Search results for: maize varieties

Authors: Marinos Xagoraris, Elisavet Lazarou, Eleftherios Alissandrakis, Christos S. Pappas, Petros A. Tarantilis

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Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) and autumn heather (Erica manipuliflora Salisb.) are important beekeeping plants of Greece. Six monofloral honeys (four strawberry tree, two autumn heather) were analyzed by means of Solid Phase Micro-Extraction (SPME, 60 min, 60 oC) followed by Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for the purpose of assessing the botanical origin. A Divinylbenzene/Carboxen/Polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) fiber was employed, and benzophenone was used as internal standard. The volatile compounds with higher concentration (μg/ g of honey expressed as benzophenone) from strawberry tree honey samples, were α-isophorone (2.50-8.12); 3,4,5-trimethyl-phenol (0.20-4.62); 2-hydroxy-isophorone (0.06-0.53); 4-oxoisophorone (0.38-0.46); and β-isophorone (0.02-0.43). Regarding heather honey samples, the most abundant compounds were 1-methoxy-4-propyl-benzene (1.22-1.40); p-anisaldehyde (0.97-1.28); p-anisic acid (0.35-0.58); 2-furaldehyde (0.52-0.57); and benzaldehyde (0.41-0.56). Norisoprenoids are potent floral markers for strawberry-tree honey. β-isophorone is found exclusively in the volatile fraction of this type of honey, while also α-isophorone, 4-oxoisophorone and 2-hydroxy-isophorone could be considered as additional marker compounds. The analysis of autumn heather honey revealed that phenolic compounds are the most abundant and p-anisaldehyde; 1-methoxy-4-propyl-benzene; and p-anisic acid could serve as potent marker compounds. In conclusion, marker compounds for the determination of the botanical origin for these honeys could be identified as several norisoprenoids and phenolic components were found exclusively or in higher concentrations compared to common Greek honey varieties.

Keywords: SPME/GC-MS, volatile compounds, heather honey, strawberry tree honey

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Authors: Thavananthan Sivananthawerl

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Coconut palm is existing for more than 2000 years in Sri Lanka. However, cultivation on a large scale (plantation) began only in the 19th century. Due to different light perceptions during the growth stages of palm, there is a huge potential to grow crops in-between rows of coconut plants which are grown with wider, fixed spacing. Intercropping under coconut will have multiple benefits such as increasing soil fertility, increasing sunlight utilization, increasing total crop productivity, increasing income & profit, maximum use of resources, reducing the risk, and increasing food security. Growing potential annual, agricultural intercrops could be classified as ‘agri-silvicultural’ system. This is the best agri-silvicultural system that can be named under any perennial crop system in Sri Lanka. In the late 1970’s cassava, pepper and cacao are the major intercrops under the coconut plantations. At the early ages of the palm (<5 years) light-loving crops such as pineapple, passion, papaya, and cassava are recommended and preferred by the cultivators. In between 5-20 years of age, the availability of light is very low, and therefore shade tolerant/loving crops (pasture, yam, ginger) could be used as the intercrops. However, after 20 years of age (>20 years) canopy is getting small, and the light availability on the ground increases. So, light demanding crops such as pepper, banana, pineapple, betel, cassava, and seasonal crops could be grown successfully. Even though this is a sustainable system in several aspects, there are potential challenges ahead to the system. The major ones are land fragmentation and infrastructure development. The other factors are drought, lack of financial support, price instability of the intercrops, availability of improved planting materials, and development of dwarf varieties which reduces the light.

Keywords: coconut cultivation, agri-silviculture, intercrop, sunlight, annuals, sustainability

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Authors: Dana Alina Magdas, Nicoleta Simona Vedeanu, Ioana Feher, Rares Stiufiuc

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Food and beverages authentication using rapid and non-expensive analytical tools represents nowadays an important challenge. In this regard, the potential of vibrational techniques in food authentication has gained an increased attention during the last years. For wines discrimination, Raman spectroscopy appears more feasible to be used as compared with IR (infrared) spectroscopy, because of the relatively weak water bending mode in the vibrational spectroscopy fingerprint range. Despite this, the use of Raman technique in wine discrimination is in an early stage. Taking this into consideration, the wine discrimination potential of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique is reported in the present work. The novelty of this study, compared with the previously reported studies, concerning the application of vibrational techniques in wine discrimination consists in the fact that the present work presents the wines differentiation based on the individual signals obtained from deconvoluted spectra. In order to achieve wines classification with respect to variety, geographical origin and vintage, the peaks intensities obtained after spectra deconvolution were compared using supervised chemometric methods like Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). For this purpose, a set of 20 white Romanian wines from different viticultural Romanian regions four varieties, was considered. Chemometric methods applied directly to row SERS experimental spectra proved their efficiency, but discrimination markers identification found to be very difficult due to the overlapped signals as well as for the band shifts. By using this approach, a better general view related to the differences that appear among the wines in terms of compositional differentiation could be reached.

Keywords: chemometry, SERS, variety, wines discrimination

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Authors: V. M. Mmbengwa, J. R. M. Mabuso, C. P. Du Plooy, S. Laurrie, H. D. van Schalkwyk

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Sweet potato products are necessary for the provision of essential nutrients in every household, regardless of their poverty status. Their consumption appears to be highly influenced by socio-economic factors, such as malnutrition, food insecurity and unemployment. Therefore, market availability is crucial for these cultivars to resolve some of the socio-economic factors. The aim of the study was to investigate market availability of sweet potato cultivars in the North West Province. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were used. Qualitative methodology was used to explain the quantitative outcomes of the variables. On the other hand, quantitative results were used to test the hypothesis. The study used SPSS software to analyse the data. Cross-tabulation and Chi-square statistics were used to obtain the descriptive and inferential analyses, respectively. The study found that the Blesbok cultivar is dominating the markets of the North West Province, with the Monate cultivar dominating in the Bojanala Platinum (75 %) and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati (25 %) districts. It is also found that a unit increase in the supply of sweet potato cultivars in both local and district municipal markets is accompanied by a reduced demand of 28 % and 33 % at district and local markets, respectively. All these results were found to be significant at p<0.05. The results further revealed that in four out of nine local municipality markets, the Blesbok cultivar seems to be solely available in those four local municipal markets of North West Province. It can be concluded that Blesbok, relative to other cultivars, is the most commercialised sweet potato variety and that consumers across this Province are highly aware of it. For other cultivars to assume market prominence in this Province, a well-designed marketing campaign for creating awareness may be required. This campaign may be based on nutritional advantages of different cultivars, of which Blesbok is relatively inferior, compared to orange-fleshed sweet potato varieties.

Keywords: cultivar, malnutrition, markets, sweet potato

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Authors: Mthiyane Pretty, Mitsui Toshiake, Nagano Hirohiko, Aycan Murat

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Among the most significant greenhouse gases released from rice fields are methane and carbon dioxide. The primary focus of this research was to quantify CH₄ and CO₂ gas using different 4 rice cultivars, two water regimes, and a recording of soil moisture and temperature. In this study, we hypothesized that paddy field soils may directly affect soil enzymatic activities and physicochemical properties in the rhizosphere soil of paddy fields and subsequently indirectly affect the activity, abundance, diversity, and community composition of methanogens, ultimately affecting CH₄ flux. The experiment was laid out in the randomized block design with two treatments and three replications for each genotype. In two treatments, paddy fields and artificial soil were used. 35 days after planting (DAP), continuous flooding irrigation, Alternate wetting, and drying (AWD) were applied during the vegetative stage. The highest recorded measurements of soil and environmental parameters were soil moisture at 76%, soil temperature at 28.3℃, Bulk EC at 0.99 ds/m, and pore water EC at 1,25, using HydraGO portable soil sensor system. Gas samples were carried out once on a weekly basis at 09:00 am and 12: 00 pm to obtain the mean GHG flux. Gas Chromatography (GC, Shimadzu, GC-2010, Japan) was used for the analysis of CH4 and CO₂. The treatments with paddy field soil had a 1.3℃ higher temperature than artificial soil. The overall changes in Bulk EC were not significant across the treatment. The CH₄ emission patterns were observed in all rice genotypes, although they were less in treatments with AWD with artificial soil. This shows that AWD creates oxic conditions in the rice soil. CO₂ was also quantified, but it was in minute quantities, as rice plants were using CO₂ for photosynthesis. The highest tillering number was 7, and the lowest was 3 in cultivars grown. The rice varieties to be used for breeding are Norin 24, with showed a high number of tillers with less CH₄.

Keywords: greenhouse gases, methane, morphological characterization, alternating wetting and drying

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Authors: Derin Ureten

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Plastic pollution does not disappear, it gets smaller and smaller through photolysis which are caused mainly by sun’s radiation, thermal oxidation, thermal degradation, and biodegradation which is the action of organisms digesting larger plastics. All plastic pollutants have exceedingly harmful effects on the environment. Together with the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of plastic products such as masks and gloves flowing into the environment has increased more than ever. However, microplastics are not the only pollutants in water, one of the most tenacious and toxic pollutants are heavy metals. Heavy metal solutions are also capable of causing varieties of health problems in organisms such as cancer, organ damage, nervous system damage, and even death. The aim of this research is to prove that microplastics can be used in wastewater treatment systems by proving that they could adsorb heavy metals in solutions. Experiment for this research will include two heavy metal solutions; one including microplastics in a heavy metal contaminated water solution, and one that just includes heavy metal solution. After being sieved, absorbance of both mediums will be measured with the help of a spectrometer. Iron (III) chloride (FeCl3) will be used as the heavy metal solution since the solution becomes darker as the presence of this substance increases. The experiment will be supported by Pure Nile Red powder in order to observe if there are any visible differences under the microscope. Pure Nile Red powder is a chemical that binds to hydrophobic materials such as plastics and lipids. If proof of adsorbance could be observed by the rates of the solutions' final absorbance rates and visuals ensured by the Pure Nile Red powder, the experiment will be conducted with different temperature levels in order to analyze the most accurate temperature level to proceed with removal of heavy metals from water. New wastewater treatment systems could be generated with the help of microplastics, for water contaminated with heavy metals.

Keywords: microplastics, heavy metal, pollution, adsorbance, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Pooja Jain

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Art education is often ignored in syllabus of developing countries like India and in educational planning for development but now days Indian Art with a global recognition is becoming an integral part of the education at all levels. The term art, widely used in all parts of the modern world, carried varied significance in India as its meaning was continuously being extended, covering the many varieties of creative expression such as painting, sculpture, commercial art, design, poetry, music, dance, and architecture. Over the last 100 years Indian artists of all forms have evolved a wide variety of expressive styles. With the recommendations and initiatives by Government of India, Art Education has subsequently gained pace at the school level as a mandatory subject for all making a path way for students with a creative bend of mind. This paper investigates curriculum in various schools of the country at secondary and senior secondary levels along with some eminent institutions running the program. Findings depicted the role of art education and justified its importance primarily with commercial art being perceived to be essential for students learning skills for economic gain in their career ahead. With so many art colleges spread across India, emerging artists and designers are being trained and are creating art of infinite variety and style and have opened up many career avenues. Commercial Art being a plethora of artistic expressions has confidently come of age wherein a creative perception is mixed with an introspective imagination to bring out multi faceted career options with a significant future enveloped in art. Visual arts in education thus is an expanding field of result assured research.

Keywords: modern art, commercial art, introspective imagination, career

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Authors: Akhtar Nawaz, Sahar Noor, Iftikhar Hussain

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This paper considers advanced hybrid manufacturing planning both push and pull system in which each customer order has a due date by demand forecast and customer orders. We present a tool for model for tool development that requires an absolute due dates and customer orders in a manufacturing supply chain. It is vital for the manufacturing companies to face the problem of variations in demands, increase in varieties by maintaining safety stock and to minimize components obsolescence and uselessness. High inventory cost and low delivery lead time is expected in push type of system and on contrary high delivery lead time and low inventory cost is predicted in the pull type. For this tool for model we need an MRP system for the push and pull environment and control of inventories in push parts and lead time in the pull part. To retain process data quickly, completely and to improve responsiveness and minimize inventory cost, a tool is required to deal with the high product variance and short cycle parts. In practice, planning and scheduling are interrelated and should be solved simultaneously with supply chain to ensure that the due dates of customer orders are met. The proposed tool for model considers alternative process plans for job types, with precedence constraints for job operations. Such a tool for model has not been treated in the literature. To solve the model, tool was developed, so a new technique was required to deal with the issue of high product variance and short life cycles in assemble to order.

Keywords: hybrid manufacturing system, supply chain system, make to order, make to stock, assemble to order

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Authors: Mohamed Boullouz, Mohamed Louay Metougui

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Accurate modeling of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, crop growth, soil productivity, and biochemical processes is crucial considering escalating global concerns about climate change and the urgent need to improve agricultural sustainability. The application of the denitrification-disintegration (DNDC) model in the context of Morocco's unique agro-climate is thoroughly investigated in this study. Our main research hypothesis is that the DNDC model offers an effective and powerful tool for precisely simulating a wide range of significant parameters, including greenhouse gas emissions, crop growth, yield potential, and complex soil biogeochemical processes, all consistent with the intricate features of environmental Moroccan agriculture. In order to verify these hypotheses, a vast amount of field data covering Morocco's various agricultural regions and encompassing a range of soil types, climatic factors, and crop varieties had to be gathered. These experimental data sets will serve as the foundation for careful model calibration and subsequent validation, ensuring the accuracy of simulation results. In conclusion, the prospective research findings add to the global conversation on climate-resilient agricultural practices while encouraging the promotion of sustainable agricultural models in Morocco. A policy architect's and an agricultural actor's ability to make informed decisions that not only advance food security but also environmental stability may be strengthened by the impending recognition of the DNDC model as a potent simulation tool tailored to Moroccan conditions.

Keywords: greenhouse gas emissions, DNDC model, sustainable agriculture, Moroccan cropping systems

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Authors: Garima Anand, Rupam Kapoor

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Alternaria leaf spot caused by Alternaria carthami is one of the most devastating diseases of safflower. It has resulted in huge losses in crop production and cultivation leading to a fall out of India’s rank as the leading producer of safflower in the world. Understanding the diversity of any pathogen is essential for its management and for the development of disease control strategies. The diversity of A. carthami was therefore analysed on the basis of biochemical, pathogenicity and genetic lines using ISSR markers. Collections and isolations of 95 isolates of A. carthami were made from major safflower producing states of India. Virulence was analysed to evaluate the pathogenic potential of these isolates. The isolates from Bijapur, Dharwad districts (Karnataka), and Parbhani and Solapur districts (Maharashtra) were found to be highly virulent. The virulence assays showed low virulence levels (42%) for the largest part of the population. Biochemical characterization to assess aggressiveness of these isolates was done by estimating the activity of cell wall degrading enzymes where isolates from districts Dharwad, Bijapur of Karnataka and districts Parbhani and Latur of Maharashtra were found to be most aggressive. Genetic diversity among isolates of A. carthami was determined using eighteen ISSR markers. Distance analysis using neighbour joining method and PCoA analysis of the ISSR profiles divided the isolates into three sub-populations. The most virulent isolates clustered in one group in the dendrogram. The study provided no evidence for geographical clustering indicating that isolates are randomly spread across the states, signifying the high potential of the fungus to adapt to diverse regions. The study can, therefore, aid in the breeding and deployment of A. carthami resistant safflower varieties and in the management of Alternaria leaf spot disease.

Keywords: alternaria leaf spot, genetic diversity, pathogenic potential, virulence

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Authors: Daniela E. Marin, Cornelia Braicu, Gina C. Pistol, Roxana Cojocneanu-Petric, Ioana Berindan Neagoe, Mihail A. Gras, Ionelia Taranu

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Aristolochic acid (AA) is a carcinogenic, mutagenic, and nephrotoxic compound commonly found in the Aristolochiaceae family of plants. AA is frequently associated with urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract in human and animals and is considered as being responsible for Balkan Endemic Nephropathy. The pig provides a good animal model because the porcine urological system is very similar to that of humans, both in aspects of physiology and anatomy. MicroRNA (miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs that have an impact on a wide range of biological processes by regulating gene expression at post-transcriptional level. The objective of this study was to analyze the miRNA profiling in the kidneys of AA intoxicated swine. For this purpose, ten TOPIGS-40 crossbred weaned piglets, 4-week-old, male and females with an initial average body weight of 9.83 ± 0.5 kg were studied for 28 days. They were given ad libitum access to water and feed and randomly allotted to one of the following groups: control group (C) or aristolochic acid group (AA). They were fed a maize-soybean-meal-based diet contaminated or not with 0.25mgAA/kg. To profile miRNA in the kidneys of pigs, microarrays and bioinformatics approaches were applied to analyze the miRNA in the kidney of control and AA intoxicated pigs. After normalization, our results have shown that a total of 5 known miRNAs and 4 novel miRNAs had different profiling in the kidney of intoxicated animals versus control ones. Expression of miR-32-5p, miR-497-5p, miR-423-3p, miR-218-5p, miR-128-3p were up-regulated by 0.25mgAA/kg feed, while the expression of miR-9793-5p, miR-9835-3p, miR-9840-3p, miR-4334-5p was down-regulated. The microRNA profiling in kidney of intoxicated animals was associated with modified expression of target genes as: RICTOR, LASP1, SFRP2, DKK2, BMI1, RAF1, IGF1R, MAP2K1, WEE1, HDGF, BCL2, EIF4E etc, involved in cell division cycle, apoptosis, cell differentiation and cell migration, cell signaling, cancer etc. In conclusion, this study provides new data concerning the microRNA profiling in kidney after aristolochic acid intoxications with important implications for human and animal health.

Keywords: aristolochic acid, kidney, microRNA, swine

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Authors: Hamed Rashid Sarand, Kemal Selçuk Öğüt

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Speed is one of the fundamental variables of road traffic flow that stands as an important evaluation criterion for traffic analyses in several aspects. In particular, varieties of speed variable, such as average speed, free flow speed, optimum speed (capacity speed), acceleration/deceleration speed and so on, have been explicitly considered in the analysis of not only road safety but also road capacity. In the purpose of realizing 'road speed – maximum speed difference across lanes' and 'road flow rate – maximum speed difference across lanes' relations on freeway traffic, this study presents a case study conducted on a basic freeway segment of O-2 in Istanbul. The traffic data employed in this study have been obtained from 5 remote traffic microwave sensors operated by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The study stretch is located between two successive freeway interchanges: Ümraniye and Kavacık. Daily traffic data of 4 years (2011-2014) summer months, July and August are used. The speed data are analyzed into two main flow areas such as uncongested and congested flows. In this study, the regression analyses were carried out in order to examine the relationship between maximum speed difference across lanes and road speed. These investigations were implemented at uncongested and congested flows, separately. Moreover, the relationship between maximum speed difference across lanes and road flow rate were evaluated by applying regression analyses for both uncongested and congested flows separately. It is concluded that there is the moderate relationship between maximum speed difference across lanes and road speed in 50% cases. Additionally, it is indicated that there is the moderate relationship between maximum speed difference across lanes and road flow rate in 30% cases. The maximum speed difference across lanes decreases as the road flow rate increases.

Keywords: maximum speed difference, regression analysis, remote traffic microwave sensor, speed differentiation, traffic flow

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Authors: Cristian Moisa, Andreea Lupitu, Adriana Csakvari, Dana G. Radu, Leonard Marian Olariu, Georgeta Pop, Dorina Chambre, Lucian Copolovici, Dana Copolovici

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Green synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) represents a promising, accessible, eco-friendly, and safe process with significant applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, and farming. The aim of our study was to obtain silver nanoparticles, using plant wastes extracts resulted in the essential oils extraction process: Thymus vulgaris L., Origanum vulgare L., Lavandula angustifolia L., and in hemp processing for seed and fibre, Cannabis sativa. Firstly, we obtained aqueous extracts of thyme, oregano, lavender, and hemp (two monoicous and one dioicous varieties), all harvested in western part of Romania. Then, we determined the chemical composition of the extracts by liquid-chromatography coupled with diode array and mass spectrometer detectors. The compounds identified in the extracts were in agreement with earlier published data, and the determination of the antioxidant activity of the obtained extracts by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) assays confirmed their antioxidant activity due to their total polyphenolic content evaluated by Folin-Ciocalteu assay. Then, the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were successfully biosynthesised, as was demonstrated by UV-VIS, FT-IR spectroscopies, and SEM, by reacting AgNO₃ solution and plant extracts. AgNPs were spherical in shape, with less than 30 nm in diameter, and had a good bactericidal activity against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas fluorescens).

Keywords: plant wastes extracts, chemical composition, high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometer, HPLC-MS, scanning electron microscopy, SEM, silver nanoparticles

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Authors: Juan C. Martínez-Alfaro, Aracely Zúñiga, Fernando Ruíz-Zarate

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In recent years, the Katahdin sheep breeds have been one of the breeds with greater acceptance by sheep farmers in southwestern Mexico. The Hair Sheep breeds from tropical latitudes (16° to 21° North Latitude) show low estrus activity from January to May. By contrast, these breeds of sheep exhibit high estrus activity from August to December. However, the reproductive management of Hair Sheep crossbred is very limited, independently of the socioeconomic levels of sheep farmers. Thus, in crossbred of Hair Sheep, occurrence of lambing is greater in autumn (84%) than spring (16%). In this sense, the aim of this study was to determine the lambing in Crossbred of Katahdin sheep during different seasons of the year. The Hypothesis was that in crossbred of Katahdin sheep, the lambing period has a behavior seasonal in the Southwestern Mexico. The study design consisted in evaluating the lambing proportion in one herds of Katahdin ewes crossbred during one year (October 1st, 2015 to October 1st, 2016). The study was realized in a farm located in the municipality of Jiquipilas, in the State of Chiapas, Mexico (16° North Latitude). A total of 40 female sheep homogeneous in terms of physical condition, age and physiological state were selected; and they were fed in grazing continuous, mainly with Africa star grass (Cynodon lemfuensis) and they are provided with water and mineral salts ad libitum; during the dry season, the ewes were supplemented with a diet of maize and sorghum, and the reproductive management was continuous mating. The lambing proportion was analyzed by chi-squared test, using SAS statistical software. The proportion of Katahdin ewes crossbred that lambed during the study period was high (100%; 40/40), the prolificacy was 1.42 (lamb/lambing). The proportion of lambing was higher (P<0.05) in autumn (67.5%; 27/40), than winter, spring and summer (32.5%; 13/40; 0%; 0/40; 0%; 0/40; respectively). The proportion of lambing was greater (P<0.05) in November (50%; 20/40), compared to October, December and January (2.5%; 1/40; 27.5%; 11/40; 20%; 8/40, respectively). The results are consistent with the fact that in the Hair Sheep Breeds, the lambing appears behave seasonally. The most important finding is that the lambing period in the crossbred of Katahdin Sheep is similar to the crossbred of Hair Sheep in tropical regions of Mexico. Therefore, the period of greater sexual activity occurs in the spring season. In conclusion, the period of lambing in crossbred of Katahdin ewes appears behave seasonally. Further researches to assess the ovarian activity in different breeds of Hair Ewes are under assessment.

Keywords: Katahdin ewes, lambing, prolificacy, seasonality

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Authors: Evangeline Mbah, Margret Okeke, Agbo Joseph

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Agriculture was primarily a rural activity in Nigeria, but due to increasing demand for food and jobs for many urban dwellers, it became necessary for urban households to embark on farming as a means of improving household food security and additional income for economic empowerment. Urban agriculture serves as a veritable tool for poverty reduction among people living in urban areas mostly low-income earners and unemployed. The survey was conducted to identify key challenges encountered by households in Makurdi metropolis of Benue state, Nigeria who are engaged in urban agriculture. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of respondents used for the study. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean score and standard deviation. Results show that a greater percentage (46.0%) of the respondents engaged in cultivation of leafy vegetable, 22.0% cultivated cassava, 21.0% planted sweet potato, 18.0% cultivated tomato while 56.0% reared poultry, 23.0% kept goat, among others. Sources of agricultural information indicated by the respondents were family members/relations (85.0%), friends/neighbours (73.0%), radio (68.0%), extension agents (57.0%), etc. Major challenges encountered by the respondents in urban agriculture include inadequate size of farmland (M= 2.72), lack of access to credit facilities (M= 2.63), lack of funds (M= 2.50), high cost of labour (M= 2.49), insecurity of lands (M= 2.46), theft of crops at maturity (M= 2.38), lack of farm inputs such as improved varieties of seeds, fertilizer and exotic breeds of livestock (M= 2.23), destruction of crops by stray farm animals (M= 1.96), among others. The study recommends that there is a need for adequate provision of farm inputs by the government at all levels at a subsidized rate in order to reduce the cost of production and enhance optimum productivity.

Keywords: urban, agriculture, household, challenges, Makurdi, Nigeria

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Authors: Lidia Kowalska, Edward Arseniuk

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Glume and leaf blotch is a disease of wheat caused by necrotrophic fungus Parastagonospora nodorum. It is a serious pathogen in many wheat-growing areas throughout the world. Use of resistant cultivars is the most effective and economical means to control the above-mentioned disease. Plant breeders and pathologists have worked intensively to incorporate resistance to the pathogen in new cultivars. Conventional methods of breeding for resistance can be supported by using the biotechnological ones, i.e., somatic embryogenesis and androgenesis. Therefore, an effort was undertaken to compare genetic variation in P. nodorum resistance among winter wheat somaclones, dihaploids and conventional varieties. For the purpose, a population of 16 somaclonal and 4 dihaploid wheat lines from six crosses were used to assess their resistance to P. nodorum under field conditions. Lines were grown in disease-free (fungicide protected) and inoculated micro plots in 2 replications of a split-plot design in a single environment. The plant leaves were inoculated with a mixture of P. nodorum isolates three times. Spore concentrations were adjusted to 4 x 10⁶ of viable spores per one milliliter. The disease severity was rated on a scale, where > 90% – susceptible, < 10% - resistant. Disease ratings of plant leaves showed statistically significant differences among all lines tested. Higher resistance to P. nodorum was observed more often on leaves of somaclonal lines than on dihaploid ones. On average, disease, severity reached 15% on leaves of somaclones and 30% on leaves of dihaploids. Some of the genotypes were showing low leaf infection, e.g. dihaploid D-33 (disease severity 4%) and a somaclone S-1 (disease severity 2%). The results from this study prove that dihaploid and somaclonal variation might be successfully used as an additional source of wheat resistance to the pathogen and it could be recommended to use in commercial breeding programs. The reported results prove that biotechnological methods may effectively be used in breeding for disease resistance of wheat to fungal necrotrophic pathogens.

Keywords: glume and leaf blotch, somaclonal, androgenic variation, wheat, resistance breeding

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Authors: S. K. Dewangan, K. R. Sahu, S. Soni

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Unemployment is today’s basic socio-economic problem eroding national income and living standards, aggravating national development and poverty alleviation. The farmers are encouraged to take up non-agriculture practices which are integrated with Sericulture. Sericulture is one of the primary occupations for livelihood of poor people in tribal area. Most of tribal are involved in Sericulture. Tasar, Eri are the main forest-based cultivation. Among these sericultures is the major crop adopted by the Tribal’s and practiced in respective areas. Out of the 6, 38,588 villages in India, sericultures are practiced in about 69000 villages providing employment to about 7.85 million people. Sericulture is providing livelihood for 9, 47,631 families. India continues to be the second largest producer of silk in the World. Among the four varieties of silk produced, as in 2012-13, Mulberry accounts for 18,715 MT, Eri 3116 MT, Tasar 1729 MT and Muga 119MT of the total raw silk production in the country. Sericulture with its unique features plays an important role in upgrading the socio-economic conditions of the rural folk and with employment opportunities to the educated rural youth and women. In view of the importance of sericulture enterprise for the biodiversity conservation as well as its cultural bondage, the paper tries to enlighten and discuss the significance of sericulture and strategies to be taken for the employment generation in Indian sericulture industry. The present paper explores the possible employment opportunities derived from problem analysis and strategies to be adopted aiming at revolutionary biodiversity conservation in the study area. The paper highlights the sericulture is a way for biodiversity conservation, employment generation in Raigarh district, their utilization and needs as they act as a tool for socio-economic change for tribal. The study concludes with some suggestions to improve the feasibility of sericulture in long term.

Keywords: bio-diversity, employment, sericulture, tribal, income, socio-economic

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Authors: Zenaida M. De Guzman, Davison T. Baldos, Gilberto T. Diano, Jeff Darren G. Valdez, Levelyn Mitos Tolentino, Gina B. Abrera, Ma. Lucia Cobar, Cristina Gragasin

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One of the factors affecting the quality of brown rice is the free fatty acid produced from surface lipids. It is the purpose of the study to determine the effect of gamma radiation, packaging materials and age and variety of paddy on the surface free fatty acid content using two different brown rice variety, namely, RC-160 and SL-7, packed in two different packaging materials, namely, regular polyethylene bag and Super bag irradiated at 0.5 and 1.0 kGy. Brown rice was produced from 2-week old (Lot 1) and two months old paddy (Lot 2) and irradiated at the Co-60 Multipurpose Irradiation Facility, PNRI. The surface Free Fatty Acid (FFA) content was obtained following the AOCS Official Method (1982) with some modifications. The experiment was laid out using Split-Plot Randomized Control Block Design. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the effects of variety, age of paddy and interactions of both were both significant. The surface FFA of SL-7 variety was found to be significantly higher than the RC-160 variety for all radiation doses. Likewise, Lot 2 was observed to have higher surface FFA than Lot 1 regardless of packaging material and radiation dose. It was observed that the surface FFA of both varieties packed in both packaging materials increased significantly up to the 2nd or 3rd month of storage and remains the same until the 5th month. On the other hand, radiation dose did not significantly affect the surface free fatty acid content for all storage/sampling time while the packaging material significantly interacts with the type of variety and radiation dose. Gamma radiation was proven to have no significant effect on the surface free fatty acid at 0.5 and 1.0 kGy and further analyses are needed to determine the action of gamma radiation to the activity of enzyme (lipase-induced and microbial) responsible for the production of other lipolytic products and the effect of gamma radiation on the integrity of the packaging materials.

Keywords: brown rice, free fatty acid, gamma radiation, polyethylene bag

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Authors: B. Makoudi, R. Ghanimi, A. Bargaz, M. Mouradi, M. Farissi, A. Kabbaj, J. J. Drevon, C. Ghoulam

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Legume species are able to establish a nitrogen fixing symbiosis with soil rhizobia that allows them, when it operates normally, to ensure their necessary nitrogen nutrition. This biological process needs high phosphorus (P) supply and consequently it is limited under low phosphorus availability. To overcome this constraint, legume-rhizobia symbiosis develops many mechanisms to increase P availability in the rhizosphere and also the efficiency of P fertilizers. The objectives of our research works are to understand the physiological and biochemical mechanisms implemented by legume-rhizobia symbiosis to increase its P use efficiency (PUE) in order to select legume genotypes-rhizobia strains combination more performing for BNF under P deficiency. Our studies were carried out on two grain legume species, common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and faba bean (Vicia faba) tested in farmers’ fields and in experimental station fewer than two soil phosphorus levels. Under field conditions, the P deficiency caused a significant decrease of Plant and nodule biomasses in all of the tested varieties with a difference between them. This P limitation increased the contents of available P in the rhizospheric soils that was positively correlated with the increase of phosphatases activities in the nodules and the rhizospheric soil. Some legume genotypes showed a significant increase of their P use efficiency under P deficiency. The P solubilization test showed that some rhizobia strains isolated from Haouz region presented an important capacity to grow on solid and liquid media with tricalcium phosphate as the only P source and their P solubilizing activity was confirmed by the assay of the released P in the liquid medium. Also, this P solubilizing activity was correlated with medium acidification and the excretion of acid phosphatases and phytases in the medium. Thus, we concluded that medium acidification and excretion of phosphatases in the rhizosphere are the prominent reactions for legume-rhizobia symbiosis to improve its P nutrition.

Keywords: legume, phosphorus deficiency, rhizobia, rhizospheric soil

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Authors: Zewdneh Zana Zate

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The study focuses on the evolutionary and ecological genomics of both wild and cultivated Coffea arabica L. at its center of origin, Ethiopia, aiming to uncover how this vital species may withstand future climate changes. Utilizing bioclimatic models, we project the future distribution of Arabica under varied climate scenarios for 2050 and 2080, identifying potential conservation zones and immediate risk areas. Through whole-genome resequencing of accessions from Ethiopian gene banks, this research assesses genetic diversity and divergence between wild and cultivated populations. It explores relationships, demographic histories, and potential hybridization events among Coffea arabica accessions to better understand the species' origins and its connection to parental species. This genomic analysis also seeks to detect signs of natural or artificial selection across populations. Integrating these genomic discoveries with ecological data, the study evaluates the current and future ecological and genomic vulnerabilities of wild Coffea arabica, emphasizing necessary adaptations for survival. We have identified key genomic regions linked to environmental stress tolerance, which could be crucial for breeding more resilient Arabica varieties. Additionally, our ecological modeling predicted a contraction of suitable habitats, urging immediate conservation actions in identified key areas. This research not only elucidates the evolutionary history and adaptive strategies of Arabica but also informs conservation priorities and breeding strategies to enhance resilience to climate change. By synthesizing genomic and ecological insights, we provide a robust framework for developing effective management strategies aimed at sustaining Coffea arabica, a species of profound global importance, in its native habitat under evolving climatic conditions.

Keywords: coffea arabica, climate change adaptation, conservation strategies, genomic resilience

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Authors: Z. Nourmohammadi, F. Farahani, M. Shaker

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Aloe is an important commercial crop available in a wide range of species and varieties in international markets. The applications of this plant have been recorded in the ancient cultures of India, Egypt, Greece, Rome and China. Aloe has been used for centuries and is currently being actively studied for medicinal purposes. Aloe is propagated through lateral buds, which is slow, very expensive and low income practice. Nowadays, it has been cultured by in vitro propagation for rapid multiplication of plants, genetic improvement of crops, obtaining disease-free clones and for progressive valuable germplasm. The present study focused on the influence of different phytohormones on rapid in vitro propagation of Aloe plants. We also investigated the effect of gamma radiation on biochemical characters as well as genetic changes. Shoot tip of 2-3 cm were collected from offshoot of Aloe barbadensis and Aloe littoralis, and were inoculated with MS medium containing various concentrations of BA (0.5, 1, 2 mg/l), IAA (0.5, 1 mg/l). The best treatment for a highest shoot number and bud proliferation was MS medium containing 2 mg/l BAP and 0.5 mg/l IAA in A. barbadensis and A. littoralis. Maximum percentage of proliferated shoot buds (90% and 95%) from a single explant were obtained in MS medium after 4-5 weeks of the second and the first subcultures, respectively. Different genome sizes were also indicated among treatments and subcultures. The mixoploids identified in flow cytometery histograms in different treatments. The effect of gamma radiation on A. littoralis showed that by increasing the dose of gamma radiation, amounts of chlorophyll A, B, carotenoids, total protein content and superoxide dismutase were significantly increased compared to control plants. Genetic variation analysis also revealed significant genetic differences between control and gamma radiation treated regenerated plants by AMOVA test. Higher genetic heterozygocity was observed in radiation treated plants. Our findings may provide useful method for improving of Aloe plant proliferation with increasing of useful material such as antioxidant enzymes.

Keywords: aloe, antioxidant enzyme, micropropagation, gamma radiation, genetic variation

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Authors: Anita Singh, Richa Naula, Manoj Raghav

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India is a leading producer and consumer of fenugreek for its culinary uses and medicinal application. In India, most of the people are of vegetarian class. In such a situation, a leafy vegetable, such as fenugreek is of chief concern due to its high nutritional property, medicinal values and industrial uses. One of the most important factors restricting their large scale production and development of superior varieties is that very scanty knowledge about their genetic diversity, inter and intraspecific variability and genetic relationship among the species. Improvement of the crop depends upon the magnitude of genetic variability for economic characters. Therefore, the present research work was carried out to analyse the variability parameters for growth and yield character in twenty-eight fenugreek genotypes along with two standard checks Pant Ragini and Pusa Early Bunching. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replication during rabi season 2015-2016 at Pantnagar Centre for Plant Genetic Resources, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among all the genotypes for all traits. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient variation were observed for characters, namely the number of primary branches per plant, number of leaves at 30, 45 and 60 DAS, green leaf yield per plant, green leaf yield q/ha . The genetic advance recorded highest in green leaf yield q/ha (33.93) followed by green leaf yield per plant (21.20g). Highest percent of heritability were shown by 1000 seed weight (99.12%) followed by the number of primary branches per plant (97.18%). Green leaf yield q/ha showed high heritability and high genetic advance. These superior genotypes can be further used in crop improvement programs of fenugreek.

Keywords: genetic advance, genotypic coefficient variation, heritability, phenotypic coefficient variation

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Authors: Hailemariam Solomon, Taye Tadesse, Daniel Nadew, Firezer Girma

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Sorghum is an important crop in semi-arid regions and has shown resilience to drought stress. However, recurrent drought is affecting its productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to explore genes that contribute to drought stress adaptation to increase sorghum productivity. The aim of this study is to evaluate and determine the effect of root system traits, specifically root angle, on drought stress adaptation and grain yield performance in sorghum genotypes. A total of 428 sorghum genotypes from the Ethiopian breeding program were evaluated in three drought-stress environments. Field trials were conducted using a row-column design with three replications. Root system traits were phenotyped using a high-throughput phenotyping platform and analyzed using a row-column design with two replications. Data analysis was performed using R software and regression analysis. The study found significant variations in root system architecture among the sorghum genotypes. Non-stay-green genotypes had a grain yield ranging from 1.63 to 3.1 tons/ha, while stay-green genotypes had a grain yield ranging from 2.4 to 2.9 tons/ha. The analysis of root angle showed that non-stay-green genotypes had an angle ranging from 8.0 to 30.5 degrees, while stay-green genotypes had an angle ranging from 12.0 to 29.0 degrees. Improved varieties exhibited angles between 14.04 and 19.50 degrees. Positive and significant correlations were observed between leaf areas and shoot dry weight, as well as between leaf width and shoot dry weight. Negative correlations were observed between root angle and leaf area, as well as between root angle and root length. This research highlights the importance of root system architecture, particularly root angle traits, in enhancing grain yield production in drought-stressed conditions. It also establishes an association between root angle and grain yield traits for maximizing sorghum productivity.

Keywords: roor sysytem architecture, root angle, narrow root angle, wider root angle, drought

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Authors: Hassan Mahmoudzadeh

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The bacterium of Agrobacterium vitis causes crown and root gall disease, an important disease of grapevine, Vitis vinifera L. Also, Phylloxera is one of the most important pests in viticulture. Grapevine rootstocks were developed to provide increased resistance to soil-borne pests and diseases, but rootstock effects on some traits remain unclear. The interaction between rootstock, scion and environment can induce different responses to the grapevine physiology. 'Sultsna' (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most valuable raisin grape cultivars in Iran. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the rootstock effect on the growth characteristics and yield components and quality of 'Sultana' grapevine grown in the Urmia viticulture region. The experimental design was completely randomized blocks, with four treatments, four replicates and 10 vines per plot. The results show that all variables evaluated were significantly affected by the rootstock. The Sultana/110R and Sultana/Nazmieh were among other combinations influenced by the year and had a higher significant yield/vine (13.25 and 12.14, respectively). Indeed, they were higher than that of Sultana/5BB (10.56 kg/vine) and Sultana/Spota (10.25 kg/vine). The number of clusters per burst bud and per vine and the weight of clusters were affected by the rootstock as well. Pruning weight/vine, yield/pruning weight, leaf area/vine and leaf area index are variables related to the physiology of grapevine, which was also affected by the rootstocks. In general, rootstocks had adapted well to the environment where the experiment was carried out, giving vigor and high yield to Sultana grapevine, which means that they may be used by grape growers in this region. In sum, the study found the best rootstocks for 'Sultana' to be Nazmieh and 110R in terms of root and shoot growth. However, the choice of the right rootstock depends on various aspects, such as those related to soil characteristics, climate conditions, grape varieties, and even clones, and production purposes.

Keywords: grafting, vineyards, grapevine, succeptability

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Authors: Carmela Perta

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In Italy the coexistence of standard language, its varieties and different minority languages - historical and migration languages - has been a way to study language contact in different directions; the focus of most of the studies is either the relations among the languages of the social repertoire, or the study of contact phenomena occurring in a particular structural level. However, studies on contact facts in relation to a given sociolinguistic situation of the speech community are still not present in literature. As regard the language level to investigate from the perspective of contact, it is commonly claimed that the lexicon is the most volatile part of language and most likely to undergo change due to superstrate influence, indeed first lexical features are borrowed, then, under long term cultural pressure, structural features may also be borrowed. The aim of this paper is to analyse language contact in two historical minority communities where Francoprovençal is spoken, in relation to their sociolinguistic situation. In this perspective, firstly lexical borrowings present in speakers’ speech production will be examined, trying to find a possible correlation between this part of the lexicon and informants’ sociolinguistic variables; secondly a possible correlation between a particular community sociolinguistic situation and lexical borrowing will be found. Methods used to collect data are based on the results obtained from 24 speakers in both the villages; the speaker group in the two communities consisted of 3 males and 3 females in each of four age groups, ranging in age from 9 to 85, and then divided into five groups according to their occupations. Speakers were asked to describe a sequence of pictures naming common objects and then describing scenes when they used these objects: they are common objects, frequently pronounced and belonging to semantic areas which are usually resistant and which are thought to survive. A subset of this task, involving 19 items with Italian source is examined here: in order to determine the significance of the independent variables (social factors) on the dependent variable (lexical variation) the statistical package SPSS, particularly the linear regression, was used.

Keywords: borrowing, Francoprovençal, language change, lexicon

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Authors: Angela Maria Sarmiento

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Since the end of the 19th century, the Bora people struggled to survive two stages of colonial domination, which resulted in situations of forced contact with the Western world. Their inclusion in global designs altered the configuration of their local spaces and social practices; thus the Bora language was affected and prone to transformation. This descriptive, interpretive study, within the indigenous and minoritized groups’ research field, aimed at analysing the linguistic attitudes as well as the contextual situation of the Bora language in Providencia, an ancestral territory and a speech community contained in the midst of the Colombian Amazon rainforest. Through the inquiry of their sociolinguistic practices, this study also considered the effects of the course of events derived from the rubber exploitation in the late 19th century, and the arrival of the Capuchin’s mission in the early 20th century. The methodology used in this study had an ethnographic approach, which allowed the researcher to study the social phenomena from the perspective of the participants. Fieldwork, diary, field notes, and semi-structured interviews were conducted and then triangulated with participant observations. The findings of this study suggest that there is a transition from current individual bilingualism towards Spanish monolingualism; this is enhanced by the absence of a functional distribution of the three varieties (Bora, Huitoto, and Spanish). Also, the positive attitudes towards the Spanish language are based on its functionality while positive attitudes towards the Bora language mostly refer to pride and identity. Negative attitudes are only directed towards the Bora language. In the search for the roots of these negative attitudes, appeared the traumatic experiences of the rubber exploitation and the indigenous experiences at the capuchin’s boarding school. Finally, the situation of the Bora language can be configured as a social fact strongly connected to previous years of colonial dominations and to the current and continuous incursion of new global-colonial designs.

Keywords: Bora language, language contact, linguistic attitudes, speech communities

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Authors: G. Olamiti; TK. Takalani; D. Beswa, AIO Jideani

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The study investigated the effects of malting and fermentation times on some chemical, functional properties and microstructural behaviour of Agrigreen, Babala pearl millet cultivars and sorghum flours using response surface methodology (RSM). Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) was performed on two independent variables: malting and fermentation times (h), at intervals of 24, 48, and 72, respectively. The results of dependent parameters such as pH, titratable acidity (TTA), Water absorption capacity (WAC), Oil absorption capacity (OAC), bulk density (BD), dispersibility and microstructural behaviour of the flours studied showed a significant difference in p < 0.05 upon malting and fermentation time. Babala flour exhibited a higher pH value at 4.78 at 48 h malted and 81.9 fermentation times. Agrigreen flour showed a higher TTA value at 0.159% at 81.94 h malted and 48 h fermentation times. WAC content was also higher in malted and fermented Babala flour at 2.37 ml g-1 for 81.94 h malted and 48 h fermentation time. Sorghum flour exhibited the least OAC content at 1.67 ml g-1 at 14 h malted and 48 h fermentation times. Agrigreen flour recorded the least bulk density, at 0.53 g ml-1 for 72 h malted and 24 h fermentation time. Sorghum flour exhibited a higher content of dispersibility, at 56.34%, after 24 h malted and 72 h fermented time. The response surface plots showed that increased malting and fermentation time influenced the dependent parameters. The microstructure behaviour of malting and fermentation times of pearl millet varieties and sorghum flours showed isolated, oval, spherical, or polygonal to smooth surfaces. The optimal processing conditions, such as malting and fermentation time for Agrigreen, were 32.24 h and 63.32 h; 35.18 h and 34.58 h for Babala; and 36.75 h and 47.88 h for sorghum with high desirability of 1.00. The validation of the optimum processing malting and fermentation times (h) on the dependent improved the experimented values. Food processing companies can use the study's findings to improve food processing and quality.

Keywords: Pearl millet, malting, fermentation, microstructural behaviour

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Authors: Jesryl B. Paulite, Eixer Niel V. Enesco

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Lettuce is not well known in the lowland locality in the tropical countries like Philippines. Farmers thought that this crop is not adaptable to the climate that we have in lowland. But some new varieties can tolerate warmer conditions. The massive use of pesticides in lettuce production might chronically affect human health and environment. The move of the Philippine government is toward organic. One of the organic material is vermicompost. It is an organic fertilizer that serves as soil conditioner and enhances soil fertility and promotes vigorous and healthy crop growth and Supplementation of 19-19-19+M.E. will make it better since it contains N-P-K and selected microelements to meet the nutritive requirements of the crop. The experiment was conducted at Purok 3, Brgy. Tiburcia, Kapalong, Davao del Norte from February 6, 2014 to March 4, 2014. The study was conducted to determine the effect of varying frequency application of vermicast as supplemented with 19-19-19+M.E. in lettuce. Specifically, this aimed to 1.) Identify the agronomic performance of lettuce as affected by varying frequency application of vermicast as supplemented with 19-19-19+M.E.; 2.) Assess the economic profitability of lettuce as applied with vermicast as supplemented with 19-19-19+M.E. The study was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four treatments and three replications. The treatments were as follow: T1 – Untreated, T2 - Weekly Application, T3- Bi-weekly Application, and T4- Monthly Application. The data on percent (%) mortality were transformed using square root of transformation before Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results revealed not significant in terms of percent mortality in weekly and monthly application of the treatment having a mean of 1.76 % and 3.09 %. However, Significant differences were observed in agronomic performances such as; plant height with a mean of 10.63 cm in weekly application and 6.40 cm for the untreated, leaf width with a mean of 10.80 cm for the weekly application and 6.03 for the untreated, fresh weight with a mean of 25.67 g for the weekly application and 6.83 g for the untreated, and yield with a mean of 1,208.33 kg/ha for the weekly application and 327.08 kg/ha for the untreated, respectively. Results further exposed that profitability of lettuce in terms of Return of Production Cost (RPC) were; bi-weekly with 91.01 %, monthly with 68.20 %, weekly with 25.34 % and untreated (control) with 16.69 %.

Keywords: agronomic performance, economic profitability, vermicast, percent mortality, 19-19-19+ME

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Authors: Yonwaba Atyosi, Moses Cho, Abel Ramoelo, Nobuhle Majozi, Cecilia Masemola, Yoliswa Mkhize

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Spectroscopy has been widely used to understand the hyperspectral remote sensing of soils. Accurate and efficient measurement of soil moisture is essential for precision agriculture. The aim of this study was to understand the spectral behavior of soil at different soil water content levels and identify the significant spectral bands for soil moisture content retrieval at field-scale. The study consisted of 60 soil samples from a maize farm, divided into four different treatments representing different moisture levels. Spectral signatures were measured for each sample in laboratory under artificial light using an Analytical Spectral Device (ASD) spectrometer, covering a wavelength range from 350 nm to 2500 nm, with a spectral resolution of 1 nm. The results showed that the absorption features at 1450 nm, 1900 nm, and 2200 nm were particularly sensitive to soil moisture content and exhibited strong correlations with the water content levels. Continuum removal was developed in the R programming language to enhance the absorption features of soil moisture and to precisely understand its spectral behavior at different water content levels. Statistical analysis using partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were performed to quantify the correlation between the spectral bands and soil moisture content. This study provides insights into the spectral behavior of soil at different water content levels and identifies the significant spectral bands for soil moisture content retrieval. The findings highlight the potential of spectroscopy for non-destructive and rapid soil moisture measurement, which can be applied to various fields such as precision agriculture, hydrology, and environmental monitoring. However, it is important to note that the spectral behavior of soil can be influenced by various factors such as soil type, texture, and organic matter content, and caution should be taken when applying the results to other soil systems. The results of this study showed a good agreement between measured and predicted values of Soil Moisture Content with high R2 and low root mean square error (RMSE) values. Model validation using independent data was satisfactory for all the studied soil samples. The results has significant implications for developing high-resolution and precise field-scale soil moisture retrieval models. These models can be used to understand the spatial and temporal variation of soil moisture content in agricultural fields, which is essential for managing irrigation and optimizing crop yield.

Keywords: soil moisture content retrieval, precision agriculture, continuum removal, remote sensing, machine learning, spectroscopy

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Authors: Mukesh Singh Mer, Brij Lal Attri, Raj Narayan, Anil Kumar

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Postharvest studies were conducted under the concept that fruit do not qualify for the fresh market may be used as a source of bioactive compounds. One peach (Prunus persica cvs Red June) were evaluated for their photochemical content and antioxidant capacity during the ripening and over ripening periods (advanced senescence) for 12 and 15 d, respectively. Firmness decreased rapidly during this period from an initial pre –ripe stage of 5.85 lb/in2 for peach until the fruit reached the fully ripe stage of lb/in2. In this study we evaluate the varietal performance in respect of the quality beyond fresh market eating and nutrition levels. The varieties are (T-1 F-16-23), (T-2 Florda king), (T-3 Nectarine), (T-4 Red June). The result pertaining are there the highest fruit length (68.50 mm), fruit breadth (71.38 mm), fruit weight (186.11 g) found in T4 Red June and fruit firmness (8.74 lb/in 2) found in T3-Nectarine. The acidity (1.66 %), ascorbic acid (440 mg/100 g), reducing sugar (19.77 %) and total sugar (51.73 %) found in T4- Red June, T-2 Florda King, T-3 Nectarine at harvesting time but decrease in fruit length ( 60.81 mm), fruit breadth (51.84 mm), fruit weight (143.03 g) found in T4 Red June and fruit firmness (6.29 lb/in 2) found in T3-Nectarine. The acidity (0.80 %), ascorbic acid (329.50 mg/100 g), reducing sugar (34.03 %) and total sugar (26.97 %) found in T1- F-16-23, T-2 Florda King, T-1 F-16-23 and T-3 Nectarine after 15 days in freeze conditions when will have been since reached beyond market. The study reveals that the size and yield good in Red June and the nutritional value higher in Florda King and Nectarine peach. Fruit firmness remained unchanged afterwards. In addition, total soluble solids in peach were basically similar during the ripening and over ripening periods. Further research on secondary metabolism regulation during ripening and advanced senescence is needed to obtain fruit as enriched dietary sources of bioactive compounds or for its use in alternative high value health markets including dietary supplements, functional foods cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Keywords: metabolism, acidity, ascorbic acid, pharmaceuticals

Procedia PDF Downloads 530