Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science
Not a member yet
674 research outputs found
Sort by
Production and marketing of turmeric (Curcuma longa) in Sunsari District, Nepal
Get PDFTurmeric is a popular spice in Nepalese households and a potential cash crop in the country's tropical areas; yet, due to limited study on production technologies and marketing channels, Nepalese farmers have struggled to earn a reasonable return from its production. For this study, 100 turmeric producers were selected by using simple random sampling technique from total turmeric growing population registered in PMAMP at Barahakshetra Municipality of the district. The research was carried out during January to May. Primary data were collected through field, survey, FGD, and KII while a literature review was carried out as the source of secondary data. Information collected from the field survey were coded, tabulated, and analyzed by using the statistical software of MS Excel 2010 and SPSS V26.0. It was found that majority of the respondent farmers had agriculture as their primary occupation. The average household turmeric area was 0.43 ha. The labor cost contributed 45.46% for the of cultivation with an average cost of cultivation pf NRs.110.63 per kg for dried turmeric. Moreover, the gross return of Rs.270057 per hectare and the BCR 1.35, indicate that turmeric farming is profitable. The average productivity of dry turmeric in the study area was 1800 kg per hectare. Insufficient technical services and low market price of the turmeric were main production and marketing problem faced by turmeric producing community This study suggests the adoption of innovative technology for farming, government intervention in price fixing and replacement of local seed by improved seed
High yield and pest resistant genotypes of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) for cultivation in Umudike, Southeastern, Nigeria
Get PDFNewly developed progenies of sweet potato were evaluated to identify promising genotypes with high storage root yield, dry matter, starch content and susceptibility to Cylas spp. at the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Southeastern Nigeria during the 2015 and 2016 cropping seasons to evaluate variation among crosses of different sweet potato families, namely: LigriXFaara (17), LigriXApomoen (9) and LigrixSauti (8), including two check varieties (Umuspo 3 and TIS 87/0087). Analysis of variance, correlation and principal component analysis were employed for data analysis. In this study, four genotypes; LigriXFaara/3 (16.02t/ha), LigriXFaara/2 (14.67t/ha), LigriXFaara/1 (13.66t/ha) and LigriXFaara/6 (10.33t/ha) produced higher fresh storage root yield than the national check (TIS 87/0087). Four genotypes recorded starch content above 50mg100-1; LigriXApomoden/1 (69.71mg100-1), LigriXApomoden/3 (62.98mg100-1), LigriXApomoden/2 (60.89mg100-1), LigriXApomoden/4 (57.53 mg100-1). Among the thirty-four genotypes evaluated, twenty-nine genotypes were susceptible to the attack of C. puncticollis. LigriXFaara/1 recorded the highest attack of C. puncticollis, followed by LigriXApomoden/5, LigriXFaara/4, LigriXApomoden/3, LigriXSauti/3, LigriXFarra/5 while five genotypes; LigriXFaara/4, LigriXFaara/5, LigriXSauti/5, LigriXFaara/8, LigriXFaara/7 and LigriXFaara/14 did not show any sign of vulnerability of C. puncticollis. Promising genotypes that recorded high yield, dry matter and resistance to Cylas spp. could be subjected to advanced yield trail and incorporated into further breeding program
Adoption status of improved production technology in rice cultivation in Kanchanpur, Nepal
Get PDFA study was carried out in 2020 to assess the scenario of the improved production technologies among rice growers in Kanchanpur and to identify the factors influencing the adoption of these technologies. The simple random sampling procedure was used to collect data from 90 respondents using a semi-structured interview schedule from Belauri, Bhimdutta municipality, and Beldandi rural municipality which are under the command area of the rice super zone, Kanchanpur. The information on prevailing cultural practice, production, and productivity, adoption of improved technology, problems/constraints faced by farmers in rice cultivation in the study area were collected from the farmers by interview. The data were processed, cleaned, and analyzed using software MS-excel and SPSS. The simple descriptive and inferential statistics like chi-square and binary logistic regression models were used to find the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Respondents adopted plant protection measures (chemical weed control, insects, and disease control) and seed treatment relatively less than they adopted recommended variety, Seed Replacement Rate (SRR), and storage treatment. The majority of the respondents were affiliated with the farmers’ groups but the majority of them had not received training. Furthermore, spade, hoe, tractor, thresher, sickle, wooden plough bullock cart water pumps, tillers, reapers were used by respondents. Binary logistic regression revealed that membership of agriculture group, advice from agriculture technician, training, visit of extension workers and rice cultivated land had a positive and significant effect on the adoption of various production practices. Inadequate availability of fertilizers and inputs (0.85), Inadequate training (0.68), inadequate machinery availability (0.54) were the major constraints faced by the farmers on rice cultivation
An assessment of mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco.) orchard management practices in Dailekh, Nepal
Get PDFA study was carried out in Dailekh, Nepal with an objective to assess the mandarin orchard management practices and their level of adoption by mandarin growers of Dullu municipality. All together 60 respondents were selected for the household survey in major citrus-producing wards of Dullu by following the simple random sampling technique. Primary data were collected by administering the pretested questionnaire and; descriptive and inferential statistics were computed using Ms-Excel and SPSS. The result showed that the majority of the respondents were from Brahmin ethnicity (43.3%), middle-age group i.e. 35-49 years (53.3%), and male (70.0%). Furthermore, most of them belonged to medium size family of 5-8 members (60.0%) and were earning most of their income through agriculture (80.0%). The result of the study revealed the variation in the scale of adoption of different management practices. Most of the households had adopted pruning and applied farmyard manure (FYM) while the least of them had adopted mulching and applied chemical fertilizer. Chi-square test revealed that the factors such as age (p=0.042), education level (p=0.007), family size (p=0.029), and training exposure (p=0.001) were significantly associated with the level of adoption of these practices. Incidence of insect-pests and diseases (I=0.88), frequent occurrence of climatic hazards such as hailstorms (I=0.71), and limited irrigation facility (I=0.70) were the major problems of mandarin growing households. It is recommended that improving access to irrigation facilities, use of certified planting material, mulching application and use of appropriate dose of manure and fertilizer must be prioritized in the study area
Fungal diversity inhabited with trees and their conservation in Bukki Top in upper great Himalaya
Get PDFThis investigation was aimed to explore the biodiversity of upper great Himalayas range with special reference to the flora and its conservation. The natural landscape and high altitude meadows (Bugyal) enhanced the beauty of Uttarakhand. Bukki village and Bukki top one of the gorgeous region locate in Uttarkashi district of Uttrakhand state, fall on the opposite side of the national highway NH-108 and connect the Gangotri Glacier via Harsil. The present article is the description of the flora of the Bukki region and, we tried to mainly focus on different fungus species and disease on trees, observed during the trek. Some important fungus species observed are Daldinia concentric, Trichaptum biforme, Fomes fomentarius and Daedalea quercina. We also describe each fungus attributes and habitat distribution description
Economic analysis of mushroom enterprise in Chitwan district, Nepal
Get PDFThe majority of the population (66%) in-country “Nepal” are engaged in agriculture. However, domestic production finds it difficult to meet the annual demand of the people. Hence, people are moving from subsistence agriculture to embrace mushroom farming. This study focuses on economic analysis and analysis of the present status of mushroom farming and enterprise in this country. The study was conducted in the land area of Kalika Municipality and Bharatpur Metropolitan City. 30 mushroom farmers with two huts and at least three years of experience were selected from the study area. The primary data were collected through face-to-face interviews with the farmers, focus group discussion (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII). The secondary data was collected through various published articles and documents. The data analysis was done using basic statistics and a regression function. The benefit-cost ratio is 2.54 and a high gross margin is NRs.490,876.65 per kattha per year. The return to scale (RTS) is 0.80. Five marketing channels are present among which wholesalers and local collectors contributed the highest percentage of the share. However, the dominance of the intermediaries, timely unavailability of inputs, price fluctuation, disease and pest infestation were the major constraints. Disease and pest control, formation of the producer organization, improvised cultivation practices, timely and affordable availability of quality can be the major solution measures. Whereas, suitable climatic conditions, high productivity and growing market demand are the strengths of mushroom production in this study area. Mushroom farming is found to be a profitable business concerning competitive and comparative markets.
Land use/land cover change assessment of Mohana watershed (Far-Western Nepal) using GIS and remote sensing
Get PDFThe present study was conducted in the Mohana watershed of Far-western Nepal to assess land use land cover change. The study has used ArcGIS and three Landsat images - Landsat TM (1999), Landsat ETM+ (2009), and Landsat OLI (2019) – to analyze land use the land cover change of the watershed. The change matrix technique was used for change detection analysis. The study area was classified into five classes; forest, agriculture, built-up, water bodies, and barren lands. The study has found that among the five identified classes forest and build-up increased positively from 45.40 % to 51.51 % - forest cover and 11.26 % to 19. 85 % - build-up respectively. Similarly, agricultural land and water bodies initially increased but after 2009 both land cover areas decreased to 23.79 % and 0.73 % from 31.38 % and 0.97 % in 2009 respectively. Barren land decreased from 15.37% to 4.12% over the last 20 years. This study might support land-use planners and policymakers to adopt the best suitable land use management option for the Mohana watershed
A review on the effect of heat stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
Get PDFWheat is one of the most important cereal crops in the world. It ranks first (in the world) and third (in Nepal) in terms of productivity and total cropped area. Worldwide, wheat provides nearly 55% of the carbohydrates and 20% of the food calories. The ideal temperature for its cultivation is about 15°-20°C. Among several abiotic factors, heat stress is one of the major factors affecting wheat production. Wheat is very sensitive to heat stress. Each degree rise in the temperature can decrease wheat yield by 6%. This review is written with an aim to reflect the influence of heat stress in the production of wheat and the mechanism of how loss in yield occurs. Some of the major findings of this research are : (a) Heat stress negatively effects germination, emergence, root growth, leaf, stem development and growth, tillering, grain yield and quality (b) A sharp decline in photosynthesis is evident when wheat plant is exposed to high temperature stress during vegetative or reproductive phase (c) With increases in temperature, rate of respiration is greater than the rate of photosynthesis which ultimately leads to carbon starvation (d) High temperature fastens the crop growth by making it to enter into jointing stage and reproductive stage earlier than normal resulting in decreased crop yield. The identification of such effects of heat stress in our crop helps us adopt several strategies or methods to mitigate the impacts on crop yields and improve tolerance to heat stress
Effect of transplanting dates on yield attributing characters of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) variety
Get PDFThe research was conducted on the field of Chagunarayan municipality (Tathali) from 23rd March to 17th June 2020 to observe the effect date of transplanting on attributing character of tomato Genotype. 23rd March, 6th April, 21st April, and 6th May are the four sowing dates laid out in the RCBD design with three replications. And the data were observed in 10 days intervals for each planting time. The attributing character like plant height, leaf number, no of branches shows positive impact for early shown plant species, and development for later sowing date shows decreasing result. Therefore, the species planted before the planting time is beneficial from an economic point of view where the plant shows a positive growth rate on attributing character, and it can be considered for further research programs as well
Coffee income and its determinants: A case of Deusa village, Nepal
Get PDFUnderstanding economic contribution of coffee production and influencing socioeconomic and environmental factors for coffee income are vital for its promotion. The primary aim of this study was therefore to assess the contribution of coffee income to the household total cash income and identify influencing socioeconomic and environmental factors for coffee income in Deusa, Solukhumbu district of Nepal. A semi-structured questionnaire survey gather data from 55 coffee-growing households. We used Ordinary Least Square regressions (OLS) for identifying influencing factors for coffee income. Household annual gross income, from farm and off-farm income sources, estimated was around NPR 161 thousand, and the median value was 57.4 thousand. On average, coffee farming contributed almost 9% of the total household income in the study area. The OLS regression showed that sufficient labor availability (p<0.05), access to coffee-related trainings (p<0.05), and access to irrigation facilities (p<0.05) significantly increased coffee earnings. Likewise, environmental variables - elevation (negatively, p<0.05) and shade trees availability for coffee farming (positively, p<0.05) also influenced earnings from the coffee farming. We recommend provisions of trainings, improved irrigation facilities and tree saplings for shade management for sustainable coffee production in the study area