Asian Research Journal of Agriculture
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Effect of Tillage on Agro-morphological Parameters and Yield of Cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) in Abongoua, East-Central Côte d\u27Ivoire
No full textThe objective of this work is to improve the production and yield of cassava cultivated by tillage. The experiment was conducted in the field for 13 months (June 2019-july 2020) in Abongoua in the department of Bongouanou (East-central Côte d\u27Ivoire). After the cleaning of a 900 m2 surface of a fallow of more than 5 years, and cleared of all plant debris, soil samples were taken with an auger in the 40 cm surface in each corner and in the center of the experimental plot to constitute the composite sample for laboratory analysis. The trials were conducted in a randomized complete block design with four replicates in which four elementary plots were distributed. Three treatments T1 (tilled soil), T2 (mounded soil) and T3 (ridged soil) compared to a control treatment T0 (no-till soil) were applied in each microplot. The cuttings were directly sown at a rate of 12 cuttings per treatment. The data of the different parameters collected underwent an analysis of variance (ANOVA) performed with SAS software version 9.4 and the means were separated using the Newman and Keuls test at the 5% probability threshold. The results showed an acidic soil with a sandy texture and a good supply of nutrients, particularly major elements, trace elements and clay-humus complex. Good growth and development of agro-morphological parameters as well as yield were obtained with treatments T3 (ridged soil), T2 (mounded soil) and T1 (tilled soil) in decreasing order of importance compared to the control treatment (T0). In conclusion, the study clearly showed that the type of tillage, particularly the ridged tillage technique, improves the agro morphological parameters, productivity and yield of cassava. What we recommend to farmers for a good yield of cassava in the area
Landless Urban Rooftop Farming Context of Soilless Culture for Microbe Frees Cultivation, Roof Security and Environmental Sustainability
No full textLandless rooftop farming is an artificial cultivation on the roof which uses organic solid or liquid media called solution culture “media culture” or water culture “hydroponics”. Media culture and hydroponics has been used sporadically throughout the world in rooftop and tissue culture also has been used the world as commercial means of growing both food and ornamental plants. It supplies fresh vegetables in countries with limited arable land as well as in small countries with large populations. Plants grown by hydroponics have concisely superior quality, high yield, rapid harvest, and high content, at present it is used widely in research facilities as a technique for studying plant nutrition. Gravel or sand is sometimes used in soilless systems to provide plant support, and retain some nutrients and water. The retention and water can be for their improvement through the used materials, but others such as rice hulls, bagasse, sedge peat, and sawdust are used sometime as constituents in soilless mixture straw bales have been used as the growing medium in England and Canada. Rockwool (porous stone fiber) is used in Europe. Since the major constituent of the media in artificial growing systems may be solid or liquid, it is appropriate to use the term soil culture in reference to this general type of growing system and reserve the term hydroponics for those in which water is the principal constituent. Soilless organic media preparation and use has a tremendous effect in land less culture. It is basically used in Rooftop vegetable cultivation
Microbial Assessment and Proximate Composition of Pepper (Capsicum annum) and Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Displayed for Sales
No full textTomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum annuum) are among the world’s most important vegetable crops. A total of 20 samples made up of fresh tomatoes, spoilt tomatoes, fresh pepper and spoilt pepper were analysed in this study. Standard microbiological practices were carried out on the samples. Total Heterotrophic Bacterial (THB) Count for Spoilt tomatoes ranged from 1.98x107cfu/g to 2.39x107cfu/g. Fresh tomatoes samples had a THB counts ranging from 1.43x106cfu/g to 2.14x106cfu/g. Spoilt pepper total heterotrophic bacteria counts ranged from 1.46x107cfu/g to 2.01x107cfu/g. Fresh pepper had a THB count of 1.22x106cfu/g to 1.66x106cfu/g. Spoilt tomatoes samples had a higher fungal count that ranged from 3.5x105cfu/g to 5.25x105cfu/g while the fresh tomatoes samples had lower fungal counts ranging from 1.95x104cfu/g to 3.45x104cfu/g. The spoilt pepper had fungal counts ranging from 1.45x105cfu/g to 2.65x105cfu/g which was higher than that of fresh pepper with a low count of 1.6x104cfu/g to 2.75x104.cfu/g. The bacterial isolates identified during this study are Staphylococcus sp., Escherichia coli, Bacillus sp., klebsiella sp., Pseudomonas sp., Shigella sp., Protues sp., Enterobacter sp., Citrobacter sp., Lactobacillus sp. Micrococcus sp. Listeria sp. Streptococcus sp. and Serratia sp. Spoilt tomatoes had the highest coliform count 1.02x105cfu/g to 9.0x105cfu/g while fresh tomatoes had a lower count of 4.65x105cfu/g to 6.75x105cfu/g. Spoilt pepper recorded coliform counts ranging from 3.8x105cfu/g to 9.4x105cfu/g. Most of the fungi isolated from both the tomatoes and pepper samples were molds and yeast which include Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Candida sp., Saccharomyces sp., Penicillium sp. Mucor sp. and Fusarium sp. Adequate cooking is recommended before consumption
Yield and Yield Attributes of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) as Influenced by Planting Dates and Weed Management Systems
No full textChickpea is one of the major winter legumes of Nepal, grown in terai and inner terai predominantly. To ascertain the degree of variation exhibited by the weed management practices at different stages of chickpea crop growth due to influence of dates of sowing, an experiment was conducted during rabi season of consecutive years (2018-19 and 2019-20) at the farmer’s field in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi district, Lumbini Province, Nepal. This location has a typical sub tropical climate characterized by hot, dry summer and cool winter. The field experiment consisted of two factors: dates of sowing and weeds management practices and was conducted in split plot design with three replications. Three dates of sowing i.e. 10th November, 25th November and 5th December were allocated under main plot and eight weed management practices i.e. weedy, weed free (two hands weeding at 30 and 60 DAS), Pendimethalin(PRE)@1kg a.i. ha-1, Quizalofop(POST)@50g a.i. ha-1, Imazethapyr (POST)@37.5g a.i. ha-1, Pendimethalin (PRE)@1kg a.i. ha-1 followed by Quizalofop (POST) @50g a.i. ha-1, Pendimethalin (PRE)@1kg a.i. ha-1 followed by Imazethapyr (POST)@ 37.5 g a.i. ha-1 and Pendimethalin (PRE)@1kg a.i. ha-1 followed by mechanical weeding. The maximum and the minimum yield attributes were found to be significantly different in the 10th November-sown crop and the 5th December-sown crop, respectively. The Harvest index was recorded maximum under Pendimethalin (PRE) treated crop. Among herbicides, Pendimethalin (PRE) followed by Quizalofop (POST) recorded more values of yield attributes and yield while that were the minimum in Imazethapyr treatment due to its phytotoxic effect on the crop, so use of this herbicide is not recommended pulse crops like chickpea. It is vital to conduct further research in these areas to bring out eco-friendly and cost-effective alternatives
Evaluation of Saturated Hydraulic Characteristics and its Influence on Some Physical and Chemical Properties of Soils Developed on Coastal Plain Sands of Obufa Esuk Orok in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
No full textThe study highlights the evaluation of saturated hydraulic characteristics and its influence on some physical and chemical properties of soils developed on coastal plain sands of Obufa Esuk Orok in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. Sixteen grids designed in an experimental plot measured 6 m x 6 m were used for field studies and sixteen (16) soil samples were collected in each of the grid using a soil auger for particle size analysis, bulk density, particle density, total porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The samples were analyzed using standard laboratory procedures. The result showed that the soils were predominantly high in sand content with a mean value of 860.6 g kg-1 and low in silt and clay contents with mean values of 56.1 g kg-1 and 83.3 g kg-1 respectively. The soil texture was predominantly loamy sand. The saturated hydraulic conductivity showed rapid with a mean value of 36 cm min-1. Total porosity was high, a mean value of 52.4 %. Bulk density was low, a mean value of 1.21 Mgm-3 while Particle density was moderate, mean value of 2.55 Mgm-3. The soil pH showed very strongly acid milieu (mean pH in water = 5.1). Organic carbon and Total nitrogen were low with mean values of 1.1 % and 0.09 % respectively. Available phosphorus was high with a mean value of 36.66 mg kg-1. The exchangeable acidity and exchangeable bases were generally low with mean values of 2.54, 0.59, 0.08 and 0.053 cmolc/kg for calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium and 0.261and 0.416 cmolc/kg for aluminum and hydrogen. The correlation coefficient (r) between the saturated hydraulic conductivity and texture showed that there was a positive relationship between saturated hydraulic conductivity and sand, silt and clay (correlation coefficient of r = 0.0013, 0.062 and 0.119) at p≤0.05 indicating good relationship. There was also a positive linear relationship between the saturated hydraulic conductivity and bulk density, particle density and total porosity (correlation coefficient values of r = 0.224, 0.03 and 0.107) at p≤0.05 respectively. Despite the positive relationship existed in their correlation, cultural practices such as minimum, zero, mulch tillage and other conservational practices should be adopted to help maintain the rapid condition of the saturated hydraulic conductivity to avoid restriction of water movement and other soluble nutrients in the soil
Participation of Rural Women in Rice Farming Activities: Case of a Village in Bangladesh
No full textThe objectives of this research were to evaluate the socio-economic features of rural women, determine their participation extent in rice farming activities, and find out relationship between socio-economic features and extent of participation. This survey-based research was conducted in a village called Jahidpur in the Sunamganj district. 80 farm families involved in rice farming were selected by using simple random sampling method. Data were collected from women respondents through direct interviews using questionnaires. To determine participation extent, a rating scale of 5 points was used. Around 22 tasks were categorized into 5 aspects namely pre-planting, planting, intercultural operation, harvesting, and post-harvesting. The report revealed that rural women\u27s participation was maximum in post-harvesting activities. However, no participation was found in some field-level tasks such as seedbed preparation, transplanting, nutrient management, plant protection management, irrigation, and harvesting. A major part of the rural women had medium level participation in rice farming activities 61.25% compared to a low participation rate of 38.75% but nobody had high level participation. Some socio-economic characteristics such as age, farming experience, agricultural knowledge had a significant positive relationship whereas education had a significant negative relationship with rural women\u27s participation in rice farming activities. Tradition (100%), food security (95%), and poverty reduction (92.5%) were the main three reasons for women’s participation while male-dominated society (100%), restricted social interaction (95%), and limited access to resources (86.5%) acted as top three barriers. Rural women\u27s involvement in rice farming was not at a satisfactory level and proper strategy implementation is required for further increasing the participation extent in rice farming activities
Effect of Gamma Irradiation of Seeds on the Development and Productivity of Three Maize Varieties (Zea mays. L) in Côte D’ivoire
No full textClimate variability has been and continues to be the main source of food fluctuations. This variability threatens the production of cash crops such as maize (Zea mays L). Maize is a cereal and has become one of the main agricultural crops in Côte d’Ivoire. The objective of this study is to determine the agro-morphological characteristics of three (03) varieties of maize (EV 8728, GMRP / 18 and MDJ) which have undergone irradiation with gamma radiation (0, 100, 200 and 300 grays) to induce mutations. The agro-morphological evaluation was carried out in a completely randomized block device. morphological characters selected from the descriptors of maize were used in this study. The descriptive analysis revealed a significant diversity between the treatments. The comparison between all the agro-morphological characters and the different treatments showed that the treatments EV8728_0 and EV8728_100 Gy had the best characteristics of ears and grains and the treatment MDJ_200 had the best vegetative characteristics
Effect of Mineral Mix and Concentrate Feeds on Milk Revenue of Smallholder Dairy Farmers in Kapseret Sub County, Kenya
No full textDairy farming contributes about eight percent of National Gross Domestic Product with an annual milk production of 3.43 billion litres in Kenya. It supports the livelihood of approximately four million Kenyans through food provision, income generation and employment. However, milk production per individual animal in Kenya, averaging six to seven (6-7) litres/cow/day, is low compared to the world’s best at 10,133 litres/cow/year (28 litres/cow/day) mainly due to factors including poor feeding. This means that Kenya produces an average of 20 litres of milk less per cow per day compared to the world’s best. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of mineral mix and concentrate feeds on milk revenue of smallholder dairy farmers in Kapseret sub County. The study was conducted between the months of January-March, 2020. Primary data was collected using closed and open ended questionnaires. Spearman’s Rank correlation was used to show the strength of the relationship between the variables. Multiple regression model was employed to assess the effect of supplementation on milk revenue. Results were presented in tables, and descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequencies. The results indicated a positive and statistically significant relationship between the variables (concentrate feeds and mineral mix) and milk revenue at (r=0.41, p=0.001) and (r=0.30, p=0.001), respectively. The relationship between mineral mix and concentrate feeds was positive and statistically significant (r=0.92, p=0.001). Subsequent feeding of homemade or commercial concentrates and mineral mix to dairy animals influenced milk revenue. The study concluded that mineral mix and concentrate feeds increased milk revenue of smallholder dairy farmers in Kapseret sub County. The study recommended the use of mineral mix and commercial concentrates or quality homemade concentrates in order to increase milk produce which affects farmers’ milk revenue
Varimax Rotated Principal Component Analysis of Productive Traits in Nigeria Indigenous Cattle Raised under Semi-Intensive Management System
No full textThe objectives of this study were to quantify the production traits using principal component analysis in Bunaji and Gudali cattle. Morphological traits of Body weight (Kg); BL: Body Length (Cm); HW: Height at withers (cm); CW: Chest width (cm); HG: Heart Girth (cm); Rumwi: Rump width (cm); TL: Teat Length (cm); RUH: Rear Udder Height (cm); UC: Udder Circumference (cm) and lactation traits of TY: Total Yield (Litres); ADY: Average Daily Yield (Litres/day) and LL: Lactation Length (days) were measured. To find the traits that were clustered together, data were fed to the principal component matrix of J.M.P genomics statistical software. In general, communalities varied from 0.32 to 0.91, and the proportion of variance accounted for by variables was 48 percent Bunaji, 0.31 to 0.99 for communalities, and 58 percent in Gudali cows. The information on principal component analysis will facilitate their efficient use in breeding programs for genetic gain and genetic improvement programs in indigenous Nigeria cattle
Comparative Profitability and Impact of BINA Developed Aman Mutant Rice Binadhan-7 with Non-Mutant Variety in Bangladesh
No full textThis papar examined the cost and revenue as well as impact of mutant rice on fourteen region of Bangladesh namely Mymensingh, Jashore, Cumilla, Bogura, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Dhaka, Khulna, Chattagram, Rangamati, Barishal and Faridpur. A total of 560 farmers were randomly selected to fulfill the objectives where 280 farmers were mutant growers and 280 were non- mutant growers. A pre-designed interview schedule was used to collect the necessary data. Descriptive statistics, profit function and livelihood assets were used to analyzed the collected data. The study revealed that total variable cost of rice cultivation was BDT.40589 and BDT.43927 per hectare for mutant and non mutant, respectively which was around 71 percent of total cost of production. On an average, the total cost of production was BDT.59584 per hectare, where 29 percent was fixed costs and 71 percent was variable cost. For Binadhan-7 cultivation per hectare average net return was found highest in Dinajpur region i.e. BDT.70919 and the lowest in Jashore region i.e. BDT.33703. BCR on total cost basis was found 1.90 which was the highest in Sylhet 2.56 and the lowest 1.51 in Jashore region for Binadhan-7 production. In case of non-growers BCR on total cost basis was found 1.43 which was lower than Binadhan-7 production in the study areas indicating Binadhan-7 growers earn much than the non growers. The asset pentagon approach showed that there is a noteworthy increases in capitals of sampled farm households and the highest for financial capital that was 20.05 percent and the lowest was for natural capital i. e., 5.38 percent. Among the list of preferences, the highest was 88.93 percent for short duration and it was ranked I, the lowest was high yielding i.e. 81.43 percent which was ranked as V. Among the constraints, the highest constraint reported by the farmer was labour crisis as well as high price of labour i.e. 80.71 percent and it was ranked I and the lowest ranked V was lack of quality seed at proper time i.e. 48.93 percent in Binadhan-7 cultivation. Finally it is remarked that short duration high yielding variety Binadhan-7 plays a vital role in the monga mitigation of the northern areas of Bangladesh