February 2016
Irrigation potentials and rice self-sufficiency in Nigeria: A review
Nigeria has abundant land and water resources to embark on irrigation schemes to ensure all year round rice production. Additional yield to annual rice production through dry season farming in 2012 in 10 pilot States of the country was found to be over 1 million metric tonnes. This shows that an intensive and consistent irrigated rice production scheme will set Nigeria on a pathway to rice self-sufficiency thereby...
February 2016
Trichoderma- a potential and effective bio fungicide and alternative source against notable phytopathogens: A review
Trichoderma, is a useful, filamentous fungi and they are cosmopolitan in nature which have attracted the attention because of their multi prong action against various plant pathogens. There are several biocontrol mechanism employed by Trichoderma against plant pathogens, these include release of hydrolytic enzymes that degrade cell wall of phytopathogenic fungi, competition for nutrients, parasitism, and antibiotics....
February 2016
Soil moisture maintenance methods in cultivation in a greenhouse
Soil water content standardization in agricultural experimentation is essential to mitigate variability within treatments, decreasing experimental errors arising from irrigation management. The aim of this study was to assess soil moisture maintenance methods using sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) grown under controlled conditions as indicator plant. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse during the period between...
February 2016
Performance of eleven introduced improved lowland rice varieties in the northern Savanna zones of Ghana
From 2007 to 2010, we evaluated eleven introduced improved rice materials, mainly lowland NERICAs and Thailand varieties for yield and other farmers’ preferred agronomic traits compared to Gbewaa (aromatic local check) and Digang (non aromatic local check). The trials, each year, were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Designed (RCBD) with four replicates at two locations (Nyankpala and Salaga) in Northern...
February 2016
Genetic variability of Ethiopian bread wheat genotypes (Triticum aestivum L.) using agro-morphological traits and their gliadin content
Wheat is grown worldwide because it is a major diet component. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic variation in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) when grown in the Wollo highland areas, applying agro-morphological data and gliadin content. A total of twenty accessions of bread wheat received from Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI), Sirinka Agricultural Research Centre (SARC) and also newly...
February 2016
Break dormancy, germination capacity of medics after different techniques of scarification (Physical, Chemical and Mechanical)
Medics are annual forages very interesting in pastures of Mediterranean and steppes rangelands. Such as other leguminous, they are subject to dormancy which delay and reduce germination. The response of these species (Medicago polymorpha, Medicago intertexta, Medicago ciliaris, Medicago truncatula, Medicago muricoleptis) to mechanical, physical and chemical scarification, applied for break dormancy, had been studied....
February 2016
Pesticide use in the production of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in some areas of Northern Ghana
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a very important vegetable used in almost all meals and is consumed in diverse ways. In Ghana, farmers and consumers of fruits and vegetables face immense risk of exposure owing to the use of toxic chemicals that are banned or restricted in the country or in other countries. The objective of this study was to ascertain farmers’ access and use of recommended agro-chemicals for...
February 2016
Effect of weeds on yield loss of cassava plants in response to NPK fertilization
The objective of this study was to assess yield loss of weed-infested cassava and the degree of interference of weeds on the crop productivity in response to the fertilization of NPK. The study was conducted at the Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, in the municipality of Vitória da Conquista, BA, with two different treatment groups that were evaluated in parcels with and without fertilizer. The...
February 2016
Morphological characterization of pearl millet hybrids [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] and their parents
The present study was undertaken to characterize pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] hybrids and their parents on the basis of morphological descriptors with the objective to identify key diagnostic characters of the genotypes. A set of 24 pearl millet genotypes (7 hybrids and their 17 parental lines) was evaluated in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications at two locations, Chaudhary Charan...
February 2016
Vegetation responses to site, elevation and land use in semi-arid rangeland of Southern Ethiopia
The dynamics of rangeland vegetation are products of spatial and temporal land use that determine rangeland productivity and conservation of biodiversity. This study examined effects of site, elevation, land use and season on vegetation attributes at three sites in Dida-Hara, southern Ethiopia. Herbaceous plant attributes (that is, above-ground herbaceous biomass, basal cover, plants’ density, species richness,...
February 2016
Effect of planting axles, sunlight faces and rod vibration frequencies in the mechanized coffee harvesting
Several studies have investigated the harvest systems, locations and conditions of the coffee crop, but there are no studies about the rod frequency vibration, particularly with regard to the effects of the position of the coffee with respect to exposure of sunlight regarding production, fruit maturation, and harvest levels. Thus, this study, conducted in two crops in Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais state, Brazil,...
February 2016
Germination and emergence of Mouriri elliptica mart., a rare medicinal fruit tree native to the Brazilian Cerrado biome
This study is aimed to describe the germination process of Mouriri elliptica Martius, a species in the Melastomataceae family that is native to the Cerrado (tropical savannah) and popularly known in Portuguese as croada, coroa de frade [friar’s crown], croadinha [little croada], puçá-preto [black net], or jabuticaba-do-Cerrado. The species has significant potential for use as food and medicine;...
February 2016
Escherichia coli O 157 in curd cheese
The microbiological quality of curd cheese prepared in northeastern Brazil and sold in street markets and supermarkets in the towns of Feira de Santana and Cruz das Almas BA Brazil, was evaluated for mesophyllic and psycrotrophic count, molds and yeasts, total coliforms and E. coli, and the occurrence of E. coli O157. Sixty-eight curd cheese samples were collected between February and June 2014 and the analysis...
February 2016
Biomass yield, nutrient content and in vitro dry matter digestibility of morphological fractions of two sweet potato varieties intercropped with coffee or maize-haricot bean
Effects of stages of growth and intercropping of two sweet potato varieties (Hawassi-83 and Tula) (alone or with coffee or maize-haricot bean) on biomass yield and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of morphological fractions were assessed in Southern Ethiopia. Similar coffee plantations (age, density, soil type, topography) were selected for intercropping. Vines were planted on three plots per intercropping type...
February 2016
Improving livestock productivity: Assessment of feed resources and livestock management practices in Sudan-Savanna zones of West Africa
Evaluation of existing and potential feed resources was conducted in Orodora district in the Southern region of Burkina Faso using Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST). The assessment was carried out through focus group discussions and individual interviews in Mahon and Sayaga communities in Orodara district. The study sites were characterized by mixed crop-livestock production systems. Seventy-percent of cropping activities...
February 2016
Applications of magnetic technology in agriculture: A novel tool for improving crop productivity (1): Canola
Two field trials using canola (var. Serw-6) were conducted to study and evaluate the effects of magnetizing irrigation water on Canola vegetative growth, photosynthetic pigments, seed, yield and water use efficiency as well as seed biochemical constituents and fatty acids composition of the yielded oils. Application of magnetizing irrigation water led to marked increases in growth parameters (plant height (cm),...
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