Agriculture-Basel最新文献

{"title":"The Association of Socio-Economic Factors and Indigenous Crops on the Food Security Status of Farming Households in KwaZulu-Natal Province.","authors":"Nomfundo Shelembe, Simphiwe Innocentia Hlatshwayo, Albert Modi, Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, Mjabuliseni Simon Cloapas Ngidi","doi":"10.3390/agriculture14030415","DOIUrl":"10.3390/agriculture14030415","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Indigenous crops have been proposed as part of a solution for household food security and sustainable farming systems. However, they have been overlooked and underutilised by households and farmers despite their potential contribution to household food security. The objective of this paper was to determine the association of socio-economic factors and indigenous crops with the household food security of farming households. About 260 farming households were selected using a simple random sampling procedure. The food security status was measured through the use of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). The Chi-square test and extended ordered probit regression model assessed the relationship of socio-economic factors and indigenous crops with household food security status. The results from the HFIAS showed that farming households were largely in the mildly and moderately food-insecure categories, with 34.2% and 36.2% of the sampled farmers found in these categories, respectively. The Chi-square test showed a statistically significant relationship between food security status and socio-economic factors. Young men and everyone were perceived to be the ones likely to consume indigenous crops. Consumption of indigenous crops was perceived to be associated with food security. The results also showed that farming experience is likely to positively contribute to the food security status of the farming households. Selling indigenous crops in a formal market is perceived to be associated with food security compared to selling in an informal market. This study concludes that consuming indigenous crops is likely associated with improved food security. Identifying an appropriate market for sales of indigenous crops is imperative. Government, extension officers, and nutritionists must conduct training workshops to encourage households to grow, market and buy indigenous crops. Government and policymakers need to include indigenous crops in the national food and nutrition security policy and create formal markets for indigenous crops.</p>","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7616313/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141793812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of Dietary Galla Chinensis Tannin Supplementation on Antioxidant Capacity and Intestinal Microbiota Composition in Broilers","authors":"Peng Yuan, Xiaojie Ren, Jiaxing Niu, Yang Liu, Libo Huang, S. Jiang, Ning Jiao, X. Yuan, Weiren Yang, Yang Li","doi":"10.3390/agriculture13091780","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091780","url":null,"abstract":"The current study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary Galla Chinensis tannin (GCT) supplementation on antioxidant capacity and gut microbiota composition in broilers. Two hundred eighty-eight Arbor Acres broiler chicks were divided into the CON group and the GCT group; each treatment group contained 6 replicates with 24 broiler chicks per replicate for a period of 42 days, and were fed either a basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with 300 mg/kg GCT. Results revealed that GCT supplementation significantly increased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity (p < 0.05) and significantly decreased malondialdehyde (MAD) concentrations in serum (p < 0.05) and significantly increased GSH-Px and catalase (CAT) (p < 0.05) and significantly decreased MDA concentrations in the small intestine. In addition, GCT significantly up-regulated (p < 0.05) the gene expressions of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme-oxygenase 1 (HO-1), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPX1), and NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1(NQO1). High-throughput sequencing results showed that GCT supplementation significantly increased abundances of Faecalibacterium and Megamonas (p < 0.05). These findings will contribute to our understanding of the effects of dietary Galla Chinensis tannin supplementation on antioxidant capacity and intestinal microbiota composition in broilers.","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74376688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fields of the Future: Pivotal Role of Biosaline Agriculture in Farming","authors":"H. Gheyi, D. Sandhu, C. F. de Lacerda","doi":"10.3390/agriculture13091774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091774","url":null,"abstract":"Worldwide, groundwater quality is in decline, growing progressively saltier [...]","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91026674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic Variability of Oil Palm in Mexico: An Assessment Based on Microsatellite Markers","authors":"A. Magaña-Álvarez, D. Pérez-Brito, A. Cortés-Velázquez, Á. Nexticapan-Garcéz, M. E. ORTEGA-RAMIREZ, I. García-Cámara, Yasmín Sánchez-Rodríguez, R. Martín-Mex","doi":"10.3390/agriculture13091772","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091772","url":null,"abstract":"Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) has become the largest source of vegetable oil in the world. It is known that all existing genotypes of this species are related, so their genetic variability is considered to be low. In Mexico, all oil palm plantations are located in the southeast of the country, and they are established with different origins seeds, which has caused poor yields and resulted in the need to establish a genetic improvement program. Therefore, in this study, the extent of genetic diversity among 151 oil palm accessions from all producing regions of Mexico was assessed with twenty simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and seven random amplified microsatellite (RAM) markers. The markers utilized proved to be useful in revealing high existing genetic variability, with a total of 1218 and 708 alleles detected and polymorphic information content (PIC) of 0.96 and 0.91 for RAM and SSR, respectively. The genetic distance among all accessions of oil palm collected ranged between 31% and 82% for similarity. Accessions from Tabasco and Veracruz presented the greatest and smallest genetic diversity, respectively. These results can allow breeding strategies to be established for the genetic improvement of this crop in Mexico.","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74212184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) Response to Different Forms of Sulfur Fertilizers","authors":"G. Kulczycki, Elżbieta Sacała, Anna Koszelnik-Leszek, Łukasz Milo","doi":"10.3390/agriculture13091773","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091773","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of the study was to compare sulfate fertilizers and mixtures of elemental sulfur (S0) and sulfate in terms of yield and nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) status in perennial ryegrass. Mixtures of sulfate and S0 can reduce the consumption of sulfate alone. The plants were grown in soil cultures. The plants were supplemented with S0, K2SO4, MgSO4, and (NH4)SO4 or a mixture of these salts with So. Two sulfur doses were applied and the ryegrass was harvested three times. Fresh and dry weights of each swath, the N and S content, and their uptake were determined. The total fresh yield of sulfur-fertilized plants was 25 to 94% higher compared to unfertilized plants. The increases in dry matter were even more significant. Fertilizers, being a mixture of S0 and sulfate, showed the same efficiency as those containing sulfate alone. Sulfur fertilization resulted in a higher S content and its uptake, lowered N concentration in second and third swatch, and a decrease in total N uptake. In conclusion, to achieve high crop yields, soil sulfur deficiency should be corrected and fertilizers that are the mixture of elemental sulfur and sulfate are a beneficial and effective approach.","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79875143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phosphate Fertilizer Type and Liming Affect the Growth and Phosphorus Uptake of Two Maize Cultivars","authors":"Fangfang Ning, P. M. Nkebiwe, Jens Hartung, Sebastian Munz, Shoubing Huang, Shunli Zhou, Simone Graeff-Hönninger","doi":"10.3390/agriculture13091771","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091771","url":null,"abstract":"In the context of phosphorus (P) exhaustion and low P use efficiency (PUE) in crop production, a field trial was designed on a low-P soil in southwestern Germany in 2020 and 2021 to investigate the effects of P fertilizer type and liming on maize growth and P uptake and PUE. The experimental factors were (i) two P fertilizer types, rock phosphate (RP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP); (ii) lime application, lime and no lime; and (iii) two maize cultivars. The results showed that RP resulted in a lower leaf area index and light interception compared with DAP, a 33% lower silage yield, and a 29% lower P content at harvest. The PUE of RP was 18%, which was 37% lower than DAP. Soil liming reduced shoot biomass and led to 35% less shoot P content at the six-leaf stage. The maize cultivar Stabil expressed higher yielding and P acquisition characteristics. In conclusion, DAP cannot be replaced by placed RP, regardless of the lime application in silage maize production in this study. Future research on the PUE of maize cultivars should also consider root characteristics in response to P fertilizer type and soil pH.","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85891796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Data-Driven Soil Analysis and Evaluation for Smart Farming Using Machine Learning Approaches","authors":"Yixin Huang, Rishi Srivastava, Chloe Ngo, Jerry Gao, Jane Wu, Sen Chiao","doi":"10.3390/agriculture13091777","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091777","url":null,"abstract":"Food shortage issues affect more and more of the population globally as a consequence of the climate crisis, wars, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing crop output has become one of the urgent priorities for many countries. To raise the productivity of the crop product, it is necessary to monitor and evaluate farmland soil quality by analyzing the physical and chemical properties of soil since the soil is the base to provide nutrition to the crop. As a result, soil analysis contributes greatly to maintaining the sustainability of soil in producing crops regularly. Recently, some agriculture researchers have started using machine learning approaches to conduct soil analysis, targeting the different soil analysis needs separately. The optimal method is to consider all those features (climate, soil chemicals, nutrition, and geolocations) based on the growing crops and production cycle for soil analysis. The contribution of this project is to combine soil analysis, including crop identification, irrigation recommendations, and fertilizer analysis, with data-driven machine learning models and to create an interactive user-friendly system (Soil Analysis System) by using real-time satellite data and remote sensor data. The system provides a more sustainable and efficient way to help farmers harvest with better usages of land, water, and fertilizer. According to our analysis results, this combined approach is promising and efficient for smart farming.","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75951723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Review on White Mango Scale Biology, Ecology, Distribution and Management","authors":"Syed Turab Raza, Abid Hameed Khan, Asifa Hameed, Noor Muhammad, Abdul Ghaffar Grewal, Muhammad Tariq Malik, Muhammad Imran, Ghulam Mustafa, Atif Iqbal","doi":"10.3390/agriculture13091770","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091770","url":null,"abstract":"The white mango scale (WMS) insect, Aulacaspis tubercularis (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), is a polyphagous, multivoltine pest which is a serious threat to qualitative mango production and export. The WMS insect sucks sap from leaves, branches and fruits. The heavy infestation of this pest may cause the falling of young leaves, drying up of twigs, poor flowering, and, finally, reduce the quality of fruits by producing pink spots on fruits’ surface. This review paper was written to provide comprehensive information about pest biology, ecology and management in different parts of the world. WMS was first reported on the island of Formosa on Mangifera indica in 1929 and later on in the Caribbean Islands, India and Brazil. Now it is found in almost 69 mango-producing countries of the world. The thermal regime may affect the population of pests. In Australia, the life cycle is completed in 35–40 days in summer and 70–85 days in winter. Variety, age of plants, number of trees per acre, canopy size and sunlight penetration affect the density of WMS. Different Coccinellid beetles and parasitoid Encarsia femorosa feed on WMS; however, farmers most commonly use insecticides to get rid of this pest. In Pakistan, WMS is a growing threat to the export of mangoes; hence IPM plan is needed to reduce the pest numbers and enhance qualitative mango production.","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80092147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of the Nexus between Structural and Climate Changes in EU Pig Farming","authors":"N. Jurkėnaitė","doi":"10.3390/agriculture13091778","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091778","url":null,"abstract":"The EU’s ambition to establish economy-wide climate neutrality by 2050 requires challenging transformations in many economic activities. This paper aims to investigate the nexus of structural changes and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) in an important sector of the livestock system, namely pig farming, during the period of 2010–2020 and to discuss the main directions of GHGE reduction. The academic novelty of this contribution is characterised by a combination of the shift-share and cluster analysis that allows for the investigation of the evolution phenomenon, applying the sustainability prism in order to understand the nexus between pig farming and the livestock system, as well as combining the national and EU levels. Results suggest that the steep decline in the number of holdings and a moderate reduction in livestock units (LSUs) on farms do not bring tangible GHGE reduction results. The cluster analysis confirms that pig farming systems in pre-2004 member states, except for Finland and Greece, demonstrated positive developments or a lower decline in holdings with pigs and live swine LSUs compared to other countries, while in the dominant share of post-2003 member states, the GHGE reduction rate was higher. This research identifies a reduction in the pig population, improvement in feed production and the development of related supply chains, and changes in manure management and utilisation as the main directions of GHGE reduction; however, the identified clusters are related with different potentials of GHGE reduction when applying the aforementioned measures. Recommendations include the development and support of actions that focus on GHGE reduction from swine manure and contribute to the establishment of a circular economy in the EU.","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84365558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of Certain Pesticides on the Predatory Mite Typhlodromus ndibu Pritchard and Baker (Acari: Phytoseiidae)","authors":"Nguyen T. P. Thao, Nguyen T. Thuy","doi":"10.3390/agriculture13091776","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091776","url":null,"abstract":"Typhlodromus ndibu Pritchard and Baker (Acari: Phytoseiidae), collected from citrus orchards in the southern region of Vietnam, has been identified as a natural enemy of the citrus red mite Panonychus citri (McGregor) (Acari: Tetranychidae). It holds potential as a laboratory-reared predator for biological control purposes. However, the research on T. ndibu remains limited. This study focuses on investigating the effects of fenpyroximate, alpha-cypermethrin, pymetrozin, buprofezin, matrine, and azadirachtin on this predatory mite in laboratory conditions. Fenpyroximate was the most toxic substance against T. ndibu, affecting its fertility, egg-hatching rate, and population establishment ability. The mortality rate among adult female T. ndibu is (73.97 ± 2.43%), and (89.09 ± 0.00%) in the immature stages after 72 h of exposure to fenpyroximate. Matrine and azadirachtin—active ingredients of plant origin—were classified as slightly harmful to T. ndibu with mortality rates among adult females and the immature stages being less than 50%. The implications of the obtained results regarding the integration of biological and chemical control methods may facilitate the more effective development of integrated pest management (IPM) programs.","PeriodicalId":48587,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture-Basel","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86605934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}