{"title":"Cashew growers’ preferences for market information system design in Benin: a choice experiment approach","authors":"C. Sossou","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/22.1069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/22.1069","url":null,"abstract":"In Benin, cashew value chain is a promising sector in terms of its export earnings potential and its contribution to the diversification of the country agricultural sources of income. However, its efficiency is hindered, among others, by information asymmetry issue. Market information system (MIS) has been used as an alternative for addressing such issue. Unfortunately, as in most african countries, most MIS still depend on donor for their financing, hence raising the issue of MIS sustainability once the funding ran out. Stakeholders renewed interest in setting up payment-based MIS. To analyze MIS design through estimating users (i.e. cashew growers) willingness to pay for its characteristics, the study grounds its assumption on consumer utility theory. Therefore, the study assumes that a respondent is willing to pay for MIS services if the service provided matches his preferences. Accordingly analyzing cashew growers’ preferences for MIS characteristics will inform about the appropriate design increasing respondent’s willingness to paying for it. Data were collected from 344 cashew growers. Respondents’ preferences were analyzed using choice experiment approach. The results showed that most growers still doubt about MIS effectiveness. However, analyzing their preferences reveal that respondents are willing to pay to receive information in the evening, once in a week, from their farmer’s association, through their mobile phone and in local language.","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47974289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Efficiency of bio-foliar fertilizer extracted from seaweed and water hyacinth on lettuce (Lactuca sativa) vegetable in Central Vietnam","authors":"Hoang Thi Thai Hoa","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/22.1257","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/22.1257","url":null,"abstract":"Foliar fertilizer is important for lettuce vegetable development and yield. The present investigation studied different types and ratios of bio-foliar fertilizer to water seaweed extract and water hyacinth (0:1, 1:10, 1:20 and 1:30) in comparison to different two commercially available foliar fertilizers on growth, and quality attributes of lettuce. Four pot and field experiments were undertaken in spring seasons of 2020 and 2021 in randomized complete block design using three replications. The findings revealed that lettuce yield and quality were dependent on the type and spraying ratio of bio-foliar fertilizer from seaweed and water hyacinth. Improved yield and quality of lettuce was found when bio-foliar fertilizers from seaweed and water hyacinth were sprayed at ratio 1:10 (increasing compared to control in 68–81% with seaweed; 61–70% with water hyacinth in pot experiment and 19% with seaweed; 14–17% with water hyacinth in field experiment). Nitrate content was within standard range <1000 mg kg-1 and brix content from 2.20-2.65% as compared to commercial foliar fertilizer. A close relationship was found between biomass yield (R2 = 0.46 to 0.66) and economic yield (R2 = 0.50 to 0.64) with type and ratio of bio-fertilizer. In conclusion, a bio-foliar fertilizer extracts from seaweed at a spraying ratio of 1:10 can be used to achieve better yield and quality for lettuce crop.","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42754599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploiting the potential of weedy rice as value added silage under different nitrogen levels and cutting intervals","authors":"Aniqa Mubeen","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/22.658","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/22.658","url":null,"abstract":"Weeds, often considered a “menace” are top-notch, adroit survivors having intrinsic value as source of biodiversity and various promising uses as bio-resource. Among other benefits, their use as feed/food source or raw material is still to be explored. Weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) a conspecific of rice has rapid growth, ability to uptake more fertilizer and produce large biomass. Lot of efforts are done for its management but little is known about its nutritive value and utilization as feed source for livestock. Therefore, the present study was carried out at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad in 2017 and 2018 to optimize N level and harvesting time for improving growth and silage quality of weedy rice sown as sole crop. Treatments comprised of four N levels viz: 0, 100, 120 and 140 kg ha-1 and harvesting intervals viz. 15, 25 and 35 days after heading (DAH). Weedy rice harvested at different intervals after onset of heading stage was used for making silage and analysed for nutritive value. Results depicted that, maximum plant height, fertile tillers, panicle length, kernels per panicle and LA were obtained with 120 kg ha-1 N and harvesting at 25 DAH during both years, while NDF, ADF, cellulose, and hemicellulose were highest with no fertilizer. Crude protein was highest with N application at 120 kg ha-1 and harvesting at 25 DAH. Highest nitrogen contents in plants, plant biomass, WSC, ash and DM in silage were recorded with 140 kg ha-1 N when harvested at 35 DAH. Weedy rice harvested at 25 DAH with N application at 120 kg ha-1 seems to be better combination for rational use of nutrients, better productivity and improving most of the nutritive traits of whole crop weedy rice silage","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45348355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Non-pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum contributes in the biological suppression of pea wilt in disease suppressive soil","authors":"S. Aslam","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/22.9093","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/22.9093","url":null,"abstract":"Peas are growing all over the world as a leguminous crop due to high nutrients value. Fusarium wilt of peas is a destructive disease and causing deleterious loses in pea growing regions of the world. The fields were surveyed with disease incidence of Fusarium wilt in major pea growing areas. Fields with heavy pathogen infestation and natural disease suppressive were observed at District Sahiwal, Pakistan. The samples were collected to diagnose the disease and factors responsible in the suppression of disease. The results of soil physio-chemical properties showed no significant differences between diseased and suppressive soils. Pathogenicity assays both in-vitro and pot trial showed that suppressive soil has natural ability to suppress the disease. Furthermore, in-vitro and pot assays were designed with different soil treatments to investigate the factors responsible in the natural disease suppressiveness in suppressive soil. The results demonstrated that the mechanism involved in disease suppressive soil is biotic in nature. All isolated fungal strains from diseased and healthy roots of pea were subjected to biological assays to evaluate the virulence. The assays showed that isolate SAH09 is non-pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum which was isolated from the pea roots of suppressive soil. Isolate SAH09 was used in dual culturing technique and pot trial to evaluate the mycoparastism behavior against virulent pathogenic isolates SAH03, SAH05 and SAH10. Results concluded that isolate SAH09 of non-pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum has potential to suppress the growth of all isolates of pathogenic Fusarium and possibly play the role in natural disease suppression in suppressive soils","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44985417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Optimization of design and operational parameters of a vibration-based seeding device for potato mini-tubers","authors":"Wenzheng Liu","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/21.8947","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/21.8947","url":null,"abstract":"The mechanized planting of potato mini-tubers is vital for the development of the potato industry in China. A vibration-based seeding device for mini-tubers was designed and tested. The objectives of this study were to describe the design process of the main components of the seeding device by theoretical analysis, evaluate the reliability of the key components of the seeding device by finite element analysis, assess the seeding device’s working performance, and obtain a better combination of operational parameters by bench tests. According to a theoretical analysis of the seeding device design, the eccentricity of the eccentric wheel (EEW), rotational speed of the drive shaft (RSDS) and linear speed of the conveyor belt (LSCB) were selected as critical factors influencing the seeding device’s working performance. A Box-Behnken design (BBD) was applied to conduct bench tests and build regression models. Based on the optimized results, verification experiments were performed by a bench tester. The results showed that the multiple-seeding index (MUSI) was 3.10%, the miss-seeding index (MISI) was 4.01%, and the qualified-seeding index (QSI) was 92.89% when the EEW, RSDS and LSCB were 4 mm, 821 rpm, and 86 mm s-1, respectively. Verification experiments showed that the results agreed well with the theoretical optimization values","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44988041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effect of biofilmed biofertilizers on potato yield through induced soil -plant interaction","authors":"A. Henagamage","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/21.1413","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/21.1413","url":null,"abstract":"The current study aimed at developing and examining biofilmed biofertilizers (BFBFs) as an ameliorator for potato cultivation by enhancing soil-plant interaction. Fungal-bacterial biofilms (FBBs), the main ingredient of the BFBFs were developed using soil microorganisms and were screened for their efficacy. The best BFBF coupled with chemical fertilizers (CF) were evaluated for potato yield response and soil amelioration using two field experiments conducted (two seasons) under two different climatic conditions. Results showed that the 50CB treatment significantly (P < 0.05) increased tuber yield at both field sites in both seasons compared to the full recommended CF (100C). The treatment 50CB showed significant (P < 0.05) improvement in soil chemical properties; soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), available phosphorus (available P) and available calcium (Ca2+) in comparison with the 100C at both sites. However, 50CB did not show any significant difference in available nitrogen (available N) and available potassium (K+ ) in comparison with 100C. Further, internal biochemical properties of potato plant, e.g., chlorophyll content, stem sucrose content and tuber starch content were significantly (P < 0.05) improved by the 50CB. In addition, significant (P < 0.05) correlations were observed among soil pH, Ca2+, tuber starch and chlorophyll contents in the 50CB. Thus, it can be concluded that the enhanced soil chemical properties in the rhizosphere , i.e., pH, available Ca2+ and K+ , SOC, available P, available N from BFBF induced signals improved plant internal biochemical processes, thus leading to the increased potato yield. The BFBF (150 mL/plant) reduced the CF application by 50% and this is an enormous environmental and economic gain to improve soil health and potato production.","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47161962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An investigative insight of factors responsible for cotton paradigm shifting in the Punjab, Pakistan","authors":"M. Shahzad","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/21.1415","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/21.1415","url":null,"abstract":"Cotton is an important commodity to improve economic development of rural dwellers and the economy of Pakistan. It contributes 5.2 percent in value addition to the agriculture sector and more than 50 percent share of the total exports of the country. But the cotton production has witnessed a huge decline of 20 percent from 13.96 million bales to 9.86 million bales over the last five years from 2014-18, resulting in a large loss to the GDP of the country. This rapid shifting of cotton towards sugarcane and other crops in core cotton areas of Punjab has severely damaged the large textile industry of Pakistan. Therefore, the present study was planned to investigate the factors behind shifting of cotton crop in the purposively selected district Rahim Yar Khan as it was the leading cotton producing district in the Punjab and had been hit hard by this paradigm shift. The population of study was comprised of all those farmers who have been completely or partially shifted from cotton to sugarcane crop. Multistage sampling technique was adopted to select the sample size. A baseline survey was conducted to prepare a list of farmers who had been shifted from cotton to sugarcane production. A well-prepared interview schedule was administered for data collection in this study. It was revealed that the cost of certified cotton seed and fertilizers were the major economic factors; adulteration of pesticides and unavailability of certified seed were the production factors; poor quality of water and extreme heat waves were the natural factors; market fluctuation and middleman monopoly were the marketing factors and expansion of sugar industry and unchecked involvement of middleman were the major policy factors behind the paradigm shift of cotton crop as per the responses obtained from the respondents","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45320237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Insecticide-induced changes of photosynthetic pigments content in peach leaves","authors":"S. Vukovic","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/21.1066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/21.1066","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, the impact of insecticides on the chlorophyll and carotenoid contents in peach leaves was assessed. Applied insecticides are registered in Republic of Serbia and some EU countries for the control of the oriental fruit moth (Grapholita molesta Busck) in peach orchards. The experiments were set up in peach orchards (variety “Royal gem”) at the localities of Čelarevo and Šišatovac (northern region of the Republic of Serbia). The applied spray liquids from different chemical groups based on cyantraniliprole (a.i. 100 g/l), chlorantraniliprole (a.i. 200 g/l), spinetoram (a.i. 250 g/l), indoxacarb (a.i. 150 g/l), acetamiprid (a.i. 200 g/kg), deltamethrin (a.i. 25 g/l), pyriproxyfen (a.i. 100 g/l) and chlorpyrifos (a.i. 250 g/l), were foliar applied at a concentrations of 0.06, 0.02, 0.02, 0.05, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.25%, respectively. Leaves were sampled 3 and 7 days after treatment and analysed for the contents of photosynthetic pigments. Results showed the most adverse impact on the total chlorophyll; their content decreased after application of chlorantraniliprole (32.6-52.7%), indoxacarb (31.1-47.5%), chlorpyrifos (32.4-36.9%), pyriproxyfen (19.5-37.7%) and cyantraniliprole (22.8-33.4%). However, the carotenoid content was increased (16.3 to 117.1%) in the analyzed samples three and seven days after the treatment at both localities, except spinetoram which reduced carotenoids content by 2%. In general, the tested pigments in peach leaves showed a different biochemical reaction depending on the applied insecticides.","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45960513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reverse design and analysis of gear five-bar planting mechanism based on agronomic requirement","authors":"Xu Hongzhen","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/21.794","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/21.794","url":null,"abstract":"As crops have different agricultural requirements in pot seedling and the parameters of the planting mechanism need to be repeatedly designed, this paper proposed a reverse design method for the classic gear five-bar planting mechanism based on the agronomic requirements for pot seedling planting. The mathematical model of the planting trajectory of the geared fivebar planting mechanism was constructed through homogeneous coordinate transformation method,; the conditions for the geared five-bar planting mechanism to achieve zero-speed planting were: the gear ratio of the gear pair is -2, and the difference in length between the planetary gear rod and the sun gear rod is equal to the ratio of the planting distance to 2π. Based on the agronomic parameters of pot seedlings (planting depth, planting distance), the parameters of the geared five-bar mechanism were reversed to realize the reverse design of the geared five-bar planting mechanism. Field test results: the average planting depth of tomato pot seedlings is 47mm, the planting distance is 203mm, and the uprightness of pot seedlings is 97.5%, which meets the agronomic requirements of planting tomato pot seedlings. Therefore, the proposed reverse design method of geared five-bar planting mechanism based on agronomic requirements can solve the problem of repeated design of planting mechanism due to different agricultural parameters of most crops, which can greatly reduce the workload of designing various crop planting mechanisms","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49344882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effect of supplementation of nano zinc in male quail diets on performance, some blood parameters, testis morphology and meat colour properties","authors":"B. Sevim","doi":"10.21162/pakjas/21.240","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21162/pakjas/21.240","url":null,"abstract":"This research was conducted to determine the effects of different levels (0, 50 or 100 mg/kg) of nano zinc (nano Zn) supplementation as a zinc source in male Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) diets on performance, some serum parameters, testis characteristics and meat colour. In the four-week study, a total of 60 male Japanese quails (190.4 ± 2.4 g body weight) at the age of 49 days were distributed to three treatment groups and each treatment group was divided into four subgroups, each containing five male quails. As a result of this study, in the current study, the addition of nano Zn to the diet had no effect on feed intake, testis morphology, serum cholesterol, total protein, calcium and phosphorus levels (P>0.05). Addition of nano Zn to diet increased body weight gain (BGW) (P<0.05). With the addition of nano Zn, serum glucose level increased while serum triglyceride level decreased (P<0.05). Breast and thigh + drumstick L* values among meat parameters increased with the addition of nano Zn to male quail diets (P<0.05). As a result, adding nano Zn to male quail diets increased serum glucose level and meat L* value, decreased serum triglyceride concentration, and testis morphology was not affected.","PeriodicalId":19885,"journal":{"name":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46894731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}