March 2012
Effective factors on biological nitrogen fixation
Although relationships among plant, biological N2 fixation, and response to soil and environmental conditions have received considerable coverage in the scientific literature, a comprehensive summary and interpretation of these interactions with specific emphasis are lacking. Fluctuations in pH, nutrient availability, temperature, and water status, among other factors, greatly influence the growth, survival, and...
March 2012
The efficiency of small-scale agriculture in Limpopo province of South Africa
The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of the small scale farmers for the production year 2006/2007 in Limpopo province using policy analysis matrix. A total of twelve production systems were selected. Result shows that all were profitable under market condition with existing policies and all except dry land maize had comparative advantage suggesting efficiency in the systems. Ranking the systems in term of...
March 2012
Technical efficiency and its determinants in Irish potato production: Evidence from Dedza District, Central Malawi
The study examined empirically the technical efficiency of Irish potato producer of Dedza district using cross section data from 200 farmers. Translog stochastic production frontier model was used to predict farm level technical efficiency using Maximum Likelihood Method. The study found that individual farm level technical efficiency was about 83%. The result show that non-farm employment, education, farm experience,...
March 2012
Determining the shadow price of water using MGA method: A case study of Dasht Naz of Sari-Iran
One of the major limiting factors of the Iranian agricultural sector development is the water entry. Thus, optimized exploitation management which is achieved through establishment of balance between supply and demand of this scarce resource is the only solution. This study tries to use a modern method for Dasht Naz of Sari in different scenarios of the total return (here normal linear programming program) to achieve...
March 2012
Uptake of nutrients and heavy metals in cultivated and non-cultivated plant under atmospheric air pollution of Al-jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia
The current paper deals with effects of ambient O3, SO2 and NO2 air pollution on major and minor elements uptake of cultivated and non-cultivated plants of near and far from Al-jubail Industrial City. The results of chemical analysis revealed that the heavy metals in soils decreased with distance from the source, controlled mainly by water movement and topography. All cultivated and non-cultivated plants of near to the...
March 2012
Host-status of thirty-two maize genotypes to Meloidogyne incognita race 2 and Meloidogyne javanica in South Africa
Meloidogyne incognita race 2 and Meloidogyne javanica are widely distributed in South Africa where they cause enormous crop yield losses. Host-status of commercial maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes to the two nematode species was investigated under greenhouse conditions. Thirty-two maize genotypes, for each nematode species were arranged in a randomised complete block design, with six replicates. The experiments were...
March 2012
Phytotoxicity effects of Rumex crispus L. grounded biomass on spring barley grain germination
Common agro ecosystem weed with allelopathic activities Curled dock Rumex crispus L. was used to investigate its allelopathic-phytotoxic effects on spring barley germination in laboratory experiments. The experiment of allelopathic-phytotoxic effect was carried out in three stages. Grounded seeds, roots and over-ground part of Rumex crispus L. (0 g; 0.01 g; 0.05 g; 0.1 g; 0.25 g and 0.5 g respectively) effected...
March 2012
The effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer on yield, quality and some quantitative characteristics of flue-cured tobacco cv.Coker347
In order to investigate the effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers on yield, quality and some quantitative characteristics of flue-cured tobacco cv.Coker347, 2 years experiment was carried out in Tobacco Research Institute of Rasht city located in Guilan province on factorial based using a factorial experiment with 8 treatments and 3 replications. The applied fertilizer levels included 35(N1), 45(N2), 55(N3)...
March 2012
Plant communities, species richness and life-forms along elevational gradients in Taibai Mountain, China
Understanding the distribution patterns of vegetation, species richness and plant life-forms along elevational gradients can suggest important implications for developing optimal strategies for conservation of species diversity, sustainable managing and utilizing plant resources. We explored the relationships between vegetation, species richness and plant life-forms and the separate elevational gradients on the south...
March 2012
Effect of fertilization and mulching in fallow period on nitrogen accumulation of dryland wheat
Understanding mulching influences on nitrogen (N) accumulation in soil is important for developing N management strategies for dryland wheat yield. A two year field experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of three mulching materials (film mulching, nylon mulching, and paper mulching) and different fertilizer (with or without fertilizer) on N accumulation in a winter wheat-fallow system. The results showed...
March 2012
Study on metabolism of N-Butyl Benzyl Phthalate (BBP) and Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) in Ctenopharyngodon idellus by GC and LC-MS/MS
To deeply study the toxic effect and mechanism of Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) and Butyl Benzyl Phthalate (BBP) in fish, their in vivo and in vitro metabolism was investigated in this study. At first, a gas chromatography method was developed for simultaneous determination of DBP and BBP in blood serum, hepato-pancreas homogenate, intestine homogenate and hepatocyte medium. Then the main metabolites of the two PAEs chemicals...
March 2012
Application of silver nano-particles for protection of seeds in different soils
To investigate the possibility of using silver nano-particles for protection of a living organism, wheat seeds were nano-coated and planted. Effect of nano-treatment on seed germination and protection against fungi was compared with that of a conventional preplanting fungicide (Carboxitiram). Influence of soil conditions on the effectiveness of nano-seed treatment was also investigated. Soil conditions...
March 2012
Variation of soil enzyme activities and microbial community structure in peanut monocropping system in subtropical China
The changes in soil microbial community are supposed to be one of key factors for peanut yield decline in long-term continuous monocropping systems. A series of peanut fields, where peanut were continuously monocropped for 3, 6, 10 and 15 years in subtropical China, were selected to investigate the effect of continuous monocropping on peanut yield, soil microbial community structure and enzyme activity....
March 2012
Development of integrated pest management techniques: Insect pest management on Safflower
Acanthiophilus helianthi Rossi (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a pest of safflower and its management is of great challenge because of its fecundity and concealed larval habitat. Potential components of an integrated pest management program for A. helianthi were investigated at the Gachsaran Agricultural Research Station, in southern Iran from November, 2008 to July, 2009. For the life cycle studies, the...
March 2012
Multifunctionality of Iran’s Agriculture: A researchers’ perspective
The main purpose of this descriptive enquiry was to investigate Kermanshah’s agricultural researchers’ opinions towards multifunctionality of Iran’s agriculture. Multifunctionality as a term was invented to sum up diverse aspects of agriculture in an attempt to be systemic and prevent potential conflicts and damages caused by reductionist interventions in this area. A total of 105 researchers were...
March 2012
Impact of poultry extension services for the rural women
A research in poultry extension services was conducted between August, 2010 to February, 2011 to assess the impact of poultry extension services on the rural women. Participation of rural women is very little to register in the official papers of government in spite of their role in the farm and non-farm activities. All these activities are much more restricted by rural customs, traditions and values etc....
March 2012
A method of mapping forest fuel types in peat swamp forest
In response to growing concerns over the burning of peat swamp forests, researchers have begun developing methods of mapping forest fire. Forest fire is one of the major causes of deforestation of tropical peat swamps in Malaysia. A way of identifying which peat swamp forest is vulnerable to forest fire is to develop a fuel type map to classify forest fire into different risk levels. In this study,...
March 2012
Oil content and fatty acid composition of dimorphic seeds of desert halophyte Suaeda aralocaspica
Suaeda aralocaspica, a desert annual halophyte in the family Chenopodiaceae, produces two morphologically distinct types of seeds on the same plant. The two types of seeds were separated and analysed for oil content and fatty acid composition in order to evaluate and compare their potential as a source of edible oil. No significant differences in the oil content and statistically significant differences in...
March 2012
Effects of tillage on weed density and performance of rice in the Mazandaran province of Iran
Using non-chemical weed control methods can play an important role in reducing herbicide use as well as protecting the environment. Appropriate land preparation especially puddling has been known as one of the best factors for weed control in rice fields. Plowing once in late winter and tilling again at one or two weeks before transplanting in spring is the current method in Iran. Number of tillages and type...
March 2012
Effects of different red to far-red radiation ratios on the senescence of greenhouse chrysanthemum leaves
Red (660±30 nm) and far-red (730±30 nm) LED light sources were combined in different proportions to yield a design with four R:FR ratio treatments (0.5, 2.5, 4.5 and 6.5). Chrysanthemum plants irradiated with natural light served as the control (R:FR=1.02). The chlorophyll a (Chla) content and SPAD value of chrysanthemum leaves were highest for an R:FR ratio of 2.5 and lowest for an R:FR ratio...
March 2012
Evaluation of salinity effects on germination and early growth of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids
In order to study the effect of salinity stress on germination and early growth of seedling of hybrids of maize, experiment was conducted at Seed Laboratory, Islamic Azad University, Shoushtar Branch, Iran in 2011. The principal aim of current study was to compare the hybrids of maize in relative to the stress conditions. This investigation was performed as factorial experiment under Completely Randomized...
March 2012
Screening Aegilops-Triticum species for Boron tolerance
Boron toxic soils are a problem for wheat production in many regions of the world. Wild Triticeae relatives are known to provide gene pools for wheat germplasm improvement. To establish their potential for improving Boron tolerance, Aegilops speltoides, Ae. longissima, Ae. sharonensis, Ae. bicornis, Ae. searsii, Ae. kotschyi, Ae. peregrina ssp. cylindrostachys, Ae. peregrina ssp. euvariabilis, Ae....
March 2012
Parasitoids of the leafminers (Diptera: Agromyzidae) from Elazığ Province, Turkey
This study was carried out to determine parasitoid species attacking leafminers in the family Agromyzidae (Diptera) in Elazığ province during 2009-2010. Infested leaves with leafminer larvae were collected from both cultivated and non-cultivated plants twice a month. Adult parasitoids were obtained by rearing them from infested leaves in the laboratory. Four parasitoid species belonging to the Braconidae...
March 2012
Nutritional characteristics of four browse plants consumed by free-ranging ruminants in Western part of Nigeria
The current study was undertaken to evaluate the chemical composition, in vitro dry matter degradation and gas production of four browse species (Azadirachta indica, Ficus exasperate, Synedrella nodiflora and Boerhavia diffusa). The results showed that ash, crude protein, dry matter and neutral detergent fibre contents were significantly different (p˂ 0.05) among all the species. A. indica had the highest...
March 2012
Evaluating energy balance and energy indices of wheat production in rain-fed farming in northern Iran
One way to evaluate the sustainable development of agriculture is the use of energy flow method. This method, in an agricultural production system, refers to the energy consumed during production operations and energy saved when crops have been produced. In this article, an evaluation of energy balance and energy indices in rain-fed cultivation of wheat in northern Iran (Guilan province) was carried out. The...
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