Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research

Soil acidity and lower soil fertility are the key issues that constraint higher crop yield in the Old Himalayan Piedmont Plain area of Bangladesh. The study evaluated the effect of lime and manure on yield of crops in a cropping pattern, potato-mungbean-transplanted aman (TA) rice. Experiments were conducted at Agricultural Regional Station (ARS), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) farm and farmer’s field under Thakurgaon Sadar Upazila, Thakurgoan district, over two consecutive years. Crop varieties were Cardinal for potato, BARI mung6 for mungbean and Bina dhan7 for TA rice. There were nine treatment combinations with three lime levels (0, 1 and 2 t dololime ha^-1) and three manure treatments (poultry manure, farm yard manure and control) with three replications. The rate of poultry manure was 3 t ha^-1 and that of FYM was 5 t ha^-1. Lime was added to the first crop for entire two crop cycles and manures were applied to the first crop of each crop cycle. Application of lime and manure had significant positive effect on the yield of potato and consequently positive residual effects on mungbean and TA rice. An average 45-59% yield benefit over control for the first crop and 41-43% yield benefit for the third crop was observed. Amendment of soil with dololime @ 1 t ha^-1 coupled with poultry manure @ 3 t ha^-1 or FYM @ 5 t ha^-1 could be an efficient practice for achieving higher crop yield due to optimization of soil acidity and nutrient uptake by plants.

The experiment was carried out at Federal College of Forestry Jos, in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State to determine the phytotoxicity of cypermethrin pesticide on seed germination, growth and yield parameters of cowpea. Cypermethrin is popularly used by farmers as a means of treating seeds before planting to prevent insect, pest and birds attack. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) involving 5 treatments T₀ as control (No cypermethrin used), T₁ with 0.25% cypermethrin (0.25ml of cypermethrin in 99.75ml of water), T₂ with 0.50% cypermethrin (0.50ml of cypermethrin in 99.50ml of water), T₃ with 0.75% cypermethrin (0.75ml of cypermethrin in 99.25ml of water) and T₄ contained 1.00% cypermethrin (1.0ml of cypermethrin in 99.00ml water). Data was collected on radicle length, plumule length, number of leaves, number of branches, stem girth, number of seeds/pod, 100 seed weight, pod length and dry matter. Data collected was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% level of significance using SPSS 23 and where significance was declared, Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) was used to separate the means. The result of the research indicates that significance difference occurs in the radicle length (P<0.05) in which T₁ has the highest mean value. The stem girth shows a significance difference with T₀ having the highest mean value (7.32) at P<0.05. The result for the number of branches and the number of leaves shows significance difference with T₀ having the highest mean values 39.15 and 101.65 respectively at P<0.05 level of significance. The yield parameters shows a significance difference for number of seeds/pod, 100 seed weight, pod length, as well as the total dry matter. The highest mean values for the yield parameters are observed in T₀ with mean values 18.52, 18.53, 16.35 and 68.35 for number of seeds/pod, 100 seed weight, pod length and total dry mass respectively. Alpha amylase enzyme activity was observed to be higher at lower concentration of the cypermethrin (T₁) on day 2 (2.75) but the increase in the enzyme activity tilted towards the highest concentration (T₄) on day 3 and day 4 with mean value 2.70 and 3.10 at 5% level of significance.

Aims: The experiment aimed to investigate the effect of seasons (early raining and late raining) and mulching materials (Black polyethylene, White polyethylene, Grass-mulch and control) on marketable fruit yield of cucumber.

Study Design: The experimental design was a 4 x 4 factorial laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Data were collected on plant morphology and fruit components; number of leave, vine length, branch number, tendril number, stem diameter;  number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit circumference, fruit weight, number of marketable fruits per plot and number of non-marketable fruit per plot and fruit yield per plot (converted to per hectare).

Place and Duration of Study: The present study was carried out at Teaching and Research Farm of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria (located on longitude 04º33^lE and latitude 08º28^lN at 244 m above sea level) during the growing seasons of 2017 and 2018.

Methodology: The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using (SAS, 2003 version). Means of significant treatments were separated using Duncan`s Multiple Range Test (DMRT).

Results: The obtained results revealed that seasons and mulching materials had significant effect on some of the parameters investigated. Late season significantly enhanced the fruit length, fruit weight and total fruit yield when compared with the early seasons. The mulching materials, black polyethylene mulching materials significantly enhanced the morphology and some of fruit components; fruit length and fruit weight while white plastic mulch significantly improved the number of fruit per plant, fruit diameter and total yield of cucumber at both early and late seasons followed by grass-mulch. However, control consistently produced the highest number of non-marketable fruits when compared with other treatments investigated. 

Conclusion: Therefore, planting of Poinsett76 variety towards the ending of raining seasons with the application of white plastic mulching is highly recommended for the small holder farmers.  

Currently in Mexico there are few studies on agronomic management in olive production. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate eleven olive cultivars for table and oil production (Arbequina, Koroneiki, Arbosana, Kalamata, Barnea, Pendolino, Empeltre, Manzanilla of Sevilla, Carboncella, Frantoio and Cassaliva) under hot and arid environment of Mexico. The experiment was carried out during two consecutive years in 2015 and 2016 at National Research Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock (INIFAP) in the Experimental Station of Caborca, Sonora, Mexico. The plantation was done on March, 2012 using a density of 100 trees ha^-1 (10 x 10 m) under drip irrigation system. The parameters evaluated were vegetative parameters, yield, fruit quality and oil content. The experiment was analyzed using a randomized complete block design and five replications. The results showed statistical differences for all parameters evaluated. Arbequina obtained the highest olive yield with 34.5 and 70.3 kg per tree for the first and second year production, respectively and Barnea recorded the highest oil content with 19.2%. Finally, Manzanilla of Sevilla and Barnea varieties represent a good option as double-purpose varieties.   

Coffee is one of the most popular cash crops grown in Tanzania. However, its productivity has remained low due to various biotic, abiotic and socio-economic factors prevailing in Mbeya Region. These production challenges have never been properly and intensively documented for better decision making. Therefore, this study was set to assess and provide a better understanding of the current production situation and available technologies and practices for enhancing coffee production in the region.

The research was carried out in Iwindi, Msia and Lwati villages located in Mbeya Region. Two sources of data were used; (a) primary data collected through focus group discussion; and (b) secondary data collected through a systematic and intensive process that involved searching and collecting relevant publications.

From the research, farmers were found to grow very old trees that were more than 20 years. The soils were found to have low levels of nutrients and organic matter. Soils are also acidic, a pH below 5.5. High prevalence of pests such as coffee berry and stem borers and diseases like coffee leaf rust, Fusarium spp., bacterial blight, and red blister were reported in the region. Poor agronomic practices involving intensive intercropping of coffee with trees, other food crops like banana, beans and using generally low tree densities per hectare was observed. Poor extension services due to unbalanced extension agent to farmer ratio (about 1:1800) were found to be one of the causes for poor adoption of best coffee agronomy. Lack of market information and low coffee prices were found to demoralize farmers as it leads to a low return on investment. When asked about their ‘priority training and input support requirements’, all farmers mentioned best coffee agronomy and fertilizer use training. They also mentioned fertilizers (especially Urea or Yara Mila Java blend products) and pesticides (for berry borer, stem borer, Coffee berry disease, and coffee leaf rust) inputs as key for better yields. All these inputs and training require money and service provider. Bundling of training and inputs together could make it easier for any service provider to help farmers increase their yields.