African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6894

Table of Content: 19 April, 2012; 7(15)

April 2012

Taxonomy and ecology of antibiotic producing actinomycetes

The taxonomic and ecological positions of antibiotic producing actinomycetes are an integral part in antimicrobial agents’ development program. Comprehensive understanding of the organisms give useful insight on the secondary metabolites been produced by them and other activities carried out by them in their habitat. Criteria for the identification of actinomycetes include morphological, physiological, ecological...

Author(s): Mobolaji Felicia Adegboye and Olubukola Oluranti Babalola

April 2012

Spatial variability of soil quality and asparagus spear yield in an area of plastic-greenhouse cultivation on Chongming Island, China

This study was undertaken to determine the spatial variability of pH, organic matter, soil salinity and spear yield of asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) in an area of plastic-greenhouse cultivation on Chongming Island, an alluvial island in the Yangtze River Delta and forming part of Shanghai City. Classical statistic and geostatistic analysis were applied. Results showed that, different soil properties...

Author(s): Yuqi Li, Juan Qin, Zhi Guo, Tao Wang and Yansong Ao

April 2012

Drivers of the transition from pastoralism to vegetable farming in Africa’s arid and semi arid areas and implications for soil fertility management: The case of Kenyan pastoralists

The arid and semi arid areas comprise a large percentage of the land area in Africa. Communities in these areas have over the years depended on livestock production for livelihood. Livestock has traditionally served as source of food and a store of wealth in the arid and semi arid areas. However, the challenges posed by the harsh environmental factors, especially climate-change induced shocks are causing significant...

Author(s): Beatrice Nyamwamu, Julius J. Okello and Geoffrey Kironchi

April 2012

Soil formation on the Karadag volcano at a semi arid environment from the Central Anatolia

Studies on soils developed on volcanic materials in Turkey in light of the wide distribution of these soils and soils defined as Andisols in the Soil taxonomy have not yet been recognized in Turkey. The aims of this study were to: i) show whether some Turkish soils developed in volcanic parent materials found on Mt. Karadag (Karaman Turkey) are Andisols and; ii) investigate their pedogenetic development. For this...

Author(s): Hasan Hüseyin Özaytekin and Saim Karakaplan

April 2012

Relationship of tree ring width of Cinnamomum camphora with climate factors in Southern China

Response of tree ring width to climate factor change is an important part of tree ring ecological research. A tree ring chronology of Cinnamomum camphora (C. camphora) was developed in Dagangshan forest area of Jiangxi Province in southern China. Correlation analysis and response function analysis were used to compare tree ring response to climate. The results showed that the built tree chronology of C....

Author(s): Wang Bing and Gao Peng

April 2012

Yield stability of promising lines of winter and facultative wheat in different climate of Iran

Fourteen genotypes were studied for grain yield and its stability in different climate of Ardebil, Eqlid, Arak, Zanjan, Tabriz, Mashhad, Jolgerokh, Miandoab, Hamedan and Karadj using randomized complete block design with three replications in two years; results of combined analysis of variance showed that the interaction effects of year × location and genotype × year × location were significant at...

Author(s): Hasan Bigonah Hamlabad

April 2012

Bush encroachment in relation to rangeland management systems and environmental conditions in Kalahari ecosystem of Botswana

Bush encroachment is an environmental problem in savanna ecosystems, but it is not yet clear whether it is more prevalent in communal or ranching grazing lands. This study investigates bush encroachment dynamics in relation to two rangeland management systems under different environmental conditions in Botswana. Woody vegetation cover (WC) was measured in 10 × 10 m quadrants at 100, 200 and 300 m along 23 transect...

Author(s): O. E. Kgosikoma, B. A. Harvie and W. Mojeremane

April 2012

Zoning droughts and wetness trends in north of Iran: A case study of Guilan province

Study on drought has been considerably regarded on recent years, due to drought increase in Iran. On the other hand, survey on wetness makes it possible to prevent from it flood risk to some extent and attempts to manage water supplies. In this study, Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) was used in annual period of time to survey on drought. Also, in order to zonation frequency of drought, geographic information...

Author(s): Mohamad Tirandaz and Alireza Eslami

April 2012

Analytical model for the global consumption of tomatoes- The Spanish case

This article presents the current situation of tomato consumption worldwide. This paper proposes a new methodology for classifying countries into four main markets, ‘the sustainable market’, the ‘effort market’, the ‘vulnerable market’ and ‘the declining market’. Each market has its own producing and consumption trends and its particular strategies for producing,...

Author(s): Jaime De Pablo Valenciano and Miguel Ángel Giacinti Battistuzzi

April 2012

Comparison of three modes of improving benefits to farmers within agroforestry product market chains in Cameroon

Many organizations have tried to assist farmers in improving returns to forest and tree products but few have systematically tested interventions to improve post-harvest practices or marketing. This paper describes the results of three types of interventions in the market chains for njansang (Ricinodendron heudeloti) and kola (Cola spp), which are important agroforestry derived products for Cameroonian farmers. The...

Author(s): Facheux Charly, Amos Gyau, Diane Russell, Divine Foundjem-Tita, Charlie Mbosso, Steven Franzel and Zac Tchoundjeu

April 2012

Indications of variation in host suitability to root-knot nematode populations in commercial tomato varieties

The host suitability of 21 local, commercial tomato varieties were evaluated in concurrent greenhouse trials for resistance to Meloidogyne incognita race 2 and Meloidogyne javanica, respectively. M. incognita race-2-resistance identified in variety ‘Rhapsody’ during the latter study was subsequently verified in a follow-up microplot trial using differential initial population (Pi) densities and as well as in...

Author(s): Hendrika Fourie, Alexander Henrique Mc Donald, Tshiamo Shilla Mothata, Keikantsemang Nancy Ntidi and Dirk De Waele,

April 2012

Effect of supplemental irrigation and plant density on yield and yield components of peas (Pisum sativum L.) in Kermanshah region

In order to determine the appropriate planting density and effect of supplemental irrigation on yield and yield components of peas (Pisum sativum L.), a field study was conducted at the experimental farm at the Faculty of Agriculture, Razi University in 2010. The experiment was carried out in a split-plot based on a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The main plot consisted of...

Author(s): Ali Rasaei, Mohammad-Eghbal Ghobadi and Mokhtar Ghobadi

April 2012

Morphological reaction and yield of Nigella sativa L. to Fe and Zn

This experiment was conducted in Ardestan University in an experiment based on randomized complete block design with four replications. Each replication consisted of 12 treatments in four fertilizer levels including 2.5 per thousand of Fe-sulfate solution, 2.5 per thousand of Zn-sulfate solution in three stages of growth (4, 8 and 12 leaves). During the experiment, the height of plant, number of stem branches,...

Author(s): M. Bagheri Khoulenjani and M. S. Salamati

April 2012

Ontogenic approach to wheat yield components in six different rotation types

Grain yield in wheat, similar to other plants, is a complex trait that is directly and indirectly influenced by other plant’s characteristics. One of the main goals in wheat breeding programs is to increase the grain yield.Considering the role of crop rotation in the increase of wheat yield, in order to study variations in direct and indirect effects in different rotations, an experiment was...

Author(s): Hossein Ali Fallahi, Usmon Mahmadyorov, Hossein Sabouri, Massoud Ezat Ahmadi and Atefeh Sabouri

April 2012

Effects of prohexadione-calcium on sweet potato vegetative growth as influenced by cultivar and nitrogen

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas Lam.) under high nitrogen produces excess vines at the expense of storage root. Prohexadione-Ca has been used to reduce vegetative growth and increase harvest efficiency and yield in many fruit and row crops. Using Prohexadione-Ca to reduce vegetative growth in sweet potato may enhance storage root yield and harvest efficiency. This study examined the effects of Prohexadione-Ca on...

Author(s): Victor N. Njiti, Qun Xia, Leonna Tyler, Andrea Tenner and Lakeisha Stewart Antione

April 2012

Use of high yield rice by Guilan farmers seeking to achieve a sustainable rice production development in Iran

This research was done in the Guilan Province. Our statistical populations were the guilanian rice cultivators that cultivated rice in the farming year of 2007 to 2008. The purpose of this article is to compare and study the production average (function) and income of two groups of farmers which culture the productive figures and native ones. Finally, we identified and classified the factors which are effective in the...

Author(s): Shiva Pourkand, Mohammad Karim Motamed and Ebrahim Azarpour

April 2012

Effect of onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) on yield components of fall garlic (Allium sativum L.) in Serbia

Production of garlic in Serbia is heavily affected by garlic diseases caused by viruses, among which economically most important is Onion Yellow Dwarf Virus (OYDV). An influence of infection of garlic with OYDV on yield components was evaluated. Using DAS ELISA test, OYDV was identified in 30.5% samples. Viral infection significantly reduced parameters of yield quantity and quality. Infected plants decreased height,...

Author(s): Ferenc Bagi, Vera Stojšin, Dragana Budakov, Salma Moh A. El Swaeh and Jelica Gvozdanović-Varga

April 2012

Digestibility of nutrients and metabolisability of energy in broiler diets with different ME level and supplemented with exogenous enzyme

This experiment was carried out to assess the effects of exogenous enzyme (ROXAZYME®, G2G) supplementation on digestibility of nutrients and metabolisability (ME/GE) in 28-31 days old male Ross 308 broilers. A total of 96 Ross 308 hybrids were allocated randomly to 6 dietary treatments with 4 replicates per treatments, and 4 birds per replicates. In this 3×2 factorial design trial with three different levels...

Author(s): Miroslava Polovinski Horvatovic, Dragan Glamocic, Dejan Beukovic, Mirko Ivkovic and Sinisa Bjedov

April 2012

Quality determination of fruit vinegars using visible/near infrared spectroscopy and least squares-support vector machine

Soluble solids content (SSC) and pH are two important quality parameters of fruit vinegars. Visible and near infrared (VIS/NIR) spectroscopy was employed to determine SSC and pH of fruit vinegars based on partial least squares (PLS) analysis and least squares-support vector machine (LS-SVM). 300 vinegar samples were prepared. PLS models were developed with different preprocessing methods including no treatment,...

Author(s): Fei Liu, Wenwen Kong and Yong He

April 2012

Effects of stocking density on the growth and survival of Oreochromis niloticus cultured in hapas in a concrete tank

The study was conducted over a 90 day period to investigate the effects of stocking density on the growth and survival of fry Oreochromis niloticus cultured in hapas in a concrete tank. Fish of average initial weight 0.3 g ± 0.03 were stocked at three different rates: 8, 10 and 12 fish/m3 corresponding to 56, 70 and 84 fish per hapa. Fish were fed twice daily with powdered pito mash at 10% of the...

Author(s): Elliot Haruna Alhassan, Emmanuel Delwin Abarike and Christian Larbi Ayisi