December 2010
Overview of smallholder irrigation schemes in South Africa: Relationship between farmer crop management practices and performance
Irrigated agriculture accounts for almost 30% of total crop production and is the single largest user of water in South Africa. The country is water-scarce, and, although water consumption through irrigation has decreased from 80 to about 50% over the past 25 years, the need to improve water use efficiency in irrigation farming is more imperative than ever. Generally, smallholder irrigation schemes (SIS) in South...
December 2010
Public perceptions and reactions: Gauging African views of China in Africa
While economic and political ties between China and Africa have grown substantially in the last years, our understanding of African perceptions of China is still limited. Those pieces of cross country survey data which are available draw a positive picture of African perceptions of China but surveys are not comprehensive and only consider various African countries as a whole. Starting from here, this paper looks into...
December 2010
Critically endangered endemic Centaurea tchihatcheffii Fisch. and Mey. and its propagation possibilities
Centaurea tchihatcheffii Fisch. and Mey., is a critically endangered endemic species, which grows on limited area around Golbasi district of Ankara province. It has attractive pink, red, purple flowers, the colours of which change with maturation. It has a high potential as out door ornamental plant and as cut flower. Its natural habitat is continuously on decrease because of uncontrolled plucking, intense...
December 2010
Application of design theory for restoring the “black beach†degraded rangeland at the headwater areas of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
Severe degradation of alpine rangeland into the “black beach” at the headwater areas of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau driven by human disturbance and climatic change is limiting the sustainable development of ecological, social and economic systems in both local and downstream regions. Appropriate restoration theory is needed to guide the technical and managerial strategies to restore the degraded alpine...
December 2010
The land question and sustainable development in South Africa: Issues and challenges
Poverty and unemployment are problems that South Africa has not been able to overcome successfully. In the urban areas, poverty has led to the growth of informal settlements which are basically, but not necessarily so residential areas for the low-income groups. The most noted cause of informal settlements is high migration from rural areas by people who are in search of job opportunities and better living conditions...
December 2010
Biolistic maize transformation: Improving and simplifying the protocol efficiency
Two decades have passed since the first maize transformation protocol. Genetic breeding has been decisive and essential to transform maize a major food crop worldwide. Biotechnology plays an important role in plant genetic breeding, particularly for the introduction of novel traits in order to improve agronomic performance, medical and industrial applications and food quality. In recent years, the development of...
December 2010
Gaps, barriers and bottlenecks to sustainable land management (SLM) adoption in Uganda
Land degradation is a global problem and a great challenge to sustaining the biological, economic and social services provided by various ecosystems. This work assessed the causes of land degradation in Uganda and identified gaps, barriers and bottlenecks that hinder sustainable land management programmes adoption. The major human-induced types of land degradation in Uganda included soil erosion, soil fertility decline...
December 2010
Unfruitfulness in fruit crops: Causes and remedies
Unfruitfulness is a major problem in many fruit crops and their varieties result in huge loss to growers and make fruit cultivation less profitable. Unfruitfulness in fruit crops refers to the state where the plant is not capable of flowering and bearing fruit. However, the causes of unfruitfulness can be broadly grouped into two categories: Internal and external factors. Among the internal factors, dichogamy prevents...
December 2010
Okra (Abelmoschus spp.) in West and Central Africa: Potential and progress on its improvement
Okra (Abelmoschus spp.) is a traditional vegetable crop with considerable area under cultivation in Africa and Asia with huge socio-economic potential in West and Central Africa. It has been called “a perfect villager’s vegetable” because of its robust nature, dietary fibers and distinct seed protein balanced in both lysine and tryptophan amino acids (unlike the proteins of cereals and pulses) it...
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