April 2012
Employment of a new strategy for identification of lemon (Citrus limon L.) cultivars using RAPD markers
DNA markers are useful tools that have potential application in crop cultivar identification and fingerprinting besides others. A novel analysis approach called CID strategy was developed that can realize the utility of DNA marker in the separation of plant individuals much better, more efficiently, practical, and referable, in which a Cultivar-Identification-Diagram (CID) was constructed for fingerprinting. In this...
April 2012
Using deficit irrigation approach for evaluating the effects of water restriction on field grown tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)
This study examined the effects of different irrigation regimes on the growth and development of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Taoyuan ASVEG No.20) irrigated under a drip irrigation system. The experiment imposed water deficit at the initial (Trt4); developmental (Trt3); mid-season (Trt2); and the late stage of growth (Trt1) comparing the stages of growth to the fully irrigated control (Control), to...
April 2012
A study on the west Sahel rainfall variability: The role of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)
This article provides a report of rainfall analysis results supporting the hypothesis that rainfall variability in the Western Sahel is associate with temporal variability of the incursions of ITCZ over West Africa. It is pointed out that the most significant climatic rainfall changes in Sahel most probably occurred between 1950 and 1975 with the decrease of the annual rainfall totals, a high reduction (about 70%) over...
April 2012
Economic and socioeconomics impact of biofuel production in the Arab Region
The growing global demand for energy with expected fossil fuel shortages accompanied with high fossil energy consumption and its adverse impact of environment and climate change stresses the search for alternative energy resources. However, biofuel energy offers many opportunities but poses a number of risks and tradeoffs that result in the shortage of food supply to the poor and increase, at the same time, food prices...
April 2012
Effect of varieties on changes in sugar content and marketability of tomato stored under ambient conditions
Three processing and six fresh market tomato varieties harvested at "mature green” stage were evaluated for changes in reducing total and non-reducing sugar as well as, percentage marketability during a storage period of 32 days under ambient conditions. The storage studies were undertaken using Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The storage room air temperature and relative humidity...
April 2012
Commercialization of smallholder agriculture in Ghana: A Tobit regression analysis
The agricultural component of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) programme in Ghana, consistent with the country’s Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy (FASDEP) promotes the commercialization of smallholder farmers. This study analyzes the trends in maize and cassava production by farm households in Ghana and; estimates the levels of commercialization of these two crops. It also quantifies the...
April 2012
Effect of eucalyptus (Camaldulensis) leaf meal powder on rumen fermentation characteristics in cattle fed on rice straw
Three, Holstein Friesian, non-lactation crossbred dairy cows were used to evaluate the effect of Eucalyptus (Camaldulensis) leaf meal powder (EUCAP) supplementation on feed intake, digestibility and rumen fermentation. The animals were randomly assigned according to a 3 × 3 Latin square design using three levels of EUCAP supplementation (0, 100 and 200 g/hd/d) and offered rice straw ad libitum, together with...
April 2012
The use of fluorogestone acetate (FGA) and equine chorionic gonadtrophin (ECG) in out of season breeding improves reproductive performances of Algerian Rembi ewes
This research evaluated the reproductive potential of one of our most important breeds of sheep; the Algerian Rembi breed. The first pilot experiment was with Rembi ewes (n = 20 ewes) treated to synchronize estrus using vaginal sponges impregnated with 30 mg of fluorogestone acetate (FGA). The interval between removal of vaginal sponges and onset of estrus was about 41 h. In the next experiment, 25 Rembi ewes...
April 2012
An actin gene as the internal control for gene expression analysis in herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.)
As an internal control gene, actin plays an important role in gene expression analysis. In this study, the full length cDNA and genomic DNA sequences of an actin gene were isolated from Chinese herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) for the first time. Sequence analysis indicated that the full length of cDNA was 1657 bp, containing one open reading frame (ORF) of 1134 bp that encodes 377 amino...
April 2012
Alternative methods of harvesting and storage of grass biomass in a semi-arid region
Biomass is considered a potential feedstock for many renewable energy production systems and interest especially in grass production has increased markedly in the last two decades. The present work focuses on grass biomass in the semi arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa and includes the study of two different methods of harvesting and baling as well as two different bale storage methods. The results indicated an average...
April 2012
The quality of crop fractions of a degraded Panicum maximum pasture under different cutting intervals and nitrogen fertilizer rates
The effects of cutting frequency and levels of nitrogen application on quality of crop fractions of a degradedPanicum maximum pasture was investigated in 2001 at Nsukka, Nigeria. Cutting intervals consisted of 3, 6, 9 and 12 weeks, while N rates were 0, 150, 300 and 450 kg-N ha-1. The percentage of P in the leaf, Na in all the fractions, Fe in the leaf and stem fractions, ash in the leaf and Zn in the leaf...
April 2012
Virulence of entomopathogenic fungi to adults and eggs of Nilaparvata lugens Stal (Homopera: Delphacidae)
Brown plant hopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens is a devastating insect pest of rice. Effective control measures are desperately needed. Entomopathogenic fungi, such as Beauveria and Metarhizium, have shown great potential for the management of some sucking pests. In this study, to explore alternative strategy for sustainable control of the pest population, 12 isolates...
April 2012
Influence of probiotics on quality of chicken meat
One of the biggest challenge that faced chicken industry in the developing countries was the increasing production efficiency, including the increase of feed conversion and meat quality, which includes addition of antimicrobial agents and natural products. One of these natural products are probiotics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the act of different probiotics on pH, chemical composition of meat...
April 2012
Estimating soil water characteristic curve based on soil-particle-size distribution curve and local void ratio
Soil water characteristic (SWC) curve is a fundamental soil property. However, its measurement is expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, many physical and mathematical methods were derived for its estimation instead of its measurement. One of these methods is Arya et al. (1999) model which estimates SWC curve from soil particle-size data assuming a constant void ratio. In this paper, SWC curves of thirty Iranian soils...
April 2012
Improvement of exchangeable Ca:Mg ratio by using gypsum and waste of sulfur in magnesium-affected soils
The experiment was carried out under field conditions in order to improve exchangeable Ca:Mg ratio which depress on infiltration capacity and plant growth. The high amount of magnesium accumulation in soil exchangeable complex affects physical and chemical properties and productivity of soil. The affected land is about 1,000 ha and located in the south-west of Anatolia. The landscape units show that soils related to...
April 2012
Investigating the effects of long-term application of compost-like output on wheat yield and N, P and K in kernel and soil under planting
In order to investigate the effects of application of 3 and 5 consecutive periods of Compost-Like Output (CLO) on yield and concentration of N, P, K in kernel wheat and soil under planting, a greenhouse experiment was conducted in split plot based on a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications in 2009. The main plot was six fertilizer levels including: control (without CLO and chemical fertilizer),...
April 2012
The determination of some physical characteristics of different particle sizes in soils with reflection spectroscopy
The main objective of this study is to evaluate the ability of visible near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (VNIRS) to predict diverse soil properties in grinding different particular size effect. In this study, 60 soil samples were collected from the fields include different soil ordo (Entisols, Inceptisols, Vertisols and Mollisols) in Isparta (Atabey) district Crushed samples were subjected into five...
April 2012
A novel 1-methylcyclopropene treatment for quality control in Nangou pears at ambient temperature
1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) has been shown to counteract ethylene responses in plants in many studies. The traditional 1-MCP treatment is conducted in an air-tight facility by fumigating with 1-MCP for 12 to 24 h. However, the facility for the treatment should be as tight as possible to prevent gas leakage and its availability could be a limitation for commercial use. The aim of this study was to analyze the...
April 2012
Consumers’ beliefs on indigenous and traditional foods and acceptance of products made with cow pea leaves
The study was conducted to obtain background information on consumers’ beliefs on Indigenous and Traditional Foods (ITF) and to assess consumers’ acceptance of, preference for and intended consumption of products made with cowpea leaves. Four focus groups investigated consumers’ beliefs on ITF. Thematic analysis identified three major themes in relation to ITF consumption. These were benefits of ITF...
Advertisement
Advertisement
