African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6901

Table of Content: 4 August 2010; 5(15)

August 2010

Total economic value of forest resources in Turkey

Forests, like some other natural resources, perform a set of functions to meet the needs of people. It is usually impossible to state the monetary value of all the goods and services provided by forest resources. As a research area, this topic is gaining importance rapidly in Turkey as well as in other developing countries. In this study, the contribution of direct and indirect use values, option values, existence...

Author(s): Mehmet Pak, Mustafa Fehmi Türker and Atakan Öztürk

August 2010

Influence of water quantity on the yield, water use efficiency, and plant water relations of Leucaena leucocephala in arid and semi arid environment using drip irrigation system

Water is considered an important factor in the arid and semi-arid areas because water shortage affects the agricultural production. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of water application level on the dry matter yield, water use efficiency (WUE), and plant water status in Leucaena leucocephala. The treatments consisted of five levels of water applications based on actual evapotranspiration (AET):...

Author(s): Naji K. Al-Mefleh and Maher J. Tadros

August 2010

Effects of HIV/AIDS and drought on changing cropping patterns: A case study of Zambia

The HIV/AIDS pandemic and changing climate patterns in southern Africa are expected to alter cropping patterns in the region. In this research, an attempt is made to measure and compare the effects of HIV/AIDS and drought on cropping patterns using econometric models and time series data. The research focused on Zambia as a case study and used data taken from 1961 - 2007. The study’s results indicated that while...

Author(s): Vincent Amanor-Boadu

August 2010

Determinants of aggregate household demand for edible oils in Imo State

The data for the study were obtained from a stratified random sample of 92 consumers of the two products across the three agricultural zones in the state, using a well structured questionnaire. Analysis was done using both economic models and econometric tools like demand elasticities and choice dichotomous (logit) model. The study revealed that palm Kernel oil is price elastic but may not be a close substitute to...

Author(s): N. N. O. Oguoma, N. C. Ehirim, G. N. Benchendo, I. Nnadi and E. N. Okoronkwo

August 2010

Impact of Fadama II project on income of tomato farmers in Niger State, Nigeria

This study was designed to quantitatively determine the impact of Fadama II Project on the farm income of tomato producers by utilizing primary data from tomato farmers in Bosso and Mokwa Local Government Areas of Niger State for the year 2009. Production function analysis and Chow’s analysis of covariance confirmed significant differences in production functions, heterogeneity in slopes and intercepts and factor...

Author(s): L. Tanko, A. J. Jirgi and A. A. Ogundeji

August 2010

Impact on the Chinese soybean markets from international prices volatility: Empirical study based on VEC model

The paper uses VEC model to analyze the impact of international prices volatility on Chinese soybean spot and future markets before and since the outbreak of the global financial crisis. The results show that: there is a one-way or both-way leading relation between domestic and international soybean markets; there is an equilibrating mechanism of prices in the world soybean market, which shows that the ability of market...

Author(s): Yu Zhao, , Miaomiao Yang, Yu Zhang,  and Chunjie Qi

August 2010

Diallel analysis of Snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris l.) varieties for important traits

The breeding programmes of many crops use diallel analyses because of the genetic information they offer to breeders. Six morphological and agronomic traits of Snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were studied to investigate their gene action, and to estimate the general combining abilities (GCA) and specific combining abilities (SCA) of parents and crosses. Three snap bean varieties - Amy, Monel and Morlane and two...

Author(s): Edith Esther Arunga, Henk A. Van Rheenen and James Otieno Owuoche

August 2010

Genetic evaluation of yield and yield components at advanced generations in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

Three varieties of rapeseed namely Foseto, Option500 and Goliath including F2and F3 generations (crosses among them) were planted in a complete randomized block design for evaluation of genetic variation, heritability, genetic advance and relationships between yield and its components, in experimental field of Rice and Citrus Research Institute, University of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources of Sari,...

Author(s): Hashemi Ameneh Sadat, Ghorban Ali Nematzadeh, Nadali Babaeian Jelodar and Omid Ghasemi Chapi

August 2010

Determination of some agronomical characteristics and Ochratoxin-A level of Karacadag rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Diyarbakir ecological conditions, Turkey

This study was conducted to determine yield, quality and Ochratoxin-A level of Karacadag rice local varieties grown widely in Karacadag ecological conditions of Southeast Anatolian Region and to compare with some commercial rice varieties during 2006 and 2007. In the study, total 12 rice genotypes consisting of 10 local varieties and 2 cultivars from foreign origin were used as material. Statistically the differences...

Author(s): A. L. P. Aydin, Simten Yesilmen , Aydin Vural and H. Sahan Guran

August 2010

Effects of water deficit stress on field performance of chickpea cultivars

Water deficit is one of the important factors limiting crop production in arid and semi-arid regions. This research was conducted in 2007 and 2008 to investigate field performance of three chickpea cultivars (Hashem and Arman from kabuli and Pirooz from desi type) under well watering (I1: 70 mm evaporation from class A pan), gradual water deficit (I2 and I3: 70…90…110…130 and...

Author(s): Nahid Niari Khamssi, Kazem Ghassemi Golezani, Saeed Zehtab Salmasiand Abdollah Najaphy

August 2010

Relationship between jasmonic acid accumulation and senescence in drought-stress

Plants raised from shoot-tip cultures of apricot (DT: drought-tolerant genotypePrunus armeniaca L. cv. Ansu Maxim, and DS: drought-sensitive genotype P. armeniaca L. cv. Longwangmao) were grown in pots of peat-based compost. Water was withheld for 12 days. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis indicated that jasmonic acid (JA) levels in leaves of DT plants increased three-fold on day 12...

Author(s): Ge Yun-xia, Zhang Li-jun, Li Feng-hai, Chen Zhi-bin, Wang Che, Yao Yun-cong, Han Zhen-hai, Zhang Jie and Shi Zhen-sheng

August 2010

Influence of NO3:NH4 ratios and silicon on growth, nitrate reductase activity and fatty acid composition of canola under saline conditions

Canola is a major oil seed crop worldwide and it is also an important crop in Mediterranean areas where salinity is an increasing problem. Although seed oil of standard cultivated canola is considered to be of good quality for edible purposes, the development of cultivars with oil high in oleic acid is an important breeding objective for this crop. In this paper, the effect of salinity, silicium and different nitrate...

Author(s): A. Bybordi

August 2010

Citrus farming in Algeria: Farmers’ behavior towards research and extension agenda

The objective of this paper was to assess the behavior of Algerian citrus farmers with respect to agricultural research under the current extension and research system. Surveys were conducted at technical institute, extension service, and among 75 randomly selected stratified citrus farmers using closed structured questionnaires in 5 selected municipalities in the Blida province. The results of farm-level...

Author(s): Khaled Laoubi, Melkhir Boudi and Masahiro Yamao

August 2010

Identification of the QTLs for grain yield using RIL population under different nitrogen regimes in maize

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping can provide useful information for breeding programs, since it allows the estimation of genomic locations and genetic effects of chromosomal regions related to the expression of quantitative traits. To realize the genetic basis of grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.), a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population and two nitrogen (N) regimes were used to detect the QTLs for grain...

Author(s): Xiao-Hong Liu, Su-Lan He, Zu-Ping Zheng, Yu-Bi Huang, Zhen-Bo Tan, Zhong Li, Chuan He, Xun Wu and Quan-Bo Pu

August 2010

Effects of salt and drought stresses on germination, emergence and seedling growth of Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)

The present investigation has been performed to evaluate Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) tolerance to osmotic stress at the water potentials of -0.2, -0.4, -0.6 and -0.8 MPa induced by polyethylene glycol PEG-8000 (polyethylene glycol 8000) or NaCl solutions at an early stage of plant growth. Each, on germination, emergence and early seedling growth, were investigated for two Durum wheat (Triticum...

Author(s): R. Sayar, H. Bchini, M. Mosbahi and M. Ezzine

August 2010

Application of the RAPD technique and morphological characteristics in cultivated olives (Olea europaea sativa)

Five different morphological characteristics (width, length, width/length, stem length, stem thickness) were considered in 18 cultivated olives and discriminant analysis was applied. Using primers OP- I (1 - 20) and OP- Z (7, 8, 9, 10 and 11) in the same olives, evaluable bands were obtained from 12 primers out of 25. PCR analysis was repeated twice and those providing stable bands in the end of both analyses were...

Author(s): Meltem Sesli, E. Dilsat Yegenoglu and Y. Gevrekci

August 2010

Pomological traits and proximate chemical composition of Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) varieties grown in Croatia

The aim of this research was to determine the pomological traits and proximate chemical composition of economically important Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) varieties grown in Croatia. Autochthonous variety Istarski duguljasti is the most represented variety in production, followed by introduced varieties Romische Zellernuss and Hallesche Riesen. Research was conducted during four vegetation seasons....

Author(s): Predrag Vujević, Nada Vahčić, Bernardica Milinović, Tvrtko Jelačić, Dunja Halapija Kazija and Zlatko ÄŒmelik

August 2010

High and low dietary energy and protein levels for broiler chickens

This experiment was carried out to ascertain the effect of feeding combination of high and low calorie and protein on the performance and carcass values of broiler chickens. Four diets having four different combinations of calorie and protein namely; normal energy and normal protein (NENP), high energy and low protein (HELP), low energy and high protein (LEHP) and low energy and low protein (LELP) were fed to broiler...

Author(s): F. A. S. Dairo, A. O. K. Adesehinwa, T. A. Oluwasola and J. A. Oluyemi

August 2010

Modelling nitrogen excretion, elephant grass growth and animal production in a stall-feeding dairy system

This study reports on a simulation model of livestock-forage with excreted nitrogen (N) as a source of N for elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) growth. It is shown that nitrogen partitioning between urine and feces can be estimated using feed characteristics when elephant grass is the sole feed in stall-fed dairy heifers. The percentage N excreted in feces decreased with increasing dietary N, while N excreted in...

Author(s): F. Tibayungwa, J. Y. T. Mugisha and M. Nabasirye

August 2010

Clinical, mineral and haemato biochemical studies of urolithiasis in weaner lambs

Retrospective study on necropsy data pertaining to urolithiasis in sheep was conducted to observe the epidemiological profile in semi-arid Rajasthan. Subsequently in year 2008, a total of 27 weaner lambs comprised of 23 clinically affected with urolithiasis and 4 clinically healthy lambs were undertaken to studythe mineral and haemato biochemical profile in an attempt to find out the probable cause of the menace....

Author(s): O. R. VinodhKumar, C. P. Swarnkar, A. K. Shinde and D. Singh

August 2010

A parasitic study of Phragmanthera capitata (Sprengel) S. Balle (Loranthaceae) in the anthropic environments: The case of the Ndogbong chieftain’s compound orchard (Douala, Cameroon)

Loranthaceae are parasite plants which represented in Cameroon by 26 species gathered into seven genera. An ecological and flora study consisting in the research on factors bound to parasitism of Phragmanthera capitata (Sprengel) S. Balle had been led at Ndogbong chief’s compound orchard at Douala (Cameroon). A total of 49 woody plants belonging to 11 species, 9 genera and 8 families were identified....

Author(s): Dibong Siegfried Didier, Ndiang Zenabou, Mony ruth, Boussim Issaka Joseph and Amougou Akoa

August 2010

Effects of salt stress on pigment and total soluble protein contents of three different tomato cultivars

In this study, the effects of salt stress on pigment and total soluble protein contents were investigated in different varieties of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). The seedlings of L. esculentum viz. Hazera, Dalli Tokat and Argy were treated with NaCl at 25, 50, 100, 125, 150 and 200 mM concentrations for 96 with 24 h interval. Pigment and total soluble protein contents of all tomato...

Author(s): Zeynep Banu Doganlar, Koksal Demir, Hakan Basak and Ismail Gul

August 2010

Dry matter partitioning and physiological responses of Coffea arabica varieties to soil moisture deficit stress at the seedling stage in Southwest Ethiopia

Dry matter partitioning, leaf chemical contents and morpho-physiological responses of six Coffea arabica varieties were tested in 15 and 30 days water stress followed by 15 days re-watering at seedling stage in Jimma, southwest Ethiopia. Repeated measures analysis revealed that differences among varieties depended on water stress and recovery periods for leaf P content and shoot mass ratio (SMR)....

Author(s): M. Worku and T. Astatkie

August 2010

The effects of soil boron and calcium applications on boron and calcium uptake in Durum wheat (Triticum durum L.)

Recently, boron (B+) toxicity has received a great deal of attention as it decreases yield of crops significantly. In this study, we investigated whether the application of different levels calcium (Ca2+) could alleviate B+ toxicity in Durum wheat induced by high levels of B+ present in irrigation water. Durum wheat cv. Ege-88 was grown in soil culture with four levels of B+ (0, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg...

Author(s): Ilhan Kizilgoz and Erdal Sakin

August 2010

Value addition of essential monoterpene oil(s) in Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) on leaf positions for commercial exploitation

While culturing geranium in controled glasshouse condition in sand culture techniques for maximum essential monoterpene oil(s), it was found that (0.21 %) in young developed 4th position leaf. At 4th position of leaf, net photosynthetic rate, contents of chlorophyll and essential monoterpene oil(s) were affected. The maximum peroxidase activity was obtained at 4th position leaf with the production of...

Author(s): A. Misra and N. K. Srivastava