International Journal of Agricultural Science Research and Technology in Extension and Education Systems
Volume:2 Issue: 1, Mar 2012

This article examines the livelihood strategies of land scarce peasants in Ethiopian. Land scarce peasants have a limited livelihood security on a sustainable manner and bypassed by major development programmes. The study was centred on two sets of rationales. First, for those peasants who do not have sufficient farmland, agriculture provides only a limited portion of households’ livelihood security sustainably. Second, although there are ample studies on rural livelihoods and agricultural land scarcity, little is known, for instance, about the dynamics of agricultural land scarce farmers’ livelihood strategies in the Central highlands of Ethiopia. The field study surveyed 75 land scarce households and conducted a number of key informant interviews, focus group discussions, direct observations and transect walks to get first hand information and consulted several secondary sources. The result showed that the respondents are still predominantly pursuing agricultural based livelihood strategies through agricultural intensification, extensification, and diversifications. It depicted that 29.3%, 42.7 %, and 98.7 % of the respondents derive income from off-farm, non-farm, and agricultural activities, respectively. They also seasonally migrate outside their village for additional sources of income. Thus, interventions and policies need to promote sustainable livelihood must consider them through enhancing non-agricultural livelihood diversification activities away from agriculture and reduce the heavy dependence on limited land

The study was conducted in two settlements of ethnic communities in Triyuga municipality of Udayapur district, Nepal. The main objective of the study was to prepare an inventory of cultivated diversity of plants and animal species by the ethnic communities in the research site and their use in farming and in sustaining the livelihoods. The study has been based on data collected through personal interview with the farmers, focus group discussion, non-participant observation as primary source and also on secondary data collected from related publications of various organizations. The study has revealed that farmers grew and maintained different varieties and landraces of cereals, vegetables, fruits, fodder crops and livestock species and were found utilizing different species of plants and animals in farming and in sustaining their livelihoods. This justifies that the traditional ways of managing the natural resources have often resulted in landscapes of relatively high biodiversity value, compared with those associated with modern practices. [Pawan Singh Bhandari. Ethnic Communities Own Agrobiodiversity Richness. International Journal of Agricultural Science, Research and Technology, 2012; 2(1):9-16].

This study compared and analyzed indigenous and modern agricultural technologies used in cassava production in Anambra State. Multi-stage sampling technique was used in sample selection. A total of 160 farmers were purposively selected from the four Agricultural zones that made up the state based on the use of modern and indigenous technologies. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and total factor productivity were used in analyzing the data. The result of the analysis showed that both categories of farmers are within the working class age bracket of 40 and 60 years. The modern technology users were found to be more educated, have larger farm holding and higher average income per hectare than their counterparts. Farmers that used indigenous technologies have larger household size than those that used modern technologies. The total factor productivity (TFP) ratios computed for modern and indigenous technology users are 1.493 and 0.758 respectively.  Sequel to the fact that the Z-calculated was higher than the Z-tabulated, the null hypothesis was rejected. This implies that there was a statistically significant difference between the productivity of farmers that used modern technologies and those that used indigenous technologies. The F-ratio also tested confirmed the higher variance in TFP for the two categories of farmers which shows a higher significant difference in the mean values. It was therefore concluded that the use of modern technologies in cassava production should be encouraged because they ensure higher agricultural productivity among farmers. [Nwaiwu et al. Comparative Analysis of Productivity of Cassava Based Crop Mixture under Modern and Indigenous Technologies in Anambra State, Nigeria. International Journal of Agricultural Science, Research and Technology, 2012; 2(1):17-21].

Crop yields are dependent on a number of factors such as soil type, weather conditions and farming practices. Crop yield estimates in different soil types are required to meet the needs of farmers, land appraisers, and governmental agencies in Iran as around the world. This study was conducted to model the wheat-grain yields [Triticum aestivum L.]  by soil properties in Khoy area, the north-west of Iran. The wheat yields (mean of 5 years) were applied to predict and model the wheat yields under an average level of management used through the area. The prerequisite data on main soil physicochemical characteristics was collected and measured to clarify the correlation and multiple regression analysis which are used to establish the relationships between the soil properties and the wheat-grain yields. Based on the calculated soil index, the general equation (GE) taking the soil index ranging from 0 to 100 % into account was proposed to predict the wheat-grain yields applicably. The results herein markedly proposed other two regression equations for the areas having soil index higher and lower than 70 %, respectively. The results indicated that within three obtained regression models, the equation suggested for the area having soil index higher than 70 % is appreciably more accurate than the model outlined by the FAO and potentially could be recommended for predicting the wheat yield in study area. Moreover, the GE regression model and the proposed model for the area having the soil index lower than 70 % showed the same accuracy compared with the FAO model but calibrated based on the study area condition. Therefore, our proposed regression models for the wheat-grain yields prediction could be used instead of performing the FAO models across the country with approximately same soil and climate status. 

The main purpose of this study was to explore factors influencing immigration from rural to urban areas in Varkaneh , a famous village and tourist destination located in western part of Iran- Hamedan. A questionnaire was designed and validated by a panel of experts from Extension Education Dept. of Bu-Ali Sina University and Hamadan Jihad of Agriculture. Its reliability was secured by Cronbach’s Alpha that reached 0.72. Through a non- probabilistic sampling approach, seventy-eight Varkaneh residents who admitted to participate in our study were interviewed. Migration promoting factors were labeled as economic, family solidarity and rural infrastructure ; While inhibiting factors were named aesthetic, developmental, supra-structural and social solidarity.

The study examined relationship between the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria with the inputs of labour, capital and the output of fisheries. This is to ascertain that the fisheries contribution to the economy is more than is recorded in the sense that taking its indirect and direct economic impact into account, its overall contribution to the GDP of Nigeria may be higher than that measured by the national accounts. The Co-integration test was carried out; the trace statistic test reveals that at 5% level of significance, that at most 2 equations are co-integrated, since their absolute values are greater than the critical values at 5% level of significant. The Max-Eigen values also reveals that at  5% level of significance, that at most 2 equations are co-integrated, since their absolute values are greater than their critical values (i.e. 89.23411>31.46 and 46.65230>25.54). This corroborated the trace statistics, therefore, it is concluded that there is a long run equilibrium relationship between the 4 identified variables (GDP, F, K, L) in the model. The results established the fact that the fisheries sub-sector of Nigerian economy could be regarded as economic base of the  country, especially in the coastal part of the country in which the life of people depend on fish based live hood strategies.  [Mafimisebi and Thompson. Empirical Evidence of Fisheries Sub-Sector’s Contribution to the  Nigerian Economy. International Journal of Agricultural Science, Research and Technology, 2012; 2(1):31-35].

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was grown in earthen pots containing soil of Balkasar Soil Series (Sandy Loam) in green house at the Department of Soil Science and SWC, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi during Rabi season, 2007. The Crop was treated with two levels of Phosphorus (40 and 80 kg P ha-1 ) in the form of SSP, TSP, NP and DAP. A basal doze of 100 kg N and 60 kg K ha-1 was applied as urea and murate of potash (MOP) respectively. Chemical composition of wheat plants showed that all the parameters were significantly improved by addition of P except the Phosphorus concentration (%) in wheat straw and potassium conc. (%) in wheat grain. Similarly Phosphorus uptake was increased with the increased level of phosphorus application. It was concluded from the study that different sources and levels of phosphorus has significant effect on the NPK contents of wheat and total P uptake by wheat plants. Among all the sources and levels of phosphorus, 80kg P ha-1 as single superphosphate (SSP) showed superiority over triple superphosphate (TSP), nitrophos (NP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP) on phosphorus deficient soil of Balkasr area of Tehsil Chakwal. [Bilal Khan et al. Effect of phosphatic fertilizers on chemical composition and Total Phosphorus Uptake by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). International Journal of Agricultural Science, Research and Technology, 2012; 2(1):37-42].

According to statistics released by agricultural insurance fund (AIF) less than 4 million acres out of 90 million acres has been covered by Pastures Insurance. This observation along with several facts motivated authors to study possible barriers which Pastures Insurance has been encountered in practice. The research population included all the experts in agricultural insurance fund. Small population caused a census study. The initial and follow-up mailing generated 100 useable responses from experts resulting in a response rate of 100%. This research applied SPSS Software to analyze the data. Data was analyzed using the factor analysis. KMO index along with the Bartlett test verify appropriateness of the collected data for explanatory factor analysis. Based upon the findings, the barriers have been classified into five factors named communication barrier, Extension barrier, Rangers' barrier, Organizational barrier and Experts' barrier. Among these factors, communication barrier plays the most important role. It is composed of lack of awareness of ranchers about legal affairs of pasture insurance; inappropriate behavior of insurance experts and extension agents, problems regarding with illiterate and old stakeholders, limited media for pasture insurance development.  [Najafabadi and Rami. Barriers of Pastures Insurance Development from Experts' Perspective. International Journal of Agricultural Science, Research and Technology, 2012; 2(1):43-46].