July 2014
Impact of adoption of scientific interventions in fenugreek on grain yield and farmers income: An assessment by FLD’s in Arid Zone of Rajasthan, India
Fenugreek is one of the major seed spice crop grown in India and mainly cultivated in the state of Rajasthan. The crop occupies about 94000 ha area with annual production of 116000 tonnes (2011-12). Front line demonstrations (FLDs) on fenugreek with three interventions (improved varieties, line sowing and seed treatment) were conducted at Farmers’ fields of adopted village Alniawas in district Nagaur of ...
July 2014
Recent advances towards understanding and managing Kenyan acid soils for improved crop production
This review focused on the efforts made to understand and manage Kenyan acid soils by use of inorganic, organic materials (OMs) and crop germplasms tolerant to soil aluminium (Al) toxicity and/or low soil available phosphorus (P). Kenyan acid soils which occupy 13% of the total land area were developed through parent materials of acid origin, leaching of base cations and use of acid forming fertilizers. They are high in...
July 2014
Understanding the small-scale agricultural sector as a precondition for promoting rural development in South Africa
Economic development in South Africa (SA) has been an issue that has been on top of the government’s agenda for many years now. Whilst SA as a nation is well endowed in terms of natural resources, the skewed distribution of these resources has left rural economies at a great disadvantage when compared to the urban ones. Questions have thus been asked about how best to address this imbalance and boost rural...
July 2014
Susceptibility of sorghum varieties to the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
Sitophilus zeamais Motsch. is one of the most important pests of sorghum in storage causing severe economic damage to the grain. Twenty-one sorghum varieties obtained from Haramaya University Sorghum Improvement Research Program were investigated for their relative resistance to S. zeamais attack. The Dobie index of susceptibility was used to group...
July 2014
Market participation of smallholder maize farmers in the upper west region of Ghana
This study investigated farmer characteristics, private assets, public assets and transaction cost variables influencing the probability and intensity of participating in the market by smallholder maize farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The Household Commercialisation Index was used to estimate the level of market participation and the Double Hurdle Model was used to estimate the factors influencing both market...
July 2014
Changes in soil chemical properties under different farming systems exploration in semiarid region of ParaÃba
The change of Caatinga natural vegetation in the Brazilian semiarid region, to different systems of agricultural exploitation, that is, the replacement of complex and stable systems by simple and unstable systems has caused changes in soil properties that are dependent on the climate, the type of crops and the management adopted. Based on areas of Caatinga native vegetation, this study aimed to evaluate the changes in...
July 2014
Effects of two drip-irrigation regimes on sap flow, water potential and leaf photosynthetic activity of mature olive trees
We evaluated the potential of sap flow values estimated from records with the heat dissipation method for irrigation in an olive orchard (Olea europaea L, cv. Meski) near Enfidha, Tunisia. Trees were cultivated at 7 × 7 m spacing. Two drip irrigation treatments were imposed using the sap flow and the FAO methods. The two treatments were irrigated by 100% of crop evaptranspiration (ETc). T1: ETc measured by the sap...
July 2014
Agricultural intensification in Ethiopia: Review of recent research
This review of research presents recent agricultural studies conducted in Ethiopia. After a brief contextualization of the discourse regarding agricultural research globally, material specific to Ethiopia is discussed in themes, synthesizing the types of findings, summarizing the trends and highlighting knowledge gaps. A review of this nature makes diverse research results available and accessible, facilitates knowledge...
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