Asian Research Journal of Agriculture

Thirty-seven Onion (Allium cepa L.) genotypes comprising of twelve parents (12) and twenty-five hybrids were evaluated for enhanced storage shelf life and early maturity at the Fadama Teaching and Research farm of the Department of Crop Science, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto during the 2015/2016 dry season. The objective of the research was to determine superior hybrids that can be stored as well as those that matures early. The treatments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. After harvesting, the genotypes were stored for five months under farmers practice. The analysis of the results indicated significant (P < 0.05) difference between the genotypes with respect to plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, leaf area index, percentage bolting, days to maturity, bulb diameter, bulb height, average bulb weight, fresh bulb yield, cured bulb yield, yield and percentage loss after five months of storage.   Cross B × K had the tallest plants (57.73 cm), B × E had the highest number of leaves/plant of 17, B × K had the broadest leaf area of 166.5 cm², B × E recorded the highest leaf area index of 4.704, H × L recorded highest bolting percentage of 69.45%, E × F recorded lowest number of days to maturity of 91 days, E × F recorded broadest bulb diameter of 8.75 cm, D × H recorded tallest bulb height of 7.2 cm, B × E had the highest average bulb weight, fresh bulb yield and cured bulb yield of 0.282 kg, 47 t/ha, and 46.11 t/ha respectively. Cross C × E had the least percentage loss of 23.60%, while E × F had the highest loss of 68.15%. Based on the results obtained. The cross C × E was recommended for storage while B × E was recommended for early maturity.

Maize seeds are an important source of nutrients for human and animal. However, an important part of the seed production is lost due to the insect attacks, mainly by the weevil S. zeamais, a major pest of stored maize. The objective of this work was to study the impact of traditional pest management system on the development of S. zeamais infestation. Samples consisted of 100g of maize seeds from post-harvest. Different pest management practices (attic, polypropylene bag, sealed plastic and conservation on the cob) were considered from farmers in different localities in the three main agro-ecological zones of the Central African Republic. Samples were conserved for two months according to the different pest management practices. Damages were assessed by counting numbers of infested seeds. Results showed that after two months the sealed plastic method is the best mode of conservation (<5% of damages) in all localities. It turned out that correlations between damages and losses were higher when maize seeds are conserved in attics or by cob (r²>0.9). In conclusion, farmers should be encouraged to use sealed plastic as the pest-management practice against S. zeamais infestation.

In this study, element concentrations in grains of three wild rice species (i.e., Oryza rufipogon, Oryza officinalis and Oryza meyeriana) and three cultivated rice varieties (i.e., Nipponbare, 93-11 and HY-8) as well as in leaves of Oryza officinalis and its introgression lines were measured. The wild rice species were highly useful in terms of the quality and the harmful heavy metal resistance. The results showed that the mean concentrations of heavy metals in the soil was in the ranking order of Ti > Zr > Sr > Pb > Rb > As. The essential element concentrations, it was found that the ranking order was Ca > Fe > K > Mn > Zn > Cu > Mo. In grains, the content of Ca, Zn and Sr elements in wild rice species was higher than that of cultivated rice varieties. Oryza meyeriana had the highest content of Ca and Sr, and Oryza officinalis had the highest content of Zn. The levels of Mo were high in Oryza rufipogon, while extremely low in Oryza officinalis and Oryza meyeriana. Oryza officinalis had much higher Cu than other varieties. Bioaccumulation values of all elements were less than one in the rice grain. The concentrations of elements varied in different parts of rice plants, and the highest concentrations occurred in the leaves comparing with grains. The introgression lines i.e., FC7-12, FC7-6, FC7-20 and FC7-1 showed good performance and ability in heavy metals resistance. High genotypic and phenotypic variances were observed in Mn concentrations followed by Fe concentrations, respectively. This study preliminarily proves that there is genetic diversity in element absorption and accumulation among different genotypes of wild rice species, cultivated varieties and introgression lines. Wild rice species are useful for developing high quality and improving tolerance to heavy metals in modern rice cultivars.

Aims: This study examines the supply response of corn in the province of Quebec.

Study Design:  A time series design is implemented.

Place and Duration of Study: Our analysis covers the period from 1985 to 2013 and uses the data of corn production in the province of Quebec.

Methodology: A generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) process is used to model output price expectations and its volatility.

Results: We found that application of the Farm Income Stabilisation Insurance in Quebec neutralises the adverse effects of price volatilities on corn production and generates a market power for corn producers. The change in the producers' attitude towards risk is other implication of the insurance program.

Conclusion: These results imply that implementation of the insurance program in the province of Quebec leads to an increase of corn production and consequently this increase in production can impose more compensation cost (paid by the insurance program) to governments.

The effect of traditional shade-drying method on the seed germination and vigour of two varieties of tomato was investigated. The experiment was conducted at the seed testing laboratory of The National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Ibadan, Nigeria in July 2015. The seed samples were dried for one week in the drying chambers and thereafter evaluated for germination and vigour tests. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with three replications, in 2 x 2 factorial scheme. Two varieties of tomato (Ibadan local and Alausa) and two drying methods: traditional (shade-drying with an electric fan at a temperature between 23.5 to 32.3°C) and mechanical (seed dryer at 35°C) were evaluated. The germination percentage of Ibadan local variety was significantly higher (87.2%) when compared to that of Alausa (79.0%). Mechanical drying at 35°C gave the higher germination percentage (94.16%), while seeds dried traditionally gave the germination of 72.0%. Moreover, the effect of drying method was not significant on germination index of tomato seeds, suggesting that seeds dried using both methods may not exhibit differential performance when subjected to unfavourable environmental conditions either on the field or during storage. The study indicates that drying using seed dryer at controlled drying temperature would enhance germination of tomato seeds better than traditional shade drying method.