African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6831

Table of Content: 24 July; 7(28)

July 2012

Phytoremediation: Curing soil problems with crops

  Among the different contaminants in the environment, heavy metals (HMs) are unique due to the fact that they cannot be broken down to non-toxic forms. According to the reports published worldwide, these metals are released into the environment by both natural and anthropogenic sources, especially, mining and industrial activities, and automobile exhausts (for lead). They leach into underground waters, moving...

Author(s):   Shabir Hussain Wani, Gulzar Singh Sanghera, Haribhushan Athokpam, Jyotsna Nongmaithem, Rita Nongthongbam, Brajendra Singh Naorem and Herojit Singh Athokpam

July 2012

Phytoremediation: Curing soil problems with crops The concept of sustainable agriculture: Global and African perceptions with emerging issues from Swaziland

  This paper presents a review of literature in sustainable agriculture and related concepts, which entail economic, social and environmental considerations. It starts by introducing the concept of sustainable agriculture and the reasons behind its promotion in the modern day agriculture industry. The concept of sustainable agriculture is discussed together with the principles of sustainable agriculture and...

Author(s): Banele L. Nkambule and Cliff S. Dlamini

July 2012

A review of the poverty and food security issues in South Africa: Is agriculture the solution?

  Poverty and high levels of food insecurity have been some of the biggest problems facing the nation of South Africa since the early days of democracy. Whilst the black majority hoped for a more improved economy after the country’s first democratic elections, the legacy of apartheid laws has made the reality to be a different story. Yes, it is true that the nation has continued to grow over the last...

Author(s): Tshuma, M. C.

July 2012

Consumers’ awareness of food labeling: A case study of United Arab Emirates

  The main objective of this study is to examine consumers’ awareness for food labeling in United Arab Emirates (UAE), along with identification of the socioeconomic characteristics and attitudes which make consumers aware of the subject. The UAE is an economy with a peculiar nature; more than 80% of its residents are expatriates from all over the world. A total of 500 respondents from all over the UAE...

Author(s): Aydin Basarir and Sherin Sherif

July 2012

Social capital between farmers of Iran

  Social capital can potentially be used for wrong reasons such as criminal activities, self interests and the creation of unequal communities. In this regard, the issue of developing communities raises concern because social capital has not sufficiently been researched and documented in rural areas of the developing world. The purpose of this study was the assessment of social capital between rural farmers in...

Author(s): Seyed Abolhasan Sadati, Alireza Ansari Ardali and Fatemeh Abbasi

July 2012

The leaf growth model and influencing factors in Phalaenopsis orchid

  To evaluate the factors affecting the growth characteristics of Phalaenopsis leaves, the leaf-length growth patterns of two Phalaenopsis varieties, the red-flower Phalaenopsis clones ‘LB9506’ and ‘LB9508’, were measured under different environment condition such as day temperature, light intensity, and fertilizer rates. The fitting-agreement of three...

Author(s): Chiachung Chen and Meiyu Chien

July 2012

Storage pests of maize and their status in Jimma Zone, Ethiopia

  An experiment was conducted in 2004 to assess the major pests associated with stored maize, the damage and losses they cause in Jimma Zone, Oromia Regional State. Fifty farm stores were assessed. Seventeen arthropods, thirteen Coleopterans, three Lepidopterans and one Acarina were documented from the samples collected. Maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais) followed by grain moth (Sitotroga...

Author(s): Waktole Sori and Amsalu Ayana

July 2012

Length‐weight relationship and condition of five marine fish species collected by shrimp trawls in Bushehr coastal waters, Northern Persian Gulf

  The length-weight relationships (LWR) and relative condition factor were calculated for five marine fish species collected by shrimp trawls from Iranian waters of the Persian Gulf. Sampling was carried out with bottom trawl net (with 40 and 50 mm mesh size (stretched length) in the cod-end and panel) during June to August 2011. Trawling took place at depths ranging from 7 to 30 m. The values of the...

Author(s): Moslem Daliri, Seyed Yousef Paighambari, Mohammad Javad Shabani and Reza Davoodi

July 2012

Management of post-harvest Pectobacterium soft rot of cabbage (Brassica oleracea var capitata L.) by biocides and packing material

  Bioassay studies of several biocides against Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. carotovorum revealed that ciprofloxacin proved highly inhibitive to bacterial growth by producing highest inhibition zone (21 mm) at a concentration of 200 µg ml-1 followed by penicillin, tetracycline, and oxytetracycline. Other test chemicals viz., amoxicillin, striplin, azithromycine, mercuric...

Author(s): K. A. Bhat, N. A. Bhat, F. A. Mohiddin, S. A. Mir and M. R. Mir

July 2012

Predicting soil and forest floor carbon stocks in Western Anatolian Scots pine stands, Turkey

  The objective of this study was to determine the models which estimate the soil plus forest floor carbon stocks (TC) using some stand, climate, and topographic parameters in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands. 40 sample plots were taken from sites differing in aspects, elevation, slope degree, slope position, and stand growth condition. TC of the stands, as dependent variables, and stand,...

Author(s): Åžükrü Teoman Güner, Aydın Çömez and KürÅŸad Özkan

July 2012

Effect of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) illumination on postharvest quality and bioactive compounds in yellow bell pepper fruit (Capsicum annuum L.) during storage

  The effects of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) illumination on postharvest quality and bioactive compounds of yellow bell pepper during refrigerated storage were investigated. The yellow bell pepper fruit were illuminated with three different UV-C dosages, 2.2, 4.4 and 6.6 kJ m-2 and then stored at 12 ± 1°C for 15 days. UV-C illumination at 6.6 kJ m-2 showed the best results in maintaining...

Author(s): Surassawadee Promyou, and Suriyan Supapvanich,

July 2012

Yield and yield components in vegetable cowpea on an ultisol

  Field trials were conducted from 2001 to 2004 at the research farm of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, South Eastern Nigeria to evaluate the yield and its components in nine vegetable cowpea cultivars. The cultivars differed significantly in yield and most of the components and the yield were not stable across the years of the study though, few cultivars seem to have stable yields. Pod...

Author(s): Nwofia, G.E

July 2012

Evaluation of some morphological traits associated with wheat yield under terminal drought stress

  This study was carried out at the Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj (Iran) in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 growing seasons to investigate the effects of two irrigation regimes (normal irrigation and no irrigation in post-anthesis growth stage) on grain yield of eight wheat cultivars (DM-81-6, DM-82-1, Bahar, DN-11, DN-7, Pishtaz, WS-82-9, and C-85-6). According to the results of variance analysis, it is...

Author(s): Farzad Aslani, Mohammad Reza Mehrvar and Abdul Shukor Juraimi

July 2012

Seed drilling distance applications in sugar beet cultivation

  This research was conducted with the Leila sugar beet variety between 2007 and 2009 at the Sugar Institute Etimesgut and Ilgın experimental stations, and the aim of this research was to determine the most suitable seed distance in rows for sugar beet cultivation. Both experimental stations were located in the Central Anatolia region. Six different sowing distances were specified as the following methods: 8...

Author(s): Koç Mehmet TUÄžRUL, Åževki BUZLUK and AyÅŸegül BOYACIOÄžLU