July 2013
Changing demographics, expanding urban areas and modified agricultural extents and their impacts on water availability and water quality in Jordan
Current water use in Jordan is unsustainable in terms of both supply and quality. The growth in population, primarily as a consequence of pulse immigration stemming from regional conflicts, has led to serious water shortages in urban centers, which is expected to worsen in the future. The agricultural sector is moving towards intensification and a high reliance on irrigation, which is unsustainable in the face of...
July 2013
Sweet potato breeding for resistance to sweet potato virus disease and improved yield: Progress and challenges
Sweet potato is one of the main staple food crops for millions of subsistence farmers in Africa. Biotic and abiotic stresses and socio-economic challenges are the major production constraints of the crop. Amongst biotic constraints, the sweet potato virus disease (SPVD) is the most devastating causing yield reduction ranging from 50 to 98%. This paper highlights the progresses and challenges of breeding sweet...
July 2013
Drug bioavailability and traditional medicaments of commercially available papaya: A review
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is regarded as an excellent source of ascorbic acid, a good source of carotene, riboflavin and a fair source of iron, calcium, thiamin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6 and vitamin K. Each and every part of papaya plant from root to shoot is used for medicament purposes. Ripe papaya fruit is used in jam, jelly, marmalade, puree, wine, nectar, juice, frozen slices, mixed beverages,...
July 2013
Microwave assisted hot air drying of papaya (Carica papaya L.) pretreated in osmotic solution
In this study, mathematical modeling of microwave (MW) assisting hot air drying of thin-layer papaya (Carica papaya L.) slices with 5 ± 1 mm thickness in an experimental drying process is presented. The osmosis solution comprised 50% sucrose + 2% NaCl solutions. The osmosis dehydration characteristics obtained by solid gain (SG), water loss (WL) and weight reduce (WR) parameters. The drying air velocity (0.9...
July 2013
Assessment of heavy metals and aflatoxin levels in export quality Indica rice cultivars with different milling fractions
The present study was designed to characterize the Pakistani rice varieties (Basmati and coarse), alongwith their milling fractions intended for export in Europe and other regions for heavy metals and aflatoxins content. The content of heavy metals, that...
July 2013
Activities of four enzymes in Galleria mellonella larvae infected with entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis beicherriana n. sp.
To investigate the mechanism of Galleria mellonella infected with entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), we studied the effects of a new species of EPNs, Heterorhabditis beicherriana n.sp., on the activities of Tyrosinase (TYR), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), carboxylesterase (CarE) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in whole body of G. mellonella. The last instar larvae of G....
July 2013
Reproductive parameters of Bracon hebetor Say on seven different hosts
A study on reproductive parameters of Bracon hebetor Say on seven different hosts (Rice moth (Corcyra cephalonica), Stainton Angoumois grain moth (Sitotroga cerealella), Oliver greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella), Linnaeus spotted pod borer (Maruca testulalis), Geyer gram pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera) (Hubner), Hardwick tobacco leaf eating caterpillar (Spodoptera litura Fabricius) and okra...
July 2013
Assessment of udder characteristics of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats reared under different management systems in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria
A study was carried out to assess udder characteristics of 114 West African Dwarf (WAD) goats reared under extensive and semi-intensive systems of management. Udder width (UW), udder circumference (UC), udder length (UL), distance between teats (DBT), right teat diameter (RTD), left teat diameter (LTD), right teat length (RTL) and left teat length (LTL) were measured. The animals were classified into two groups...
July 2013
Adaptation in Congo Brazzaville of Eucalyptus citriodora from Australia: Tree-to-tree yield and composition variability
The adaptation of five lines of Eucalyptus citriodora from Australia (14713, S and W of Mt. Garnet OLD, Australia), introduced in Congo-Brazzaville in 1989 was evaluated on a seeded plantation using starter fertilizer (NPK,13-13-21, at 300 g/plant), set up in 2003 and monitored for about 2 years. Here, we report results for the first 25 months of growth. The analysis of a large number of samples of...
July 2013
Prevalence and distribution in different agro-ecologies and identification of resistance source for wheat stripe rust
To assess the prevalence and distribution of wheat stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis), a survey of the randomly selected wheat fields located in sub-tropical to temperate agro-ecologies of Jammu province of Jammu and Kashmir was conducted consecutively for three years during rabi seasons of 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The results revealed that, by and large, all the wheat growing areas under study were...
July 2013
Combining ability and heterosis for grain yield and its components in maize inbreds over environments (Zea mays L.)
Twelve inbred lines were crossed with each of five testers in a line × tester design to evaluate combining ability and heterosis to identify promising hybrids of maize for various characters like, 50% tasseling, 50% silking, 75% dry husk, ear length, ear diameter, kernels per ear, kernel rows per ear, 1000 kernel weight and grain yield. The resulting F1s along with three checks and the parents were evaluated in...
July 2013
Allometry and condition factors of African pike “Hepsetus odoe†actinopterygii in a lake
The physiological growth of length and weight variables and the general welfare of Hepsetus odoe in Ogbomoso reservoir were investigated. The relationship regression coefficient indicated that the fish sampled showed allometric growth with regression factor of 0.88 in the natural population of fish. The mean K for 133 specimens was 1.5, while 1.5 and 1.6 were K based on sexes (male and female) respectively....
July 2013
Insecticidal efficcay of oil extracts of Balanites aegyptiaca seeds and cashew nuts against Callosobruchus maculatus Fabr. (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)
The insecticidal efficacy of oils extracted from Balanites aegyptiaca seeds and Cashew nut on survival and development of cowpea weevil Callosobruchus maculatus in cowpea seeds during storage was investigated. Fifty grams of sterilized cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) seeds in each Petri dish were treated with 0.5, 1 and 1.5 ml concentrations. Each dish was then infested with 10 newly emerged...
July 2013
Effect of Stoechospermum marginatum (Ag). Kutz extract on controlling blast disease in rice caused by Pyricularia oryzae under natural field condition
Foliar application of aqueous concentrate of Stoechospermum marginatum in reducing the severity of fungal blast of rice caused by Pyricularia oryzae was investigated. The results indicated that, the seaweed concentrate significantly reduced the severity of the disease. Present study also revealed that, the peroxidase activity, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity and catalase activity were 184, 197,...
July 2013
Nutritional indices parameters of large white butterfly Pieris brassicae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) on different cabbage crops
The effects of four cabbage crops including: white cabbage (Brassica oleracea var . capitata f. Alba), cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis), red cabbage (Brassica oleracea var . Viridis f. Rubra) and broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) on nutritional indices of Pieris brassicae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) were determined at 26...
July 2013
Foliar feeding with Gibberellic acid (GA3): A strategy for enhanced growth and yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench.)
Gibberellic acid (GA3) is a naturally occurring growth hormone which controls the extremely important aspects of plant growth through regulation of several growth processes such as seed germination, stem elongation, uniform flowering, and increased number of flowers. Exogenous application of GA3 hastens the vegetative and reproductive growth of plants. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of...
July 2013
Foliar application of fungicides for the management of brown spot disease in rice (Oryza sativa L.) caused by Bipolaris oryzae
Major rice growing areas of Jammu sub-tropics (Jammu, Samba and Kathua Districts) were surveyed to ascertain the status and distributions of brown spot of rice during 2011 to 2012. The disease was reported from all the areas with area under brown spot progress curve (AUBSPC) ranging between 3150 and 3560, 3025.00 and 3100, and 2921 and 31050 in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts, respectively. Under...
July 2013
Biopriming of maize hybrid COH(M) 5 seed with liquid biofertilizers for enhanced germination and vigour
An investigation was carried out with COH(M) 5 maize hybrid seed to standardize seed biopriming with liquid biofertilizers (Azospirillum and phosphobacteria). To optimize the concentration and duration of biopriming, seeds were bioprimed with liquid biofertilizers such as Azospirillum and phosphobacteria (Concentration: 10, 15, and 20%; Duration: 6, 12, 18, and 24 h)The seeds were also hydroprimed...
July 2013
Exploration of rainfed rice farming in Uganda based on a nationwide survey: Evolution, regionality, farmers and land
Based on a nationwide survey of rice growing households, this paper explores how rainfed rice cultivation evolved in Uganda, how diverse it is in different regions of the country, what categories of farmers have adopted it, and how it has been integrated into their traditional cropping patterns. We find that the diffusion of rainfed rice cultivation accelerated at around the turn of this century when upland New Rice for...
July 2013
Anthocyanin content and antioxidant activities of common bean species (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown in Mashonaland Central, Zimbabwe
Recently, an inverse correlation between bean consumption and age related diseases such as breast and prostate cancer has been established. Furthermore, beans can easily be grown with minimum cost across the globe. In the present study, we investigated anthocyanin, proanthocyanidin and antioxidant activity of five (black, brown, white, brown and black spotted) common bean species (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown in...
July 2013
Study temperature influence in the application of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to estimate amylose content of rice
In the application of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to estimate amylose content of rice, analysis was performed based on the relationship between absorbance and amylose content. But absorbance is sensitive to environmental temperature. In this study, characteristics of rice spectra collected at different temperatures were studied by comparing the average spectra and standard deviation spectra...
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