Agriculture

In order to better understand the zootechnical and economic characteristics of piglet farming, a diagnostic study was conducted from October to December 2019, three months with 30 pig farmers, in the form of cross-sectional and retrospective surveys in the three municipalities of the town of Kindu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The results showed that pig farming was practiced by both married and educated men and women. They were mainly zimba, Kusu and Nande and associated livestock with agriculture, private activity or trade. They operated in two different livestock systems (traditional and semi-intensive), with a clear predominance of the traditional system (85.5% of farms). The latter was characterized by semi-intensive hog barns (51.1%), where local-bred pigs were mostly reared (90.4% of farms). The average herd size was 19.2 - 20.1 pigs. In 97% of cases, farmers fed the animals from kitchen waste and agricultural and agro-industrial by-products. The average breeding age was 7.6 -1.8 months and the average litter size was 7.4 - 2.2 piglets. This livestock subsector has real potential for poverty reduction because it generates net incomes on average of $40 per piglet, depending on the system. Nevertheless, the lack of training of herders, inadequate pig habitats, food and health constraints remain the main factors hindering the development of pig farming in this city. It would be useful to find alternative ways to improve the habitat conditions, feeding and health monitoring of pigs, accompanied by better organisation and capacity building for producers and other players in the hog sector.

In recent years most of countries particularly pay attention on soil’s salinity because reducing water quality,reducing efficient of agronomy products and extension of desertification are come from that phenomenon.Iran is one of only three countries where is encountered to soil’s salinity.one of ways to control salinity is investigation range and addition of it in an area, and in the next step prevention and elimination of problem will be considered.The research has been done in Zahedan’s area in order to examination of soil’s salinity(electricity transfer) with exploitation of geostatistical procedure. Geostatistical factors are used by Kriching, Cokriching, inverse distance weight method and Kriching regression. The 300 points have been done in order to determination of amount of electricity transfer in horizontal and vertical state by electromagnetic inductor device.Three depths of 0-30,30-60 and 60-90 cm have been investigated.According to obtained results the least sum of error in three depths in Kriging regression than three others method illustrate how the method is high benefit and accurate and the method has been chosen to determination of soil’s salinity.Coefficient of soil salinity in regression model in 0-30,30-60 and 60-90 depths have been obtained 0.22,0.27 and 0.32 respectively.According to obtained map, whatever we go down from surface to depth of soil, salinity becomes lower soit has to be more considered to harvest and cultivate.According to low cost and high accuracy of the Kriging regression method, it can be used for zoning of soil’s salinity.

Field trials were conducted during the rainy seasons of 2005, 2006 and 2007 at the Research Farm of Institute for Agricultural Research Samaru  (11⁰ 11^/ N, 07⁰ 38^/E, and 686m above sea level) to study the yield and economic returns of sesame as influenced by poultry manure, nitrogen, and phosphorus. The experiment consisted of four rates of poultry manure (0, 5.0, 10.0, and 15.0 t ha^-1), three levels of nitrogen in the form of urea (0, 60, and 120 kg N ha^-1) and three levels of phosphorus in the form of single super phosphate (0, 13.2 and 26.4 kg P ha^-1). The thirty six treatment combinations were laid out in a split-plot design with three replications. The factorial combinations of N and P were assigned to the main plot while poultry manure was assigned to the sub-plot. Yield of sesame per unit area and economic returns were better at 5 t ha^-1, 60 kg N ha^-1 and 13.2 kg P ha^-1 of poultry manure, nitrogen and phosphorus respectively. Applications of 5 t ha^-1 of poultry manure, 60 kg ha^-1 of nitrogen and 13.2 kg ha^-1 of phosphorus seems to be the ideal rates for sesame production in this agro ecology and is therefore recommended.

The increase of Oxygen Deficit in rivers used for irrigating agricultural land, aquaculture and domestic purposes is of great concern to Nigerian watershed. To determine this effect along the Nworie river,suntex model TS-2 and Hanna HIDR 83200 for physiochemical and biological water quality analysis was conducted at three random locations namely: Amakohia bridge road where biodegradable and non biodegradable wastes are discharged; Assumpta, Holy Ghost college road where municipal waste and sewage are discharged into the river; and Umezurike Hospital road where household and medical wastes are discharged. Development of the Watershed Resources Management (WRM) for the river resulted in application of Galerkin’s Weighted residual (GWR) finite element model from the lab experimented results to determine the oxygen deficits at discharged nodes (points). The oxygen deficit results at the five discretized nodes were: 2.528, 2.498, 2.395, and 2.325 and 2.252mg/l respectively. The result in this research could be applied to watershed resources management for irrigation and public health engineers in predicting the effects of water pollution on downstream users,with minimally associated errors.

 This study examines the willingness to pay for safe water by households in Ejigbo local government of Osun State. Eighty respondents were selected for the study. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select the respondents. The data used for this study are mainly primary data through the use of structured questionnaire administered via personal interviews emphasizing on the importance of safe water and willingness to pay for safe water among households in Ejigbo Local Government Area. Descriptive statistics such as tabula presentation, frequency distribution, cumulative percentages and mean were used to analyze the slated objectives. The Logit model was also used to test for the formulated hypothesis. The study revealed from the socio-economic characteristics that majority of the respondents is male while most of them are within their youthful age. Sixty percent are married, 55% of them have a household size of between 1 and 5. More than four-fifth (80%) of them get their water from wells and boreholes, 62.5% treat their water before consumption, 47.5% have a record of one illness or the other. Two-third (67.5%) prefer other water sources. The highest percentage of respondents (56.3%) was willing to pay for safe water. Marital status is statistically significant at 5% with a value of 2.079, these shows that marital status has a positive significance with the willingness to pay for water. Primary occupation is statistically significant at 5% with a value of -2.227, this implies that it has a negative significance with the wiliness to pay for safe water. Secondary occupation is statistically significant ay 5% with a value of -2230, this implies that it has negative significance on the willingness to pay for safe water. Age, primary occupation and secondary occupation have a negative marginal effect on the willingness to pay for safe water in the study area with a value of -2.192,-2227 and -2230 respectively. Even though significant, and increase in these three variables will not raise the morale to willingly pay for safe water. Conclusion was drawn that most of these respondents are willing to pay for safe water but a lot of factors inhibit their willingness to pay such as price, distance to the source of water supply and availability.

Agriculture and technological gadgets rule the world. No agriculture, no food. No technological gadgets, no civilisation. Agriculture as the ancient of civilisation is on threshold competition with high-tech gadgets. Everywhere, Money! Money! Money, but none for 99% of world population of over 6 billion. Only 1% of world population control world wealth of over US$251 trillion. Of this wealth high-tech gadgets account for over 90%. Agricultural products remain the least priced, but remains the most essential. Yet, high tech gadgets take the whole earnings from agriculture and add to their own empire. In view of the fact that high tech money monguls, must also feed and be happy with agriculture, and not from gadgets; they need to invest in agriculture and feed a hungry world with just 1% of their fortune. Nevertheless, agriculture and high tech gadgets must live and let live for a better world.

Nutrient status, availability, reachability are the basis of soil fertility studies in agricultural soils. The East Anglia experience evaluated soil nutrient dynamics from the following parameters: whole ecosystem and soil respiration, microbial carbon , soil total carbon, soil total nitrogen, soil C:N ratio, soil temperature and soil water filled pore spaces. The following land management practices were evaluated: grassland under permanent pasture on 5 y ley before stocking; grassland under permanent pasture sown with red clover a y before stocking; grassland under permanent pasture treated with N fertilizer a y before stocking; arable land under barley; with deciduous woodland as control. Each site was replicated four times and revisited at each time of sampling. Whole ecosystem respiration was measured once a day per month with portable environmental gas monitor. At the same time soil samples were collected for actual measurement of soil respiratory activity in the laboratory; together with soil water filled pore spaces. Significant differences were observed in whole ecosystem and soil respiration amongst land management practices with grassland under permanent pasture treated with N fertilizer a year before stocking giving the highest whole ecosystem and soil respiration, 67.8 and 33.9 mmol m-2 h-1 respectively. Respiratory activity was highest over the summer months and lowest over the winter months. Whole ecosystem and soil respiration were dependent on soil microbial C (R2 = 0.6 and 0.73 respectively). It pays to get it right when land management and nutrient dynamics are at stake.

Climate change and climate variability and financial institutions’ unwillingness to give loans have resulted in many farmers losing confidence in dry land agriculture. Traditional crop insurance methods have also presented challenges due to the risk related to adverse selection and moral hazard resulting in high transaction costs for individual assessment. This study focused on developing a weather index based insurance model that uses artificial neural networks to estimate potential evapotranspiration (ETO) and consequently yield reduction due to moisture stress. Weather data from 2012 to 2015 for Kutsaga area in Harare was used for the study. Seasonal weather data were used as input data to the first model to predict the ETo. The output ETO and effective rainfall data together with the crop factor (Kc), yield reduction factor (Ky), root zone depth (RzD) and root zone moisture (RzM)were used as input data for the second network to compute % yield reduction. Data for maize for the 2012-13 growing season was used for training the network and validating the estimated ETO and % yield reduction. The estimated ETO compared very well with the calculated values with R2 values of above 0.84. The estimated yield reduction % indicated even high accuracies with R2 values of above 0.91. The 2014-2015 growing season resulted in crop loss due to mid-season dry spells and the model predicted a 100% crop loss which means the farmer had to be compensated for the value equivalent to cost of inputs. The model has got potential to be used by insurance companies using weather based data and, with mobile banking transaction costs can be reduced.Climate change and climate variability and financial institutions’ unwillingness to give loans have resulted in many farmers losing confidence in dry land agriculture. Traditional crop insurance methods have also presented challenges due to the risk related to adverse selection and moral hazard resulting in high transaction costs for individual assessment. This study focused on developing a weather index based insurance model that uses artificial neural networks to estimate potential evapotranspiration (ETO) and consequently yield reduction due to moisture stress. Weather data from 2012 to 2015 for Kutsaga area in Harare was used for the study. Seasonal weather data were used as input data to the first model to predict the ETo. The output ETO and effective rainfall data together with the crop factor (Kc), yield reduction factor (Ky), root zone depth (RzD) and root zone moisture (RzM)were used as input data for the second network to compute % yield reduction. Data for maize for the 2012-13 growing season was used for training the network and validating the estimated ETO and % yield reduction. The estimated ETO compared very well with the calculated values with R2 values of above 0.84. The estimated yield reduction % indicated even high accuracies with R2 values of above 0.91. The 2014-2015 growing season resulted in crop loss due to mid-season dry spells and the model predicted a 100% crop loss which means the farmer had to be compensated for the value equivalent to cost of inputs. The model has got potential to be used by insurance companies using weather based data and, with mobile banking transaction costs can be reduced.

Vermicomposting of textile and dye sludge is an economically viable and environmentally safer method of final disposal. Use of earthworms in the industrial sludge management has been termed as vermistabilization (Neuhauser et al.,1988). The worms and microorganisms enhance the biodegradation of organic matter. During this process, important plant nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium etc. present in the waste are converted through microbial action into forms that are much more soluble and available to plants than those in the parent substrate (Ndegwa and Thompson, 2001).. In this study, textile and dye sludge had only four per cent organic carbon content. The C: N ratio is one among the important factors that affects manure quality. To adjust the C: N ratio of the initial materials, the carbonaceous material like sawdust and crop waste were added at different proportions. At maturity phase, the highest P content was observed in the treatment that received sludge, poultry waste and saw dust (T7, T8). Kaushik and Garg (2003) reported that textile mill sludge could be potentially useful as raw substrate in vermicomposting if mixed up to 30 per cent with cow dung. E. foetida is an epigeic earthworm species which lives in organic wastes and requires high moisture content, adequate amounts of suitable organic material and dark conditions for proper growth and development (Gunadi et al., 2002). The enhancement of P in vermicompost was due to mineralization of the organic matter accompanied by a reduction in the total volume of the waste under ideal conditions. The finished vermicompost obtained by mixing 30 per cent sludge with 20 per cent poultry waste and 50 per cent crop waste contains higher nutrient status (NPK) with narrow C: N ratio (15.5).

Vermicomposting of textile and dye sludge is an economically viable and environmentally safer method of final disposal. The low level of carbon content is considered as a limiting factor for the decomposition of textile and dye sludge, but it contains higher amount of calcium and micronutrients. So, it could potentially be used as an alternate substrate for vermicomposting, if it is mixed with carbonaceous materials and animal wastes. In this study, textile and dye sludge had only four per cent organic carbon content. The C: N ratio is one among the important factors that affects manure quality. To adjust the C: N ratio of the initial materials, the carbonaceous material like sawdust and crop waste were added at different proportions. The saw dust appeared to be an ideal bulking agent for composting because of its ability to absorb moisture, and its structure that provides adequate porosity in the compost heap (Mahimairaja, 1996). The C: N ratio of compost in the present investigation ranged between 15.50: 1 and 20.1:1, which could be readily utilized for crop production as suggested by Gaur (1982). The finished vermicompost obtained by mixing 30 per cent sludge with 20 per cent poultry waste and 50 per cent crop waste contains higher nutrient status (NPK) with narrow C: N ratio (15.5).

Year-long supplies of fresh food have been made possible by improvements in controlled storage conditions, shipping and importing. A fresh weekly food supply at the local supermarket has eliminated the need for the home preservation and food processing of earlier days. Today, we may choose to preserve and process food for reasons besides availability such as the price of food, quality and nutrition. For these reasons, gardeners who find themselves with a surplus of fresh produce at the end of the season may decide to store and preserve. When conditions are not suitable for storage or immediate marketing of fresh produce, many horticultural crops can be processed using simple technologies. There are some processing methods that can be used by small-scale handlers, including drying, fermenting, canning, freezing, preserving and juicing which are highlighted in this review. Fruits, vegetables and flowers can all be dried and stored for use or sale in the future.

A variability analysis of some pedons formed on sedimentary parent materials in south-western Nigeria was made, and their potential for sustainable crop productivity was evaluated. Three locations (Eggua, Esan and Papalanto) were surveyed and sampled for the experiment. Three landscape positions (Upper, Middle and Lower Slopes) were identified and soil sample was collected at the depth of 0-30cm and 30-60cm for each landscape position for physical and chemical analysis in each of the location. Data collected were subjected to 2-Way Analysis of Variance arranged in a randomized completely block design with Location, landscape position and soil depth as factors and soil physical and chemical properties as variables. Significantly different means were separated using LSD at (P ? 0.05) level of probability. Descriptive statistical analysis was also carried out to evaluate measure of dispersion and mean for all variables. The variability of soil properties within and among pedons was measured by estimating the percentage coefficient of variation (%CV). The results of this study revealed that pH in water, pH in KCl, BS and BD had the least variation when compared with Na, ECEC and sand which showed low to moderate variation and TN, OC, P, Ca, Mg, K, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, silt and clay which shows low, moderate, high to very high variation. Also results from the analysis of variance also show that landscape positions have significant (P ? 0.05) effects on P, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, BS, Mg, Na, ECEC and silt, whereas, TN, OC, Ca, K, pH in water, pH in KCl, sand, clay and BD were not significantly influenced by landscape positions. Soil depth did not significantly (P ? 0.05) affect the availability, distribution and concentration of TN, P, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, BS, Ca, Mg, K, Na, ECEC, sand and silt. Significant (P ? 0.05) differences in OC, pH in water, pH in KCl, Clay and BD were observed with soil depth in all the three locations investigated.

Phenotypic and genotypic variability, heritability and correlation among growth parameters were examined in Dura x Pisifera (DxP) oil palm seedlings at the Oil Palm Research Institute Kade between July 2008-Feb 2010. All the characters studied were significantly and positively correlated with each other except leaf area ratio (LAR) in which the correlations were negative with 7 other traits. The highest correlations were between total plant dry weight and crop growth rate (CGR) and between leaf area and plant height. Net assimilation rate (NAR) and (CGR) had the highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation. For plant biomass the highest variation was observed in total plant dry weight. Broad sense heritability estimates (for growth parameters) were highest for LAR, NAR, LAI and CGR while for plant biomass the highest was for total plant dry weight. The implications of these findings in oil palm nursery management and seedlings selection are discussed.

Assessment of climate variability at local level, where the driver of the economy is agriculture, has enormous advantage in Ethiopia, . This study was then initiated to analyze the variability of rainfall features and their likely implications on long season growing crop; sorghum in Alamata Wereda. Daily climate data was obtained from the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia (NMA) and the historical temporal variability of the rainfall features was assessed using Instat and Mann-Kendall statistical softwares. Apart from the interannual variability (26.2%), the annual rainfall has also revealed a decreasing trend. Similarly, the Belg (FMAM) rainfall demonstrated a significant decreasing trend with a very high seasonal variability (53.1%). The Markov chain first order model indicates that the probability of 15 and 20 days consecutive dry spell occurrence on May (90%) and June (75%) were very high signaling that sowing on these months could possibly lead to complete or partial failure of seedling establishments. Even though the correlations between yield and monthly rainfalls was positive, only April (r=0.48) and September (r=0.55) rainfall was statistically significant. This indicates that for sorghum production, rainfall during April (for seedling establishment) and September (grain filling) appears to be particularly important (sensitive). Hence, as there is early cessation and high rainfall variability during the Belg season (part of sowing period for sorghum), different adaptation strategies such as soil moisture conservation and early maturing cultivars should be practiced to minimize the impact of rainfall variability on sorghum production.

Bioindicatora are living organisms which can be used to screen the health of the natural ecosystem. Plankton assesses the ecological changes taking place in freshwater environment. The assessment of water quality using plankton promotes water quality and yield. The quality of aquatic ecosystem reflects the quality and species of organisms that colonize it. In Nigeria, the freshwater ecosystem represent over 50% of the natural resources that sustain over 45% of the over 220 million population. Water bodies of the world represent over 75% of global natural resources that sustain over 60% of world population of over 6 billion, projected to reach over 9 billion by 2055. Hence, the place of water bodies cannot be underestimated in sustainable livelihood and standard of living. Their pollution due to massive anthropogenic activities are worrisome. Hence, the constant monitoring of their quality has been called by marine and other scientists. This review details the role of plankton in water quality and yield assessment.

Biomass is a renewable energy source refers to living and recently dead biological materials that can reduce green house effect and clean surroundings. To estimate tree biomass individually from imagery, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between attributes of stand structure obtained by field measurement and remote sensing image.This study was carried out to estimate tree biomass in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) campus. Five plots were established (40 m x 40 m) and all trees with diameters at breast high (dbh) more than 30 cm , tree height and canopy size were measured. Each trees biomass were calculated by non-destructive method. Results show that tree volume is ranged from 1.75 m3 to 24.73 m3, wood density is ranged from 0.99 t/m3 to 14.10 t/m3. The overall wood densities for five plots (30 trees) are 23.35 t/m3. Meanwhile the biomass estimated is 7,644 t/ha. Study demonstrate strong correlations (p < 0.05) between field measurement and IKONOS tree canopy estimates (r2 = 0.95). The results obtained from the analysis are encouraging especially canopy measurement where it can be incorporated to the existing mensuration models. Estimating tree biomass through satellite images are recommended because remote sensing through image processing has potential to estimate biomass in large area.

Cotton is the world’s most used fibre. Cotton is number one fibre used for apparel in United States. In 1994, a survey on cotton found that 63 percent of cotton was used for apparel, 29 percent for home furnishings and 8 percent for industrial type products and exportation. Cotton comes in several types, depending on the way it is grown or processed. There is no way to the consumer to know the true quality of Egyptian cotton used in manufacture of a product. It is possible to purchase a product labeled 100% Egyptian cotton with the expectation of it being made from the very finest cotton, when in fact it could be made from lesser quality, non-ELS Egyptian cotton. Therefore, a modest attempt is made to divulge the nature, characteristics and applications of various types of cotton grown in the world and their significance.

Pot culture experiment was conducted using 35S tracer to quantify plant available sulphur to main and residual crop in terms of ‘A’ values. Farmyard manure, poultry manure, vermi compost and sewage sludge were compared with the single superphosphate, all at 75 kg S ha-1. These with control were replicated four times in CRD. Activity of 35S sulphur in groundnut and soil were analyzed. Poultry manure increased sulphur availability and uptake by groundnut. Sdfs and Sdff was high in Poultry manure and Single superphosphate respectively. ‘A’ values were highest in poultry manure.

The size and aggregation state of soil can be influenced by different soil management processes. The objective of this work was to determine the influence of three tillage practices; Manual clearing (MC), Plough tillage (PT) and Conventional tillage (CT) with vetiver grass strips (VGS) spaced at surface interval of 0 m (control), 5 m and 10 m. Soil samples were collected at (0-0.05 m) depth after each growing seasons in 2004 to 2006. Soil organic carbon was determined in the laboratory. Water stable aggregates (WSA) and mean weight diameter (MWD) were determined by wet sieving in 2004 to 2006. Soil organic carbon was significantly higher by 3.7 and 4.8%, respectively on both PH and CT than MC in 2005. Mean weight diameter was significantly increased on 10 m VGS than the control by 3.5% but similar to 5 m VGS. The result showed that tillage both (MC and PT) significantly increased water stable aggregate only in 2004 growing season by 20 and 16%, respectively. Appreciable but not significant increases in mean of WSA over the three years were 1 and 2.7% on 5 m and 10 m , respectively. The study showed that tillage and vetiver grass strips may have immediate and subsequent effects on soil aggregation.

Life is a journey. The way time flies. Three decades of academics, research and charity packed life. From 1984 – 2014 the pedestal has been on to shape tropical agriculture, capture temperate agriculture, and serve humanity in all spheres of life. Most rewarding is the metamorphosis in academics and charity at local and cross-country levels. There can be no better tribute to my lecturers, supervisors, students, bosses, schools, colleges and universities than to review this personal three decades of experimentation in tropical Nigeria.

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.

Water quality parameters from three sampling stations in Ikpa River, Nigeria were investigated for a period of 12 calendar months from March 2009 to February 2010. ANOVA result showed that all the parameters were significantly different (P<0.05) except transparency and pH. Sampling station and month effect on the parameters showed significance by LSD means separation in all parameters (P<0.05) except air temperature, transparency and pH, thus, some were highly significant while others were significant. pH values in all the stations remained the same indicating uniformity from the upstream to downstream. PC 1 and 2 axes in the combined stations indicated clusters of PO4-P, NO3-N and SO42- which showed that they have high positive correlations with each other, thus, there is inferred eutrophication and subsequent pollution. AT and WT showed high positive correlation in clustering together in all the stations indicated the effect of climate change which is a global environmental menace due to the increased of the earth’s surface. High positive correlation of FCO2 and BOD indicated low dissolved oxygen which endangers the lives of aquatic fauna. The clustering of TDS and transparency together was an indication of high ionic constituents of the water, thus, inferring nitrification. CCA showed effect of environmental factors on phytoplankton species and the main source of pollution to be from organic materials. Seasonal variability showed higher factor loadings during the dry season than during the wet season (P<0.05). Temporal variableness had highest factor loadings occurring in February (P<0.05). The total number of families, genera and species of phytoplankton sampled were 7, 67 and 106 respectively.

Lack of appropriate technology, difficulty of measuring bed load and unclear boundary between bed load and suspended load induce experts to determine a part of suspended load as bed load. This ratio in many rivers with different conditions has the same coefficient and sometimes in a river, different experts estimate various ratios. In this study, two reach of Taleghan and Jajroud rivers was selected to determine the ratio, while stream flow was simulated by HEC-RAS software in both reaches. Bed load was calculated by Meyer-Peter-Muller, Casey, Schoklitch and Van Rijn equations, and Einstein, Chang-Simons-Richardsin, Begnold and Toffalati equations were used to estimate suspended load. After validation of equations, results showed that in both rivers, Schoklitch equation provides the best estimation for bed load. For suspended load, the Einstein and the Bagnold equations provided the best estimation for Jajroud and Taleghan rivers, respectively. R and Re tests and selecting of best equations for estimation of bed and suspended loads showed that bed load to suspended load ratio was about 3.76 and 0.14 in Jajroud and Taleghan rivers, respectively.

Ozone(O3) is a beneficial gas which is used for elimination of microorganisms. This gas provided from O2 and it is very unstable and reactive. The Ozone can be used as a disinfectant, decolorizer, detoxifier, precipitant, coagulant and also for removing taste. In this paper, the ozone used to control root-knot nematode in potato greenhouse. Ozone generator that designed for this purpose, produced 36 mgO3/m3. Ozone is injected to water with venture and greenhouse irrigated with ozonated water. After 20 days it is shown that disease have been controlled and stoped, crop increased between 30% and 40%, weeds decreased and plant’s daily growth enhanced.

Land is critical to the economic, social and cultural development of Kenya. It is crucial to the attainment of economic growth, poverty reduction and gender equity. Its importance is recognized by various Government initiatives including the initial Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), political party manifestoes and the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (2003-2007). Land was a key reason for the struggle for independence and Land issues remain politically sensitive and culturally complex. The Republic of Kenya has an area - approximately 582,646 sq.km comprising of 97.8% land and 2.2% water surface. Only 20% of the land area can be classified as medium to high potential agricultural land and the rest of the land is mainly arid or semiarid. Forests, woodlands and national reserves and game parks account for ten percent (10%) of the land area, i.e. 58,264 sq. km. Approximately seventy five per cent (75%) of the country’s population lives within the medium to high potential (20% of land area) and the rest in the vast Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). One consequence of this is that size and distribution of land varies quite widely just as population density which ranges from as low as 2 persons per sq. km. in the ASALs to a high of over 2000 in high potential areas. This leads uncontrolled subdivision of agricultural land, leading to reduced productivity and hence a likelihood of food insecurity. As the old saying goes, ‘the devil is in the detail’ - in our case FRAGMENTATION.

Sciences and technologies in the era of globalisation have gone extra mile in making non patented data and information accessible and most often free of charge to fellow scientists, technologists and the entire public. For civilised worlds they are vital for national and economic planning. In the era of internet, developed as world wide web; information and communication technologies have assisted researchers, scientists, publishers and consumers share on global commodity of the brain, mind and soul. It is on this note that this paper delves into detailed field and laboratory data generated on soil respiration-temperature-moisture relationships as an addition to global data bank. They are very crucial for comparative studies and for developing networking geared towards abating greenhouse gases emissions holocaust. The world is sitting on a keg of gunpowder that is neglected in pursuit of non-nuclear proliferation, nuclear accident and nuclear war. Already, there are global warming and climatic change wars raging all over the planet. Let us develop and share data and information that can warn the government and citizenry on scientific and technological dangers of the world that are similar to nuclear holocaust. It is a problem of developed and undeveloped worlds as nature knows no boundary akin to territory boundary protections.

The experiment was carried out in Kahramanmaras University Field Crops Department Experiment Area (37°35'38.2"N, 36°48'51.2"E) and Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) was used according to factorial arrangement with 3 replications. The application of mulch was done immediately after seeding and the treatment was completed after 7 months. As a result of wheat straw mulch application, the change in the levels of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) of the soil had a statistically insignificant effect on the grain yield. On the other hand straw mulch had a significant statistical effect on phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) levels in terms of grain yield. Depending on the increase in the mulch level, it was determined that the grain yield increased, the highest grain yield was obtained from 900 kg da-1 mulch application (700 kg da-1) and the lowest grain yield was obtained from the control application (510 kg da-1). Mulch application ensured the preservation of soil moisture; accordingly it had a positive effect on the yield by increasing the exchangeable phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). According to correlation coefficient analysis positive and important relationships were found between grain yield and K (r=0.969), grain yield and P (r=0.986), K and P (r=0.983), Ca and Mg (r=0.968), Cu and Fe (r=0.980)

Most Ghanaian foods are made from maize. Unfortunately, certain diets made from the cereal cannot be produced without processing the maize into flour. The corn mill has been the most efficient and often used tool for grinding legumes, cereals, nuts and spices. Maize is milled either dried or soaked. Dry maize is usually milled over and over again for about four times to retain a smooth texture. It is used to prepare many delicacies in different parts of Ghana. However, soaked maize is milled only once and it is ready for use. The work was conducted to find the levels of Cd, Al, Ni, Cu, Mg and Zn in the processed flour using instrumental neutron activation analyses at the Ghana Research reactor-1 Facility. As the grinding plates of the corn mills rub against each other, there is friction as well as wear and tear. This could introduce toxic metals into the corn flour. Results showed that the corn mills had no negative effects on the corn flour as the level of the elements recorded were below the required limits. Al values in the sample ranged from 1.8 ± 0.27 mg/kg to 5.40 ± 0.81 mg/kg. Cu, Cd, Zn and Mn also recorded concentration values of ranges 0.70 ± 0.11 mg/kg to 1.50 ± 0.23 mg/kg, 4.80 ± 0.72 mg/kg to 6.40 ± 0.96 mg/kg, 0.52 ± 0.08 ?g/kg and 0.90 ± 1.35 mg/kg to 4.10 ± 0.62 mg/kg respectively. No particular process recorded consistent peak value concentrations for the heavy metals. Ni recorded concentrations within the range 26.18 ± 3.23 mg/kg to 46.42±2.53 mg/kg. However, continuous consumption could lead to accumulation of these elements that could affect the body adversely.

This study was conducted to evaluation of different sources of nitrogen and biologic fertilizers on yield and some yield components of coriandrumsativum.Split plot in RCBD was used as experimental design and main plot included 100% organic, 100% chemical, 75% organic + 25% chemical, 50% organic+50% chemical, 25% organic + 75%chemical fertilizer and sub plot included incubate application (Azotobacterchroococcum, Azospirilliumbrasilense) and non-application.All treats had lowest means by 100% organic treatment and values increased by using of chemical percentages. Inoculation had positive effects on treats although application of organic fertilizer increased inoculation effects. The end of experiment, we recommended 25% organic + 75%chemical fertilizer as best as treatment for Coriander culture at research area.

The effects of dewaxing on the physico-chemical properties of some brands of vegetable oil have been investigated. Five (5) brands of crude vegetable oil including soybean oil (SO), beniseed oil (BO),cottonseed oil (CSO) and palm kernel oil (PKO) were used for these investigations. The physico-chemical properties and the wax contents were determined before and after the dewaxing operation. The wax contents (ppm), saponification numbers, % free fatty acid contents, slip melting points (0C) of the oil samples were reduced while the iodine values of the oil samples increased after the dewaxing operation. The dewaxed oil samples showed good abilities to withstand refrigerator temperature.

The pollinating of oil palm is cross pollination. The important insect that play an important role is Elaeidobius kamerunicus (EK). The superior DP hybrid with high sex ratio in young plants resulted in a lack of pollen.The Hatch and Carry technique is used to increase EK populations. This research aimed to determine the effectiveness of EK with Hatch and Carry technique on the fruit set level. The EK population increased the fruit set from 69% to 80%; Hatch and Carry techniques are effective on plantations dominated with young plant, and this technique can increase productivity by 5 - 16%

In order to study the effects of increasing corn plant densities on competitive ability of corn with natural weed populations in Khouzestan climate, a split plot based on randomized Complete Block design with four replications were conducted in 2011 in a field experiment station at Ramin Agricultural and Natural Resources, University of Mollasani, Ahvaz. Treatments included pure stands of corn at three densities (40000, 70000 and 100000 plants ha-1) and weed-interference period to v9 and v13 in any of plant densities (40000, 70000 and 100000 plants ha-1). The following results were observed that there was significantly difference between studied characters, grain yield, biological yield, harvest index, grain number per and row number per ear, grain number per row and 1000-grains weight among treatments. The studied characters were severely reduced by increasing the duration of weed interference after corn emergence. In addition, results showed that with corn plant increasing densities, corn plants tolerated the presence of weeds until v9 stage with approximately 6-15% in yield loss.

A field experiment was carried out in the mashkhab rice research station of the Agricultural Foundation of Researches at the Ministry of Agriculture, during the growing season of summer 2015. Two rice cultivars included amber 33 and Jasmine, which represented main plots, and three levels of transplanting methods included mechanical transplanting by riding transplanter, mechanical transplanting by walking transplanter and manual transplanting, which represent sub plots were used in the experiment. Fuel consumption, actual field capacity, ratio of hill missing, Percentage of hill damage and grains yield were measured in this study. Split plot design under randomized complete block design with four replications was used in this study. Least significant differences (LSD) at 5% level was used to compare the mean of treatments. The results were showed: The superiority of walking transplanter consumes less amount of fuel amounted 8.56 liters / hect. compared with riding transplanter which consume 11.20 liters / hect.. The riding transplanter Achieved field capacity amounted 0.2380 hect / h which significant superior than manual transplanting and walking transplanter, which achieved a capacity stood 0.0038 and 0.1370 hectares / h respectively. Hand transplanting recorded less ratio of hill missing stood 5.93% comparing with riding transplanter which recorded ratio of hill missing and walking transplanter which recorded a rate of 8.14%. 5.42% percentage of hill damage for riding transplanter comparing with 7.77% for manual transplanting. There was not significant differences appear in the grains product for used transplanting. It appears from the research results that the mechanical transplanting achieves more field capacity compared with manual transplanting. Demonstrating the success of using rice mechanic transplanting in Iraq.

This study was performed to examine the effect of nitrogen commercial bio fertilizer on yield and yield components of two cultivars of rapeseed bio as factorial experiment in Firoozabad city, Fars Provience, Iran. Firs factor included cultivars (Julius and Jerry) and secod factor was fertilizer (control, Bio-farm nitrogen, Nittrokara bio-fertilizer and Nitroxin bio-fertilizer). Measured traits included the number of pods per plant, seeds per pod, seed weight, seed yield, biological yield and harvest index. According to the results, it was founded that there is a significant difference between two varieties, Julius cultivar showed highest seed yield (923 gr/m2) and 827 gr/m2 was obtained by Jerry. In relation to fertilizer treatments, it was founded that Nitroxin had higest effect on studied characteristic and this treatment showed 1044 gr/m2 seed yield, hence, the using of this fertilizer is recommended to weather conditions of firouzabad city.

Although the magnetic field is an indispensible environmental factor for plants in soil, there is dearth of research regarding its effect on plant growth. In order to evaluate the effect of magnetic water on concentration of micronutrient elements in basil leaves, the present experiment was conducted under completely randomized factorial design with two treatments and three replications in greenhouse. The treatments consisted of the kind of water (magnetic and nonmagnetic water) and salinity treatment in three levels (distilled water, 30 mM and 50 mM salinity). The results indicated that the maximum effects on Mn, Zn and Cu concentration in basil leaves were produced by magnetic water. Concerning salinity treatments, the maximum effects on Mn, Zn, Cu and Total Fe in basil leaves were for water with 30 mM salinity. The interaction effects between the kind of water and salinity levels showed that maximum effects on these elements were related to magnetic distilled water.

In this study the effect of land size on energy use of strawberry production in Iran was investigated. The data were collected from 110 farmers in 13 villages growing strawberry in Kurdistan province of Iran. The land size was categorized into 4 groups. Total input energy for the first group, second group, third group, and last group was 60556.6 MJ ha^-1, 49313.5 MJ ha^-1, 49823.7 MJ ha^-1, and 37234.1 MJ ha^-1, respectively. The difference between mean values of first group and last group was significant at the 5% significance level. The difference between mean values of other groups was not significant at the 5% significance level.

The present paper describes the effect of a single and an iterated use of organophosphorous insecticide chlorpyrifos on three species nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria. Treatment levels of 0.5 µg/ml-4.0 µg/ml were applied once or twice with two weeks interval. Graded concentrations higher than 2.5 µg/ml showed affect on the growth of cyanobacteria. Maximum yellowing was seen to be at 4 µg/ml in all three species. The reduction in bili protein started at 2.5 µg/ml concentration of the insecticide. Three algal species showed varying degrees of sensitivity to the insecticide. Calculated no observed effect concentration (NOEC) values after treatments were 0.021, 0.024 and 0.075mg/ml for first application and 0.17 and 0.19 and 0.064mg/ml after second application for Anabaena sp, Nostoc sp and Oscillatoria sp respectively. Normal agricultural use of chlorpyrifos (250gm/1000lit/hectare) in rice fields will likely to be toxic to these ubiquitous nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria. Low dose application 2.5 µg/ml enables growth of more tolerant cyanobacteria as biofertilizer.

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.

An experiment was conducted in one of the fields of the University of Baghdad in 2015 In sandy loam soil to evaluate the effect of irrigation methods and discharge on growth and yield of green onion .The research using two factors included Subsurface irrigation system and drip irrigation system as main plot and three levels discharge included 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 L\hr as secondary plot. Soil bulk density of the soil, distribution uniformity, the plant height, number of onion plant leaves and plant yield. were measured in this study. Nested design under randomized complete block design (CRBD) with three replications were used in this experiment. Least significant differences (L.S.D) at 0.05 levels were used to compare the mean of treatments. The results showed Soil bulk density in drip irrigation system reached 1.351 mg /m3,and uniformity distribution for subsurface irrigation system reached 88.7% compared with the drip irrigation system which reached 86.8% ,for the plant characteristics , subsurface irrigation exceeded generally in the plant characteristics, and the maximum of leaves number in subsurface irrigation system in one plant reached 10.6 and the average of plant height reached 65.6 in subsurface irrigation system. It's obvious through the results the exceeding of subsurface irrigation system in increasing, Leaves number average and the height of plant while the values of soil bulk density and the uniformity distribution were close between the two system. The successful of using subsurface irrigation system for planting good growing onion.

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect furrow opener (ridge), operation speed and samples depth from furrow on soil physical properties and maize yield during the summer growing season of 2013 in the experimental at fields of Faculty Agricultural University of Baghdad in silt clay soil. The experimental treatments were arranged in Randomize Complete Block Design with three replicates. The main plots were assigned to the machinery unit speeds (3.69, 4.23, 6.27 and11.17 km h-1), whereas sample depth of furrows was assigned to the sub plots included top of furrow (0.00-0.15 m) and bottom of furrow (0.00-0.25 m). Grains of corn (synthetic cv. Maize 5018) were sowing was done on August 18th; harvest was done on December 10th. Irrigation were scheduled when soil water content in the root zone was depleted by the crop to specific fraction of available water (irrigation was imposed at 55% depletion of available water). Soil samples from furrow were taken from each experimental unit of depth 0.0 -0.15 and 0.0 -0.25 m after month of planting, middle season and after harvest to determine soil bulk density and the same samples measured saturated hydraulic conductivity and calculated mean weight diameter (MWD), geo-metric diameter (GMD). At harvest time, two central rows in each plot were harvested to determining grain yield and then; grain yield per hectare was calculated. The results the operating speeds significantly affected the soil bulk density and hydraulic conductivity values. As the operating speed increased, soil bulk density increased and hydraulic conductivity decreased. An increase operating speeds from 3.69 t0 4.23 and 11.17 km.h-1 decreased hydraulic conductivity and increased soil bulk density values for all planting growth stages (after month of planting, middle season and after harvest) except the speed 6.27 km.h-1. Different operating speeds and depth were significantly for mean weight diameter (MWD) and geo metric diameter (GMD) for all planting growth stages.

This experiment was conducted in a controlled environment, to evaluate the effects of Pre-treatment salts different on the characteristics of seeds Ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi) implemented. Experiment was carried out as completely randomized design with 4 replications. Pre-treatment included: potassium nitrate (1%), potassium phosphate (1%), sodium chloride (1%) and distilled water which was the control experiment. Seeds were submerged for 72 hours with aeration in treatments and then seeds dried and number of 50 seeds were on filter paper 30 x 30 towel method. The results indicated that in the pre-treatment, most positive effect on the germination coefficient of Ajowan plant was potassium nitrate, in other words,the seeds in less time, had the highest percentage of germination . Means comparison showed that the highest and lowest positive effect on the average time required for germination in plant Ajowan were potassium nitrate (6.9 days) and sodium chloride (9.3 days). According to results, the pre-treatment for 72 h with potassium nitrate 1% Seeds Ajowan recommended.

Conservation tillage (CA) systems are gaining increased attention as a way to reduce the water footprint of crops by improving soil water infiltration, increasing soil moisture and reducing runoff and water contamination. The concept of water footprint is defined as the total volume of freshwater used, directly or indirectly, to produce a product or process including the total amount of water required in agriculture for growing crops. About 141 million and 645 thousand hectares of land in the world have been destroyed by erosion because of inappropriate tillage operations. The total amount of 26 billion tons of soil eroded is estimated and about 2 billion tons comes out from Iran. Parallel to the erosion, loss of soil organic matter that occurs on to several factors, farming has become more challenging. Many strategies exist to combat soil degradation through erosion and compaction on agricultural fields. One of these strategies is conservation agriculture (CA). Reduced or no-tillage techniques, together with crop residue management and crop rotation are the pillars of CA. The term reduced tillage covers a range of tillage practices but it never involves inverting the soil. In this way, soil disturbance is minimized and crop residues are left on the soil. Studies in many European countries have shown that CA can indeed be very effective in combating soil erosion. However, soil and water conservation do not appear as main drivers in farmers’ decisions to shift or not to CA. Economic factors tend to be more important, but there are a lot of uncertainties on this domain. Studies show that production costs are mostly reduced, mainly by reduced fuel costs. Although many European studies have investigated the effect of reduced soil tillage on crop yields, a lot of uncertainties still exist.

Food security is a major global concern since food is the most basic human need and access to food is a fundamental human right. The right to food is contained in the universal declaration of human rights that was adopted in 1948 by the general assembly and reaffirmed by the World Food Summit and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN in 1996. To show their solidarity over poverty and hunger issues, nations under the umbrella of the United Nation (UN) targets to halve by the year 2015 the proportion of people who are hungry. Tackling food insecurity problem on a global level poses critical dynamic challenges. Every country has its own individual dimensions adding to the overall food crisis in farming areas. Due to unprecedented subsidies given to farmers in terms of seeds and fertilizers, they are easily enticed to use larger portion of their land for cultivation of food. Consequently, farmers have to either spend more on buying food or reduce their food consumption, which subject their families to malnourishment and starvation. In other words, low level of investment practiced by poor small scale farmers do not attract economies of scales but makes them remain in constant debts and this incapacitates households’ ability to afford adequate food. Farmers being trapped in a debt cycle provide them no option but to keep cultivating this crop irrespective of the long-term, veiled hazardous consequences and questionable economic gains. The power of technological solutions to solve poverty problems currently witnessed in Kenya is installed by the myriad of institutional and supply policies. Moreover, with a better policy environment, investment in rural infrastructure and transport network can bring down input costs considerably by reducing one of the major supply constraints to adoption. Considerable adaptive research, stronger and decentralized research-extension farmer linkage is required to increase the speed with which farmers apply the viable technologies. The best judges of agricultural technology are the end users-the farmers and involving them in technology use is critical to the success of research investment programs for increased sustainable production to alleviate the persistent food insecurity in Kenya.

The current global challenges of ensuring the availability of and access to food, in both quantity and quality, require deliberate and far-reaching solutions. Historically, research for development in agriculture and extension services has been a strong driving force for meeting food supply around the world. Agriculture is changing, and with it, a revised set of skills is needed to address new challenges in agriculture. As attitudes, expectations and employment in agriculture have changed, there is evidence that the skills and competencies of graduates do not meet the needs of today’s agricultural sector. Industrial development is not possible without agricultural development so, maximum people must live in the villages and help in the agricultural development, there is vast difference between rural and urban life and this should be lessened. The standard of living of rural people can be uplifted permanently only when they themselves make an effort in this direction and encourage people to take initiative; it is prerequisite that the change in the field of knowledge, understanding, skill and attitude should be brought about. Extension Education is primarily for the rural development. Its main objective is to bring necessary change in the beliefs or views of people. Extension education is an educational process by which capabilities among people are developed to understand their problems and resources. It is utilized to make scientific methods available to the rural people, so that they can raise their agricultural production and their standard of living. The aim of extension education is community development, which is possible only by bringing change in the behaviour complex of rural people. Extension education plays major role in bringing desirable change in rural people.

Soil, plant and indicators are the main criteria to recognize the function of natural ecosystems and evaluate their potentials. Rangeland ecosystem contains various patches with different functions. The structural and functional characteristics of fertilized patches in Bozdaghy rangeland, in North-Khorasan Province was measured and analyzed in this study. A group of measurable and simple indices of landscape function analysis (LFA) methods were used to evaluate these characteristics. The data were measured from seven land unit which is developed from overlaying of geology map on the dem and slope map. In this research the length and width of ecological patches by the forms of Grass, forb, shrub and bare soil with litter measured. Also we measured 11 soil surface parameters on three, 50 meters transects in the seven mentioned regions. These 11 parameters are belonging to 3 major attributes of soil: Stability, infiltration and nutrients. Statistical analysis of data using the software landscape function analysis, carried. Using multivariate analysis of variance and Duncan's test, functional characteristics associated with each of the land units were studied. Stability, infiltration and nutrients indices of Shrub, forbs and Grass showed significant differences in seven land unit (p<0.05). shrub was most important ecological indicators of areas.

England is as old as Methuselah. Historians can tell better. Nevertheless, agricultural historians can bear me witness that English agriculture has come of age. Under conventional conditions a generation is equivalent to one century. Therefore, eight generations require eight centuries. The question is what has made an island country conspicuous in the agricultural map of the world. Let us take a look .

Agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy before the discovery of oil in commercial quantity in the late 1960s to early 1970s. The sector provides employment opportunity for a larger portion of the nation’s population. So also is the provision of raw materials for most industries and provision of food for the nation. With the discovery of oil in the country, the sector has been witnessing decline in terms of performance. This has prompted the government in the early 1990s to establish fadama among many other measures aim at alleviating the problem facing agriculture. This study therefore examines the impact of fadama administration on the performance of agricultural sector in Nigeria. The study adopted qualitative analysis by comparing agricultural sector’s performance pre and post fadama establishment. The findings show mixed fortune in the performance of the sector. Whereas the total agricultural production has been on the increase, it has not been enough to meet the domestic consumption as the nation still import some agricultural products especially food items. Also the contribution of the sector to GDP is declining much as labour mobility from the sector to more lucrative sector is becoming rampant. The study therefore concludes that more funding be allocated to fadama in particular and the entire sector in general so as to address the problems detected by the findings.

Trials were carried out using five composite maize varieties in a Striga lutea (Lour) endemic soil of Temidire-Eruwa, Oyo State, Nigeria, in 2004 and 2005. The composite maize varieties were tested under varied fertilizer types, Nitrogen (N) concentrations and artificial striga infestation. The objective was to test these striga resistant maize varieties for yield and agronomic performance under the above conditions. The result showed that, variety and year of evaluation differed significantly (P<0.01) for almost all agronomic characters such as plant stand, days to anthesis (silking and tasselling), plant and ear heights as well as root and stalk lodging resistance at both 100kgN and 200kgN/ha. Variety x Year interaction were also significantly different (P<0.01) for all agronomic characters except root lodging and husk tip cover. Fertilizer type differed only for days to silking, plant height and plant aspect, while Year x Nitrogen source and Variety x Nitrogen source was highly significant (P<0.01) for field weight. Plant stands were better in 2004 than 2005 for all varieties except Acr 97syn-W and DMR-LSR-W. The composite maize varieties tolerated high N-concentration except DMR-LSR-Y which do not utilize excess Nitrogen above 100kgN/ha. Use of striga resistant maize varieties concomitantly with Nitrogen fertilizer is recommended for farmers in Striga lutea endemic ecology, for higher grain yield.

This study based on physical and microbial analyses of wastewater samples collected from Nullah Lai, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Total viable count was done on sterilized media by spread plate technique. In physical analyses of wastewater, it was found that pH was neutral while EC and turbidity of the wastewater samples were greater than the WHO standards for the irrigation purpose. The total viable counts for all the wastewater samples exceeded the standard limit of 1.0x 102 cfu/ml. Three bacterial and four fungal species were detected from the wastewater samples. Preliminary information about microbial diversity in wastewater was attained through this work that is useful in future for wastewater treatment in reference to bioremediation.

During the recent decade, the anthropogenic activities have become dominating factor towards the problem of climate variability and change. This climate variability has become the centre of many scientific studies. The objective of this paper was to investigate the total wheat yield during the time period of 1989-2009 and the overall impact of climate on the wheat yield in the provinces of Pakistan. The key meteorological variables that influenced the wheat yield were identified, the correlation and regression functions between climate relevant wheat yield and these variables were established. The correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between wheat yield and climatic variable and regression analysis revealed that high level of variance in wheat production could be explained by climatic parameters under study. The findings of the research suggested an intensification of research as well as the appropriate measures at raising wheat yields.