya paliurus seedlings
Cyclocarya paliurus seedlings were cultured in a greenhouse under saline conditions in 50 L black plastic boxes containing Hoagland-Arnon nutrient solution. Plants were treated with a nutrient solution plus 85 mM NaCl and 0, 6, 12 or 18 mM Ca(NO3)2. Vegetative growth, leaf and root Na+ and Ca2+ concentrations were measured. Na+ toxicity symptoms were observed...
November 2011
Physical properties and conveying characteristics of corn and barley seeds using a suction-type pneumatic conveying system
In this research, physical properties of corn and barley seeds were first determined and then, to obtain the change in pressure drop, power consumption and mechanical seed damage as a function of air velocity during suction conveying of corn and barley, a suction-type pneumatic conveying system was designed and constructed and finally the pneumatic conveying characteristics of corn and barley seeds were...
November 2011
Optimization of energy consumption for wheat production in iran using data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique
In this study a non-parametric method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to estimate the energy efficiencies of wheat producers based on six energy inputs including human power, diesel fuel, machinery manufacture and depreciation, water for irrigation, transportation, seed, fertilizer, and chemicals also with single output of grain yield. This study helps to rank efficient and inefficient farmers and...
November 2011
Integration of modified uninformative variable elimination and successive projections algorithm for determination harvest time of laver by using visible and near infrared spectra
In order to quickly and accurately determine the laver’s harvest time, we adopt combination of modified uninformative variable elimination, successive projection algorithm and visible-near infrared spectroscopy (Vis-NIR) technology to achieve this goal; as mass of spectral data with noise cannot build a stable and efficient recognition model, the effective wavelength should be extracted from the whole...
November 2011
Transport risks analysis of temperature-controlled cargoes for airfreight forwarders in Taiwan: Case study of the orchids
The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the transport risks of temperature-controlled cargoes of orchids for airfreight forwarders in Taiwan. At first, we use a risk assessment method as the research method in this paper. Secondly, four dimensions and eighteen risk factors are derived to proceed the empirically study via questionnaires. The empirically results show that: (1) the top factor of...
November 2011
Trade, human capital and agricultural sector growth of Pakistan economy
This study aims to investigate the impact of trade openness on the real agricultural sector growth in case of Pakistan, by using the data from 1971 to 2009. We employ Ng- Perron unit root test in order to determine the order of integration, autoregressive distributed lag model for long run association and modified Granger causality test to determine the short run and long run causal direction. The results...
November 2011
Genetic polymorphism of leptin gene in Holstein and native East Anatolian Red (EAR) cattle raised as genetic resource in Turkey
The objective of the present investigation was to determine genetic variations leptin/Sau3AI in Holstein and native East Anatolian Red cattle by PCR-RFLP method. Blood samples were collected from 149 Holstein cows and 71 native East Anatolian Red cattle. A 495 bp fragment from exon II of the bovine leptin gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction and digested the PCR products...
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