Asian Journal of Advances in Agricultural Research
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Screening of Solanum tuberosum Cultivars Salt Tolerences In vitro Condition
No full textAims: To evaluate the impacts of salinity on some physiological traits of potato cultivars under in Vitro conditions.
Study Design: Completely Randomized Design using two factors.
Place and Duration of Study: The Genetics and Plant Breeding Department, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University from October 2019 to January 2021.
Methodology: Ten varieties; eight were collected from Tuber Crops Research Centre (TCRC), Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur, and two from Sylhet were used. The varieties were BARI 29 (V1), Pechar Chokh (V2), BARI 72 (V3), Lal Shila (V4), BARI 53 (V5), BARI 25 (V6), BARI 28 (V7) and BARI 36 (V8), BARI 7 (V9) and BARI 73 (V10). Four salinity treatments including T1 (control), T2 (5 dS/m), T3 (10 dS/m), and T4 (15 dS/m) were applied to the varieties.
Results: Varieties and salinity treatment were influenced individually in the interaction with the physiological traits of potatoes.V8 showed higher chlorophyll content (63.892%) while a minimum of 27.5% was recorded in V5. The chlorophyll content of potato varieties was increased at the lower level of salinity (T0). The accumulation of proline was observed in all varieties and treatments; however, the V7 cultivar (14.02 µmol-1FW) and T4 salinity treatment had higher accumulation. In response to salinity, the content of Na+ of potato plants rose at 0.26% in T4 while the decreasing trend was found in K+ due to salinity stress. Moreover, the highest Na+ content (0.20%) was found in V7 whereas the highest value of K+ content (0.20 %) was reported in the V4 variety.
Conclusion: From the experiment, it has been found that BARI Alu-72(V3) performed well under 5 dS/m salinity level and 10 dS/m level because better yields were obtained from these varieties. So V3 variety is recommended for mild to moderate saline-prone areas in Bangladesh
Analytical Study of Small Scale Beekeeping Farming in Eswatini: A Case Study in Manzini Region, Eswatini
No full textAims: Smallholder beekeepers play an important role especially livelihood of the rural and semi-urban communities of Eswatini yet the enterprise attracts less beekeeping farmers. This study aims at contributing to the existing literature related to socio-economics analysis of beekeeping farmers and their impact on production, and highlights the opinion on challenges and opportunities of small scale beekeeping farmers.
Study Design & Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional research design was employed in the study across the region with the main objective of determining the socio-demographic factors and output of beekeeping farmers. The study engaged 47 randomly selected beekeepers and random sampling technique was used. The study employed the multiple regression models to analyse the factors affecting honey production among small-scale beekeeping farmers.
Results: The results indicate that majority (70.2%) of respondents were male apiculture farmers, averagely aged 32 years old, attained secondary education (51.0%), majority of interviewed farmers had less than 5 years of experience in apiculture, and about 31% of the small scale beekeeping farmers used traditional and Swazi top bar hives. The results also revealed that a large percentage of farmers obtained only between E1,001 and E2,500 in income from the beekeeping farming. The regression model results indicated that experiences in beekeeping and number of hives were significantly related to honey produced by the beekeeping farmers. The results also revealed that apiculture farmers interviewed indicated that they had poor access to technical support, limited access government support, poor access to financial credit, use of ICT in marketing their produce and limited access to extension services related to beekeeping.
Recommendations: This study recommends that in addition to improved access to beekeeping financial support and number of bee hives, the government, private sector and other organisations promoting improved livelihoods of smallholder beekeeping farmers should formulated and implement strategies aimed at increased access to extension services mostly related to technical support and use of digital technology to enable increased production and marketing of farmers’ output
Effect of Magnetic Irrigation Saline Water and Pre-Sowing of Grains Treated with Magnetic Field on Saline Soil Fertility and Wheat Productivity and Quality
No full textA field experiment was carried out in a privet farm in Romana village, North Sinia, governorate, Egypt, during winter of two successive years 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 to study the effect of magnetic irrigation water with different salinity levels (1000, 2000, 4000 and 6000 ppm) from four wells and pre-sowing of seeds wheat seeds at (0, 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 hr) treated with magnetic field on soil fertility and wheat productivity in newly reclaimed soil. In both seasons each experiment was carried out in a split plot design with three replicates. The results suggested that magnetized irrigation saline water and the magnetic pre-sowing grains treatment led to reduce of EC and soil pH and the increasing of availability macro-micronutrients contents in the soil Magnetic treated of both seeds and irrigation water salinity led to an increase of yield components and quality for wheat plant as well as the increase of macro-micronutrients concentrations in straw and wheat grains plant Finally, the technique of magnetic field in agricultural fields could be a promising technique for agricultural improvement but extensive research is still required to many studies in the future
Effect of Adopting Agricultural Technology on Farm Income of Commercial Vegetable Growers in Bagamati Province of Nepal
No full textImproved agricultural technologies are being promoted among commercial vegetable growers to improve yield and income in Nepal. However, the rate of adoption of agricultural technologies is low. This study aims to assess the magnitude of the adoption of selected agricultural technologies and their effect on farm income in Bagamati Province, Nepal. We adopted a multi-stage sampling method and surveyed 180 randomly selected households. We used multiple ordinary least square regression model to measure the effect of the adoption of agricultural technology on farm income in the study area. The results indicate that the most adopted technologies in the study area are improved varieties, mini tillers, sprayers, water pumps, and integrated pest management whereas the least adopted are plastic tunnel, drip irrigation, agriculture mobile application, plastic mulching, and rainwater harvesting. Few households have adopted more technologies. The results also revealed that if the number of technology adopted increases by one unit, the farm income increases by 20.6%. This is significant at the 1% level. The result showed that farm size (p=0.008), and membership in farmer’s group/cooperative (p=0.01) also have a significant positive impact on farm income. Promoting broader adoption of appropriate technologies among farmers helps to boost income generation. Policymakers and stakeholders are suggested to encourage technology adoption among commercial vegetable growers through training, access to inputs and technologies, and organizing them in groups or cooperatives
Evaluation of Nitrogen Dioxide, Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene Concentrations in the Urban Environment of Meknes City, Morocco
No full textThe present study focuses on the monitoring and the evaluation of air quality in the city of Meknes, based on the tracers of pollution of proximity cars (NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) and BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene). In the absence of a telemetric station and a mobile laboratory within the city, passive diffusion tubes, analyzed offline in the laboratory after exposure, were the most plausible solution. The low cost, ease of implementation of the technique, and the possibility of covering a large geographic area with many samplers all argue for adopting this approach.
The coupling of the results of the measurement campaigns and counting sessions under a geographical information system allowed us to determine the most affected areas by automobile pollution and to carry out cartography at a large scale of spatial resolution of the prospected pollutants.
The deployment of passive sensors at 14 measurement sites revealed the existence of spatio-temporal variability of the pollutants studied. This variability is due to the climatic conditions that prevailed during the measurement campaigns, notably wind and precipitation, the photochemical nature of the said markers, the proximity to the emission sources, the type of measurement site, and the topography and road infrastructure.
The approach developed could be used as a decision-making tool for the competent authorities in this field and adapted for monitoring other types of pollutants (pesticides, tracers generated by industrial units, furan dioxins, etc.).
This paper is under investigation
India-China Agricultural Trade Based on Virtual Water: A Heckscher- Ohlin Approach
No full textAim: This paper provides the economics of Virtual Water (VW) exporting to other countries through major agricultural commodities from India. Virtual Water is interconnected with food sustainability and it is the amount of hidden water transferred to other countries through trade. India produces and exports high water-consuming products but contains only 2.56 per cent of total water available in our world. By analysing VW, the total VW export from and import to India and the comparative advantage in producing the commodity in India can be obtained.
Methodology: VW for major crops is estimated by dividing the total water required or applied for the specified crop by the total yield of the crop. In this paper, we computed the virtual water trade for the major crops in India and analysed the comparative advantage for India in producing the crop. The data required for the analysis are collected from various secondary sources like the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES, GoI), Indian Agricultural Statistical Research Institute (IASRI), EXIM Bank, and FAO Aqua Stat.
Results: In the years 2018-19 and 2017-18, India exported 34515 MCM and 41080 MCM of VW through rice followed by 420 MCM and 622 MCM of VW through Wheat, 276 MCM and 184 MCM of VW through Maize. When comparing the production of rice and groundnut in China and India in water requirement aspect, India has the comparative advantage in the production of groundnut and china has the comparative advantage in the production of rice and also shows the same in the yield aspect.
Conclusion: With the growing water scarcity in India, we should shift the focus from the high-water requirement crop to the lower crop. In the end, we sort out the water scarcity problem and can attain sustainability
Optimization of Solvent Oil Extraction from Sandbox (Hura crepitans Linn.) Seeds
No full textDue to increasing demand for food, industrial applications and biodiesel production on vegetable oils, optimization of oil extraction processes has become imperative to obtain maximum oil yield from vegetable oil feedstocks. The effect of process factors: moisture content, roasting temperature, and time, extraction temperature, and time on oil yield from sandbox seed by solvent extraction were investigated using a 5 × 5 Central Composite Rotatable (Experimental) Design of Response Surface Methodology. Results obtained were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and SPSS statistical tool at (p = 0.05). The optimum conditions predicted were validated by experiments. The American Oil Chemists’ Society AOCS 5-04 standard procedure for solvent extraction was used in the experiment. The oil yield from the sandbox seed ranged from 20.9-53.6%, and was increased at the range (6-10%) moisture content, (80-100°C) roasting temperature, (5-15 min) roasting time, (90-100°C) extraction temperature and (90-150 min) extraction time. The optimum oil yield of 53.6% was obtained at the processing conditions of 10.0% moisture content, 95oC roasting temperature, 15 min roasting time, 65oC extraction temperature, and 90 min extraction time. Mathematical models to predict sandbox seed oil yield at varying process conditions were developed with an R2 (0.81). The optimum extractable oil yield of 57.10% was predicted for sandbox seed at processing conditions of 10.25% moisture content, 98.72oC roasting temperature, 17.63 min roasting time, 67.01oC extraction temperature, and 96.6 min extraction time. The study results provide data for equipment and process designs for oil extraction from the sandbox and other oilseeds
Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance of Yield and Yield Contributing Characters in Putative M2 Dolichos Bean (Lablab purpureus L.) Accessions
No full textDolichos bean (Lablab purpureus L.) is a multipurpose, orphan leguminous crop in Kenya .It is characterized with narrow genetic diversity and low yield output. Use of nuclear techniques such as gamma ray induction in breeding for improved genetic variability is an effective approach in improvement of this important crop. Studies on genetic variability estimates of two Kenyan dolichos bean accessions were undertaken as the pre-requisites for selection of potential high yielding putative accessions for production. This study was conducted between May 2020 and October 2020 at biotechnology department, University of Eldoret research field, Kenya. 0gy, 300gy and 400gy mutant accessions of Eldo maridadi and Eldo black I respectively were raised in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Data was collected either on plot basis or from randomly taken 3 plants on days to 50% flowering, leaf length, number of flower buds per race , raceme length (cm) , plant height (cm), number of nodes per raceme , pod length (cm), 100 seed weight (g), dry seed yield (g). The data collected for each quantitative trait was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) for simple lattice design. There was high PCV and GCV coupled with high heritability in, raceme length (cm), plant height (cm), number of nodes per raceme, pod length (cm), 100 seed weight (g), dry seed yield per plant (g) in Eldo black I accession traits than in Eldo maridadi .The different accession following mutation did exhibit difference in trend of genetic variability estimates. An indication of genotypic differences, response to mutation, lesser influence of environment in expression of the traits, prevalence of additive gene action in their inheritance and amenability of the traits to simple selection. Eldo maridadi accessions exhibited high to low heritability with low genotypic advance as percent of mean in evaluated traits thus direct selection on this traits may not beneficial. Other traits or further improvements on yield potentiality and yield traits on the accessions of this genotype are suggested by creating variation and selection
Pathogenicity of Alternaria Species Causing Tomato Blight in Agro-Ecological Zones of Kirinyaga County in Kenya
No full textTomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) is a highly consumed and produced vegetable crop with an annual global production of over 185 million tonnes. High consumption and production are due to its nutritional and health benefits. However, tomato production is characterized by inconsistent quality and yields, partly emanating from biotic constraints attributed to fungal foliar diseases. In Kirinyaga County, where tomato production is a significant source of livelihood, knowledge gaps exist regarding the identity of Alternaria species causing tomato blight in different Agro-ecological zones (AEZs) and the susceptibility of locally grown tomato varieties to the Alternaria pathogens. To address these gaps, we conducted a study to determine the characteristics of an Alternaria pathogen isolated from tomato leaves from different AEZs and assess the susceptibility level of some tomato varieties grown in Kirinyaga County. Pathogen characterization was done using phenotypic and molecular approaches, and the susceptibility assay was evaluated by artificial inoculation. The molecular characterization involved BLASTIN analysis of Sanger sequenced DNA nucleotide amplicons, and the use of NCBI databases. The susceptibility assay was carried out in the greenhouse using a completely randomized design. Data on the fungal conidial lengths (µm) and the susceptibility (%) of tomato varieties to fungal isolates were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with significance means separated using LSD at α = 0.05. The morphologies of the pathogens differed significantly (p <0.05). Molecular characterization implicated Alternaria solani, Alternaria cerealis, Alternaria arborescens, and Alternaria alternate in causing tomato blight. Tomato varieties differed in their susceptibility to Alternaria pathogens (p < 0.05). Kilele F1 (73.84%), and Terminator F1 (56.48%) were the most and least susceptible tomato varieties, respectively. Thus, Terminator F1 can serve as a source for the genetic improvement of tomato varieties in the Kirinyaga patho-system. Our study provides valuable information on the identification of Alternaria species causing tomato blight in different AEZs in Kirinyaga County and the susceptibility of locally grown tomato varieties to infection by Alternaria pathogen isolates. The findings can aid in the development of effective disease management strategies and the genetic improvement of tomato varieties in the area
Plant Growth Promoting- Rhizobacteria (PGPR): Their Potential as Biofertilizer and Biopesticide Agents: A Review
No full textCurrently, world is dealing with the curse of pollution in agricultural fields due to rampant use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. These agrochemicals cause great harm to human health when consumed in food (e.g. cancer and thyroid) and also to environment (reduce fertility of soil etc) when released out there. Hence, there is an intense demand of such biological agents (e.g. microorganisms) which could partially or fully replace these agrochemicals. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria could come to the rescue and would help to escalate growth and productivity of plants in an environment friendly way. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria occurs in/around plant roots; enhance its growth and development, directly or indirectly by depleting or secreting several regulative chemical compounds. The direct method by which plant growth promoting rhizobacteria escalates plant growth is, by making easy availability of phosphorus, nitrogen and other essential minerals as well as by controlling quantity of plant hormones whereas indirect methods include, reducing impeding effects of pathogenic microbes (e.g. by siderophore production) which adversely affect development and growth of plants. There are several studies which registers that plant growth promoting rhizobacteria escalates health and yield of several plant species, both in normal and adverse situations. Therefore, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria could possibly lower the reliability of world on harmful agricultural chemicals which disturbs ecosystem. They can be used as a potent biofertilizers and biopesticides whose market demand is also hiking globally, currently as reported here