Iris Publishers Agriculture Soil Science

Abstract Crude oil utilization has improved our living standard, but it has also threatened the aquatic and terrestrial environment with its harmful effects. It contains harmful substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) that can cause mutation and cancer. Soil contamination is of particular concern as it does not only effects human health but also vegetation growth and biological environment. Many remediation techniques have been devised but a quick, nature friendly and cost-effective method is required to remove and minimize the dangerous effects of crude oil. In this review, different remediation techniques to remove crude oil from the soil have been discussed, focusing on their current advancement. Chemical, physical and thermal methods used for the cleanup of soil have many demerits, so focus is shifted toward biological methods such as microbial remediation and phytoremediation. Recently microbes and plants are used together as rhizoremediation techni...

  Cottonseed Yield and its Quality as Affected by Mineral Nutrients and Plant Growth Retardants Authored by Zakaria M Sawan Abstract Stand establishment of cotton seedlings is one of the most critical stages in cotton production. Cotton-seed quality is affected, to a large extent, by the indeterminate growth habit of the cotton plant, which allows seed to set and develop across an extended period of time. Seed vigor and viability are important components influencing seedling establishment, crop growth, and productivity. Any factor that negatively affects seed vigor and viability during seed development will have adverse consequences on crop production. Plant nutrition using a balanced fertilization programmer with both macro- and micro-nutrients has become very important in the production of high-quality seed. Plant growth retardants (PGR,s) represent diverse chemistries and mode of action, and provide numerous possibilities for altering crop growth and development, provide farmers...

  W.F.P.’S Nobel Prize, The Pandemic, & Our Emerging Existential Food Crisis Authored by Scott M Lacy The way we make food shapes the world we live in. And if that’s the case, by reverse logic, our 21st century lives are a collective indictment of an unjust global food system. Historic levels of inequality, poverty, and hunger pervade our lived experience despite centuries of experiments in search of political, economic, and even scientific solutions to alleviate all this suffering on a macro-level. That is not to say that all of our previous experiments were mistakes, not by a long shot. In fact, our species has a remarkable history of adapting our food system to the dynamic and precarious balance between population growth and our lived environment, the planet. Specifically, the long arc of our Homo sapiens history reveals two existential food crises that may help us better understand our 21st century challenges to feeding the planet. Our species’ first existential food c...

  W.F.P.’S Nobel Prize, The Pandemic, & Our Emerging Existential Food Crisis Authored by Scott M Lacy             Opinion The way we make food shapes the world we live in. And if that’s the case, by reverse logic, our 21st century lives are a collective indictment of an unjust global food system. Historic levels of inequality, poverty, and hunger pervade our lived experience despite centuries of experiments in search of political, economic, and even scientific solutions to alleviate all this suffering on a macro-level. That is not to say that all of our previous experiments were mistakes, not by a long shot. In fact, our species has a remarkable history of adapting our food system to the dynamic and precarious balance between population growth and our lived environment, the planet. Specifically, the long arc of our Homo sapiens history reveals two existential food crises that may help us better understand our 21st centu...

  Physico-Chemical Properties, Functional Properties, and Chemical Compositions Of Ziziphus Mauritiana (Jujube) Seed Oil      Authored by Alawode Rahmatallah Adenike Abstract This study investigated the physico-chemical properties, functional properties, and chemical compositions of Ziziphus mauritiana (Jujube) seed oil using standard analytical methods. The results indicated that Jujube seed oil exhibited swelling capacity of 6.10±0.23 %, water absorption capacity of 20.22±0.45, oil absorption capacity of 18.53±0.43%, bulk density of 0.583±0.01%, gelatinization temperature of 72.34±1.67%, foaming stability of 56.36±0.12%, foaming capacity of 8.29±0.02%, emulsion ability of 30.21±0.13 and emulsion stability of 27.62±0.89. the oil also shows specific gravity of 0.913±0.08 Kg/L, acid value of 2.27±0.17 mgKOH/g, saponification value of 192.40±9.98 mgKOH/g, peroxide value of 2.22±0.12 mmol/Kg, free fatty acid of 1.14±0.09 % and iodine value of 66.74±4.29 g/100g. a tota...

  Whither Taxonomy? Authored by Jo Darlington In order to collate and interpret. observations - experimental or observational - it is vital to know the identity of the subject organism.   To achieve this, a taxonomic system was devised over several hundred years.   Descriptions of species range from a few words in Latin, to modern treatments with a full morphological description of a type specimen, supported by tables of measurements, line drawings to scale, and sometimes electron micrographs. But however inadequate the original description, the species name cannot be changed. It can be superseded by a published re-description of the original type specimen, or if that is lost or damaged, of a formally designated replacement type. Generic names, which define the group to which that species belongs, represent a particular expert’s opinion and can be changed by publishing a reasoned argument.   These two names, the Generic first (with a capital letter) then ...

  A Call for Holistic Soil Ecology Authored by   Barbara J Dilly The connections between agriculture, soil science, and human health have been well understood for centuries, but the development of state societies and market economies gradually segmented and subverted that knowledge into narrow specializations. Agriculture came under management of nation builders seeking to broaden productive capacities to further influence and power. Soil science was relegated to the laboratories and test plots of biology and chemistry in the adoption of hybrids and chemical fertilizers. Human health sciences compiled volumes of research on disease, which generated still more laboratory research on isolated cures through chemical intrusion. Despite of all this knowledge segregation, alternative agriculture and alternative health practitioners kept a holistic focus. But they were not the ones who set policy. In fact, they were labeled as subversives to civilization and its progress. Then a...

  Review on Agricultural Extension Impacts on Food Crop Diversity and the Livelihood of Farmers in Ethiopia Authored by Alemayehu Keba Agricultural extension could be one tool in attaining the sustainable development goal related to the reduction of extreme poverty and hunger in developing countries like Ethiopia. This review aimed on agricultural extension impacts on food crop diversity and the livelihood of farmers in Ethiopia. According to this review results, agricultural extension impacts on food crop diversity are significantly affected positively and negatively with or without establishing annual joint planning, monitoring, learning, and evaluation, experience sharing through workshops, trainings and joint field visits in a cost-effective manner respectively. In addition, putting in place effective regulatory system and strategic framework for NGO’s extension services through developing extension governance structure are importantly affect agricultural extension towards of f...