Agriculture

This work highlights the interactions between fungus-growing termites (Isoptera, Termitidae), and mound building components. As major eco-engineers in tropical ecosystems, termites create biogenic structures with galleries, sheeting’s, fungus-comb chambers where the exosymbiotic interaction between termites and the fungus is well documented. Odontotermes spp. a fungus cultivator build mounds of different dimension that strongly influence the physical and chemical properties of soils there by clay mineralogy and SOM gets altered. In dry land ecosystems, termite mounds are often hotspots of primary production.

This study was designed to ascertain the status of shea butter processing, acceptability and utilization as an edible fat/oil in Kainji lake area of Nigeria. 300 questionnaires were distributed and 282 retrieved. The generated data were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis in form of frequencies, percentages and totals. Processing and selling of sheanuts are flourishing businesses among the indigenes. Traditional manual method of processing shea butter vary from place to place, gives low yield and unpleasant aroma product with low acceptance as an edible fat/oil. Forty percent of the respondents, mainly indigenes, accepted shea butter as edible fat while 60% did not. Stew, soup, jollof rice and beans, moinmoin, indomie, akara and masa are some foods prepared using shea butter in the area.

In the present investigation attempts have been made to isolate sorghum starch (Sorghum bicolor L. moench) using genotype CSH-25, PMS 8AXKR196, PMS 71AXKR354 at optimum conditions. The genotypes CSH-25, PMS 8AXKR196 and PMS 71AXKR354 are sorghum hybrids and could be exploited for preparation of sorghum starch and among these three CSH-25 was found to be highest starch yielding hybrid. The yield of starch obtained from all these hybrids is to be satisfactory and these hybrids can be extensively used for commercial production of starch .This starch can be used for various purposes such as stabilization, thickening, syrup preparation, extraction of bioethanol which can be used as fuel with gasoline etc.

In this study a non–parametric method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) was applied to analyze the energy efficiency and its optimization for garlic producers of Guilan province, Iran. The initial data were collected from 60 farmers using face-to-face questionnaire method in the villages of the Langroud city in the mentioned province. For garlic production processing, there was seven input energy (including human labor, machinery, diesel fuel, chemical fertilizers, seed, biocides and farmyard manure) and one output energy (including garlic yield). For applying DEA method, we use of two methods covering CCR and BCC models. The results of these models indicated that 18 and 43 units was efficient as technical and pure technical efficiency, respectively. Also, the scale efficiency score of 18 units was one in the studied area. The average of technical, pure technical and scale efficiency scores was computed as 0.847, 0.940 and 0.896, respectively. Moreover, the total energy use can be reduced about 6552 MJ ha?1 comparing present condition (with 17.81% difference). The highest difference between optimum and present condition was found in diesel fuel and seed with 19.88% for both of them. The chemical fertilizers (with 46.83%) and diesel fuel (with 17.98%) had the highest share of total energy saving in garlic production by DEA approach, respectively.

Salinity is one of the increasing problems in the world including a wide area of our country. In response to salinity, multiple morphological, physiological and biochemical changes can be created in plants. In this study, Seedlings of Dracocephalum moldavica were subjected to 0, 20, 50, 70 and 100 mM NaCl. Changes in morphological traits, proline content, total phenol and activity of antioxidant enzymes such as peroxidase (POX) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in shoot were evaluated. As a result, POX and PPO activities in shoot significantly increased while shoot dry weight decreased progressively. The total amount of the phenolic and free proline also increased after the NaCl treatment. The increase was dose-dependent. The highest amount of free proline achived at 100 mM NaCl which was about 3-fold higher than control in shoot, respectively. higher than control. Our results support the idea that the activities of POX and PPO and accumulation of total phenol and proline is associated with salt tolerance as oxidative responses.

The purposes of this study is analyzing energy consumption and investigational the influences of energy inputs and forms on yield of greenhouse cucumber production in Lorestan and Markazi provinces. Data used in this study were obtained from 64 greenhouses randomly during one period of plant cultivation season in 2011-2012. The total energy input of 1070966.3 MJ ha^-1 was required for cucumber production. The portion of fuel by 78.4 % of the total input energy was the highest energy input. The energy use efficiency, specific energy, energy productivity and net energy gain were found as 0.14, 5.67 MJ kg^-1, 0.176 kg/MJ and -919867.9 MJ ha^-1, respectively, that indicated inefficient use of energy. The economic model estimation revealed that the impact of, human labor, fertilizer and chemical energy inputs that significantly showed a positive effect on yield that mean increase in quality of these inputs causes yield increases significantly. The results of sensitivity analysis of the energy inputs showed that the highest the MPP value of human labour. Econometric analysis indication of the benefit–cost ratio was estimated as 1.86

Drought is one of the natural disasters which annually cause to millions of dollars damage to agricultural communities around the world. In recent decades among the natural disasters, frequency of drought in terms of drought intensity, duration, total affected area, life and economic losses and social impacts on community, had more effect on human populations than other natural disasters. The most important effect and consequences of drought is water shortages for various purposes like agriculture. Qanats (aqueducts) construction and use of them is an ancient method for supplying water in Iran. In this way, without spending energy and only through the force of gravity, a part of required water of agriculture, drinking water and residential area has been supplied since long time ago. Using this method of water supply after development of equipments for drilling of semi-deep and deep wells is reduced, and in some parts of the country construction of new Qanats has stopped. Uncontrolled withdrawal of groundwater by excessive exploitation of wells with increasing of wells number and lack of natural recharge, for various reasons like changing of land use and climate changes, cause to decreasing of Qanats water yield or even dried them. So, the purpose of this study is analyzing the effects of watershed management operations like artificial recharge to increase the discharge of Qanats using flood control. In this study, the quantitative and qualitative data of Qanats water evaluated where artificial recharge of aquifers has done using trend analysis of hydrological behavior changes in selected Qanats and results of changes in water yield of Gambleh and Noh Abad Qanats, before and after of artificial recharge, including construction of recharge pools and flood spreading, during 1995 to 2010 showed that discharge of Qanats from 5.6 and 5.8 liters per second in 1995 (before artificial recharge), increased to 12.5 and 8.3 liters per second in 2010 respectively which had an effective role in reducing of drought effects in study area.

The cultivation of fresh tomatoes at Tono irrigation scheme by mostly the lowly educated youth is bedevilled by so many challenges. However, even though the full cost of producing fresh tomato at Tono appear to be increasing rapidly over the years under review, the venture is still economically beneficial but with decreasing profitability by using conventional statistics. The average return on investment for 2006 dry season was 4.22 while that for 2010 dry season was 2.34. Thus, there was a general decline in profits over the years. Time series analysis was therefore, carried out to forecast for the next five years which confirmed the declining profits nature of the industry. It was realised that, various interventions from government and policy markers were needed to arrest the appalling situation and make the industry one of the keys to alleviating the chronic poverty in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

Salt stress as a major adverse factor can lower leaf water potential, leading to reduced turgor and some other responses, and ultimately lower crop productivity in arid and semi arid zones. To better understand salt stress responses in crop plants, we compared effects of salinity stress on growth, chlorophyll content and osmotic components in cresses that were grown in controlled environment in Hoagland nutrient solution containing 0, 5o, 100, 150 and 200 mM NaCl, respectively. Proline, soluble carbohydrates, chlorophyll ‘a, b’ and carotenes of leaves were determined 30 days after initiation of salinity stress. The results reveal that salinity caused significant decreases in growth of cress plants as measured by fresh weight. By increasing NaCl levels from 0 to 200 mM, the content of chlorophyll a and b, and carotenes reduced. Maximum reduction was observed at 200 mM of NaCl. Mean values of data showed that Lepidium sativum had the maximum reduction of chlorophyll a and b, and carotenes under salinity stress. In this study, salinity had no significant effect on soluble carbohydrate but the proline content varied among the cresses whether the plants were grown with or without salinity stress.

At present study first, some physical properties of four varieties of peanut (pod and kernel) were measured at initial moisture content. Afterwards, the required force for initial rupturing of the peanut kernels under compression loading was determined as a function of kernel moisture content (between 7 and 35% w.b.) and compression load direction. The compression load was applied laterally containing the suture line (direction 1), perpendicular to direction 1 (direction 2) and longitudinally through the hilum (direction 3). Results showed that Iraqi 1 variety had the highest value of rupture force for both kernel and pod. Also, it was observed that there was a strongly polynomial relationship between rupture force and kernel moisture content for whole tested varieties. The average values of the rupture force at direction 2 were 61, 60, 64 and 57% higher than direction 3 for Goli, Valencia, Iraqi 1 and Iraqi 2 varieties, respectively. Considering peanut kernels, the rapture force required to initiate rupturing was less at direction 3 than directions 1 and 2, therefore it is proposed that cracking operation should be performed along this direction.