Agricultural Science

A two year field plot was conducted on experimental fields of Institute of field and vegetable crops in Novi Sad. The effect of stand density on seed yield, protein content and mass of 1000 seeds were researched. Old and new perspective confectionary sunflower hybrids of NS Seed Company were used. There were six stand densities, from 20000-70000 plants per hectare with increasing step of 10000. There were significant differences between hybrids and in both years the highest yield had new hybrid NS-H- 6485. In average, for all 6 hybrids maximal seed yield in both years were at stand density between 40000- 50000 plants per hectare. Protein content was higher in old hybrids (Vranac and Cepko) and gradually decreases with increasing stand density. Mass of 1000 seed, which is an important quality parameter, was higher in all new hybrids and in average for all stand density in both years was higher than 100 g. Hybrid NS-Goliat had especially large seed, even more than 150 g. Stand density...

A study was conducted for two consecutive years to determine the yield and system productivity of two cropping patterns viz. IP: (Wheat - Jute - T. aman) improved pattern with improved management practices and FP: (Fallow - Fallow - T. aman) farmers’ pattern with farmers’ management practices in char (adjacent to the river) area of Netrakona region of Bangladesh. The experimentswere laid out in a randomized complete block design with 10 dispersed replications at a farmer’s field. The two years mean data showed that the total component crops of IP (wheat-jute-T. aman rice) gave higher yield as well as a by-product in both years. The higherrice equivalent yield (10.52 and 10.63 tha-1), production efficiency (30.13 and 30.43 kg ha-1 day-1) land-use efficiency (87.13 and 87.84%)and benefit cost ratio (2.15 and 2.11) pointed out the dominance of the improvedpattern over the farmer’s existing pattern. Higher rice equivalentyield signified that improved cropping pattern (Wheat - Jute -T. a...

One of the potential uses of treated sewage sludge is its application as a soil conditioner in agricultural fields. A factorial experiment was conducted to compare the main effects of biochar and sewage sludge and the interaction effect between biochar and sewage sludge on the plant uptake of copper and zinc and vegetable yield. The experiment was done in a green house and Chinese cabbage was used as the test crop. The experiment consisted of two factors namely, biochar and sewage sludge, each of which was applied to the soil at four levels. The copper and zinc concentration were determined in the laboratory based on Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. A two-way analysis of variance test was performed, and the Tukey’s HSD test was used to separate statistically significant treatment means at 5% level of significance. Results showed a significant interaction effect between biochar and sewage sludge (p = 0.012) on the level of copper concentration in plant tissue. It was observed that sew...

The aim of this paper is to present an assessment of nitrates fluxes in the groundwater in Timis County using some direct measurements, as well as their spatial distribution. The presence of the high nitrogen concentrations in soils is a high potential risk for the groundwater and, implicitly, for human and animal health, the groundwater being the main source of the drinking water in many rural areas. One of the main risk factor for nitrates pollution is the agricultural activity, through the application of the mineral and organic fertilizers doses. As EU country, Romania has to report to international committees the state of nitrate pollution, in the respect of Nitrate Directive, in order to promote a sustainable agriculture based on suitable agricultural practices application for environmental protection. Several information systems, assessing and monitoring the potential vulnerable zones to nitrates, using pre-established indicators, have been developed. In order to assess the in...

The impact of climate change on crop growth and yield can be predicted using crop simulation models. A study was conducted to assess the reliability and uncertainty of simulated maize yield for the near future in 2050s at Mount Makulu (latitude = 15.550o S, longitude = 28.250o E, altitude = 1213 m), Zambia. The Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator (LARS-WG) was used to generate baseline (1980-2010) and future (2040-2069) climate scenarios for two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Results showed that mean temperature would increase by 2.09oC (RCP 4.5) and 2.56oC (RCP 8.5) relative to the baseline (1980-2010). However, rainfall would reduce by 9.84% (RCP 4.5) and 11.82% (RCP 8.5). The CERES-Maize model simulated results for rainfed maize growth showed that the simulated parameters; days after planting (DAP), biomass and grain yield would reduce from 2040-2069/1980-2010 under both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. The LARS-WG was successfully for our loc...

Rice in the recent past has picked up as a food security and income generating crop among farming households in Uganda. Even though, the crop is playing a significant role in reducing food insecurity and poverty within the country, its productivity has remained constant and low at about 1.5 metric tonnes per hectare. Using cross-sectional data collected from rice farmers in Northern (Lira, Dokolo, Otuke and Alebtong Districts); Eastern (Iganga, Bugiri and Kamuli Districts) and Central (Kayunga District) regions of the country, this paper establishes farmers’ knowledge and management of rice diseases from a total of 224 farmers, as a baseline for research initiatives focusing on improving rice productivity within the country. Farmers ranked diseases as the second most important constraint in rice production, after insect pests. Moreover, farmers ranked rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) as the most important disease in rice production, followed by leaf blast (LB), brown spot (BS), sheat...

Macro-organisms contribute significantly to soil fertility improvement. The influence of conservation agriculture (CA) in southern Africa on their populations has not yet been fully understood. Thus, the objective of the current study was to evaluate the effects of CA and conventional tillage on below ground biological activity in a CA long-term trial in Monze, Zambia from 2011 to 2013. The study had ten treatments which differed by tillage systems (conventional ploughing, planting basins and direct seeding) and crop diversification intensity (sole cropping, 2- or 3-year crop rotations) involving maize, cotton and sunn hemp. These factors were combined to create rotation-tillage (RotTill) treatments. Sampling of macrofauna was done once per year using a metal frame measuring 0.25 m2, hand-sorted to 30-cm depth. RotTill treatments had a significant effect on earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris), termites (Coptotermes formosanus), dung beetles (Scarabaeus viettei) and centipedes (Lithobi...

Two sets of six generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1P1, BC1P2) of cowpea were developed from crosses of contrasting inbred lines VYA (susceptible) × SANZI (resistant) and LORI (susceptible) × SANZI (resistant). The aim of this study was to determine the inheritance and elucidate the genetic control of cowpea resistance to thrips. The first set (VYA × SANZI) was evaluated under natural thrips infestation in the field in a completely randomized block design with three replications. The second set (LORI × SANZI) was screened using artificial thrips infestation in the screen house. In each trial, data were recorded on 150 individual plants. These included the score of thrips damages using the scale of one to nine, number of thrips per flower, number of pods per plant, pod weight per plant and grain weight per plant. The generation mean analysis revealed that both additive and non-additive types of gene effects were significant. Dominance × dominance was the most predominant type of gene eff...

The potential of mixed cropping system on the diversity and suppression of nematodes was investigated at two locations in Ghana. The treatments in the study were; sole plantain, sole cassava and plantain+cassava systems replicated five and four times in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) at Kwadaso in the Ashanti and Assin Foso in the Central region of Ghana respectively. Growth parameters (height and girth) and components of yield (No. of suckers/plant, bunch weight/plant, No. of hands/plant, No. of fingers/plant) were studied on plantain in addition to No. of weevils per plant. On cassava, total biomass, tuber number and tuber weight (yield) were analyzed using GenStat software and means were separated with Fisher’s least significance test at a = 0.05. There were no differences in height and girth of plantain at Assin Foso. However, plant height was 25% and girth 13% more under sole plantain system over the mixed cropping system at Kwadaso. The sole plantain system recorded...

Considering price as the main limiting factor in the use of animal proteins, this study evaluated the protein quality of diets for Nile tilapia containing oilseed meals as replacements of fishmeal. A control diet (FMBD) (30% crude protein and 2900 Kcal DE/kg) was formulated using fishmeal (FM), soybean meal (SBM), canola meal (CM) and sunflower meal (SFM). The test diets SBBD, CMBD and SFBD were formulated by replacing 10% CP of FM by SBM, CM and SFM, respectively. The amino acid profile was determined by MPA FT-NIR spectrometer (Bruker, Germany). Fishmeal recorded higher levels (p < 0.05) of lysine (7.81 mg/100 g), methionine (2.89 mg/100 g), arginine (5.87 mg/100 g), threonine (4.28 mg/100 g) and isoleucine (4.55 mg/100 g). The chemical score for all essential amino acid in fishmeal were higher than 100. Sunflower meal was a superior (p < 0.05) protein source with an essential amino acid index (EAAI) of 1.14 compared to CM (0.80) and SBM (0.70). Substituting FM with SBM, CM ...

Bangladesh is a sub-tropical and humid country. That is why, the infestation of insects during storage is very common here. The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), locally known as “Katta Poka”, is one of the most serious cosmopolitan pest of stored cereal grain, especially of maize (Zea mays L.), in tropical and subtropical regions including Bangladesh. Considering the issue, the study was conducted in the laboratory of Department of Entomology, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) following completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications to evaluate the efficacy of four locally available botanicals and chemicals. The botanicals used were: Neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf, Datura (Datura stramonium) leaf, Nishinda (Vitex negundo L) leaf and Garlic (Allium sativum L.) tablet powders at three different doses (3, 4 and 5gm)/100g of grain seed against maize weevil. The results revealed that all test materials at 5g doses exhibited high...

Nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) are the most important nutrients for fruit yield and quality of citrus. Farmers - growing orange is usually applied high rates of N and K fertilizers. The study was carried out during 2017 and 2018 production year on a 4-year Valencia orange. The objective of the present paper was to evaluate the effect of combination between nitrogen and potassium on fruit yield and quality of Valencia orange. The experiment was used three doses of N (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 kg/tree) in form of urea and three doses of K (0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 kg/tree) in form of potassium chloride in all combinations. The obtained results showed that N and K concentrations in soil did not increase with increment of N and K fertilization. Increment of N and K fertilization increased N content but did not increase K content in leaves. Fruit weight, fruit diameter and peel thickness increased with increasing of N fertilization. Maximum fruit yield of Valencia orange was attained with rates of 0.5 ...

The importance of the dairy industry for the regional and national economy is essential. This paper highlights the financial performance and profitable development of dairy farms in Slovenia by examining milk production. In this study, the correlation of variables representing the number of cows, forage area and milk production were found to be very strong with values of R = 0.85; R – 0.95; R = 0.79. The farm size has an impact on cost ratios, liquidity, return on assets, and debt. The interactions of these significant factors are evaluated as return on investments.

In this paper two methods for energy analysis and environmental accounting (Gross Energy Requirement and Emergy Synthesis) are critically discussed in order to explore their ability to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the performance and environmental sustainability of human-dominated production processes. In order to allow a quantitative comparison, two cropping systems, namely 1 ha of corn production in Italy, and 1 ha of willow production in Sweden, are investigated by means of the parallel application of both methods. The case studies are carried out by performing a quantitative inventory of both natural and economic input flows to the investigated cropping systems. Such input flows are then converted into embodied energy (MJ) as well as emergy (seJ) units. Finally, performance indicators representative for each method are calculated. Results provided by the two methods and their respective theoretical features are compared and discussed in order to point out limits and potentialities of both approaches. The study shows that the two methods account for different – although complementary – categories of input flows, use different conversion factors, and answer to different questions and concerns. Gross Energy Requirement focuses on fossil fuel use and is capable to support the development of more efficient use of commercial energy. Emergy Synthesis uses broader spatial and time frames and accounts for both natural and economic resources. In so doing, it takes into consideration different forms of energy, materials, human labor and economic services on a common basis, offering larger potentiality to explore the sustainable interplay of environment and economy.

Five (5) essential macro, three (3) micro and two (2) trace mineral elements were determined in fresh fruits of twenty-two (22) accessions of okra using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). These were correlated to assess the level of associations existing between these elements. Concentrations of these elements were juxtaposed with their recommended daily dietary intake (RDI) in the individual accessions of okra and their variability with other traits examined for future improvement works towards breeding for high or low micro nutrient containing variety (ies).

In order to study the effects of biological and chemical fertilizers on quantitative and qualitative yields of purple coneflower, an experiment was carried out during 2010-2012. The morphological traits such as plant height, number of lateral shoots, shoot fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight, number of inflorescences per plant, number of flower buds per plant, and essential oil content and yield were measured. The results showed significant effects of the treatments on the growth parameters. In the second year, the mixture of the three bacteria plus mycorrhizal inoculum improved important parameters such as shoot dry weight (40.42%), root dry weight (60.02%), and number of inflorescences per plant (65.68%). Interestingly, these values were not significantly different from obtained results by the chemical fertilizers. Additionally, the essential oil content in plants treated with the mixture of the three bacteria were 152.14% and 25.11% higher than the control plants in t...

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is one of the most important crops in Brazil and its growth and development can be simulated through process-based models. The current study evaluated a model based on the decision support system for the transfer of Agrotechnology DSSAT/CANEGRO to simulate the sugarcane crop productivity in the western region of São Paulo. The DSSAT/CANEGRO model was calibrated using published yield parameters from a selection of five Brazilian sugarcane cultivars, while sugarcane yield data (tons of stems per hectare) from commercial land were used as benchmark data. Other modeling inputs were derived from the primary regional cultivar. The root mean square error (RMSE), Willmott agreement index (d), and mean absolute error (MAE) were used as performance metrics. The DSSAT/CANEGRO model resulted in a good RMSE performance. The productivity estimates were better for the cultivars SP791010 and RB835486, with RMSE equal to 2.27 and 4.48 Mg ha-1 , respectively. The ...

The increasing need of decarbonising energy intensive processes has risen the demand for biomass. Biomass production, distribution and use for energy generation involve several supply chain systems of which understanding requires a comprehensive analysis of the biomass supply chain management. The present article maps the volume and diversity of research carried out in the production and management of biomass supply chains for energy generation. It critically evaluates how well studies have captured multidimensional issues pertaining the supply chain management of biomass used for energy production and identifies future research trends in this field. The VOSviewer (Center for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands) and SciMat (University of Granada, Spain) tools are employed for the construction of scientific maps that demonstrate the evolution of research in the biomass supply chain management area for energy production. The results revealed that...

Climate change is a great impact on Fiji’s ecosystem including animal (livestock and marine) and crop production from past decades and still possesses a large effect on their economy as well. These climatic events include flooding, rise in ambient temperature, rise in the sea level, droughts, tropical cyclones, and all others that bring large changes to the environmental system. These large changes adversely affect animal production and its economy in Fiji. Not only this, individuals that are linked to animal production are also affected through climatic conditions such as loss of income and livestock species that die out during cyclones and other aspects. Not only the terrestrial species but the marine organisms are also affected since climatic changes bring alterations to their feeding period and the mating time leading to a vast decrease in organisms’ health, quality, and population. Consequently, the Fijian government and other Pacific organizations have brought strategies like ...

Endophytes are the microbes residing internally in the host tissues without causing visible disease symptoms. They have found involved in a balanced interaction with the plants and providing benefits such as, growth enhancement and disease resistance. In this review we hypothesize that endophytes can be employed as a potential biocontrol agent, as biocontrol is becoming most suitable disease management strategy due to its health and environment conservational benefits. This aspect of endophytes should be consider, there are several investigations that have revealed and proved the role of endophytes as best biocontrol agent. Mutualistic interaction of endophytes involve different mechanisms, as it may trigger certain genes involved in induced systemic resistance (ISR) that may initiate defense mechanism against attack of pathogens or by formulating secondary metabolites and other chemical compounds that are directly toxic to the pathogens. There is a need to explore the endophytic in...

In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in interest in natural therapies. In this way, plants with therapeutic properties constitute an important source of biologically active compounds. The species Protium spruceanum (Benth.) Engl., popularly known as Almescla is widely used in folk medicine, with a wide geographical distribution, often found in gallery forests and palm swamps (veredas), thus easily accessible. The objective of this work was to evaluate the oil yield of the leaves and stem, as well as the chemical composition of Almescla resin collected in a palm swamp in the north-central region of Minas Gerais. After drying, the botanical samples were triturated until a fine powder was obtained and the particle size of the leaf sample standardized through sieves. The test was carried out in triplicate, the oil being obtained from the hot extraction method in Soxhlet with solvent Hexane P.A. The resin was subjected to chromatographic analysis and infrared spectros...

In the present study two entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria bassiana and Verticillium lecanii, were tested for their efficacy against whitefly and aphid. The mortality caused by B. bassiana was higher as compared to V. lecanii. The mortalities caused by filtrates were significantly higher than those by conidia of both the fungi. In case of whitefly, the mortality caused by B. bassiana was significantly higher than that of V. lecanii. Similarly, the mortality with filtrates was significantly greater than that with conidia of both the fungi. On the other hand, in case of aphid, the mortality caused by V. lecanii was slightly higher than that by B. bassiana. Similar is the case with formulations. The mortality caused by conidia was greater than by filtrates of both the fungi but the difference was non-significant. As regards treatments, the maximum mortality of whitefly was obtained with treatment B. bassiana Bb01 followed by V. lecanii Vl01 and B. bassiana Bb02 when applied as filtrates. The treatment V. lecanii V3 caused the minimum mortality followed by V. lecanii V2. The filtrate formulations caused higher mortalities as compared to conidial application. On the contrary, the treatments in case of aphid mortality were at par with each other with few exceptions. Maximum aphid mortality was observed with treatment V. lecanii V2 followed by B. bassiana Bb02. The remaining treatments almost gave the similar mortalities. Time intervals also affected mortality. The mortality was significantly greater after exposure to 6 days as compared to 3 days.

Vegetable production and marketing play an important role in providing income and employment for a significant proportion of small holder farmers and traders in Ghana. Yet, farmers are dissatisfied, claiming that they earn less marketing margins than is due them as compared to traders in the value chain. Due to lack of a holistic assessment of actors’ performance, this assertion remains unjustifiable. It is against this backdrop that this study investigates the performance of farmers, wholesalers and retailers along the investment channels of three major leafy vegetables (spring onions, lettuce and cabbage) in peri-urban Kumasi. Using a two-stage sampling technique, a total of 217 actors comprising 147 farmers, 30 wholesalers and 40 retailers, were sampled. Marketing margin analysis and returns on investments (ROIs) were used to assess the performance of actors’ investments. Results show that vegetable production is dominated by males (91 percent) and trading by females (83 percent ...

ABSTRACTTHE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF  BEEF CATTLE INWESTSUB TOMPASO DISTRICT.The objectives of this study was to find out the 1) various supporting resources for the development of beef cattle in West Sub Tompaso district, 2) Annalizing by LQ (Location Quotient) to determine the chosen location for beefcattle industry development in West Tompaso District. To know of cattle breeding potential in West sub Tompaso district.The sources of the research data were from secondary data which was collected from the district office of West Tompaso board of Agricultural, Fisheries and Forestry Extension. Office analysis model used Location Quotation (LQ) analysis model of potential and capacity of the area for beef cattle industry development in West Tompaso District. Based on the results of the analysis show that LQ sub TompasoWest has LQ 2.08 which is the base area. According to the results of maximum potential development of animal unit (AU) based on land resources was about 2.269,03 AU, cap...

The study was conducted to assess the effect of school factors on academic achievement of agricultural science student in senior secondary schools in Oyo West Local Government Area of Oyo state. Three research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design of the ex-post facto type and made use of a sample of 100 structured questionnaires. Data collected were analysed using means, standard deviation and multiple regressions for the seven variables that contributed significantly to the students'

Honey bees are important pollinators of agricultural crops and the dramatic losses of honey bee colonies have risen to a level of international concern. Potential contributors to such losses include pesticide exposure, lack of floral resources and parasites and pathogens. The damaging effects of all of these may be exacerbated by apicultural practices. To meet the pollination demand of US crops, bees are transported to areas of high pollination demand throughout the year. Compared to stationary colonies, risk of parasitism and infectious disease may be greater for migratory bees than those that remain in a single location, although this has not been experimentally established. Here, we conducted a manipulative experiment to test whether viral pathogen and parasite loads increase as a result of colonies being transported for pollination of a major US crop, California almonds. We also tested if they subsequently transmit those diseases to stationary colonies upon return to their home apiaries. Colonies started with equivalent numbers of bees, however migratory colonies returned with fewer bees compared to stationary colonies and this difference remained one month later. Migratory colonies returned with higher black queen cell virus loads than stationary colonies, but loads were similar between groups one month later. Colonies exposed to migratory bees experienced a greater increase of deformed wing virus prevalence and load compared to the isolated group. The three groups had similar infestations of Varroa mites upon return of the migratory colonies. However, one month later, mite loads in migratory colonies were significantly lower compared to the other groups, possibly because of lower number of host bees. Our study demonstrates that migratory pollination practices has varying health effects for honey bee colonies. Further research is necessary to clarify how migratory pollination practices influence the disease dynamics of honey bee diseases we describe here. How to cite this article Alger et al. (2018), Home sick: impacts of migratory beekeeping on honey bee (Apis mellifera) pests, pathogens, and colony size. PeerJ 6:e5812; DOI 10.7717/peerj.5812