Agriculture

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.

The aim of this study was to examine energy use pattern and predict the output energy for dry wheat production in Silakhor plain from Lorestan province of Iran. The data used in this study were collected from farmers by using a face to face survey. The results revealed that chemical fertilizer with seed and diesel fuel have consumed 57.93% and 36.58% of total energy, respectively. In this study, several direct and indirect factors have been identified to create an artificial neural networks (ANN) model to predict output energy for dry wheat production. The final model can predict output energy based on human power, machinery, diesel fuel, chemical fertilizer with seed and transportation. The results of ANNs analyze showed that the (5-10-10-1)-MLP, namely, a network having ten neurons in the first and second hidden layer was the best-suited model estimating the output energy. For this topology, MSE and R2 were 0.029 and 90%, respectively. The sensitivity analysis of input parameters on output showed that chemical fertilizer with seed and human power had the highest and lowest sensitivity on output energy with 0.21and 0.03, respectively.

The production of wheat crop for the year 2013-14 is estimated to be 24.2 million tons against last year’s production of 23.4 million tons. The major reasons for this enhanced production were increase in support price from Rs.1050 to Rs.1200 per 40 Kg which encouraged improved seed usage and fertilizers. There was also better weather and comparatively more water available from the reservoirs. The target for wheat production for 2013-14 has been fixed at 25.0 million tons. The fertilizer has raised the expenses of the inorganic farmers, which are not, used in organic farming. Cash cost in case of organic and inorganic farming is Rs. 23053.00 and 25846.00 respectively. The non-cash cost of organic and inorganic are Rs.19389.65 and 18815.10 respectively. Total cost is the combination of cash and non-cash costs that is Rs.42442.65 and 44661.00 in organic and inorganic farming. Gross margin (GM) is obtained by subtracting the cash cost from the gross value of product. GM is Rs.33142.65 and 36182.00 in organic and inorganic farming system. Net income is obtained by subtracting the total cost from the gross value of product. It is Rs.13752.35 and Rs.17367.00 in organic and inorganic farming, respectively showing a difference of Rs.2615.35. The analysis shows that low net income in organic farming than the inorganic farming is due to the low yield and high labor cost in organic system. Secondly health and environmental costs are not included in the analysis, because in the study site farmers are unaware of these costs.

Grape is one of the most delicious, refreshing and nourishing fruits. One of the most important cultivars of grape, cv. Perlette is being grown extensively in northern India owing to its attractive colour, heavy bearing and good fruit quality. However, more thrust is to be laid on further improvement of the fruit quality. In this report we demonstrate the effect of girdling, thinning and application of GA3 on fruit quality and shelf life of grape. Girdling + 40 ppm of GA3 proved most effective in increasing the quality in terms of total soluble solids (TSS) (17.47 %), total sugar (8.94 %) reducing sugar (10.35 %), TSS/acid ratio (27.24 %) and resulted in decrease in acidity (24.59 %). During storage at room temperature minimum physiological loss in weight (9.42 %) was observed after three days of storage. The present study therefore suggests that girdling and growth regulator application is a desirable practice to enhance berry ripening and fruit quality in grape cv. Perlette.

The present study was conducted in three villages in three development blocks in Pratapgarh distrct U.P. to documents the constraints experienced by the mentha growers. The research results were grouped into technical, financial and social constraints. The study revealed that mentha cultivation are quite primitive and traditional, resulting low yield and poor quality of produce. It is evident from the study that lack of improved techniques of mentha cultivation, availability of quality seed, farm machinery, distillation plant, Procurement agency, market and related information, organized farmers are major constraints faced by the farmers. The cultivation of mentha becomes more difficult when growers are not getting credit facilities and are paying more rent for land.

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.

Salinity is one of the major stresses in arid and semi-arid regions causing adverse effects at physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels, limiting crop productivity. In this research, three canola cultivars (Licord, Talayeh, Zarfam) were compared at 5 salinity levels (control, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM) for their catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, superoxide dismutase activity,proline and yield in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. In our study, we found that NaCl concentrations greater than 150 and 200 mM caused the irreversible disorders. Increased salt concentrations led to significant changes in the levels of antioxidative enzymes and proline in three canola cultivars. Also, yield rates in three varieties decreased in the presence of NaCl concentrations.

Electrical properties of sugarcane stalks were studied in order to develop a rapid and non-destructive assessment technique and to determine the mass of sugarcane stalks. A 5 V sine wave AC power supply and a rectangular parallel plate capacitor sample were used to span the difference in capacitance caused by the insertion of sugarcane stalks between the plates. To remove the effect of air gap between the plates, an equivalent capacitor was derived. The correlation between mass of sugarcane stalks and output voltage from the device for each sample was investigated. Experiments indicated a high correlation between mass and output voltage for each sample of sugarcane stalks and a quadratic trend line was best fitted to the data. The coef?cient of determination (R2) between actual mass and presented voltage was 0.955. For testing results, the coef?cient of determination (R2) of mass prediction was obtained as 0.969. This method can con?dently predict the mass of sugarcane stalks and it can be used in different machines and agricultural mechanism.

An electronic device based on capacitive sensor was developed to predict the volume of banana fruit. This system, which is used for volume measurement has four components: a rectangular parallel plate capacitor, electronic circuitry, microcontroller, and display unit. After calibrating the electronic system, the results were verified with calibrated curve by means of linear regression and paired t-test. The coefficient of determination (R2) for 1, 10, 100, and 450 kHz frequencies were obtained as 0.934, 0.88, 0.932, and 0.935, respectively. The acquired P-values for 1, 10, 100, and 450 kHz frequencies were 0.541, 0.448, 0.132, and 0.064. The results indicated that banana fruits size has no effect on the accuracy of the computed volume. The results for banana fruits showed that the predicted volume and actual volume are highly correlated and this method is ideal for determining the volume of fruits and it can be developed for other fruits, too.

This study aims to contribute to the knowledge of Rodents and insectivora population of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve (YBR). Some aspects have been treated and are related to diversity, reproduction, structure of Rodents and insectivorous populations aforesaid Reserve. Sampling collection place from 22nd to 25th September 2019 using trapping technic trapping in parallel and horizontal lines using Sherman and small Victor traps. For a total of 489 harm-trap, 43 specimens were captured, with a success of captures of 8,79% testifying an abundance of the Rodents and the Insectivora of the YBR. The 35 captured Rodents belong to 5 genera and 5 species (Hybomys lunaris, Hylomyscus stella, Lophuromys luteogaster, Praomys. cf. jacksoni and Stochomys longicaudatus) and 8 Insectivora are regrouped in Crocidura sp. On the whole, the ecological indices of Shannon-Wiener, Simpson and Equitability show that the biodiversity of small mammals is high. The analysis shows that the reproduction of males and females is higher, during the period of study. The average of litters varies according to species (1 to 2 embryos). Finely, some stability was observed in the structure of Rodent and Insectivora’s populations where the sex-ratio was in balance, because the difference was non significantly among males and females individuals and we had observed some stability in population’s structure by the presence of 3 classes who are: the adults (26 individuals), the subadults (2 individuals) and the young (8).