Agriculture

This study was conducted in Gedarif town; Gedarif State, Sudan in (2003-2006). The objective was to test the hypothesis that, the wild silkworm Epiphora bauhiniae (Guerin-Meneville) has ability to produce a lucrative silk fiber (cocoons), of commercial value, during the rainy season. A comparative study was done to determine the average values and basic production indices, of the wild silkworm, fed during the various months of rainy seasons August, September and October). The technological traits (cocoon weight, shell weight and shell ratio) of the produced cocoons were investigated under laboratory. Cocoons produced showed high weights, during the rainy season, particularly in August and September. The study revealed that, the cocoon of E.bauhiniae, easy to be degummed and released from cocoon by hand, after treatment using NaoH solution (low con. 0.25%). The fibers have high ability or capability of dyeing absorbency. Sericin percentage was 44%. Cocoon weight, shell weight and shell ratio ranged between (1.5 - 2.98 g, 0.37 - 0.59 g, 22.5 – 24.5 %, respectively). The technological traits were significantly varied, within the period of the rainy season, i.e. the values obtained during August and September was higher than October values. This study showed the potential of E.bauhiniae, as an important wild silkworm, to be a candidate as a commercial insect, for silk production in Sudan, because it is a bi voltine race (generate twice a year) beside that its products covers all quantitative and qualitative traits and accordingly this insect will have prominent concerns to contribute and help in future to defeat poverty and boost farmer income. This study claimed to be the first study that, showing the technological traits of E.bauhiniae in Sudan and open the door widely for the insect not to be placed out in the cold.

Diverse soil management practices exist even within a narrow transect of farming areas in Nepal. This variation is principally due to location of farm households along the spatial gradient, infrastructure availability, market demands and farmers’ awareness to on-farm resource conservation. Over-exploitation of farm resources was negligible and disturbance to agro-ecology was minimal in the past couple of decades. In the last decade, however, due to a massive sprawl in the available farmlands along with a shift of subsistence farming towards market-oriented conventional approach, prime agricultural lands have been over-exploited. This led to negative repercussion on production base and farmers’ livelihoods. This paper concerns with the simulation of farm income through spatial modeling considering the strategy of sustainable soil management practices. Spatial modeling shows higher farm income gains due to intervention in rural areas (low income zone) and peri-urban areas (high income zone) with existing unsustainable soil management practices. Spatial explicit assessment shows that integration of micro-survey into spatial environment and subsequently modeling of present and future situation would add more information on the results from conventional surveys. Therefore spatial effects should be duly considered while formulating agriculture and rural development policies.

Agriculture provides a variety of societal functions. Intensive and expanded using of farming land in recent decades has negative effects on ecological factions and stability of their production. Mechanization is one of the main factors of modern agriculture and directly and indirectly is related to sustainable agriculture. In this study, the relationship between mechanization and sustainability of dry farming wheat and dry chickpea farms in the Kuhdasht county of Iran were investigated. Indicators in two categories: direct (energy consumption, soil compaction and air pollution) and indirect (risk of contamination with chemicals) were evaluated. The impact of mechanization indicators on social- economic (employment, job damage and economic performance) were investigated. Although these indicators do not show a complete overview of sustainability farm, for comparison, farm stability and improvement farm sustainability are effective. The results show strong communication between mechanization and the sustainability in dry farming of wheat and chickpea and although mechanization has the positive effects on sustainability but it has negative effects as well. With determining of type and scale of local mechanization, sustainability of production will increase.

An experiment was conducted in August 2011 using air cooler type BF3 size 2500 m3/ h have motor works with two speeds. Researcher add another water pump to work with the first water pump in order to increase the amount of water drop over pads. Water consumption (liters / hour), the internal temperature°C, external temperature°C ,the temperature of the cooling water in the bottom of the cooler°C, electrical consumption (A), and cooling efficiency were studied in this experiment. The result showed that add another water pump has highly significant effect on cooling efficiency (F1, 19 =15.98, p value = 0.0018). Furthermore, add another water pump has highly significant effect on inside temperature (19, 1=58.37, P value < 0.0001) which improve the performance of air cooler. In addition, there was a highly significant effect on water consumptions (19, 1= 26.16, P value =0.0003), which is normally add another water pump mean more water will consume that because allow to the pad to become more saturation as well as don’t left any dry spot in the pad. The only sources of the air that inter to the building will be through the wet pad, and any dry spot in the pad will allow to the hot air to pass through it that will add more heat to building. Just the time play an important role on water temperate there was highly significant effect (19, 4= 50.25, P value = <.0001), because temperature afternoon is higher than in the morning or at night that will causes increase water temperature of the air cooler.

Combining ability and nature of gene interactions that contribute to grain yield and its attributing traits of wheat were investigated using 21 bread wheat hybrids developed by crossing 7 commercial varieties in a half diallel mating design. The estimates of variance due to specific combining ability (?2 SCA) were absolutely greater value over variance of general combining ability for yield and yield attributing traits. Thus the results revealed that non-additive genetic variances accomplished an important role in the expression of different characters. The GCA and SCA ratio was less than unity for all the traits. This indicated that non-additive components played relatively greater role in the inheritance of these traits. Thus, use of diallel mating with recurrent selection could provide the better conditions for recombination and accumulation of desirable genes.

To evaluate the natural rejection capacity of six plantain cultivars collected in five territories in the province of Maniema, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The trial was conducted using an experimental system of subdivided plots and observations were made on the number of naturally formed shoots, the diameter, the height of the pseudo-trunk and the leaf area of the plant. The correlation between the number of shoots and these three parameters was calculated. The results obtained were as follows: 8.17 ± 2.72 shoots were produced in the control, 8.50 ± 2.62 in the sawdust and 8.26 ± 2.68 in the decomposed rice husks. The averages per cultivar for all fertilisers and per cultivar were 9.37 ± 0.11 for C6 (Otangala); followed by 8.76 ± 0.65 for C4 ((Mbonjilo) ; 8.43 ± 0.12 for C5 (Kambelekete) ; 8.03 ± 0.48 for C1 (Kyankola)1 ; 7.89 ± 0.19 for C3 (Mbudi 2) and 7.37 ± 0.48 for C2 (Mbudi 1). It was found that these numbers of rejections do not differ statistically between fertilisers and between cultivars. The correlation coefficients are therefore generally low or mogged, negative or positive. The data are heterogeneous within fertilisers and homogeneous within each cultivar.

The term “producer” rather than “farmer” because it covers all aspects of agricultural production, including livestock and fisheries, and the processing of agricultural products on-farm or in the rural areas (such as the women’s cottage industries). The producer organizations (POs) considered are formal rural organizations whose members organized themselves with the objective of improving farm income through improved production, marketing, and local processing activities. POs deal with: policies on issues such as pricing and export and import of agricultural products; improvement of agricultural production practices; access to inputs and services, including agricultural credit; marketing of agricultural production; and local processing of agricultural production and its marketing. Collectivization of producers, especially small and marginal farmers, into producer organizations has emerged as one of the most effective pathways to address the many challenges of agriculture but most importantly, improved access to investments, technology and inputs and markets. Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India has identified farmer producer organization registered under the special provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 as the most appropriate institutional form around which to mobilize farmers and build their capacity to collectively leverage their production and marketing strength. It has been argued that rural producer organizations (RPOs) are an effective tool for solving problems in rural areas and promoting agricultural development. The empirical evidence of the effectiveness of POs on serving their members is scarce at best.

Potculture experiment was conducted to study the effect of different sources of phosphorus on soil phosphorus availability, uptake, yield and quality of groundnut. Four organic sources (farmyard manure, poultry manure, vermicompost and sewage sludge) were evaluated in comparison with single super phosphate, all applied on equal P basis @ 34 kg P2O5 ha-1. The six treatments, including a no-P as control were replicated four times in a completely randomized design.The results revealed that the addition of phosphorus markedly increased the phosphorus uptake and there by increased the pod yield. Among the sources poultry manure recorded the highest yield 0.4 g pot-1 and was followed by farmyard manure 37.1 g pot-1. Phosphorus sources significantly increased the oil content but no significant impact among sources. Phosphorus application significantly increased the crude protein percentage. Among sources, crude protein content was higher in poultry manure treatment (12.83). Highest available phosphorus content was recorded in poultry manure treated soil (28.5 kg ha-1) and Farmyard manure was the second best source of available phosphorus.

Incidence of guava orchards decline was surveyed in different localities of District Larkana. The samples were collected from trees showing clear disease attack. Pure culture was obtained by transferring single spore/ piece of mycelium to PDA plates. Identification was made by using microscopic characters and taxonomical keys. The fungal pathogens responsible for guava orchard decline were fusarium oxysporium f.sp. psidii. and Botryodiplodia theobromae.

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.

The paper reviews pollination studies in oil palm in West Africa, the Far East and South and Central America. The main types of pollination in the oil palm, anemophily and entomophily, and other forms of pollination are discussed. The floral characters of the oil palm that promote anemophily and entomophily are: abundant smooth dry pollen grains, enlarged stigmatic surfaces, reduced perianth, coloured perianth and a raised female inflorescence. The critical role played by insects and the resulting increases in yield of fresh fruit bunches (ffb) and oil following introductions of pollinator insects into the plantations in the Far East and Central and South America are mentioned. The introduction of insect pollinators into areas in the Far East with poor fruit set rates led to the cessation of assisted pollination and increased profitability. The introduction of the insect pollinators led to as much as 36 – 80 % improvement in fruit set, a 12 % increase in fruit-to-bunch ratio and a 28 – 54 % increase in mean bunch weight. The oil-to-bunch ratio increased by 9 % and a 43 % improvement recorded in the kernel-to-bunch ratio. Insects belonging to the Elaeidobius spp. (Coleoptera: Curculiondae; Derelominae) are the main insects involved in pollination of the oil palm. Other insects listed are the Prosoestus spp., Microporium spp. (Coleoptera: Nitidilidae) and Atheta spp. (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Mystrops spp. are of economic importance in South and Central America. The insects generally carry pollen on their hairy bodies and wings. The bigger and more hairy insects are more efficient pollinators and contribute to adequate fruit set and increased yield. Pollinator insect populations may be conserved through the selective use of insecticides, the proper timing of application, and the mode of application to achieve sustainable production.

Soils inherently low in nutrients may respond dramatically to conservation management, yet evaluation of soil nutrients on absolute basis may not detect change. This study was primarily aimed at investigating the depth distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), soil carbon: nitrogen ratio (C:N), soil dry bulk density (BD), total porosity (TP), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and their stratification ratios as affected by conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) under cocoyam in a Typic paleudult in two agroenvironments in southeastern Nigeria. The experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resource Management, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Agbani Enugu (06?52' N, 07?15' E) and The Research and Experimental farm of Enugu State College of Agriculture and Agro-Entrepreneurship, Iwollo (06026'N; 07016'E), respectively during 2013 and 2014 planting season. The design of the experiment was Randomized Complete Block (RCBD) with five replications and four treatments which comprised of conventional tillage with 150 and 300 Kg/ha of NPK15:15:15 and No-Tillage with 150 and 300 Kg/ha of NPK15:15:15. Soil analysis was carried out at both pre- and post planting at two soil depths (0-20cm and 20-40cm) in both locations. The data collected was analyzed using Analysis of variance test (ANOVA). Result showed that Conventionally-tilled plots that received 300 Kg/ha NPK had 0.121percent N. This plot had between 7% - 30% lower N content when compared to No-till plots amended with both 300 and 150 Kg/ha for 2013 and 2014 planting season. The results showed that No-till plots had significantly higher (18-43%) post-harvest percent soil nitrogen, organic carbon and carbon: nitrogen content when compared to conventionally-tilled plots at both 0-20 and 20-40 cm soil depths. The stratification ratio of N (1.09-2.14 and 1.02-2.29 for CT and NT respectively), OC (CT, 1.10-3.07; NT, 1.01-2.42) and C:N ( CT, 0.79-3.02; NT, 0.74-1.99) whereas stratification ratio of bulk density (CT,0.72-0.98; NT, 0.74-0.99), total porosity (CT, 0.98-1.20; NT, 0.90-1.22) and hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)(CT,1.07-1.29; NT, 1.03-1.49) for both sites and years did not follow any particular trend. This implies that soils vary in inherent properties and that absolute values of soil properties at the surface can vary. However, a reference is needed to separate inherent from management-induced changes. Generally taller plants (P>0.05) were found in Conventionally-till plots when compared with No-till plots. At harvest (210 DAP), the highest corm yield was obtained in Conventionally-tilled with 300kg/ha N plots which gave 8.58 and 7.83t/ha in Iwollo site for 2013 and 2014 planting season respectively followed by no-till treated 300kg/ha of NPK which also had 6.58 and 6.00t/ha. Conventionally-tilled plots amended with 300kg/ha N had 35% and 36% higher yield when compared with No-till plots amended with 150kg/ha of NPK plots for 2013 and 2014 planting season. The high yield advantage of Conventionally-tilled with 300kg/ha N over the other treatments may be due to differences in tillage practices and N fertilization rates. Tillage and fertilization helped increase the rate of crop emergence, improved soil moisture status, soil air (aeration), and improved general edaphic conditions of plants resulting in better yields. The relatively high stratification ratio of soil organic C, and some other soil properties, implies that conservation tillage and fertilizer application can compensate to some degree for the removal of above-ground plant residues

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.

Any experiment should be compatible with scientific approaches such as statistical reliability, rationality, internal and external validity, generalizability, and other specific criteria related to the subject, at the laboratory level or field level. Hence, planning a design to accomplish those approaches is critical, and selecting an appropriate model accordingly to acquire basic principles of design would make the experiment more precise. Straightforward designs of CRD, RCBD, and LSD, and complicated designs of IBD, Factorial experiments, Split-plot designs, and Lattice designs are discussed here. Consequently, the researcher can decide the appropriate experimental design.

Stable isotopes of hydrogen (?²H) and oxygen (?¹⁸O) in groundwater, streams and Volta Lake collected in southwestern margin of the Volta Lake were investigated. While the spatial distribution of ?¹⁸O in groundwater (-3.61 to -2.17 ‰ vs VSMOW) showed that most of the heavy-isotope depleted samples were located in the higher portion of the study area (northeastern) on the Kwahu Plateau, more positive values (from -2.62 to -2.17‰ vs VSMOW) were found in areas in proximity of the Volta Lake. The isotope composition of streams (?¹⁸O) varied closely from -2.80 to -2.61‰ vs VSMOW with most depleted being the most forested stream. The Volta Lake showed relatively enriched and homogenous isotope composition (?¹⁸O between -0.66 and -0.43) reflecting high evaporation of the Lake. Stable isotope signature of the water samples point to meteoric origin of recharge to groundwater in the area also show possible intrusion of Volta Lake into the aquifers near the banks of the Volta Lake.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the agricultural performance in monocropping and in association of tomatoes affected by a few diseases in the city of Kisangani. The study was done following a non-randomized block device comprising two blocks of 6 plots each. Two types of crops were used namely tomato and spinach. The treatments consisted of tomatoes in pure culture and tomatoes in combination with spinach. Observations focused on the evolution of tomato diseases and the number of inflorescences, flowers, fruits, fruit weight, fruiting and yield per plant. The results obtained reveal that the combination of spinach with tomatoes reduces the spread of tomato diseases and increases tomato yield under the conditions of our study. information retrieval systems.

Spatial variability of soil properties have been attributed to factors of soil formation, land use and management. Mycorrhizal fungi are associated intrinsically with soil organic matter and have been reported to be spatially heterogeneous and largely influence soil fertility and crop production. The objective of this study was to assess spatial variability of arbuscular mycorrhizal and its relationship with particle size fractions on valley bottom soils in southwestern Nigeria. The study was conducted on a 9 hectare (900m by 100m) undergraduate internship plot in University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Surface (0 - 15cm) and subsurface (15 – 30cm) soil samples were collected at rigid grid nodes (10m by 100m), processed and analysed for particle size distribution, available phosphorus, organic carbon and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Gigaspora, Scultelospora, Acaulospora, Entrophospora, Glomus, etc.). Data collected were analyzed statistically using descriptive statistic, statistics of dispersion and geostatistics. The variables that were normally distributed included silt (surface), silt, clay and organic carbon (subsurface). Status of coefficient of variation of the soil properties ranged from least to moderate (7.6% - 42.3% and 0.7% - 42.7% for surface and subsurface soils respectively. There were significant correlations between clay content and Gigaspora (r = 0.43, p<0.01), clay and Glomus (r = -0.24, p<0.05), Gigaspora and Glomus (r = 0.43, p<0.01) on the surface. Whereas on the subsurface, clay and Glomus (r = 0.23, p<0.05), available phosphorus and Gigaspora (r = 0.23, p<0.05), Gigaspora and Glomus (r = 0.51, p<0.05) were significantly correlated. The semivariance analysis carried out indicated that extent of spatial dependence of the soil properties on both depths varied from strong to moderate (5.9% - 63.3% and 14.3% - 53.0% in surface and subsurface soils respectively) which is as a result of intrinsic variation caused by factors of soil formation. Variability of mycorrhizal spores in the study area is majorly attributable to pedogensis rather than land use and management. Clay and available phosphorus were found to influence distribution of mycorrhizal spores.

The present study aimed to map irrigable lands in Bugesera Agro Ecological Zone (AEZ) in the Eastern Province of Rwanda, using spatial information’s. The related Concerns were to determine the suitable area for irrigation that can include all different parameters which influence irrigation. The methodological approach consisted of processing Aster Landsat and DEM; gathered by Radar Satellite acquired at CGIS/NUR, using appropriate packages-software ILWIS 3.3, Erdas8.7 and ArcGIS 9.2. Satellite image was used to determine land use and land cover classification of the study area and the DEM to determine slope classification. The results showed maps that are describing different type of layers classified according to purpose of irrigation, slope, water proximity, percentage of clay and sand and type of land use. Those maps helped to produce a model design that conducts us to determine the most suitable area for irrigation. The model designed would be used as a planning tool to optimize agriculture in the Eastern Region of Rwanda.

Today in water and soil sciences, many attentions have been arisen on Geostatistical methods to estimate spatial parameter using some data (kriging) or using auxiliary variables (cokriging). The quality of ground water for agriculture is very important, however its measurement is time consuming and expensive. Therefore, finding solution to estimate such parameters from easily measurable parameters is essential. In this study, two estimation models (spatial and regression models) were used to estimate SAR¹ and CL¹ in Tehran region using Geostatistic theory and spatial parameter concept. In this regard, ArcGIS software was used to estimate these parameters. Multi-parameter estimate of cokriging was applied using water salinity as an auxiliary variable. In addition, different estimation methods, cokriging, kriging and regression models, were compared and evaluated by RMSE statistic index. The results of this study showed that cokriging method with high correlations coefficient and with Gaussian Semivariogram is more precise than kriging and the selected regression models in estimating SAR and CL.

Understanding the response of the rocket crop to different source and salinity levels allows determining the type and level of salt that can be tolerable even where this factor is limiting. We evaluated the effect of different sources and levels of salinity sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium chloride (KCl) in rocket. The trial was conducted in a greenhouse, throughout completely randomized design in a 2x6x11 factorial scheme, two salt sources (NaCl and KCl), six salinity levels (0, 0.5; 2.0, 3.5, 5.0 and 6.5 dS m-1) and eleven replications. KCl exceeded the NaCl and both did not affect the leaves immersion.

Persian shallot grows as a wild plant in some mountains of Iran. Persian shallot, a bulb producing plant from Alliaceae, is a wildly growing plant collected for its bulbs. Bulbs of Persian shallot, called “Mooseer” in Farsi, are oval, white skinned, usually of one and rarely of two main bulbs and are completely different from common shallot (Allium ascalonicum). In this study, various physical properties of Persian shallot were determined at a moisture content of 68.62% w.b. The equatorial diameters, polar diameters, shape index, volume and density were 36.647 ±3.30 mm, 33.242 ± 3.47 mm, 1.0898 ± 0.07, 3.5106 ± 0.961 cm3 and 5211.292 ± 1108.463 Kg.m-3, respectively. The static coefficient of friction was obtained on the plywood surface followed by the glass and the galvanized iron sheet surfaces. The shear strength increased with an increase in loading rate. Linear model for describing the mass of Persian shallot, by applying dimensional characteristics and volume was investigated. The results showed that mass modeling of Persian shallot based on oblate spheroid shaped volume (Vosp) and geometric mean diameter (Dgm) are the most appropriate models, respectively.

Waste is an unavoidable by product of human activities. All the human activities ie., domestic, commercial, industrial, healthcare, organizations, generates solid wastes that are normally discarded as useless or unwanted. The wastes generated from these activities of more advanced society produce more complex and heterogeneous wastes because of living standards and changing food habits. With rising urbanization, change in life style and improving living standards in cities; have led to increase in per capita waste generation and complexity of generated waste in the recent years. The problem in cities lies not only in the quantity but also in the quality and composition of the wastes, which have changed from being dense and almost entirely organic to voluminous and increasing non-biodegradable with higher percentage of toxic substance. The exponential growths of human population & resource consumption have left outstripped the ability of the natural environment to assimilate it and municipal authorities to manage it. Increasing migration, high-density population will make waste management a difficult issue to handle in the near future.

One of the most important natural resources that cover much of the earth's surface is soil. Most life on earth depends upon the soil as a direct or indirect source of food. Plants are rooted in the soil and obtain nutrients from it. Animals also get nutrients from eating the plants on the soil. Soil is home of many organisms such as seeds, spores, insects, and worms. The contents of soil change constantly and there are many different kinds of soil. It forms very slowly and is destroyed easily, so it must be conserved in order to continue to support life.

Two sets of field experiments were performed in two successive summer seasons to study the effect of soil and foliar fertilization of mungbean. The first set included the effect of late foliar applied N or K under different levels of phosphatic fertilization on mungbean yield and chemical constituents. Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L) Wilczek) var. Kawmy-l was fertilized with 0,19,38,57 and 76 Kg P205 ha-1 at sowing. Foliar applied N was sprayed as 1 % urea solution and K was applied as potassium sulphate 36% K20 solution; both N and K sprays were carried out at early pod formation stage. The second set of experiments aimed to study the effect of micronutrient application when combined with urea. The foliar applied treatments were urea (1%); and four key micronutrients; i.e. Fe (0.5%); Zn (0.1%); Mn (0.2%) and CuSO4 (0.05%). Micronutrient treatments were sprayed either alone or combined with urea at early pod formation. The obtained results showed that P fertilization significantly increased mungbean pod weight per plant, 100-seed weight, yield per plant and per hectare compared with the untreated control. Mungbean seed yield per hectare showed more response to foliar applied N than that with K. The best seed yield per hectare was reported from the combined effect of 76 Kg P205 ha-1 and foliar spraying with N. Protein percentage in mungbean seeds was not affected by either soil or foliar applications and ranged between 20.6 to 22.9%. However, protein yield kg ha-1 significantly increased when the plants were fertilized with 76 Kg P205 ha1 and foliar sprayed with N. In addition, soil application of P and foliar spray treatments showed significant effects on carbohydrate percentage and carbohydrate yield ha-1of mungbean seeds. Micronutrient application showed beneficial effects on yield and yield components from the association of urea with Zn on pod-number and with all micronutrients on pod-weight per plant. The highest seed yield per plant was recorded when the plants were foliar sprayed with Fe and Mn alone or Urea+Zn. Meanwhile, the highest seed yield per hectare was achieved by foliar spraying with Fe or Zn alone as well as by the combined application with urea Fe, Mn or Zn. Micronutrient concentrations in mungbean seeds were elevated more than in the control treatment due to foliar spray treatments but it did not reach the level of significance for Fe, Zn and Cu. It could be concluded from this study that mungbean productivity responds to combined soil application of P at 57 Kg P205 ha-1 and late foliar applied N at early pod formation stage. Foliar spray of urea combined with Fe or Zn may increase seed yield and improve the quality of seeds.

The study examined the determinants of consumption of food away from home (FAFH) in the urban sector. The socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and factors motivating it were identified as well as factors that influence the consumption of food away from home. The study used two stage sampling method to select 118 respondents that was used for the study. Data collected were analysed using ordinary least square model. The result revealed that 8 out of the 17 variables considered to influence consumption of FAFH were significant and these are household size, number of children under 6yrs, children between 7 and13years as well as 14 and 17years, total number of visit per week to places for food away from home, number of working female adults and easy access to prepared FAFH. Household size was significant at 1% level and has a direct relationship with household expenditure on consumption of FAFH. The total number of adults present in the household is also significant at 1% and has an inverse relationship with expenditure on consumption of FAFH. Also, the number of children under 6 years is statistically significant at 5% level of significant and it has an inverse relationship with the household expenditure. This could be as a result of specially attention given to young children. Based on the rapid growing trend of consumption of food away from home consumption, this study recommends that FAFH should be taken up by approved and trusted sources putting the health and safety of the consumers into consideration and government agencies concerned with food and health safety should ensure that food served at eateries and restaurants are safe for consumption.

The study specifically described the socio-economic status of the people involved in the production, distribution and consumption of convenience foods in Lafia urban of Nasarawa state. It identified the factors that influence the entry into convenience food enterprise, factors necessitating the demand and supply of the products and examined the costs and returns of three convenience foods. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics (multiple regression analysis), the four points likert scale and the enterprise gross margin. The major findings indicated that female producers of convenience foods were more than male producers, the multiple regression result on the effects of socio-economic characteristics of consumers on the amount of money spent on consumer foods revealed that R2 value is 0.697. This implied that 67.7% of the total variation in output (Y) is explained by the combined influences of the independent variables in the model. The gross margin enterprise revealed that the sale of convenience foods in Lafia metropolis is profitable. The study concluded by advocating for provision of credit facilities amongst others to producers and distributors of convenience foods with limited income.

Adoption is a decision to make use of an innovation on a continuous basis. This study investigated the socio-economic determinants of adoption of improved rice production technologies in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The study employed multi-stage random sampling techniques in the selection of 420 rice farmers from the three agricultural zones of the state. Primary data were sourced through field survey with the aid of structured questionnaires and interview schedule. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis. The result of the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers shows that majority (66.67 percent) of the respondents were males whose age ranged between 41-50 years with mean age of 42 years. Most of them (62.50 percent) were married and had household size of between 6-10 persons with average household size of 8 persons. Majority (50.83 percent) were full-time farmers whose farm size ranged between 1.1-2.0 hectares. Most of the farmers (43.33 percent) had been involved in rice farming for 21-30 years and earned monthly income of between N31,000-N40,000. The result of logistic regression analysis showed a log likelihood ratio of -188. 40 and Chi-square value of 682.559 which was significant at (P= 0.01); implying that all the variables jointly determined the dependent variable. The Pseudo R2 (Nagelkerke) which was 76.6 percent implied that about 76.6 percent of the variation in the adoption of improved rice production technologies was explained by the farmers socio-economic characteristics. Most of the variables were significant and met a priori expectations. The result of factor analysis identified: technical, financial and institutional constraints as major bottlenecks limiting adoption of improved rice production technologies in the area. It was concluded that the socio-economic characteristics of the rural farmers significantly influenced their adoption of improved rice production technologies. Necessary recommendations such as: reviving youths’ interest towards rice production; employing and training more extension workers; timely provision of subsidized agricultural inputs as well as incentives for the formation of cooperative societies; were made.

In this paper, the availability and economic importance of some selected Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) among rural households in Nigeria were investigated. The National Living Standard Survey (NLSS) data collected by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics were used for the study. A number of forest products activities were found to be of importance to the livelihood of households in the study area. These include hunting, honey processing, palm wine tapping, fruit processing, hides, and mushroom gathering. About 17% of the respondents were engaged in hunting, 17.43% in honey processing, 17.36% in palm wine tapping, and 15.85% mushroom gathering. With respect to income generation, the most important of these activities is palm wine tapping with income share of 87.51%. The results also show that the poor were found to be more dependent on the forest than the non-poor, while households from the Southern zones were more forest dependent than households from the Northern zones. It is recommended that research should be conducted into breeding of early maturing species of these valuable trees that are being cut down at an alarming rate to guarantee future availability for food, medicinal and livelihood purposes.

Sugarcane is one of the industrial crops used as raw material for several major and minor industries. In Khuzestan, which contains most of the sugarcane farms of Iran, sugarcane is harvested either in green or burnt method. Mechanized harvesting has been replaced by manual harvesting during recent years. Delay in milling of the harvested sugarcane is caused by different reasons in agro-industry units, in addition, methods of harvesting including green and burnt harvesting can cause qualitative and quantitative losses of canes. Thus, a split-plot in time design was executed, with the randomized complete block basic design in 5 replications, in Hakim Farabi agro-industry in 2015. The results showed that the interaction between time delay and harvesting method was significant in 5% level of probability in the main traits of sugarcane i.e. the amount of yellow and white sugar which is affected by other qualitative and quantitative factors. In such a way that the amount of yellow and white sugar during 5 days delay in burnt sugarcane was respectively 1.96 and 1.63 tons per each 100 tons, whereas the amount was 1.3 and 1.08 tons in green harvesting of sugarcane. Thus, compared to burnt sugarcane, green harvesting is less sensitive toward time delay. The invert, which represents loss of sugarcane quality, was separately significant in harvest and time treatments respectively in 1% and 5% levels of probability; in such a way that was 1.7 times higher in burnt sugarcane compared to green one day. The amount of invert in 5th day was 1.35 higher than 4th day.

Accurate estimation of water and soil losses from agro-ecologically diverse areas is extremely important for designing appropriate resource management or soil/ water conservation measures. The developed KW-GIUH-MUSLE(Kinematic wave-Geomorphlogical Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph-Modified universal Soil loss equation) model is tested for its sediment yield estimation potential on three agro-ecologically diverse micro-watersheds in Almora district of Uttranchal. It is observed that estimates are associated with about 49% mean relative errors and mean DV value of about 0.51 in Salla Rautella and Naula micro-watersheds. This showed that point predictions of annual sediment yields are of moderate quality. However, root mean square error estimates and comparison of mean and standard deviation values for the observed and simulated sediment yields showed that long term sediment yields could be estimated quite realistically. This is also observed in Deolikhan micro-watershed that storm wise sediment yield estimates are associated with about 6% mean relative error and 0.94 mean DV value. The analysis thus clearly showed that the developed KW-GIUH-MUSLE model could indeed be utilized for obtaining reasonable sediment yield estimates for un-gauged/ inadequately gauged micro-watersheds.

The study measures dairy research in in top three milk producing countries (i.e. India, USA and China) and identify leading players in dairy research during 2001-2010, based on number of parameters, including publication, citation, impact, p-index, h-index and global publication share. The 20 most productive countries were selected and evaluated. The status of research output and milk production in G-7 countries and developing countries were examined. The data on publication citation and h-index were drawn from two databases i.e. Web of Science and Scopus. USA is giving maximum output in quantity and quality of publications, Other major players are UK, France, Germany, Netherland, Canada, Switzerland and Australia. Production of milk is highest in India and it has 10th rank in GDP but lagged behind in dairy research. The developing countries like India, China, Pakistan, Brazil, Poland, Mexico, Argentina and Romania are producing significant amount of milk but share in the research output is very less.

A field experiment on sugarcane was conducted at Anbil Dharma lingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tiruchirapalli with the view to identify sodic tolerant variety and suitable amendment for sodic soil. Four sugarcane varieties viz., Co Si (Sc) 6, Co C (Sc) 86032, Co C (Sc) 23 and Co G (Sc) 5 and three amendments viz., pressmud @ 12.5 t ha -1, gypsum @ 4.8 t ha -1 and bottom slag @ 15 t ha-1 were studied along with the unamended control in the experiment were studied. The results revealed that sugarcane varieties Co G (Sc) 5 and Co C (Sc) 23 gave higher K+: Na+ as compared to the Co Si (Sc) 6 and Co C (Sc) 86032 under sodic soil. The sugarcane varieties namely Co G (Sc) 5 and Co C (Sc) 23 were found to be superior for accumulating more K than the Na+, hence these might be considered suitable for growing under sodic soil.

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.

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).

Uromyces fabae (Uromyces viciae-fabae) the pea rust was first reported by D. C. H. Persoon in 1801. Later DeBary (1862) changed the genus and renamed it as Uromyces fabae (Pers) deBary. There after, Kispatic (1949) described f. sp. viciae-fabae by including host vicia fabae. The pathogen Uromyces fabae described as autoecious rust with aeciospores, urediospores and teliospores found on the surface of host plant (Arthur and Cummins, 1962; Gaumann, 1998). Gaumann proposed that the fungus be classified into nine forma speciales each with a host range limited to two or there species. Later it was observed that the isolates of Uromyces viciae-fabae share so many hosts in common that it was impossible to classify them into forma speciales (Conner and Bernier, 1982). Based on the distinctive shape and dimensions of substomatal vesicle, Uromyces viciae fabae has been described as a species complex (Emeran et al., 2005). It revealed that host specialized isolates of Uromyces viciae fabae were morphologically distinct, differing in both spore dimensions and infection structure.

In India maize ranks fifth position in area and fourth in production among the major cereals grown. Being a C4 plant and having very high yield potential, it is called queen of cereals. One of the main deterrents to high grain yield in maize is its susceptibility to several diseases. Of 112 diseases of maize reported so far from different parts of the globe, 65 are known to occur in India. Banded leaf and Sheath blight (BLSB) is one of them caused by most widespread, destructive and versatile pathogen Rhizoctonia solani f. sp Sasakii (teleomorph: Corticium sasakii, syn Thanatephorus cucumeris) which claims significant yield loss (Saxena, 2002). It was first reported by Bertus (1927) in Sri Lanka under the name Sclerotial disease. The epidemics of this disease were first reported in the warm and humid foot hills of Himachal Pradesh by Thakur et al. (1995). Singh and Sharma (1976) recorded a loss in grain yield in the range of 11 to 40 per cent due to this disease while Lal et al. (1985) reported a reduction to the extent of 97.4 per cent in severe condition. A range of 25 to 30°C (Ahuja and Payak, 1981) coupled with an average relative humidity of 90-100% (Ahuja and Payak, 1981) is most suitable for development of this disease. These conditions prevail in the plains of N.E. region of India during the months of July-August, a time when the crop is in vulnerable growth stage. In India the disease was first recorded in the Tarai (foot hill plain areas) region of Uttar Pradesh (Payak and Renfro, 1966). Maize plant is affected by as many as 61 diseases, out of which 16 have been identified a major ones which occur both in tropical and temperate regions of India (Sharma and Payak, 1986). Among these, banded leaf and sheath blight (BLSB) incited by Rhizoctonia solani is gaining economic importance. Grain yield loss, depending on severity varies between 11 to 40 per cent (Singh and Sharma, 1976). Now banded leaf and sheath blight is considered as one of the major diseases of Maize (Payak and Sharma, 1985).

Surveying number entering a particular stage of a stage-structured population (e.g. arthropods) using field sampling data has been subject of many studies in last 60 years. Stage-frequency data consist of count of individuals in different development stages in samples taken from a population over a period of time. Several methods are then available for deriving estimates of stage-specific survival rates and other population parameters that are of interest to the ecologists that Manly (1990) listed 23 methods. The application of some of these methods is limited by their computational difficulty and others are limited by restrictive assumption that they make. Each method has advantages and disadvantages which arise from its assumptions. The first method in this field may be offered by Richards and Waloff (1954). Richards et al (1961), Dempster (1961), and Southwood and Jepson(1962) suggested further methods and the KNM method proposed by Kiritani & Nakasuji (1967) and extended by Manly (1974). There is therefore something of a problem for the data analyst to decide what is the best for a particular set of data. The purpose of this note is presenting a review of some important and applicable methods to show differences among these. So, it is recommend that any method be used with respect to the required information and parameters.

A field experiment was carried out in 2007, 2008 and 2009 at Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria to determine the response of two Chilli pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) varieties (Bird’s eye and Dantsiga) to five harvesting frequencies (weekly, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks and once at the end of the rains). Factorial combinations of the treatments were replicated three times and laid out in a randomized complete block design. Gross and net plots were 9m2 and 4.5m2 respectively. A spacing of 75cm x 30cm was used. Appropriate agronomic and crop protection practices were adopted to ensure adequate crop performance. The results showed that variety Dantsiga had significantly longer fruits, higher fruit diameter, number of seeds per fruit and dry fruit yield per hectare. There was no difference between the two varieties in the number of fruits per plant. Harvesting every two weeks resulted in significantly higher fruit yield and number of seeds per fruit throughout the three years of study.

Field Studies were conducted in order to determine the component of yield and response of soybean to soil applied Zinc and phosphorus in the Charnockitic soil of Ekiti State Nigeria. Three ZnSO₄ treatments 0,2 and 4kg/ha were applied to soybean in2006-2007 and grain yield was consistently and significantly increased by the 2kg/ha ZnSO₄ treatment. Three phosphorus treatments 0, 30 and 60kg/ha were applied to soybean in 2006-2007, but only 30kg/ha P treatment increased grain yield significantly in 2006-2007. 30kg P/ha applied increased leaf P in the charnockitic soil.

Effect of different doses of nitrogen with or without GA3 application on plant height, nutrient uptake (N,P,K and S). Yield parameters in NDR-8501 Brassica juncea cultivar in year 2013-14. Field experiment was conducted at Instructional Farm of N.D.U.A.&T., Kumarganj, Faizabad (U.P.) during Rabi season, mustard seeds were grown under different treatments. Three doses of nitrogen (90, 120 and 150 kg ha-1) and GA3 (50 ppm) spraying at 30 and 60 DAS, nutrient uptake, siliquae plant-1, seed siliquae-1, seed yield increases at 120 kg N ha-1 with spraying of GA3 at 30 DAS as compared to without GA3 spraying GA3 at 60 DAS spraying increase the observed parameters but it was low in comparison of 30 DAS. The optimum dose of nitrogen of recommended dose of fertilizer along with spraying of 50 ppm GA3 at 30 DAS can be used as optimum recommended source for improving mustard seed yield under local agro climatic conditions.

To provide cashew seedlings with the optimum growing conditions possible during the early phases of establishment, it is crucial to reduce stress. The purpose of this study was to analyze the physiological response of cashew to soil moisture and light conservation under various shading regimes. The seedlings were raised in a 2.8 litter plastic container filled with topsoil under partial shade, semi-partial shade and unshaded (control) conditions at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, (CRIN) Ibadan. The experiment was laid out in a Complete Randomized Design with 4 replications per treatment. The shade effects were studied for 7 months and data on morphological parameters such as plant height, stem girth, numbers of leaves were collected. Light and moisture meter were used to read the amount of sunlight penetration and soil moisture. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and treatment means. From the result, plant height growth was highest in the control (full sun) at 50.52cm as the control also had the thickest stem girth and highest number of leaves. Shade imposes a limitation on growth and development of cashew seedlings but varies with shading levels. It should be noted that the results observed in this study are specific to the environmental conditions of the study site.

The occurrence of drought leads to reduction in reservoir and tank levels and depletion of soil moisture and groundwater. There is a need to develop suitable criteria for planning supplemental irrigation to crops for increasing and stabilizing crop yields during non-drought conditions, and minimizing crop damages during drought. The present study is aimed to study metrological drought and agriculture aspects of drought in Mirzapur districts the recurrence of drought in these parts of the country in recent years have caused unprecedented economic losses and great suffering to the affected areas. The study is based on the analysis of rainfall and critical dry spell (CDS). In this study, crop water requirement and irrigation requirement for the crop during the drought situation is also analyzed and introducing the supplemental irrigation under drought condition. In Mirzapur district the deficiency of annual rainfall is observed up to 16%. In the district approximately one out of every four to five year is drought year. The year 2007 and 2009 was most severely affected as most of the area of the district was under drought and major area of the district is found as drought prone. In the district on an average three critical dry spells (CDS) have been observed during the monsoon season.

Forward contracting can help reduce the problem of inputs supply risk which is inherent in Nigeria’s agriculture. This research work concentrated on the prospect of the strategy among crop farmers and agricultural input marketers. ‘The results of the study revealed that majority of the respondents’ supported forward contracting of inputs and were willing to engage in the strategy. However, low capital base of enterprise, possible default by farmers and late payments are possible reasons why Agricultural input marketers may not be willing to go into a forward contract with crop farmers. The age of farmer, number of crop enterprises, years of experience, capital base of farmer and extension visits were significant factors influencing farmers’ willingness to engage in forward contracting of inputs. There is need to create more awareness about ‘forward contracts’ among agricultural input marketers and farmers in the country. Agricultural credit should be made affordable, available and accessible to input marketers by Micro Finance Banks and the Nigeria Agricultural Bank to improve their capital base. State and Local Government Authorities in collaboration with farmers’ cooperative societies should stand as guarantors for Farmers who are willing to engage in forward contracting.

Soil samples were collected from charnockitic soils of Ekiti state, Nigeria by random sampling using the soil map of Ekiti state as a guide. Surface samples and sub surface samples were dug covering about 100ha. The soils were sandy to loamy sand on the surface to sandy clay in the sub-soil. All the pedons, show consistently increasing clay with depth, pointing to argillic horizon development. Chemical analysis shows that the soil are characterized by high base saturation (>35% by NH4 OAc). The CEC, organic carbon, available phosphorus (Bray1) and total nitrogen were generally low. Most of the nutrient elements decreased with increase in depth.

Over the decade, the problems of national food nutrition and fibre crises have been on the increase and the ghost chasing the economy is no longer a figment of the imagination. The time has come for a definitive attack. This paper examined the economics of promoting increased food production through efficient inputs services and farm-rural infrastructures. The basic agricultural inputs for modernized commercial production are land, Labour, modern farm capital, water, climate, power and entrepreneurship, while basic infrastructures that promote agricultural production include rural, physical, social, institutional and farm facilities. These inputs and infrastructures interact, thus have competitive, complimentary supportive, joint effect and consequently; the economics of inputs-infrastructures promotion raises quantitative, management, organizational, institutional and costs return implications that merit substantial research efforts in the context of the atomistic population of small holder farmers in Nigeria. Although government may facilitates, stimulates and promotes growth of Agriculture food production programme, success must ultimately depend on the multitude of farm household. To secure food security for the teaming population, various motivated programmes (farm settlement) and the co-operationalized systems must be updated. Hence Inputs-land, Labour, capital, power and entrepreneurship must be earnest in a way to favour production and basic rural-farm infrastructures. Keywords: Food production, Input services, Rural infrastructures

In this study the energy consumption of orange orchards was surveyed and various Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) developed to estimate the farmer’s production in the Sari region as a case study. The data were collected using a face-to-face questionnaire method from 86 farmers in the Sari region. The results indicated that the total amount of energy input and output were 54284.8 and 59223.4 MJ ha-1, respectively. Among all inputs involved, diesel fuel had the highest energy values per hectare. Also, energy efficiency, energy productivity and net energy were calculated as 1.09, 0.57 kg MJ-1 and 4938.5 MJ ha-1, respectively. Performance of developed ANN models were evaluated using the coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean squared error (RMSE). The resulting tests showed that best performance was achieved by a momentum training algorithm resulting in R2=0.84, and MAE= 0.32 and RMSE=0.38 with 8-4-1 topology. Additionally, sensitivity analysis revealed that fertilizer and electricity energy had the highest and the lowest sensitivity on output, respectively.

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.

Six periods of English agriculture namely: prehistoric, historic, agricultural revolution, post agricultural revolution, green planet and post green planet were identified. Their previous and current land management practices were reviewed with reference to East Anglian Region (EAR), the food basket of the nation. The current land management practices at EAR with Writtle College Research and Teaching Farm as case study included: grassland on permanent pasture; one on 5 y ley to stocking, the other sown with red clover a y before stocking; the third treated with N fertilizer a y before stocking; the fourth on arable crop (barley); with pristine woodland as control. By aid of CENTURY 4.0 Model, simulation of soil carbon (C) storage was generated for the past, present and future (8050 yrs). The validity of the model was tested by fitting measured with simulated C. The closeness of data fit in deciduous woodland shows the accuracy of the prediction; while the variations in other sites show the effects of management. The assumed practices during different historical and future periods led to the following predictions and conclusions. All the current land management practices including woodland do not sequester enough C. Integrated approaches like agroforestry, silviculture are required. Nevertheless, given the current land management soil C sequestration will be moderate (0.02 ± 0.003 t ha-1 y-1) up to 2055 before impacts that will require other sustainable options will be noticed.

Termites are significant agents behind organic decomposition in or at the surface of the soil. They thrive in great abundance in terrestrial ecosystems and play important role in biorecycling of lignocellulose... Macrotermitinae are the dominant termite family which cultivate fungal combs within the mound chamber. The termites and fungi, form a agricultural beneficiary relationship which is one of the most spectacular example for mutualistic symbiosis The key activities attributed to the fungal partner in this mutualistic symbiosis are extensive delignification of the substrate and the conversion of plant fiber to fungal biomass .The fungal population aids in the decomposition of cellulose and supply other nutritional requirements for the termite.