December 2009
The role of agriculture education and training on agriculture economics and national development of Bangladesh
This article analyses the prevailing situations of the agricultural sector in Bangladesh using both secondary and primary data. Findings show that agriculture was the main economic sector with an employment of 95% of total population with a share of 78% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1971. After the first few years of independence, education policy was concentrated for the development of agriculture...
December 2009
Position and application areas of geophytes within landscape design
Benefiting from the natural vegetation of the region optimizes the planting design both aesthetically and functionally, and efficient planting is achieved through concomitant utilization of various forms. Geophytes are especially preferred in planting works as natural species due to their superior qualities such as easy growth as well as beautiful and glamorous flowers and plant forms in spring and autumn....
December 2009
Reducing poverty and food insecurity by applying in-field rainwater harvesting (IRWH): How rural institutions made a difference
Various studies have being carried out to address the problems of rural poverty and agricultural development with mixed outcomes. While some of the proposed measures for increasing agricultural productivity and poverty alleviation have yielded some promising results, there is growing consensus on the need for a comprehensive approach which also looks at the institutional and socio-cultural environment as...
December 2009
Patterns of agricultural growth and overall growth of the Ugandan economy
This study aimed at establishing simple stylized facts on relationships between the share of agriculture and its subsectors in GDP and GDP per capita in Uganda. The study utilized both trend and regression analysis tools to achieve the study objective. Previous studies give evidence on what has come to be a stylized fact , that the share of agriculture in GPD falls as the GDP per capita of an...
December 2009
Modeling technical inefficiencies effects in a stochastic frontier production function for panel data
A stochastic frontier production function is defined for panel data on tea industries, in which the non-negative technical inefficiency effects are assumed to be a function of industry-specific variables and time. The inefficiency effects are assumed to be independently distributed as truncations of normal distributions with constant variances but with means it is a linear function of observable variables....
December 2009
Design, fabrication and performance of a motorized cowpea thresher for Nigerian small-scale farmers
Based on the results of measurements of moisture content of grains, cowpea grain and pod sizes, grain-pod ratio, angle of friction of grains and some information from literature, a motorized cowpea thresher using a star-shaped beater to which beater belts were attached was designed and locally built. Five varieties of cowpea, K59, Ife-Brown, IT84E-124, Ife-Bimpe and TVX 715 which are fairly representative of...
December 2009
Effect of air assistance on deposition distribution on spraying by tunnel-type electrostatic sprayer
Pesticide drift has always been a serious threat to both living things in the fields and people who are indirectly affected by it. There are many types of pesticide application machines for decreasing of the pesticide drift. One of them is tunnel type pesticide application machine. In this study, increasing the success of the spray application by tunnel-type electrostatic sprayer was targeted. For this...
December 2009
The evaluation of alternative stalk chopping methods in sunflower farming
In this study, the alternative chopping methods were compared in sunflower farming. After harvesting sunflower stalk was chopped with three different methods by using three different stalk chopper machines. Two different rotary type machines (RT1 and RT2) and heavy duty disc harrow (CON) were applied in the experiment. Heavy duty disc harrow used as conventional method. Particle size distribution after...
December 2009
A study of women farmers’ agricultural information needs and accessibility: A case study of Apa Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria
The study was aimed at determining women farmers’ agricultural information needs and accessibility, using Apa local government area of Benue State as a case study. A sample size of 70 women farmers was initially taken for the study but only data for 65 respondents were analyzed. Simple random sampling technique was used for the sample selection and questionnaire was used to elicit information from the...
December 2009
Exploring the variability among smallholder farms in the banana-based farming systems in Bukoba district, Northwest Tanzania
A study was conducted in the high and low rainfall zones in the banana-based farming system in Bukoba district, Tanzania, to explore the variability among household characteristics and farm productivity. Approaches used included a participatory rural appraisal, rapid system characterization, surveys and detailed farm monitoring in two villages, one from each zone in 2005 through 2006. Based on a...
December 2009
Drip irrigation and black polyethylene mulch influence on growth, yield and water-use efficiency of tomato
A two year field study was conducted during 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 on sandy loam soil to investigate the effect of drip irrigation and black polyethylene mulch compared with surface irrigation, on growth, yield, water-use efficiency and economics of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Miller.). Drip irrigation at 80% evapo-transpiration (ET) crop based on pan evaporation applied gave significantly...
December 2009
Effects of two legume crops, for organic green manure, on weed flora, under Mediterranean conditions: Competitive ability of five winter season weed species
Field experiments were conducted to determine the effects of vetch (Vicia sativac.v Αlexander) and red clover (Trifolium pratense c.v Nemaro) on weed flora. The design of the experiment was randomized complete block with 4 replicates and 3 treatments (a: vetch crop, b: red clover crop and c: control (fallow)). Both legume crops suppressed weed biomass. The...
December 2009
Effect of regulated irrigation water temperature on hydroponics production of Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.)
The effects of different temperature regimes of irrigation water on the growth rate of Spinacia oleracea L. were determined in the greenhouse for 8 weeks. Thespinach seedlings were irrigated with water heated to various temperatures (24, 26 and 28°C) via pumps connected to 4 sets of water tanks each maintained at the experimental temperatures using Dolphin aquarium heaters. Unheated...
December 2009
Aquaculture ponds, a Jamaican study: the impact of birds on fish production
The increasing use of freshwater fish farms by water birds poses conservation and economic problems as birds compete with man. This study sought to assess bird species diversity of an artificial wetland and the impact of birds on Tilapia production. The farm had a relatively high diversity (0.714) as 16 species of birds foraged on the farm as either residents or visitors each day. Eight of these birds were...
December 2009
A survey of farm-level practices on endangered Leucadendron species and the future influence of ecotourism development on the Agulhas plain
Large parts of the Agulhas Plain (AP) contribute to the commercial export cut flower industry of South Africa while many threatened and endemic species are destroyed by local authorities and cut flower harvesters. The Western Cape is the largest area where threatened Red Data species are not at all known and the illegal harvesting of these species continues. Leucadendron platyspermum was the most...
December 2009
Genetic analysis of grain yield and some agronomic traits in hulless barley
The choice of an efficient breeding procedure depends to a large extent on the knowledge of the genetic system controlling the character to be selected. An eight-parent diallel, involving hulless barley varieties ICNBF-582, ICB-102607, ICNBF93-328, SB91925, ICNBF8-613, BBSC congana, Petuina2 and ICNBF93-369, was evaluated to determine the genetic parameters contributing to plant height, days to maturity,...
December 2009
Genetic variation of leaf antioxidants and chlorophyll content in safflower
An efficient antioxidant defense system represented by enzymatic and non-enzymatic forms is important in the control of oxidative stress caused by free radicals and other reactive species. Leaf antioxidant activity and chlorophyll content of 20 safflower (Carthamus tinctoriuos L.) genotypes comprising eight parental and 12 F1 hybrids originated from reciprocal crosses of four parental...
December 2009
Taxonomy and morphology of Colletotrichum truncatum isolates pathogenic to soybean
The morphology of both conidia and setae of Colletotrichum truncatum (Schw.) Andrus and Moore isolates from soybean were compared and found to be distinct. Conidial shape was more useful than size in isolate determination. Average conidial length was maximum (26.46 µm) in isolate Ct-1 followed by Ct-2 (23.75 µm), Ct-4 (22.25 µm), Ct-3 (21.72 µm), Ct-5 (20.72µm)...
December 2009
Preliminary studies on incidence of insect pest on okra, Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench in central Burkina Faso
A field experiment was carried out in 2006 and 2007 in Central Burkina Faso to determine extent of damage and yield losses caused by insect pests occurring on okra. We set up a trial with plot of unprotected and protected okra testing increasing doses of deltamethrin. The most important insect pests included 2 species of flea beetles Podagrica sp. These insects caused heavy defoliation of up to 80%...
December 2009
Applying evapotranspiration reference model and rainfall contribution index for agricultural water management plan in Burkina Faso
Agriculture in Burkina Faso is largely dominated by 75% of rainfed crop production, which is characterized by short and unevenly distribution of annual rainfall. The shortage of water for crop production is not only a consequence of water scarcity,but also the mismatch between water supply and demand. The cropping calendar approach has been widely suggested as a strategy management to mitigate the...
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