Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume:25 Issue: 6, Nov 2023

The purpose of this work was to analyse the energy productivity and efficiency of agricultural enterprises growing poppy. The number of enterprises investigated in the study was determined from a stratified random sample of 87, the data is from 2019, and the study was conducted in Turkey. All inputs and outputs used in poppy production were obtained by multiplying energy equations with conversion coefficients in determining the energy use of the enterprises. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method was employed to calculate the technical, pure-technical, and scale efficiency of poppy-producing enterprises. Poppy energy inputs consisted of the use of human labour, machinery, fertilizer, pesticides, seeds, water, and fuel. The poppy capsule yield per unit area was regarded as the energy output. In the end, 40.23% of the total energy input in poppy production consisted of direct and 59.77% indirect energy. Non-renewable energy consumption (88.70%) was found to be rather high in the research area. Therefore, the use of chemical fertilizers and fuels, which are non-renewable energy sources, must be lessened for poppy plant production. The energy efficiency was found to be 0.08 in poppy production. According to this result, the production systems of the enterprises producing poppy are sufficient and energy is used efficiently. The specific energy value in the enterprises was calculated as 11.95 MJ kg-1 and the Technical Efficiency (TE) was calculated as 0.683. Producers produce at the same level with 68.3% of their capital, and 31.7 % saving.

Determination of the optimum product components that would provide all actors is essential for agricultural products. Examining the most desired product characteristics for potatoes within the domestic market to contribute welfare and sustainability of a market-oriented agricultural production is of great importance for producers, intermediaries, and the community. In the present study, 3072 cross-sectional data acquired from consumers via face-to-face survey was used to determine optimum potato characteristics utilizing a multivariate Conjoint Analysis. It was found that potato has been consumed in fresh form in the domestic market. The factors affecting purchasing decision appeared to be 22.20% price, 20.22% sales point, 15.07% crust type, 22.13% crust color, and 13.23% view and package. The optimum product component scenario with a maximum utility value of 2.990 for the consumer at the community level was composed of the sales channels: local street market, price level: low (suitable), crust type: thin, crust color: yellow, view and product supply: 3 kg net, and scaling, and service: necessary. With the optimum product component set developed in the study, a market-oriented production model was determined for potatoes. Directing production within the determined scenario was considered a new way to assure sustainability of consumer and producer satisfaction and to solve market-related problems.

Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) has emerged as a significant intervention in which farmers are given more control over irrigation management. The primary goal of this study was to identify the factors that influence farmers' participation in PIM activities and compare the economic viability of participation levels. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to collect the data from 240 farmers of Nasrana and Maduana distributaries located at the tail end of the Lower Chenab Canal (LCC) west circle in district Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan, using a structured questionnaire. The factors influencing farmers' participation in PIM activities were identified using an ordered Probit Regression model. The findings revealed that education level (β= 0.12; P=0.00), village leadership (β= 0.97; P= 0.00), and being a beneficiary of a water user association (β=1.20; P= 0.00) all had a significant positive influence on farmers' participation in PIM activities. On the other hand, family size (β= -0.05 P= 0.04), land ownership (β= -0.44; P= 0.05), and off-farm income (β= -0.52; P= 0.01) were found to have a significant negative impact on farmers' participation. Farmers with a high level of participation had higher farm technical efficiency and crop productivity. For these reasons, farming communities must be encouraged to participate in PIM activities in order to achieve a sustainable irrigation system.

This study investigated adoption and determinants of adopting the bed planter developed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and the impacts on productivity and farm income in the Rajshahi and Faridpur districts of Bangladesh. Primary data were collected during 2019 from 41 adopters and 80 non-adopters using a multi-stage random sampling technique. On average, the adoption rate of the BARI bed planter was 15%. Socio-economic characteristics such as farm size, farming experience, training, and extension contacts significantly differed between adopters and non-adopters. A probit model showed that farmer experience, extension contacts, and farmers’ club membership were key variables influencing the likelihood of BARI bed planter adoption. Policy recommendations based on these results include modifying current extension approaches and increasing investment in farm machinery.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable (FFV) is indispensable for human health, as well as being an economically important sub-sector of agriculture. Especially with the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance given to FFV has increased. The aim of this study was to present the household FFV consumption rate by regions and the factors affecting FFV consumption level. A sample of 720 respondents was selected for online survey from the residents of all cities, in line with the population size of Turkey and the survey study was conducted in 2021. FFV consumption rates were calculated by regions and also ordinal logistic regression model was executed to determine affective factors. The study revealed that the highest FFV consumption rates by region were the Aegean (34.12%), Mediterranean (33.06%) and East Marmara (26.84%), while the lowest consumption rates were Central East Anatolia (18.60%). Also, according to result of Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR) model, some explanatory variables such as age, marital status, education level and Covid status were found to have a significant effect on consumption level of FFV. The age older, probability of being in high consumption level increases (P< 0.05). Besides, married people's probability of being in high consumption level was higher than single ones (P< 0.01). People having university education level were more likely to be in high consumption level compared to those having primary education level (P< 0.05). People having had Covid-19 were more likely to be in high consumption level compared to those having not been Covid positive (P< 0.01). Individuals who were young, single/divorced, having not university education, or tested negative for Covid-19 should be encouraged to consume more FFV by governments’ health care departments. In addition to informing about the benefits of FFV consumption, FFV food assistance can be provided to these individuals in cash or in kind.

Conservation tillage systems have been promoted by governments in many regions of the world as an effective strategy to reduce soil and water losses caused by conventional ‎farming practices. Considering adoption of the conservation tillage system, in addition to the uncertainty in economic ‎aspects, the attitude of farmers is also important. To assess the risk efficiency of ‎‎five tillage ‎‎‎alternatives (Low-tillage, No-tillage, Conventional tillage, and two Rotational-tillage systems), we used Stochastic Efficiency with Respect to ‎a Function approach for the ‎typical ‎wheat-‎corn ‎‎production system in Marvdasht, Bakhtegan Basin, Iran, using ‎‎‎four-year (2010–2014) field data set. Risk-neutral farmers’ ‎preferred the conventional ‎tillage method over ‎conservation tillage methods, relying on the higher net return ‎‎of the wheat-corn rotation. However, at the higher risk-aversion degrees, the ranking of ‎conventional tillage tended ‎to decline rapidly and ‎the two rotational tillage systems were preferred over other alternatives. The ‎comparison of certainty equivalents of ‎conservation tillage ‎treatments indicated the ‎‎superiority ‎of low-‎tillage over no-tillage at ‎all levels of risk aversion. The results of ‎risk premium ‎estimation ‎in ‎this study revealed that ‎providing subsidy resources is not enough to promote the adoption of conservation tillage practices, and it is ‎necessary to support risk-averse farmers by enhancing their knowledge about the risk-efficient options.

Sustainable livelihood was introduced in the 1980s as a new approach to rural development to reduce and eradicate rural poverty. Achieving sustainable rural livelihoods is not possible without considering the rural livelihood assets. To understand the consequences of a change in the rural livelihood system, comprehensive and interactions-based approaches are needed to understand the complicated interactions and feedback between different factors. Accordingly, in this study, an integrated System Dynamics (SD) model was developed for sustainable rural livelihood analysis in the eastern villages of Qarabagh Ghazni, Afghanistan, where managing rural development is seriously challenging due to population growth. SD is a strong and effective approach to examine the behavior of complex systems over time. Findings illustrated that the population in the study area was increasing and the average annual population growth rate was +2.94%. Also, a significant proportion of this population was illiterate. Therefore, it seems that the requirement for skills training in this area will be higher due to population growth. An effective step can be taken to achieve sustainable rural development by increasing the skills and the desire of young people to be self-employed in rural areas. The results also showed that, by increasing per capita income in this region, the tendency to stay in the rural areas increased during the simulation period. Therefore, the government should pay special attention to increasing the household's income in order to prevent migration of the people and strengthen the desire to stay in the rural areas. The results of this research support the idea that there is the necessary potential in terms of human resources in this region to reduce poverty and improve the living conditions of people.

The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) juice, peels, and kernels are rich in secondary metabolites responsible for some biological properties that are important in healthy eating. Among them, anthocyanins present in the arils and, therefore, in juices are pigments with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In the Algarve region (southern Portugal), a century old variety Assaria is largely cultivated, but there is lack of information about its chemical and biological characteristics. In the present work, a comparative study of the pomegranate juice was made, over three years (2017-2019), between this cultivar and three other well-known cultivars (Wonderful, Mollar de Elche, and Acco). The variables studied were pH, titratable acidity, formol number, total phenol content, total monomeric anthocyanins, and polymeric color. The in vitro biological activities of pomegranate juices studied were antioxidant through the capacity for scavenging ABTS and NO free radicals; and inhibitory activities on lipoxygenase and a-glucosidase activities. Simultaneously, the biological activities of the main anthocyanins of pomegranate juice were also determined and compared with the juice samples. The results showed that Assaria had characteristics similar to Mollar de Elche, with lower amounts of total phenols (2.609 and 2.849 mg mL-1, respectively) and monomeric anthocyanins (104.785 and 82.047 mg L-1, respectively) and lower antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities than the other two cultivars. Wonderful had the highest amounts of those metabolites (7.072 and 594.944 mgL-1, respectively) and the best activities. ‘The in vitro biological activities of individual anthocyanins were significantly higher than the juices. The juice activities of Wonderful cultivar were the closest to anthocyanin ones. The best activities of isolated anthocyanins lead to the hypothesis that those antagonistic effects can occur among the juices' constituents and decrease their activities.

Jujube is one of the most important horticultural fruits with high nutritional and medicinal value. Due to the short shelf life of fresh jujube, consumption of fresh fruit is low. This study aimed to evaluate the treatments affecting the quality of three fresh jujube cultivars. Treatments included jujube cultivars (commercial, Mazhan, and Siojan), fruit harvest time (semi-mature and fully mature), foliar spraying of trees (0 and 2%), and storage time (20 and 35 days). Assessed traits were brix, acidity, firmness, Ascorbic acid, total phenolic compounds, and color indexes (L ⃰ a ⃰ b ⃰). Calcium chloride solution was used to improve the quality and shelf life of fruits. Jujube fruits were stored in a refrigerator at 5°C. Data analysis was performed using a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design and three replications. Results showed the Siojan cultivar had the best quality characteristics: its phenol content was 2.438 mg gallic acid/gr solid weight, the ascorbic acid value was 929.91 mg 100 g-1, the firmness was 7,390 N m-1, and its Lightness (L ⃰) was 27.71. Foliar spraying treatment was approved for the firmness and color of fruits. After 20 days, firmness (10,460 N m-1) and ascorbic acid (924.843 mg 100 g-1) were maintained, and after 35 days, total phenol (2.447 mg gallic acid g-1 solid weight) was increased. The sensory analyses results showed Siojan cultivar with other advantages, including large size, good taste, and high flesh to kernel ratio. Overall, Siojan cultivar had a good shelf life of up to 20 days at 5°C.

Rosa damascena Mill. essential oil (EO) was encapsulated in nanoliposomes to overcome its low stability and limited solubility. The fabrication of EO-loaded nanoliposomes (EO-LNLs) was optimized based on the response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite face-centred (CCF) design. Different concentrations of EO (500, 1000, and 1500 ppm) and lecithin (0.5, 1.25, and 2% w/v) were applied for preparing nanoliposomes. The obtained nanoliposomes had a particle size of 82-124 nm, a zeta potential of -55 to -30 mV and a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.270- 0.342. The nanoliposomes prepared with 1.56% lecithin and 500 ppm of EO had the best properties with the encapsulation efficiency of 84%. The results obtained from different instrumental methods (DSC, FT-IR, and TEM) verified the encapsulation of EO in nanoliposomes. According to the antioxidant activity evaluations based on DPPH⁰, ABTS⁰+, and FRAP assays, free EO had higher radical scavenging activity and lower EC50 than encapsulated EO. The highest in vitro release of EO from nanoliposomes occurred at pH=3. During the storage of nanoliposomes for seven weeks at 4oC, their particle size was increased by 7.0%. Accordingly, one can deduce that encapsulation of Rosa damascena Mill. EO in nanoliposomes can protect it against undesirable conditions and keep its properties. Therefore, it can be suggested to be used, as a natural preservative, in different matrixes such as food, medicine, and cosmetic industries.

Among several pests infesting okra plants, the cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is considered one of the most destructive pests. Field trials were conducted in a private field in Esna District, Luxor Governorate, Egypt, during two successive growing seasons (2021 and 2022) with the aim to study the seasonal fluctuation of P. solenopsis population infesting okra plants (Balady cultivar). Furthermore, the impacts of both climatic conditions and plant age on the seasonal variation of the tested insect pest were determined. The results indicated that P. solenopsis infested okra plants from the first week of March until the end of July, and had three peaks of activity per season, which were recorded in the first week of April, third week of May, and fourth week of June. The mean total population density of P. solenopsis per 10 leaves over the whole first season was 235.96±16.05 individuals and for the second season, it was 242.13±17.01 individuals. June was the most favourable month for P. solenopsis population increase (as measured during weekly inspections), while March was the least favorable in both growing seasons. Pooled effects of environmental conditions and plant ages had a strong relationship with P. solenopsis population density, with an Explained Variance (EV) of 93.26% in the first season and 95.09% in the second season, during the two seasons. Daily mean relative humidity was the most effective variable in explaining changes in the population density of P. solenopsis for the 1st season (2021), while the it was the major element influencing the changes in population in the 2nd season. On the other hand, the daily maximum temperature was clearly the least effective factor in population changes during both seasons. The data presented here can aid to monitor the oscillations in the population density of this pest.

In this study, water-yield relations, Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI), which is one of the commonly used crops stress indicators, and the Water Deficit Index (WDI), which is a new approach, were compared by applying deficit irrigation in 2018-2019 growing period in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. Five irrigation levels were applied to silage maize and sorghum plants. According to the results, yield was higher in silage maize than in silage sorghum both in full irrigation (100%) and in water-deficit irrigation (treatment where 80%, 60%, 40%, 20% meeting water requirement of plant). However, when average yield values of both years were examined, maize showed a decrease of 49 and 46%, respectively, while sorghum showed a decrease of 33%, compared to treatment with 40 and 20% irrigation, respectively. Similarly, there was a decrease of 66-54% in maize for 20% treatment, while there was a decrease of 45-46% in sorghum. This showed that sorghum maintained its yield potential better than maize in conditions of 60% or more water constraint. When the average CWSI and WDI indices were examined mutually, it was observed that rate of increase in stress and amount of decrease in productivity gave more consistent results in WDI than in CWSI. It has been understood that CWSI, one of crop stress determiners, is insufficient in determining stress compared to WDI, and WDI gives more accurate results. Accordingly, complete and accurate results of WDI have been obtained despite the shortcomings of CWSI method, which has been used in stress determination until now. It is suggested to use WDI for crop water stress index.

Chemical fertilizers have a devastating impact on soil and the environment when used in seedling production and planting. Conversely, biofertilizers can enhance soil structure and fertility while mitigating the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers on the environment. This study aimed to identify an appropriate biofertilizer for Zygophyllum eurypterum, a species that is particularly amenable to arid area restoration. To this end, we conducted an experiments using six different biofertilizer treatments (Azotobacter chroococcum, Azospirillum lipoferum, Flavobacterium F-40, Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Rhizophagus irregularis) and fertilizer-free control in a completely randomized design by cultivation of the plants in the seedling bags with 15 replications. This was done in the spring of 2018, in the research farm of Semnan University. Vegetative growth parameters such as root length, fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots, number of leaves, shoot diameter, and total chlorophyll were measured three months after planting. The percentage of root colonization with mycorrhizal fungi was measured at three and six months of age of seedlings. In this context, the maximum length of root (33.40 cm) and shoot (18.20 cm), height (51.30 cm), weight of root (99.94 g) and shoot (473.90 g), number of leaves (58.00), shoot diameter (3.32 mm) and total chlorophyll (74.96) were observed in the treatment by Pseudomonas fluorescens. Symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi was confirmed and it increased root length and plant height. The percentage of root colonization increased over time. Root to shoot ratio was increased by application of Azospirillum lipoferum fertilizer. The results showed that the use of biofertilizers Pseudomonas fluorescens, Azospirillum lipoferum, and Rhizophagus irregularis can be recommended in the production of Zygophyllum eurypterum seedlings.

Cultivation systems, especially mulching, play an important role in modifying soil properties and have a significant effect on the chemical composition of fruits. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare two cultivation systems (black plastic mulch and bare soil) and determine the associated response of soil characteristics and biochemical composition of chokeberry (cv. ‘Nero’) fruits. Soil properties and fruit phytochemical profile were analyzed using established procedures. Antioxidant activity was determined by several methods and cytotoxic activity was evaluated by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Results indicated that both cultivation systems caused changes in soil physical, chemical, and biological properties. Black plastic mulch led to a greater decrease in clay fractions and most of the agrochemical properties analyzed, and an increase in the numbers of fungi, compared to bare soil. Moreover, mulch was effective in increasing soil temperature and conserving soil moisture by preventing evaporation. This relationship of soil parameters, especially temperature and moisture, under plastic mulch increased the content of certain bioactive phenolic compounds (condensed tannins, gallotannins, and flavonols) and contributed to the strong antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of chokeberry fruits. In contrast, bare soil favored synthesis of other phenolic compounds (total phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols and phenolic acids). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed the effect of cultivation systems on the biochemical composition of fruits. Results showed that cultivation systems had a significant influence on soil characteristics in the chokeberry orchard as well as on the biochemical composition of chokeberry fruits, which indicates different pathways of metabolite synthesis under various cultivation practices.

In the present study, bacterial endophytes were obtained from weeds of potato fields. Their antagonistic activity was screened against potato storage pathogen, Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Pcc) (JX029052), in the maceration assay. An endophytic strain, PC-2B was isolated from Convolvulus arvensis L. as a dominant weed of potato fields. In vivo application of this strain led to 58.8% reduction in tuber decay. This motile strain that can produce amylase was identified as Pantoea sp. using phenotypic features and 16S rRNA sequencing. Following PC-2B treatment, 56.7% Reduction in Disease Incidence (RDI) was obtained in preventative and 52% in curative challenges under semi-practical storage trails. Anti-Pcc bioactive compounds of Pantoea sp. was extracted and identified based on H NMR and FT-IR techniques. Two peptide antibiotics including Pantocin A and B with inhibitory effect against Pcc were characterized. These results might indicate that the tested Pantoea strain could be a promising candidate to protect potato tubers against soft rot disease caused by Pcc. However, large-scale complementary trials have to be conducted to validate these results before any recommendations.

One way of developing sustainable agriculture is to increase crop Water Productivity (WP). In drought conditions, cultivation management should result in reducing water consumption as well as lowering the negative impacts on crop yield and quality. This experiment was conducted to determine the influence of irrigation levels (full and deficit irrigation, providing 100 and 75% of the irrigation water requirement, respectively) and soil water retaining materials (organic fertilizer, superabsorbent at depths of 30 and 40 cm, superabsorbent mixed with soil, band application of superabsorbent, plastic installation at depths of 30 and 40 cm and control) on WP, leaf Relative Water Content (RWC), Electrolyte Leakage (EL), photosynthetic pigments, yield and yield components of wheat during the growing seasons of 2017 and 2018. The deficit irrigation caused an increase in WP and EL and decreased yield, yield components, RWC, and photosynthetic pigments, while the soil water retaining materials improved these properties. The average yields in the organic fertilizer treatment and installation of plastic at a depth of 40 cm were 9.55 and 8.76 tons ha-1, respectively. The highest WP (1.89 kg m-3) was observed in the organic fertilizer treatment. Application of cow manure and installation of plastic membrane did not have significant effect on wheat properties in the two water conditions. Overall, utilizing organic fertilizer and nylon membranes under deficit irrigation, improved wheat characteristics and WP. However, to reach a comprehensive conclusion, it is necessary to evaluate these treatments for several consecutive years with different soil and water conditions.