Iris Publishers Agriculture Soil Science

  Tapping Soil Microbiota: Overlooked Underground Players in Agricultural Production Authored by Yuan Wang Soil, the base for agricultural production, is constantly influenced by a variety of physical, chemical, and biological factors. Despite the abundance and diversity, soil microorganisms have been largely overlooked until recent a few years, due to the untapped functions caused by the difficulties in microbe isolation and culture. Soil microbiota, by definition, is the microbial communities that reside in specific soil niches. With the advances of next-generation sequencing technologies, more and more soil microbiomes from different soil environments were dissected genetically and functionally. These studies suggest that manipulation of soil microbiota may be one of the potential solutions for next-generation agriculture.   To read more about this article:  https://irispublishers.com/wjass/fulltext/tapping-soil-microbiota-overlooked-underground-players-in-agricult...

Antifeedant Potential of Some Aromatic Plants Against Cowpea Weevil, Callosobruchus Maculatus Authored by Egwunyenga Ogochukwu Andy The antifeedant potential of extracts of five natural plants; Galic (Allium sativum), Manjack (Cordia millenii), African nutmeg (Mondora myristica), Negro pepper (Xylopia aethiopica) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale) against cowpea weevil, (Callosobruchus maculatus) was evaluated. The results established that extracts of Ginger caused the strongest feeding deterrency against the insect pests with percentage feeding index of 48.3%. The order of the antifeedant potency of the extracts against C. maculatus after 5-hour exposure was Z. officinale (43.9%), > X aethiopica (48.3%) > C. millenii (59.9%) > A. sativum (61.6%) > M. myristica (64.9%). The study further discussed the challenges confronting researchers and farmers in practically deploying these plant materials for general use in crop protection and makes recommendations on appropr...

Review on the Production and Marketing of Banana in Ethiopia Authorized by Zinabu Ambisa The review was mainly focused on to review the production and marketing of banana in Ethiopia. Specifically aims to review the overall status of banana production, banana marketing and its constraints in the Ethiopia. Dessert banana and plantain (Musa sp.) are the fourth most important staple food crops in the world after rice, wheat and maize. Currently banana in Ethiopia covers about 59.64% (53,956.13 hectares) of the total fruit area, about 68% (478,251.04 ton) of the total fruit produced, and about 38.3% (2,574.035) of the total fruit producing farmers. On the other hand, about 68.72% (37,076.83 hectares) of land covered by banana, about 77.52% (370,784.17 ton) of the banana production, and 22.38% (1,504,207) of the banana producers in Ethiopia are found in the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS). To read more about this article:  Agriculture...

Sewage Water Effects on Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L) Moench) Growth Affected by Organic Matter, and Avm of Pseudomonas fluorescens Authorized by Abdul Khalil Gardezi Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is a tropical crop, member of the Malvaceae family. Its fruits are grown and widely used in many countries of Asia and Africa. India is the main producer. It is cultivated in Mexico in small plots with scarce know-how. A sustainable and low-cost technology is needed to increase the profits of the farmers. Pseudomonas fluorescens have been used to increase germination and for biological control of pathogenic fungus. The study was done under greenhouse conditions. Two soils were used. One came from a parcel irrigated with sewage water and the other one was irrigated with clean water from a well. Half of the treatments were inoculated with Pseudomonas fluorescens. Four doses of vermicompost were applied as a source of organic matter. There were significant differences (p≤0.05) in mos...

Trends in Soil Measurement Performance of Australasian Laboratories by Methods and Time This paper describes Australasian soil-measurement performance using data from inter-laboratory soil proficiency programs of the Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council Inc. Rapid assessments focused only on grand median percent robust coefficients of variation (%CVs) from 2004-05 through to 2014-15 inclusive, where grand medians by method were calculated across 12 soil samples annually. The %CV data were subdivided into three groupings (2005-2008, 2009-2012, 2013-2015). For 19 soil tests, CVs declined from 12.8% to 10.6% to 8.8%, suggestive of small improvements in measurement quality with time. Detailed assessments used data from 2009-10 to 2014-15 and included tests regulated for use in “reef catchments” of North-east Australia. Relationships between median-concentrations and associated robust %CVs were initially assessed with power-functions, with each subsequently solved for r...

Biofertilizers, fertilizers made from organic residues, could replace some mineral fertilizers, reducing energy consumption and resource mining. The main treatment options are composting, anaerobic digestion, drying, pyrolysis and combustion, they can be used alone or in combination. The quality of biofertilizers depend both on the original residue and on the treatment, but in most cases not all the nutrients are immediately available to plants. It is difficult to predict how available the nutrients are, and when they will become available. The methods to assess and predict nutrient availability are reviewed. Furthermore, the effect of biofertilizers on the environment in the form of nutrient losses and greenhouse gas emissions are reviewed and compared to mineral fertilizers. There is a need to produce biofertilizers with better and more predictable qualities, and also to understand their effects over multiple seasons. For More Open Access Journals in Iris Publishers Ple...

The study aimed to provide valuable information for the promotion of vine by-products in fuelling small-to-medium size enterprises near wine/spirit processing industries. The objective was to evaluate and compare the ashes produced from both fixed and fluidized bed combustion of these wastes and their mixtures. Ashes were characterized by mineralogical, chemical, thermal and fusibility analyses and water leaching tests were conducted to remove problematic elements. Slagging/fouling propensities of ashes were determined, and their environmental impact and potential uses were assessed. For More Open Access Journals in Iris Publishers Please Click on: https://irispublishers.com/ For More Articles in World Journal of Agriculture and Soil Science : https://irispublishers.com/wjass/

World Journal of Agriculture and Soil Science A significant part of the world’s fruticulture is rainfed managed. Olive, almond and vine are some of the perennial crops whose social and economic importance is huge throughout the Mediterranean basin and which mostly continue to be grown in rainfed conditions. Cover cropping is the most recommended soil management system in fruit growing. However, in rainfed managed orchards, soil tillage continues to dominate, and the use of herbicides is also widely used. In rainfed conditions there is a high risk of competition for water between herbaceous vegetation and trees, which makes difficult the widespread use of cover crops. However, there seem to be new clues to overcoming the problem, consisting of the use of less competitive plants, such as early-maturing self-reseeding annual legumes. These plants are able to protect the soil from erosion, sequester carbon and increase soil organic matter, fix nitrogen and promote the nutritional sta...

World Journal of Agriculture and Soil Science Animal production is a booming industry with the improvement of economically desirable traits as its primary concern. Markerassisted selection utilizes genetic variations within candidate genes that influence production traits as a means of guiding animal breeding and improving the traits of interest. Growth hormone (GH) plays a crucial role in pre-natal muscular and bone growth and development. GH brings about various physiological functions either directly by binding its receptor or indirectly by stimulating the release of insulin growth factor 1 (IGF1). Insulin growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) mediates its function on metabolism, homeostasis and development upon the binding of IGF1. The POU-domain class 1 transcription factor 1 (POU1F1) regulates the pre-natal development of cells of the anterior pituitary, including somatotrophs that produce GH. Reports have demonstrated associations between polymorphisms in these genes a...

World Journal of Agriculture and Soil Science To understand features of cytochrome P450 genes in silkworm, the advances in silkworm genome projects created a new genome wide analysis tool that enables us to seek cytochrome P450 genes constitutes and their diversities. This has provided not only an opportunity for divergence in their substrate specificity identification, but also for divergence in their regulatory attributes, such as differing patterns of induction, tissue specific expression, and developmental expression. However, different researchers so far made different efforts to identify number of cytochrome p450 genes in Bomboxy mori, they came up with slightly different numbers which ranges from 79 to 86 putative cytochrome p450 genes. Then, it urges us to undertake further investigate in order to arrive at certain consensuses putative cytochrome p450 genes number. For More Open Access Journals Please Click on: https://irispublishers.com/ For More Articles in ...