Agriculture

An important social impact assessment of an intervention is the extent to which the project/intervention has impacted positively on the welfare of the beneficiaries. To this end, a comparative assessment of the impact of National Fadama Development Project (NFDP) - 11 on the beneficiaries and non – beneficiaries was conducted. Two local governments (one each from benefiting and non – benefiting) state was selected into the study. Internationally acceptable measures (age for weight, age for height of children (girls) of 0 - 3 years) were collected from the benefiting and non – benefiting farmers. Questionnaires were administered on 100 purposively selected fadama famers from each of the local government to elicit information on their NFDP – II benefits and fadama practices. Average weights and heights of the sampled children and their respective standard deviations were: 13.56 ± 3.45(kg); 78.9 ± 0.99(cm) and 9.93 ± 2.54(kg); 61.6 ± 1.31(cm) for the benefiting and non - benefiting farmers. Statistical analysis of the data indicated that there are significant differences in the heights and the weights of the children of benefiting and non – benefiting farmers. When sampled data were compared with the modeled data from FAO, 2006, the results indicated that there is no significant difference in the weights and heights of all the children. The increased income and improved standard of living of the benefiting fadama farmers could be attributed NFDP - 11 interventions. While the findings of this study should be applied with caution, it has however provided the scientific basis for the continuation of the programme in the benefiting areas and the initiation of the programme in the non – benefiting areas.

The purpose of contour farming is to reduce runoff and soil erosion on mild slopes. This practice can also increase crop yield through the soil moisture retention in arid and semi-arid regions. Results showed contour cultivation reduced the annual runoff as 10% in compared with cultivation perpendicular to the slope. Also cultivation and planting along contour lines in comparison with cultivation and planting downwards the slop reduced soil losses and water losses as 49.5 and 32%, respectively. Although contour farming reduces runoff and soil erosion largely, but when it's combined with other conservation tillage such as no-tillage or minimum tillage can be more effective. Contour farming on permanent raised beds combined with residue retained on the soil surface is suggested according the results of previous studies as the best practice on mild slopes.

The study on the effect of different weed management techniques on some chemical properties of soil was carried out on the university teaching and research farm in Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State. This project was aimed at determining whether there will be a difference between soil chemical properties in areas treated with herbicide and those without herbicide treatment in the study area. The soil was examined in the field during the survey period after which eight profile pits were dug. Four of the pits were treated with herbicide, while four was not treated with herbicide. The soil samples were taken to the laboratory for analysis. The pH of the soil was found to range from moderately acidic to moderate alkaline with a mean pH values of 6.52 and 6.64 in herbicide and non herbicide use respectively. The electrical conductivity was found to be very low with mean values of herbicide and non-herbicides use of 0.02 and 0.25 respectively. Organic carbon of the soil was found to be moderate. And only organic compound was found to correlation with a significant difference. The exchangeable cations were generally found to be low and the total nitrogen was also found to be low. Generally, soils with chemical weed management practices were found to differ from those managed without chemicals. The major limitation of this project is that, other factor which may cause changes in the soul chemical properties were not considered in this study. I will recommend that further research be done to eliminate all other factors that can cause a change in soil chemical properties in other to determine more accurately the effect of herbicide on soils.

Organochlorine pesticides have been used on cocoa. These pesticides have been banned in Ghana, however due to their persistent nature and slow degradation rate, organochlorine pesticides can remain in the environment long after application and in organism long after exposure. The main objective of this study was to determine the levels of organochlorine pesticide residues in fermented dried cocoa beans produced in Ghana, using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Fermented dried cocoa beans were sampled at random in the two main cocoa storage warehouses located in Tema and Takoradi. The extraction method used consists of addition of distilled water to the pulverized cocoa beans samples, and allowed to stand for 15 minutes followed by maceration with acetonitrile. Extract clean-up then follows by solvent partitioning with aqueous phosphate buffer solution followed by two solid phase extractions; bond Elut C18 and Envi-carp superclean cartridges clean-up respectively. The investigated pesticides were beta-HCH, lindane, delta-HCH, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, gamma-chlordane, alpha-endosulfan, beta-endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate, p,p’-DDT, p,p’-DDD, p,p’-DDE and methoxychlor. The percentage recoveries ranged from 70-110 percent, with instrumental detection limits of 0.15µg/kg. The widest range of organochlorine pesticides detected was from endosulfan (1.0 – 103.0 µg/kg), which was previously registered for cotton production in Ghana.

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of irrigation methods and operating pressure in water use efficiency and maize yield in the field of the collage of Agriculture / University of Baghdad in 2013. The experiment carried out by using split plot design under randomized complete block design with three replications. Three levels of operational pressures included: 30 , 50 and 70 kpa which represented main plot and Two levels of irrigation method included: subsurface and surface drip irrigation which represented sub plot using T-tape type were used in this study .Bulk density , plant height , plant yield and water use efficiency were studies. A locally made combine implement was used in this experiment for tillage and Subsurface Irrigation Tubes Instillation. The results showed that the pressure 30 kpa and surface drip irrigation was superior in getting less bulk density of soil 1.45?g . m-³, while using 70 kpa pressure and subsurface irrigation got the highest plant height 180.32 cm and highest plant yield 9.25 ton / ha and efficient use of water 1.45 kg / m ³. Accordingly using 70k pa pressure and subsurface irrigation which gave the best field indication are recommended.

The aims of this study were to investigate the performance characteristics of a farm tractor during ploughing (chisel plough) using variable weights from (0 to 500 kg) on the rear tractor wheels, and different traveling speeds from (3.58 to 5.68 km/h). The ploughing depths were (15-20 cm), and the average moisture content was (20.15 %). The soil texture was found to be a (Silty clay). The rear tier sizes of the tractor and inflation pressure were 16.9/14-38 and 150 kPa, respectively. The study was concentrated on the rate of fuel consumption, specific energy, drawbar pull, tractor wheel slippage, tractive efficiency and field efficiency. The obtained results, for the range of tests, showed that the use of 500 kg weight on the tractor rear wheel at 3.1 km/h traveling speed produced the highest value (74.4 %) of tractive efficiency, and (in the meantime) the wheel slippage, filed efficiency, fuel consumption, required power, specific energy were 7.46 %, 80.22%, 15.11 l/h, 46.58 kW, and 43.13 kW.h/fed, respectively. In general, the traveling speed and the weight on the rear tractor wheels were the most important factors that affecting the drawbar pull and the specific energy.

An economic evaluation of crop and dairy production system study was taken up in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu, India to study the post-harvest losses in crop production system, milk losses in dairy production system, to analyse the factors influencing the post-harvest losses and milk losses and finally analyze the resource use efficiency and technical efficiency of crop and dairy production system. In crop production system, net income was higher in turmeric than sugarcane by 10.98 per cent. The gross income and net income was higher in foreign breed by 99.95 per cent and 79.24 per cent over local breed respectively and hence turmeric and foreign breed are more profitable in crop and dairy production system respectively. The post-harvest losses in turmeric production were 0.048 per cent of total production. Milk losses in dairy production system due to various diseases were 9.97 per cent in local breed and 13.34 per cent in foreign breed. The education and inadequate storage had significant positive influence on post-harvest losses. The milk fever, Mastitis and foot and mouth disease in local breed had influence on milk losses. In foreign breed, milk fever and Mastitis had significant positive influence on milk losses. In crop production system, the planting material, manures and fertilizer, irrigation and human labour were significant in turmeric production. In sugarcane production, planting material and irrigation were positively significant. In dairy production system, green fodder, dry fodder and human labor were significant in local breed. With respect to foreign breed, green fodder, dry fodder and concentrates were positively significant. The mean technical efficiency and scale efficiency of sugarcane and turmeric was almost similar in crop production system. In dairy production system, the mean technical efficiency and scale efficiency of foreign breed and local breed was almost similar. The policy advocacy is finally suggested for Agriculture Department, Animal Husbandry Department and Government for minimizing economic losses, for achieving efficiency in production systems and finally for sustainable agricultural development of the region.

Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is used with Arc-Hydro tool of Arc-GIS to described flow direction, flow accumulation, streams orders and basins in the republic of Iraq. The Republic of Iraq is in southwest Asia between latitudes 29° 5' and 37° 22' N and longitudes 38° 45' and 48° 45' E; it forms the eastern frontier of the Arab countries. Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan, Syria and the Kingdom of Saudi to the west, and the Arabian Gulf, Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the south, border it (see Figure 1). Its unique environmental, biological and social features, which are unlike anywhere else in the Arabian Peninsula, characterize the country. It has a total area of 438 317 km2. The results referred to there are five stream orders and two main basins in the study area.

Studies were carried out to assess the influence of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the performance of Solanum macrocarpon L. (African egg plant) in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State Nigeria. Organic fertilizers (Poultry manure and cow dung) were applied at the rate of 150g per pot and the inorganic (NPK 20:15:15 and Urea) at 6g per pot to make a field equivalent of 8t ha¬-1 and 200kg ha-1 respectively. Poultry manure gave the best performance in terms of height, number of leaves, leaf area, shoot biomass, relative growth rate and fruit weight. The relative growth rate, number of leaves and plant height were similar in NPK and Urea applied pots but lower than those of poultry manure. The results obtain from this study indicated that poultry manure could be an alternative source of fertilizer to S. macrocarpon production in place of the inorganic NPK and Urea fertilizers. The study further suggests that poultry manure used for crop improvement is a means of turning waste to wealth in crop production. The leaves and fruits produced from poultry manure fertilized soil supports the current global campaigns for organic food production.

The study investigated constraints and extent of access to productive resources and agricultural services among women farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. Specifically, it identified income generating activities of women farmers in the state, identified the productive resources and agricultural services available to them and determined the extent of availability of the resources and services and constraints to accessing the resources. Purposive random sampling technique was used to select a total of 120 women farmers. Data were collected with aid of a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mean, percentages and frequencies. Results showed that majority (60%) of the respondents are married and a majority (50%) has formal education. It was further revealed that the respondents had diversified income generating activities with a majority engaging in processing of agricultural products (98.3%) and farming (95.8%). The results also showed that majority of the respondents indicated labour as the most available productive resource in the area. On the extent of access to productive resources, the result revealed that labour (x=3.0) and processing facilities (x = 2.50) are the accessible productive resources. Finally, the result revealed sharing of knowledge (x = 2.56) and marketing facilities (x = 2.98) as the only agricultural services accessible to the farmers. Constraints encountered lack of capital, poor electricity connection, lack of access roads, poor radio signals, illiteracy among others. It was recommended that the existing land ownership policies in the country should be reviewed to promote ownership by women farmers and extension education/visit be improved as well.