Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume:18 Issue: 7, Dec 2016

Export is an important factor in economic development and the creation of regional agreements is one of the ways to facilitate trade and exports; but measuring the success rate of these agreements is one of the challenges of this field. In this study, we compared the factors affecting agricultural exports and imports in the ECO and European Union countries. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential effects of countries’ trade policies on the other countries that are in the same trade zone. To achieve this objective, we used spatial econometric techniques on data regarding the years between 1992 and 2013. The results showed that spatial effects were present in both trade zones. The comparison of coefficients of these variables in the import and export functions, led to the introduction of a new index which can be used as a criterion to evaluate the level of agricultural development in different trade zones.

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is a new trend in educational sciences. This study investigates how knowledge sharing and transferring can be facilitated by using CSCL in a problem-solving setting. Intervention of research is education regarding Sustainable Water Resources Management (SWRM) by Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). The purpose of this research was to determine whether change of knowledge was accomplished after utilization of CSCL in agricultural MSc. and PhD. students of Science and Research Branch University, Ahwaz, Iran. Education by CSCL was accomplished in a two-week period. As a part of the experimental design, 173 university students were randomly assigned and divided to four groups. The first group with 43 students was labeled pretest-posttest treatment group (E). The second group, with 44 students, labeled pretest-posttest control group (C1), only received face to face education, which was known as the control group. Thus, we compared the effect of the treatment between the first and second group. The third group as the posttest-only treatment group (C2) received the CSCL, with 44 students, and the fourth group as posttest-only control group (C3) with 42 students did not receive the treatment. The results showed that there was significant difference between posttests knowledge score of C2 and C3, and E and C1. Also, there was a significant difference between pretest and posttest in the experimental group. This result indicated the impact of treatment (CSCL) on the knowledge level of students. In addition, F-test analysis showed there were significant differences among posttests in all groups.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the emerging driving forces to disseminate the agricultural knowledge. Skilled extension personnel can grab these opportunities for the diffusion of agricultural technologies to farming community. Therefore, the present investigation measures E-skills among agricultural experts of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) — Farm Science Centers in Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India. Data were solicited from 87 proportionately selected agricultural experts from 29 KVKs. E-skills of experts were measured on 5-point Likert–type scale. The high level of E-skills among agricultural experts were identified in internet browsing, e-mailing, Micro-Soft (MS) Word, MS Power-Point and mobile use for sending the text messages. The agricultural experts’ training on ICTs had a positive and significant relationship with E-skills while experts’ age had a negtive effect. Elementary in use of ICT, analytical use of ICT, use of mobile phone for information communication and use of ICT for mass communication were the major factors that governed the E-skills. The total variance explained by these factors was found 74.88%. Tactical E-skills, informative E-skills, formal E-skills and communicative E-skills were identified as important levels of E-skills in order of their expertise. Hence, the study recommends to encourage the young professionals and to impart more ICT based trainings for improving the E-skills of agricultural experts towards tactical level of E-skills.

The presented study shows a simple way for optimization of extrusion process, which was used for deterioration of cyanogenic glycosides – antinutritive components of linseed, with minimum damage of essential Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) at the same time. Extrusion of the material was done on a laboratory single screw extruder. Content of Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) as a measurement of cyanogenic glycosides in produced co-extrudate and fatty acid composition were determined, together with basic chemical analyses, which were done in accordance with AOAC methods. Statistical analysis showed that HCN content in the product was the most dependent (P= 0.0002) on quadratic influence of moisture content of starting material. The highest HCN content (126 mg kg-1) was measured at the lowest moisture content (7%) and the lowest screw speed (240 rpm). Low moisture content caused weak volatilization of HCN along with the evaporating water, which was intensified with higher values of moisture content. However, increase in moisture content from 11.5 to 16% slightly increased the amount of present HCN, due to the lower material viscosity. Extrusion process caused some changes in fatty acid composition, but even the highest degradation of ALA did not exceed 4%. Linear and quadratic influence of moisture content on ALA reduction was significant (P

Bioavailability of three rumen protected Methionine (Met) sources with different protection methods (Mepron® M85, Evonik Industries, Germany; Methioplus®, Soda Nutrition, Italy and Methilock®, Tehrandaneh Co. Iran) were evaluated in 2 experiments with 6 canulated non-lactating Holstein cows. In experiment 1, the ruminal in situ and mobile bag techniques were used for assessing ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility of Met from the protected Met sources. The rate of disappearance of Met from Mepron® M85 was lower than Methioplus® (2.94 vs. 5.73 % h-1). Mepron® M85 had more resistance to ruminal degradation than Methioplus® (82.78 vs. 68.51%), but the higher intestinal digestibility of Methioplus® resulted in similar amounts of available Met for two products. Because of high washing out loss from in situ bags, ruminal degradation was not estimated for Methilock®. In the second experiment, Met availability was assayed by the blood Met response after 5 days feeding each product in comparison to pretreatment levels utilizing a 3×3 Latin square design. Three Met sources increased blood Met concentration significantly after 5 days feeding (37.5, 52.23 and 44.39% for Methilock®, Mepron® and Methioplus® respectively). Results of the present study showed that the three RPM sources increased blood Met concentration. This study also suggests that the in situ method may not adequately characterize the availability of rumen protected amino acids, especially those of small particle size.

The use of essential oils as the preservative agents in food industry faces the problem of interactions with food matrix components, low solubility in aqueous phase, high volatile character and sensitivity to environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to enhance thermal stability and antioxidant activity of Thyme essential Oil (TO) by encapsulation in Chitosan Nanoparticles (CS-NP). TO was encapsulated in CS-NP with an emulsion–ionic gelation crosslinking method and the construction was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis techniques. The effect of CS: TO weight ratio encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, particle size and zeta potential of TO-loaded Chitosan Nanoparticle (CS-NP-TO) were investigated. The encapsulated TO was decomposed at a higher temperature (318-325.4ºC) than free TO (170ºC) reflecting the enhanced thermal stability of TO by encapsulation. Also, when TO was encapsulated in CS-NP, antioxidant activity proved to be superior from that of free TO. The considerable antioxidant activity and thermal stability reveal that such particles have promising application for delivery of TO in medicine, food and feed.

Acrylamide as a possible carcinogenic compound is known to produce in heated carbohydrate-rich food such as bread. In this study, the effect of the fermentation process by four Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) and yeaston an industrial scale, was studied on acrylamide reduction in bread. Results showed that the flour specifications and the kind of microorganisms in the fermentation process are important factors for acrylamide formation in bread. Acrylamide content in control bread which is fermented by yeast, containing the highest amount of reducing saccharides was found to be the highest (239.12 µg kg-1). Fermentation by LAB and yeast reduced acrylamide formation. Fermented bread with Lactobacillus paracasei showed the lowest amount of acrylamide (131.06 µg kg-1) due to its lower pH of sourdough (3.51) and glucose content (5.44 mg g-1). Bread leavened with lactic acid bacteria starters had the softest texture to yeast starter. The addition of sourdough starters with mean pH 3.56 decreased the pH of bread, causing enhancement of the texture and sensory properties, as well as reduction of acrylamide. The sourdough bread, especially fermented bread by L. paracasei had the lowest amount of acrylamide and softest texture during three days.

Demographic parameters of the pink stem borer, Sesamia creticaLederer (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were estimatedon its two main host plants, maize and sugarcane. The present studywas conducted under laboratory conditions at 27±1˚C, 50±10% Relative Humidity (RH %), and a photoperiod of 0:24 (L:D) hour for the larval stage and 16:8 (L:D) hour for the other life stages. The raw data were analyzed based on the age-stage, two-sex life table theory. For estimating the SE of the population parameters, the bootstrap technique was applied. Total pre-adult developmental periods of the pink stem borer were51.95 and 39.51 days on maize and sugarcane, respectively. The oviposition periods were 5.03 and 5.38 days and fecunditywas 118.04 and 142.88 eggs on maize and sugarcane, respectively. Peaks of reproductive value occurred at ages 49 and 38days when reared on maize and sugarcane, respectively.The net Reproductive rate R0, intrinsic rates of increase r and finite rate of increase λ of S. cretica were 53.58 offspring, 0.0937 day-1 and 1.0983 day-1 on sugarcane and 39.54 offspring, 0.0672 day-1 and 1.0695 day-1 on maize, respectively. Themean generation Time (T) of the pink stem borer was 42.41 and 54.57 days on sugarcane and maize, respectively. There was significant difference between demographic parameters of S. cretica on maize and sugarcane. The results showed that there was higher reproductive performance and population growth of S. cretica on sugarcane than on maize.

The effect of eight Cucumis L. (Cucurbitaceae) genotypes, including native cucumber genotypes (Hormozgan, Bushehr and Gilan), greenhouse cucumber genotypes (Girtap, Negeen, Sepehr and Pouya) and Armenian cucumber (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) was studied on the life table and population growth parameters of Aphis gossypii Glover to evaluate antibiosis resistance. The experiment was conducted at 25±1°C, 60±10% RH and a photoperiod of 16:8 hour (L:D). The data were analyzed by Two-Sex MSChart program. The most pre-adult mortality (22.6 %) and the shortest total life span (14.5 days) were recorded for ‘Bushehr’. The net Reproductive rate (R0) ranged from 43.70 for ‘Bushehr’ to 92.39 nymphs per individual in the case of ‘Pouya’. The lowest value of the intrinsic rate of increase (r) and the finite rate of increase (λ) was observed in ‘Gilan’ (0.378 and 1.460 day−1, respectively) and the highest in ‘Pouya’ (0.471 and 1.602 day−1, respectively). The maximum and minimum mean generation Times (T) were 10.20 and 9.23 days in ‘Gilan’ and ‘Negeen’, respectively. On the basis of these parameters, ‘Gilan’ had the highest antibiosis resistance to A. gossypii. Information on life table of pests and subsequent host resistance evaluation improves IPM programs and leads us to genotype selection for crop breeding programs.

Potato tuberworm, Phthorimaea operculella Zeller (Lepidoptera; Gelechiidae) is a worldwide pest of solanaceous crops. Larvae feed inside galleries in foliage, stems and tubers making chemical control unsuccessful, so other control methods should be applied. In recent years many plants have received genes that encode toxic proteins as a strategy to resist insect pests. In this study, optimal pH and temperature of digestive α-amylase and protease activities of potato tuberworm and the effect of triticale (X Triticosecale wittmack cv. Sanabad), rye (Secale cereale L. cv. Danko) and black nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.) seed proteinaceous extracts against enzymes activities were evaluated using starch 1% and azocasein 2% as a substrate, respectively. The optimum pH of α-amylase and protease activities was found to be highly alkaline. Enzymes inhibition assays showed that amylase activity was significantly affected by extracts from triticale and rye by pH (P= 0.05; maximum effect at pH 9) and influencing of protease activity by extracts mentioned above did not vary by pHs 8-11 and 9-11, respectively. Extracts from black nightshade seed had no effect on enzymes activity. Inhibition manner of various concentrations; 1.5, 0.75, 0.375, 0.187 and 0.093 (mg protein ml-1) of extracts were dose-dependent. Maximum inhibitory effect occurred at the highest concentration and the minimum was at the lowest concentration. In polyacrylamide gel assay, both enzymes, without inhibitors showed two isozymes, which at highest concentration of extracts, both bands disappeared or their intensity decreased. So, these proteins can be introduced to be encoded in producing resistant potato crops against potato tuberworm.

Ziziphus spina-christi are distributed in arid and semi-arid regions of world. Most of these areas are subjected to soil salinity. So, the aim of this study was to find out the effects of different NaCl concentrations on Z. spina-christi seedlings growth, in the presence of a number of single and dual AMF inoculums, to provide some information about possible effects of AMF under salinity condition. For this purpose, the study was conducted in nursery using 4×3 factorial scheme (4 salinity levels; 0, 50, 100 and 150 mM and 3 mycorrhiza treatments; non-mycorrhizal plant, G. fasciculatum and Funneliformis mosseae. fasciculatum inoculated plants). Our results revealed that salinity has negative effects on root length colonization, growth parameters, chlorophyll content, nutrients absorption and results in Na, proline, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase activity increment but mycorrhizal plants maintained higher growth characteristics, chlorophyll content, nutrients, root colonization and enzymes activity, proline and Na ion reduction and these effects in dual inoculum were significantly different from single inoculum fungi. According to the results dual-inoculated plants are more tolerative to salinity compared to single-inoculated and not-inoculated seedlings. Indicating that Z. spina-christi plantation in saline soil would give us the best result if we use dual inoculated plants. It could be said that in saline soils Z. spina-christi dual-inoculated with mycorrhiza is tolerative and more efficient.

Drought is still accounted as a serious agronomic problem and also one of the most important factors contributing to crop yield loss. The effect of sodium silicate (Na2SiO3, abbreviated as Si) was investigated on the four major antioxidant enzyme activities and five other relevant components in two different grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L., cvs Mish Pestan and Sahebi, as tolerant and sensitive cultivars) under drought stress. The experiment was performed in a completely randomized design including three treatments i.e. the control, drought with no Si, and Si-drought (0.004M sodium silicate kg-1 soil), with three replications in a greenhouse. The results indicated that Si partially offset the negative impacts of drought stress by increasing the tolerance of grapevine by rising antioxidant enzyme activities and soluble protein content. Si treatment significantly affected the enzyme activities in both cultivars. Water stress induced a decrease in total Chlorophyll (Chl) and total protein contents, which was much larger in no-Si stress than in Si treatment. The results indicated that sodium silicate might decrease drought stress damages by raising the antioxidant enzymes activity.

Field trials were conducted at the Experimental Station (Brody) belonging to Poznan University of Life Sciences (NE Poland). The purpose was to evaluate the impact of different tillage systems and white mustard cover crop on soil enzymatic activity and severity of plant infection by pathogenic fungi in spring wheat. A randomized complete block design was set up with four replicates per treatment (conventional and no-tillage with and without cover crop). The results demonstrated higher enzyme activity in the soil treated post wheat harvest with herbicide Glyphosate at the rate of 4.0 L ha-1, 360 g L-1 ai, [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine] with adjuvant AS 500 SL 1.5 L ha-1 of the stubble, white mustard cover crop in direct sowing. Less activity was observed during spring time application of Glyphosate at the rate of 1.5 L ha-1様ꧭ AS 500 SL 1.5 L ha-1, followed by direct sowing of spring wheat. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of tillage system and cover crop on soil dehydrogenase activity and plant health of spring wheat. Conducted investigation showed that there was no significant impact of the tillage system or left biomass on the eyespot (Oculimacula acuformis) and brown foot root (Fusarium sp.) diseases. Only with take-all (Gaumannomyces graminis var. tritici) there was significant impact of soil tillage system on the percentage of infected plants. During the tillering stage of the spring wheat significantly higher enzyme activities were observed on the treatment with cover crop and spring wheat cultivation in no tillage technology.

Seasonal accumulation and incorrect disposal of olive mill by-products may be detrimental to the environment. Conversely, their proper recycling as soil amendments may be a sustainable solution. Therefore, the objectives of this three-year field trial were: (i) Investigating the effects of Olive Mill Wastewater (OMW) and Pomace Compost (PC) on plant nutritional status and yield in an organic olive grove; (ii) The impact on main soil properties, and (iii) Verifying if these experimental fertilizers can replace the widespread fertilization practices. The OMW and PC treatments were compared to a commercial Organic-mineral Fertilizer (OF) and green manure of horse bean (MV). Plant nutritional status, soil properties and agronomical performance of treatments were assessed. The OMW and OF determined yield that was on average significantly higher than MV and PC by 191 and 55%, respectively. The best leaves P contents in PC indicated a more effective release of this nutrient as compared to the other treatments, which can be matched with more favorable soil conditions. The comparable yield and leaves composition for OMW and OF suggested the possibility to replace the OF with the OMW. The effects on olive oil production and soil fertility highlighted that OMW (and PC as a second choice) could be applied to sustain olive tree production, substituting traditional fertilizers.

This study was conducted under Ahvaz, Iran environmental condition during 2012 and 2013 growing seasons in order to investigate the influence of foliar application of potassium on some physiological and biochemical characteristics of three olive cultivars including ‘Mission’, ‘Koroneiki’ and ‘Dezfuli’. Potassium sulfate in different concentrations of 0, 1, and 2 g l-1 was sprayed twice on selected mature 10 year old trees; at 50 and 65 days after full bloom. Potassium sprays increased leaf chlorophyll content of all cultivars, leaf potassium content in ‘Mission’ and ‘Koroneiki’ cvs., fruit anthocyanin concentration of ‘Dezfuli’ in two crop seasons. However, K treatments had no significant effect on leaf N and P content, fruit K and P content in all studied cultivars. Fruit soluble carbohydrates increased by foliar application of potassium in ‘Koroneiki’ and ‘Dezfuli’ cultivars in the second year of study. Stem water potential and leaf stomatal conductance were significantly affected by cultivar and K treatments during the two years. Our findings showed that foliar application of potassium resulted in the decrease of stomatal conductance of ‘Koroneiki’ and ‘Dezfuli’ in two crop seasons. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the studied cultivars differently respond to K treatments during the two crop seasons and foliar potassium application could have a positive impact on leaf chlorophyll, leaf potassium, fruit soluble carbohydrates and fruit anthocyanins in olive cultivars.

Bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.] is an indigenous legume crop in Africa. It has comparable value to other legumes for food and nutritional security in the continent. However, small-scale farmers continue cultivating unimproved landrace varieties over the production areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Bambara groundnut landraces exist as heterogeneous mixtures of seeds, which typically contain a few to several seed morpho-types that may embrace wide genetic diversity. In this study, the agro-morphological variations of 213 Bambara groundnut landraces were evaluated to determine the presence of within- and between-landraces of pod and seed morphology, out of which only 49 were used to access their genetic variability using 9 agronomic traits while 158 landraces were used to determine leaf morphology. Most of the landraces displayed pointed, round and yellowish pod colour, with grooved and oval seed shapes. For leaf morphology, 49.4% had round leaves, while 21.5% had elliptical leaves, with 55.7% landraces being heterogeneous possessing more than one leaf shape. Significant differences (P

Screening methods that are effective in the early stage of growth will potentially provide the largest quantity of breeding material. Although various screening methods under greenhouse have been proposed, potential effective approaches must be described a good correlation with results under field conditions. This study was aimed to assess the correlations between traits obtained from four salt screening methods, hydroponic culture, soil culture, pot and field methods. Salt injury scores from the soil culture and hydroponic methods at the seedling stage under salinity of 12 dS m-1, were not correlated, but were able to identify the variety Pokkali as being a tolerant variety, and IR29 as a susceptible variety. Traits in the pot and field experiments were significantly related to the rice varieties and salt salinity levels. The correlations at the seedling stage were found between salt injury score in the soil culture and plant height, proline content of leaves and panicle length in the field experiment (r= -0.886, r= 0.992 and r= -0.933, respectively). Also, traits from the pot experiment showed significant correlations with those from the field experiment. Salt injury scores obtained from soil culture method provide a simple and efficient method for indirect selection for salt tolerance in rice.

Relationship between grain yield and its component traits can improve the efficiency of breeding programs by determining appropriate selection criteria. An investigation was carried out on barnyard millet (Echinochloa spp.) global germplasm collection to investigate the association among yield components and their direct and indirect effects on the grain yield of barnyard millet. The experiment was conducted in 2011 and 2012 in augmented and alpha lattice design, respectively. The results of correlation coefficients indicated that grain yield had high significant and positive association with flag leaf width and culm thickness during both years, whereas negative association of grain yield was observed with basal tillers and peduncle length. Simple path analysis indicated high direct effects of panicle exertion, flag leaf sheath length, flag leaf width and days to maturity in 2011; and flag leaf width and raceme number in 2012. However, these high direct estimates were biased due to multicolinearity. Therefore, ontogeny based sequential path analysis was used to establish the causal relationships determining grain yield in barnyard millet. Based on the results over the years, culm thickness and raceme number were found to be important traits for indirect selection. The other important traits suggested for inclusion in selection index were inflorescence length, plant height, flag leaf length, inflorescence width and number of basal tillers per plant.

Morphological and electrophoretic analysis of the crystalline inclusions (parasporal crystals) of sporulated cultures of B. thuringiensis ssp. kumamotoensis DSM 6070 (Bt 6070) was conducted via phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy and sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The activity of the spore-crystal suspensions against house fly (Musca domestica) larvae was also assessed. Bipyramidal and smaller, irregular shaped crystals were observed in the sporulated cultures. 130, 75 and 25 kDa bands were detected in the protein pattern. The presence of 25 kda proteins in Bt6070 has not been reported earlier. The spore-crystal suspension showed significant larvicide activity against housefly larvae. Larvicide activity of B. thuringiensis ssp. kumamotoensis against any dipteran species has not been detected yet. Further studies are needed on identifying the dipteran- active fraction.

In order to identify the plant parasitic nematodes associated with Polianthes tuberosa in Dezful Regions, Iran, 300 soil and root samples were collected from different parts of the region, during 2012-2014. The samples were washed and the nematodes were extracted by centrifugal flotation technique. The nematodes were fixed and transferred to glycerin, and then the permanent slides of the nematode specimen were prepared. After microscopic observation, the measurements (morphological and morphometrical characters) were made using a drawing tube attached to light microscope. In this study, 17 species belonging to nine genera of the family Tylenchidae were identified as: Atetylenchus graminus, A. abulbosus, Basiria aberrans, B. tumida, Boleodorus thylactus, Filenchus elegantulus, F. sandneri, F. vulgaris, F. andrassyi, F. facultativus, Irantylenchus vicinus, Lelenchus leptosoma, Neopsilenchus magnidens, Psilenchus hilarulus, P. iranicus, P. vinciguerrae and Tylenchus capitatus. Among them, A. graminus, L. leptosome and T. capitatus, are new reports and were first described in Iran. This is the first report of male of A. graminus in the world.

In this work, the effect of three-day germination on proximate composition, total phenolic compounds, fatty acid profile, vitamin C content, radical scavenging activity, malondialdehyde content and reducing power of safflower seed was investigated. Apart from ash, other parameters including oil, protein and crude fiber contents decreased significantly during germination. Phenolics content increased gradually from 4.72 to 9.51 mg g-1. Vitamin C sharply increased at the beginning of germination (4.22 to 7.04 mg 100 g-1 after 1-day germination) and after that no significant difference was observed. Germination improved the quality of safflower oil by increasing the unsaturated and decreasing the saturated fatty acids (about 5%). Results indicated that germination could be a suitable bioprocess to improve chemical composition and nutritional value of safflower seed.

In the Alhambra (Granada, Spain), and in other Moorish locations, several individuals of the original variety of myrtle, the emblematic plant of their gardens, have been identified and genetically authenticated. After microsatellite analysis, we differentiated between the wild form (Myrtus communis L.) and two cultivated varieties: the one original to the Alhambra, the Moorish myrtle (subsp. baetica), and the variety introduced in more modern times (subsp. tarentina). The genetic and morphological differences between these two varieties confirm the taxonomic distinctness of the subsp. baetica. With very few individuals known, this Moorish myrtle is on the verge of extinction. The genetic identification offers the opportunity to restore a key element of this 14th-century garden and enhance the authenticity of a World Heritage site.