January 2012
Elements for the sustainable management of acridoids of importance in agriculture
Acridoidea is a superfamily within the Orthoptera order that comprises a group of short-horned insects commonly called grasshoppers. Grasshopper and locust species are major pests of grasslands and crops in all continents except Antarctica. Economically and historically, locusts and grasshoppers are two of the most destructive agricultural pests. The most important locust species belong to the genus...
January 2012
Socio-economic, food and nutrient intake and nutritional status indicators associated with successful livestock development programmes in Western Kenya
Dairy production and marketing dominates the livestock contribution to household economies and is one of the highest deliverer of the per capita milk availability in sub-Saharan Africa. Livestock activities are integrated within household consumption and production decisions, increasing drudgery among women. In Kenya the livestock projects were established to improve household food security and the...
January 2012
Effects of different bacterial inoculants on the fermentation and aerobic stability of whole-plant corn silage
This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of bacterial inoculants on the fermentation and aerobic stability of whole-plant corn silage using different combinations of Lactobacillus plantarum, Pediococcus acidilactici, Propionibacterium acidipropionici, and Lactobacillus buchneri. Inoculation of silage with a combination of L. plantarum and P. acidilactici increased (P < 0.05) lactate concentration...
January 2012
Evaluation of dielectric constant by clay mineral and soil physico-chemical properties
Time domain reflectometry (TDR) has capability of distinguishing the dielectric property of solid, air and liquid phases of the soils and has become increasingly popular for determining the soil water content (SWC). The purpose of this study was to find a relationship between soil bulk density (BD), clay content, clay mineralogy with dielectric constant. The latter is a function of SWC. For this purpose 10...
January 2012
Organic and inorganic fertilizers application on the growth and yield of Artemisia annua L. in the humid tropics of Ghana
A study was conducted at the Agriculture Research Station, Anwomaso during the 2008 major growing season to evaluate the effect of organic (poultry manure) and inorganic (chemical) fertilizers on the growth and yield of Artemisia annua. The experiment also examined the effects of variation in the stage of harvest on artemisinin yield. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with...
January 2012
The determination of the relationships between physical and chemical properties of soils to water erosion and crust strengths in Menemen Plain Soils, Turkey
This study was carried out to determine the relationships between soil pyhsical and chemical properties to water erosion and crust strengths. The two consecutive rain storm (65 mm h-1) were applied on the experimental soils. Erosion plots were waited under a platform, which included 4 infrared lamps (4 × 250 W) at 16 h between the two consecutive simulated rainfalls for crust forming. Results showed...
January 2012
A comparison of poultry litter applied like organic fertilizer and that applied like chemical fertilizer in corn development
Poultry manure, applied like organic fertilizer on corn, has not been studied extensively; so, no one knows its effect on the genealogy of the soil. However, organic fertilizer does not cost much, it is easy to buy and it has less degree of environmental degradation as compared to chemical fertilizers. This study was conducted in the commercial fields of St. Helena / PR with corn, using the triple hybrid...
January 2012
Distribution of lead, cadmium, copper and zinc in roadside soil of Sari-Ghaemshahr road, Iran
This study was conducted to investigate the concentration of lead, cadmium, copper and zinc in different site of the Sari-Ghaemshahr road in Iran. The soil samples were collected along the sampling section at the distances of 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 100 m from the road edge of both sides of the road, while sampling depths were 0 to 5 and 5 to 15 cm from the surface. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd were...
January 2012
Molecular cloning and characterization of the HDR gene involved in the methyl-erythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway from sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam]
1-Hydroxy-2-methyl-2-(E)-butenyl 4-diphosphate reductase (HDR, EC 1.17.1.2) catalyses the last committed step of MEP pathway, which provides precursors for biosynthesis of isoprenoids in plant. This research is the first report of cloning full-length cDNA encoding HDR from sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam], which is designated as IbHDR (Genbank Accession Number: HQ596402). The full length of IbHDR was...
January 2012
Genetic and GGE biplot analyses of sorghum germplasm for stem sugar traits in Southern Africa
Breeding of suitable sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) cultivars can boost biofuel production and farmer income in southern Africa. To generate the information necessary for breeding, eight female lines were crossed with 10 male lines in a North Carolina design II mating scheme. The 80 hybrids, parents and check varieties were evaluated across four environments during 2008 to 2009. Analyses were...
January 2012
Genetic variability of some rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) cultivars in Southern Iran
Eight rapeseed cultivars were studied for variability, heritability and correlation analysis of seed yield and yield components in Southern Iran for two years (2009 and 2010). These genotypes were planted in field arranged on randomized completely blocks design with three replications at the Research Centre of Islamic Azad University of Firoozabad, 95 km of Shiraz. The studied traits were days from emergence...
January 2012
Building long-term relationships between producers and trader groups in the non-timber forest product sector in Cameroon
Emerging literature on agricultural marketing in developing countries recommend some form of partnership/strategic alliances between producers and traders in order to overcome weaknesses of market access orchestrated by a weak institutional environment, prominent of which are poor road infrastructures and inadequate market information systems. Conversely the literature fails to discuss what is necessary to...
January 2012
The expression patterns of the genes VvTFL1, VFL, VAP1, VvAG1 and VvSEP3 during bud and flower development in the “Xiangfei†grapevine (Vitisvinifera L.)
In this study, the differentiation of buds, inflorescences and flowers of the “Xiangfei” grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) was examined, and the roles of the genes VvTFL1, VFL, VAP1, VvAG1 and VvSEP3 in the initiation and development of these organs were studied. We found that the structure of burst buds included an apical point, a leaf primordium, an inflorescence or tendril primordium, bract...
January 2012
Evaluation of five bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) landraces to heat and drought stress at Tono-Navrongo, Upper East Region of Ghana
The need to obtain crop varieties that are tolerant to heat and drought cannot be overemphasised especially with the threat of climate change to agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Bambara groundnut has been identified as a drought tolerant crop; however, variations exist among landraces with respect to drought tolerance. An experiment was therefore conducted to evaluate the performance of five...
January 2012
Changes in lignin structure with maturation of alfalfa leaf and stem in relation to ruminants nutrition
In the present investigation, the major chemical constituents in leaf and stem of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cv Elena at three different stages of maturity were studied. The experiment was designed as a randomized block replicated three times. During growth and development, crude protein content decreased and cell wall constituents (Neutral Detergent Fiber-NDF, Acid Detergent Fiber-ADF and ADL- Acid...
January 2012
Seed morphology and their systematic importance of Lathyrus taxa belonging to Platystylis (=Lathyrostylis) section (Fabaceae) from Turkey
In this study, the seed morphologies and testa structures of 16 taxa belonging to the Platystylis section of the Lathyrus (Fabaceae) genus were analyzed. These taxa were the following; L. pallescens (Bieb.) Koch, L. brachypterus Cel. L. haussknechtii Širj. L. karsianus P.H. Davis, L. satdaghensis P.H. Davis, L. nivalis Hand.-Mazz, L. atropatanus (Grossh.) Širj., L. armenus (Boiss. &...
January 2012
Food insecurity of smallholder farming systems in B72A catchment in the Olifants River Basin, South Africa
Traditional smallholder farming systems are characterized by low yields and high risks of crop failure and food insecurity. Through a biophysical model, PARCHED-THIRST and a socio-economic farming systems simulation model, OLYMPE, we evaluated the performance of farming practices based on maize yield, gross margin and total family balance over a 10-year period in semi-arid Olifants River Basin of South...
January 2012
Water storage for dry season vegetable farming as an adaptation to climate change in the upper east region of Ghana
The climate is changing in Ghana and farmers in the upper east region are adapting to the situation. The study analyzed determinants of farmers’ adaptive capacity in dry season vegetable farming using an Ordered Logit Model. The effects of adaptive capacities on farm income were also analyzed using log-linear production function. The empirical results reveal that sex, access to land near a reservoir...
January 2012
Production of wheat seeds with presence of humic fertilizer after anthesis drought condition
Wheat is the most important crop in the world and drought is a worldwide challenge. Irrigated wheat production encounters water deficiency after anthesis stage in Ardabil Region. As a biologic fertilizer with natural origin, humic fertilizers have a balancing effect on plants encountering biotic and abiotic stresses. This experiment was conducted in split plot form based on completely randomized blocks in...
January 2012
Using Fairy Pitta as a case study for multimedia ecological learning materials
Fairy Pitta is considered one of the most beautiful and mysterious birds, and is listed as an endangered species by the United Nations. During its reproduction period, they nest in Alishan of Chiayi County and Huben Village of Yunlin County in Taiwan. Under the increased awareness of ecological and environmental protection in recent years, many websites have especially introduced the fairy pitta. However,...
January 2012
Gender´s efficiency in Mediterranean greenhouse agricultural labor
In every economy, there are wage differentials depending on gender and profession. On average, women earn less than men, and this is attributed to two factors: differences in productivity and discrimination. So far, productivity by gender has been indirectly measured through production functions. For this project, we used time-study techniques to directly measure gender productivity in greenhouse agricultural...
January 2012
Effect of the technology of the additional sowing of drought-resistant clover-grass mixture and silage additives on fermentation process quality and nutritive value of baled grass silages
Additional sowing is able to increase quality of grass stand. Consecutive use of silage additives ensures successful silage process. Additionally sown were semi-natural grass stands in the Czech Republic. Technologies of additional sowing differ in the degree of disruption of the original sward. The mixture that was used consisted of Arrhenatherum elatius, Festulolium pabulare, Dactylis glomerata and Lotus...
January 2012
Distribution of biomass and site location of combustion and gasification power plants in western Sicily
The substitution of conventional fossil fuels with biomass for energy production results both in the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions and in the replacement of non-renewable energy sources. The use of biomass for energy production responds to the growing pressure of government policies towards the achievement of better environmental sustainability of power generation processes. This is particularly...
January 2012
Thai botanical herbs and its characteristics: Using artificial neural network
This paper proposed an explicit supervising technique with artificial neural network (ANN) which is associated with typical Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) systems. The main purpose of implementing this CBIR system with a unique supervising technique is for the system to apprehend various parts of Thai Botanical Herbs in the retrieving processing. This essential step prevents users from herbal usage...
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