African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development ISSN 2375-0693 Vol. 2 (6), pp. 001-008, March, 2014. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

 Regeneration and transformation of a maize elite inbred line via immature embryo culture and enhanced tolerance to a fungal pathogen

Youyin Zhu^1,3, Fenglan Zhao^1,2 and Degang Zhao^1,2,3*

¹Guizhou Key Laboratory of Agro-Bioengineering, Guizhou University, South Campus, Huaxi, Guiyang City, 550025,Guizhou Province, People’s Republic of China.

²College of Life Science, Guizhou University, South Campus, Huaxi, Guiyang City, 550025, Guizhou Province, People's Republic of China.

³Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Ago-Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University,Huaxi, Guiyang City, 550025,Guizhou Province, People' Republic of China.

Accepted 21 January, 20114

Abstract

Maize is one of the most important food crops worldwide and is subject to many diseases. Genetic engineering offers unique way to improve the current elite line via introduces single or multiple traits. In this report, we transformed an elite maize line, Jiao 51, with a balsam pear class I chitinase gene (Mcchit 1) driven by the maize ubiquitin-1 (ubi1) promoter. Conditions for callus induction from immature embryos were optimized using a Jiao 51 by culture on induction medium. The highest Type-I and Type-II callus induction efficiency of 91.33 and 89.10% were obtained on N6 media supplemented with 2.5 mg L^-1 2, 4-D. Both types of calli grew fast. Type-I callus could easily change to Type-II callus. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation was used to generate eight transgenic lines that expressed the chitinase transgene. Assessing the functionality of the Mcchit1 protein in the transgenic plants was conducted using an excised leaf challenge assay. The transgenic maize expressing a balsam pear class I chitinase gene exhibited enhanced tolerance to Exserohilum turcicum in greenhouse conditions. After 5 days inoculation, the number of lesions was significantly fewer, and the size of lesions was significantly smaller compared to the controls.

Key words: Maize (Zea mays. L.), chitinase gene, transformants, fungal disease tolerance, Northern corn leaf blight, Exserohilum turcicum.

African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development ISSN 2375-0693 Vol. 2 (6), pp. 001-012, March, 2014. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Application of AquaCrop model in deficit irrigation management of Winter wheat in arid region

Hamidreza Salemi¹*, Mohd Amin Mohd Soom², Teang Shui Lee¹, Sayed Farhad Mousavi³, Arman Ganji⁴ and Mohd KamilYusoff⁵

¹Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

²Smart Farming Technology Laboratory, ITMA and Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Malaysia.

³Department of Agriculture Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.

⁴Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

⁵Department of Environmental Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Accepted 22 March, 2014

Abstract

Simulation models that clarify the effects of water on crop yield, are useful tools for improving farm-level water management and optimizing water use efficiency. The main purpose of deficit irrigation is high water productivity with less water supply to plants. In this research, the potential of AquaCrop model in deficit irrigation practice for winter wheat, the main agronomic crop in Gavkhuni river basin, Isfahan province, Iran, was studied. The results of reliability indices such as RMSE, d, E, CRM and deviation percent were 2.31 to 5.63, 0.97 to 1.00, 93 to 99, -0.15 to 0.016 and -0.70 to 12.00% respectively, and showed that, the model overestimated the simulated parameters compared with field data. This difference was more obvious in deficit irrigation treatments. The model provided excellent simulations of canopy cover, grain yield and water productivity. Considering only drought stress and neglecting other stresses such as salinity is the most important limitation of AquaCrop model. In this study, water productivity for the studied crop was in the range of 0.91 to 1.49 kg m^-3 and its maximum value was in 40% deficit irrigation treatment. A second-order, yield-water function, obtained in this study is recommended for winter wheat crop. Also, the sensitivity analysis of AquaCrop model was carried out for winter wheat in this arid area in central Iran.

Key words: Deficit irrigation, Winter wheat, grain yield, water productivity, AquaCrop model.

African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development ISSN 2375-0693 Vol. 2 (6), pp. 001-009, March, 2014. © International Scholars Journals

Key words: Bean, nutrients, salinity, seedling, tolerance.

African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development ISSN 2375-0693 Vol. 2 (6), pp. 001-006, March, 2014. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Bud banks of two perennial grasses: Composition, size, dynamics and contribution to population maintenance during the flooded restoration succession on the Songnen Meadow, China

Li Hai-yan and Yang Yun-fei*

Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Grassland Science, Northeast Normal University, Ministry of Education, Changchun 130024, Jilin Province, People's Republic of China.

Accepted 21 February, 2014

Abstract

To describe the composition, size, temporal dynamics of bud banks of both perennial rhizomatous herbaceous Leymus chinensis and Carex duriuscula and to explore the contributions of bud banks to aboveground population persistence during the flooded restoration succession. Soil blocks 25 × 25 x 30 cm³ were sampled during two growing seasons from June to September. The total rhizome buds comprised the largest proportion of L. chinensis bud banks except for September of 2004 (juvenile tillers were the most). The top rhizome buds were the most of C. duriuscula bud banks. The percentages of total buds derived from tiller nodes and rhizomes of both species were nearly equal in the two-year study period. The productivity of L. chinensis and contribution of bud banks to population persistence were higher than those of C. duriuscula. Size of bud banks of L. chinensis was not significant between the end of two sampling seasons (1039.2 and 1232.0 buds/m²), and buds significantly decreased in C. duriuscula (1140.0 and 581.6 buds/m²). Over the two studied seasons, decreasing number of buds and low productivity as well as small contribution indicate that C. duriuscula which spread after flood event will be successively replaced by L. chinensis.

Key words: Bud bank, Carex duriuscula, Leymus chinensis, natural meadow, population persistence, restoration succession.

African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development Vol. 2 (6), pp. 155-164, March, 2014.  © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Household production, home consumption and market supply in peasant economies: The case of Ethiopia

Emerta Asaminew Aragie

Oxford Brookes University. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 18, March 2014

Abstract 

Peasant households still play a significant role in terms of production and factor supply in most developing countries. Nevertheless, these households consume a considerable proportion of what they produce supplying only a small part, if any, to the market. These roles of peasant households as producers (both for own consumption and for sale), suppliers of factors (both for household and non-household enterprises), and consumers (of own produced and marketed commodities) are shown using a conceptual framework. Later, using a district level panel data derived principally from series of agricultural sample surveys in Ethiopia, a typical peasant economy, this article examines the utilization of cereal production by farming households and identifies factors that influence the allocation of output to alternative uses (home consumption and market supply). The descriptive analysis shows that farming households in Ethiopia consume at home 67 percent of their cereal production, marketing only 15 percent, with great disparity across administrative zones. On the other hand, the panel data model adapted indicates that the size of farming population, agricultural land availability, road density, urbanization, and livestock capital significantly affect the share of output consumed at home, while farming population, road density, urbanization, and livestock capital are strong predictors of the proportion of output supplied to the market.

Key words: Household enterprises, farming, own consumption, market supply, household production.

African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development Vol. 2 (5), pp. 147-154, August, 2014. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Gender and social capital in technological innovation in smallholder systems of sheep production in the state of Michoacán, México

¹Mauricio Perea Peña, ²Angélica Espinoza Ortega, ³Ernesto Sánchez Vera and ⁴Encarnación Ernesto Bobadilla soto.

^1,4Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research, "University of Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Mexico.

^2,3Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Rural, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Mexico.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 443 2958323

Accepted 05 May, 2014

Abstract

Science and technology are important for countries’ development, however in order for smallholder (campesino) producers to make use of knowledge, it is necessary to understand social capital and the influence of gender on technological innovation in agricultural systems. This article contributes to an understanding of agricultural technological innovation, using smallholder systems of sheep production in Michoacan, Mexico as a case study. It is an initial theoretical-practical attempt to determine the influence of social capital on innovation. Furthermore, it facilitates understanding how these processes directly affect technological change and lifestyles in smallholder production systems. The capital has an important role in the processes of technology transfer and innovation within systems, social networks, are the aspects that favor further the adoption of innovations through information flows between actors network. Understanding the various factors that influence the transfer of technology and can serve as a basis for the establishment of public policies for the rural agricultural population.

Key words: Social capital, agricultural technology innovation, smallholder systems of sheep production, gender, social capital.