Agricultural Research Projects Research Articles

Research on Agri-Food Cold Chain Logistics Management System: Connotation, Structure and Operational Mechanism

Along with the demand of development, this paper will define agri-food cold chain logistics management system. It is a general term of management system, organization system, standard system, running mechanism, etc. According to the activities and characters of agri-food cold chain logistics, the content of agri-food cold chain logistics management system includes three levels of management activities. There are macro management and part of the industry management of the government-led agricultural cold chain logistics activity, industry management of industry association as the main body, and micro enterprise operation management of enterprise as the main body. In addition, this paper will draw lessons from the city of agricultural products cold chain logistics management experience in the international, the main behavior of the logistics market, strengthen monitoring and early warning, strengthen the whole process, and make market access strictly and other key links have to be closely surrounded. Through improving agricultural products cold chain logistics management laws and regulations system, standard system, management system, testing system, certification system, technology supporting system, information service system, and establishing emergency mechanism and other agricultural products cold chain logistics security support system, government, industry, consumers, media, education and scientific research institutions and other relevant parties can take many aspects, many angles, many levels mutually supporting measures, in order to establish and improve the agricultural products cold chain logistics safety control system, and establish the whole process control system from farm to table, to ensure the safety of agricultural products cold chain logistics.

تأثير مسافات و كثافة الزراعة على الغلة و محتوى الزيت و البروتين في بذور عدة أصناف من الفول السوداني = Effects of Row Spacing and Number of Plants per Hill on Seeds Yield and Oil and Protein Contents in Seeds of Some Peanut Cultivars

A field experiment was conducted during growing season 2011 at Dabba station for Agricultural Scientific Research ( Lattakia region in syria) to investigate the response of four varieties of peanuts (ICGV 92022, C16 local 262, Souri, Al-Baladi) under different row spacing (40, 60 and 80 cm) and different seeding rate (one plant/hill, and two plant/hill) in terms of yield and seed content of oil and protein. The results showed the superiority of the local cultivar in seed yield (3529 kg / ha), whereas it revealed the superiority of ICGV92022 cultivar in terms of oil content (47.52%), while Souri cultivar surpassed significantly in protein content (27.69%)rewrite you can’t write this in English. The results showed significant effect of the row spacing on yields of seeds and content of oil and protein, where the 80 cm spacing between rows gave the highest value of oil (43.84%) and protein (26.50%) contents; whereas, the spacing of 40 cm recorded the highest seed yield (3261 kg/h). It was observed a significant increase in seed yield in the treatment of two plants / hill at the same time, which led to a significant decrease in both of the percentage of oil and protein compared with leaving one plant in the hill. Overall, the results showed that the local cultivar recorded the highest seed yield at the treatment (40 cm) apart between rows in addition to existence of two plants in the hill. However, for all studied cultivars and as a result of planting them at wide distances range between rows in addition to leaving one plant in the hill, it was noticed a significant effect on the quality of each of seed oil and protein contents.

تأثير معاملات الكالسيوم المختلفة في تطور النقرة المرة على ثمار التفاح صنف غولدن ديليشس = The Effect of Different Calcium Treatments on the Development of Bitter Bit of Golden Delicious Apple Fruits

تفاح | النقرة المرة | كربونات الكالسيوم | نترات الكالسيوم | كلوريد الكالسيوم | محتوى الأوراق من المعادن | Apple | Bitter Pit | Calcium Nitrate | Calcium Carbonate | Calcium Chloride | Leaf Mineral Content

Identifying management strategies to improve sustainability and household income for herders on the desert steppe in Inner Mongolia, China

Grasslands play important roles on all continents in ecosystem service and livestock production systems. With increasing human and livestock population, significant challenges are faced in providing safe and high quality animal and herbage products from grasslands in China. The family ranch is the basic management unit and production system in Inner Mongolia, north China. Animal populations are increasing, but the income of herders and grassland condition are not improving. There is a need for new management strategies to guide the future development of animal husbandry. Based on the results of demonstration experiments and surveys in Siziwang Banner, the StageONE Model developed for Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project “Sustainable Livestock Grazing Systems on Chinese Temperate Grasslands” was used to simulate changes in management strategies in a typical whole farm system, in order to identify feasible, sustainable and profitable farm management strategies. A new management strategy, including lower stocking rates and increased use of feed supplement in winter and spring, was adopted in a small number of farms and compared with the typical farm using the StageONE model. The results show that the total actual energy intake of sheep in the new strategy is higher than under traditional management, and the net energy surplus is –0.36 MJ/sheep unit/d, which is lower than under traditional management. The new strategy, in which stocking rates are reduced by 14.1%, also reduced methane emissions by 34.14% and increased net income by 15.85%. The simulation results suggest new ways for herders, companies and government to improve grassland management while increasing herders' net incomes.

The Extraction of Wheat Lodging Area in UAV’s Image Used Spectral and Texture Features

Wheat lodging makes great effects on the output and subsequent production, so we need to know the situation of wheat lodging at the first time quickly and efficiently. The characters of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle remote sensing just meet the demands. Firstly, the spectral and texture features are analyzed, and the area of wheat lodging is extracted using methods of object-oriented and the extraction is analyzed and compared. The research results of this paper is the successful practice of Agricultural scientific research and application by using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle remote sensing and Object-oriented extraction technology, so it have important application value and meaningful.

The Pathway Analysis on Benefit of Agricultural Science and Technology Projects (ASTP) Based on Logical Framework Approach

Research achievements of the ASTP Policy-Oriented cannot generate directly economic benefit, social benefit and ecological benefit. It would realize benefit of ASTP only if the outputs can be transformed practical productive forces. In this paper, the mechanism and pathway of achieving benefit of ASTP is analyzed deeply based on the logical framework model. Then the empirical studies shows that the inputs (research investment) have positive correlation with outputs (research achievement), extension and outcomes (changes in productivity). Although the inputs have a certain influence to agricultural economics, it mainly affects indirectly agricultural development by research achievements and extension. Therefore, the benefits of ASTP should not be evaluated according by inputs/outputs methods. We must analyze and assess the anticipated chain of cause/effect relationships of ASTP based on the program “theory-driven” approach. It can promote agricultural research and extension projects to integrated closely, at the same time the benefit of ASTP can be improved greatly.

An analysis of the effects of the characteristics of research groups on their interactions with firms

The main aim of this paper is to analyse how the characteristics of academic research groups affect their interactions with firms. Using data from a survey conducted in Brazilian research groups, an empirical model was estimated to evaluate how the characteristics of the research groups impact their interactions with firms. Main results show that research groups with higher academic performance, larger research groups and groups affiliated with larger departments tend to present higher numbers of interactions. Furthermore, engineering and agricultural sciences research groups interact more. Given these findings, the main contribution of the paper is that it furthers understanding of the factors that shape university–industry linkages and how characteristics of research groups affect interactions.

INTERAÇÕES UNIVERSIDADE-EMPRESA E A INFLUÊNCIA DAS CARACTERÍSTICAS DOS GRUPOS DE PESQUISA ACADÊMICOS

As interações universidade-empresa vêm ganhando papel de destaque nas investigações na área dos estudos da inovação, uma vez que a universidade pode ser uma importante fonte de informações para os esforços inovativos das empresas. Com base nesse contexto, este artigo tem como objetivo avaliar como as características dos grupos acadêmicos de pesquisa influenciam suas interações com as empresas. A partir dos dados de um survey com os grupos de pesquisa no Brasil, foi estimado um modelo empírico que avalia como as características dos grupos de pesquisa impactam suas interações com empresas. Os principais resultados mostram que grupos de pesquisa com melhor desempenho acadêmico, de maior tamanho e que estão ligados departamentos universitários maiores, possuem maior número de interações. Ainda, grupos de pesquisa das áreas de Engenharia e Ciências Agrárias interagem mais com empresas. Assim, este trabalho tem como principal contribuição auxiliar a melhor compreensão dos fatores que conformam as interações universidade-empresa no Brasil e como as características dos grupos de pesquisa influenciam a interação.

A role of the sires and dams in the hermaphrodite phenomenon linked with polled Damascus goat breed

The selection for polled character as preferential in Damascus breed leads to spread homozygous individuals for the polled gene and polled intersexes and consequently further economic losses in this breed. It’s very important to study the genetic origin, the role of sirs and dams in the development of intersexuality linked with hornlessness, and evaluate some other effects in the excess of the intersexes in caprine herd. To perform this work data of 52 intersexes issues from mating 19 polled bucks with 12 horned and 37 polled goats in Humeimeh research station, belonging to General commission for agricultural scientific research, were collected and analyzed by mean of Chi-Square (SAS, 1998). The results showed the statistical effect of sires (P≤0.007) and the unstististical effect (P≥0.05) of dames on the development of polled intersexes in Damascus goat breed. The number of kids intersexes were repeated 10, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 for 1, 2, 2 and 1, five and eight sire number respectively. Whereas the number of kids intersexes were repeated only 2 and 1 for 3 and 46 goat number respectively. The sex of the kids, kidding type and horned goat character have all highly significant effect (P≤0.001) and this because intersex cases issues of single births and twin birth: twin to male, twin to female, and triple births: twin to male and female, and twin to tow males respectively were repeated 17, 18, 14, 2 and 1 respectively. Also, single births, twin births and triple births were repeated 17, 32 and 3 respectively. Cases of intersexuality issues from horned and polled goats were repeated 14 and 38 respectively. It was concluded the important role of hornlessness genetic and multiple births in the development of polled intersexes in Damascus goat breed.

Institutional landmarks in Brazilian research on soil erosion: a historical overview

The problem of soil erosion in Brazil has been a focus of agricultural scientific research since the 19th century. The aim of this study was to provide a historical overview of the institutional landmarks which gave rise to the first studies in soil erosion and established the foundations of agricultural research in Brazil. The 19th century and beginning of the 20th century saw the founding of a series of institutions in Brazil, such as Botanical Gardens, executive institutions, research institutes, experimental stations, educational institutions of agricultural sciences, as well as the creation and diversification of scientific journals. These entities, each in its own way, served to foster soil erosion research in Brazil. During the Imperial period (1808-1889), discussions focused on soil degradation and conserving the fertility of agricultural land. During the First Republic (1889-1930), with the founding of various educational institutions and consolidation of research on soil degradation conducted by the Agronomic Institute of Campinas in the State of São Paulo, studies focused on soil depletion, identification of the major factors causing soil erosion and the measures necessary to control it. During the New State period (1930-1945), many soil conservation practices were developed and disseminated to combat erosion and field trials were set up, mainly to measure soil and water losses induced by hydric erosion. During the Brazilian New Republic (1945-1964), experiments were conducted throughout Brazil, consolidating soil and water conservation as one of the main areas of Soil Science in Brazil. This was followed by scientific conferences on erosion and the institutionalization of post-graduate studies. During the Military Regime (1964-1985), many research and educational institutions were founded, experimental studies intensified, and coincidently, soil erosion reached alarming levels which led to the development of the no-tillage system.

Partner Selection Optimization Model of Agricultural Enterprises in Supply Chain

With more and more importance of correctly selecting partners in supply chain of agricultural enterprises, a large number of partner evaluation techniques are widely used in the field of agricultural science research. This study established a partner selection model to optimize the issue of agricultural supply chain partner selection. Firstly, it constructed a comprehensive evaluation index system after analyzing the real characteristics of agricultural supply chain. Secondly, a heuristic method for attributes reduction based on rough set theory and principal component analysis was proposed which can reduce multiple attributes into some principal components, yet retaining effective evaluation information. Finally, it used improved BP neural network which has self-learning function to select partners. The empirical analysis on an agricultural enterprise shows that this model is effective and feasible for practical partner selection.

The case for a real options approach to ex-ante cost-benefit analyses of agricultural research projects

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), like many other development agencies and donors, increasingly emphasizes evidence-based programming. This requires assessments of project performance at all stages of implementation, comprising ex-ante impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation, and ex-post attribution of outcomes. Ex-ante impact assessment, in particular, involves performing Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) to determine the Expected Net Present Value (ENPV) of the project in question. Unfortunately, the traditional ENPV approach has proven inadequate for dealing with uncertainty in the timing of investments and flexibility in future decision making. This is especially relevant for Research and Development (R&D) projects which require several stages of product development and multiple rounds of testing prior to releasing final products. As a consequence, the real-options approach to CBA has increasingly been used to evaluate private sector R&D projects. This paper advocates for the adoption of the real options approach in the evaluation of public investments in agricultural research, and illustrates its practical utility with an assessment conducted by USAID to determine the economic viability of a proposed project to develop improved varieties of critical food security crops in Uganda.

Mobile sensor platforms: categorisation and research applications in precision farming

Abstract. The usage of mobile sensor platforms arose in research a few decades ago. Since the beginning of satellite sensing, measurement principles and analysing methods have become widely implemented for aerial and ground vehicles. Mainly in Europe, the United States and Australia, sensor platforms in precision farming are used for surveying, monitoring and scouting tasks. This review gives an overview of available sensor platforms used in recent agricultural and related research projects. A general categorisation tree for platforms is outlined in this work. Working in manual, automatic or autonomous ways, these ground platforms and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with an agricultural scope are presented with their sensor equipment and the possible architectural models. Thanks to advances in highly powerful electronics, smaller devices mounted on platforms have become economically feasible for many applications. Designed to work automatically or autonomously, they will be able to interact in intelligent swarms. Sensor platforms can fulfil the need for developing, testing and optimising new applications in precision farming like weed control or pest management. Furthermore, commercial suppliers of platform hardware used in sensing tasks are listed.

Research trends in agricultural science: A global perspective

This paper attempts to highlight quantitatively and qualitatively the growth and development of global agricultural science publication output and citations as per Web of science during 1993-2012. The objective of this study was to perform a scientometric analysis of all agricultural science research publications in the world. The parameters studied include growth of publications and citations, continent‑wise distribution of publications and citations, country‑wise distribution of publications, publication efficiency index, domain‑wise distribution of publications and citations, specialization index, variation of average impact factor in agricultural science sub‑domains, language‑wise distribution of publications, distribution of high frequency keywords, identification of highly cited publications and highly preferred journals.

Molecular cloning of the perilipin gene and its association with carcass and fat traits in Chinese ducks

The perilipin (PLIN) gene is a candidate gene of carcass and fat traits in ducks. In order to study the molecular character of the PLIN gene and its function in different breeds of Chinese ducks, samples were obtained from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Research Center for Birds, including 95 Peking ducks of the Z2 series, 91 Peking ducks of the Z4 series, 82 hybrid systems (Z2 x Z4), and 93 Cherry Valley ducks. We used RT-PCR and 3'-RACE to clone the duck PLIN gene, detect SNPs and analyze their associations with carcass and fat traits. A 2212-bp sequence was cloned with the complete coding region and a 3'-untranslated region. We found a nucleotide mutation (C → T) in exon 2 of the PLIN gene. There were no significant correlations between the 3 genotypes (CC, CT, TT) in breast muscle weight (BMW), leg muscle weight (LMW), subcutaneous fat weight (SFW), and intramuscular fat (IMF) in the Cherry Valley duck. The CC and CT genotypes had significant differences in carcass weight (CW), carcass net weight (CNW), and percentage of abdominal fat weight (AFW); there were significant differences in AFW and percentage of SFW. In Z4, there were no significant correlations between the 3 genotypes (TT, CC, and CT) in CW, BMW, LMW, SFW, AFW, the percentage of SFW and AFW, and IMF. CNW was significantly different between TT, CC, and CT genotypes. In Z2 x Z4, there were no significant correlations between the 3 genotypes in CW, BMW, LMW, SFW, AFW, the percentage of SFW and AFW, and IMF, while the CC and CT genotypes had significant differences in CNW. In Z2, there were no significant differences between the 3 genotypes in all traits. We deduced that the PLIN gene is a potential major gene. It is linked to a major gene affecting meat quality traits. This SNP has potential as a molecular marker for marker-assisted selection.

Status of Internet use for Higher Education and Research in Agricultural Sciences

A study was conducted to explore the role of internet on higher education and research at two selected public universities in Bangladesh, which offer courses on Agricultural Sciences. One hundred and fifty eight teachers and 79 post-graduate students were interviewed based on questionnaires. It was found that 90.8% teachers had internet connectivity and they used internet on regular basis to search relevant websites and download the selected course contents. All the teachers agreed that adequate and reliable information on different topics of Agricultural Sciences can be obtained through internet, which can be used for academic and research purposes. Use of internet by the students is being gradually increased in public universities. The universities are expanding the internet facilities to increase services to the teaching and learning communities. Digitization of libraries and internet links between the public universities libraries are in progress. It is expected that the use of internet would bring significant changes in higher education and research systems of developing nations and the institutions of higher education would attain a global standard. Development of education in these countries are badly influenced by limited resource and poor finance.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/agric.v10i1.11063The Agriculturists 2012; 10(1): 38-45

Line X Tester Analysis in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Line x tester analysis using a set of three females (Lines) and eight males (testers) was carried out to estimates the extent of combining ability for yield and its components in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Experimental material comprising eleven parents, their twenty four hybrids were planted in a randomized block design with three replications during kharif 2007 at the National Agricultural Research Project farm, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari. Combining ability analysis revealed that, sca variances were higher than gca variances for all the characters except days to maturity which indicated non-additive gene action in the expression of the traits, although non-additive gene action was predominant in the expression of most of the traits. The estimation of gca effects for parents indicating that males Sathi 34-36, GR-5 and female Jaya were the best general combiners for grain yield per plant and some yield contributing traits. The best specific crosses combinations are GR-11 x Sathi 34-36, Jaya x GR-103 and Jaya x IR-28 of either average x good, good x poor or good x average combination.

BANANA VARIETIES AND FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM F. SP. CUBENSE IN INDONESIA - OBSERVATIONS FROM FUSARIUM WILT DISEASE DATABASES

ISHS V International Symposium on Banana: ISHS-ProMusa Symposium on Global Perspectives on Asian Challenges BANANA VARIETIES AND FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM F. SP. CUBENSE IN INDONESIA - OBSERVATIONS FROM FUSARIUM WILT DISEASE DATABASES

Linking evidence with user voice for pro-poor policy: lessons from East Africa

Many agricultural research and development projects seek to achieve pro-poor outcomes through policy change. However, policy processes are complex, and a strategic approach to enhancing impact at policy level is often not applied. This article describes two case studies of actual policy change – on dairy marketing in Kenya, and on urban agriculture in Kampala – with analysis of the policy-change processes. It draws lessons which could be applied to enhance policy-level outcomes from other projects, and highlights two key matters: the role of ‘user voice’, through links with civil society and user groups; and the value of strong links with ‘formal’ policy-process actors.

Assessment of Farmer Knowledge of Large Ruminant Health and Production in Developing Village-Level Biosecurity in Northern Lao PDR

The purpose of this study was to determine baseline knowledge and identify knowledge gaps of farmers on biosecurity, risk of transmission of transboundary diseases and large ruminant health and production in three provinces of northern Laos, Hua Phan (HP), Luang Prabang (LPB) and Xieng Khoung (XK). The survey was conducted in six villages that are project sites for an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project, with two villages located in each of the three provinces. A census survey was conducted by interview with all 238 farmers participating in the ACIAR project, using a structured questionnaire. The interviews were conducted in Lao language and took 1-2 h per farmer. The answers were recorded in Lao and the survey data were translated into English and transcribed into Microsoft Excel, and a linear mixed model in the Genstat statistical analysis package was used to compare quantitative traits between the target provinces. The results showed that the prediction mean of farmer knowledge scores on parasitic disorders, infectious disease, reproduction and nutrition management were significantly different between the target provinces. The prediction mean of farmer knowledge scores on infectious disease questions ranged between 5.11 in HP to 8.54 in XK of 24 marks (P < 0.001). The prediction mean of total knowledge scores was 13.48 in LPB and 19.29 in XK of 42 marks (P < 0.001). The results indicate both the need for and scope required to attain improvements in farmer knowledge of large ruminant health and production. It was concluded that a participatory research and extension programme to address village-level biosecurity and reduce disease risks, plus enhance large ruminant production capabilities of smallholder producers, is a valid and potentially important strategy to address transboundary disease risk and rural poverty in northern Laos.