Understanding smallholder farmers’ access to maize seed and seed quality in the drought-prone Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Despite efforts made by the Ethiopian research and extension system during the past 40 years to disseminate improved maize (Zea mays L.) variety seeds for increased crop production, the diffusion and use remained low, particularly in moisture-stressed areas. The topic of smallholder farmers’ access to quality seed is an ongoing issue in Ethiopia. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explain maize seed sources for smallholder farmers and assess the seed quality status in the drought-prone Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia. Data for this study were obtained from farm households and other stakeholders survey in 2011 from East Shewa Zone, Oromia Regional National State. The survey results indicated that informal seed sources contributed 84% of annually planted maize seed. Sixty percent of maize growers obtained improved seed through farmer-to-farmer seed exchange and the informal seed market (ISM). Regarding the socioeconomic characteristics and maize seed acquisition behavior of the farm-household heads, a higher proportion of female-headed households and resource-poor farm households depended on other farmers and ISM than male-headed farm households. A quarter of the better-off maize-grower households also used ISM. Formal seed sources were found to be key in new variety introduction. The quality of the seeds obtained from informal sources was found to be acceptable relative to purity and germination. The effectiveness of the seed-supply system tended to rely on the complementary integration of formal and informal seed systems, as both systems had their own peculiarities in serving the farm community to enhance food security.     

Three years’ comparisons of dusts and bordeaux spray for potato production in Central Jersey

American Journal of Potato Research -     

Evaluation of agricultural ecosystem services in fallowing land based on farmers’ participation and model simulation

Fallowing with green fertilizer can benefit agricultural ecosystem services (AES). Farmers in Taiwan do not implement fallow practices and plant green fertilizer because the current subsidy level (46,000 NT$ per ha) is too low to manage fallowing. This paper defines the objective of government agriculture policy or the farmer’s objective as maximization of farm productivity, approximated to the value of social welfare and AES. Farms, which do not follow proper fallowing practices, often have poorly maintained fallow land or left farmland abandoned. This results in negative environmental consequences such as cutworm infestations in abandoned land, which in turn can affect crops in adjacent farmlands. The objectives of this study are twofold. First, it determines the proper fallowing subsidy based on the concept of payment for ecosystem services to entice more farmers to participate in fallowing. Second, it simulates the benefit of planting green manure in fallow land to the supply of AES based on the rate of farmers who are willing to participate in fallow land practices and essential parameters that can affect soil fertility change. The approach involves a series of interviews and a developed empirical model. The value of AES when the rate of farmer participation is 100% represents a 1.5% increase in AES (448,317,000 NT$) over the value at the current participation rate of 14%. This study further concludes that the appropriate fallowing subsidy has a large positive impact on AES and social welfare (e.g., benefit from food and biofuel supplies) and is seen as a basis of ecological governance for sustainable agro-ecosystems.     

The location of 5’-nucleotidase in seedling cells in Yunnan rice varieties and the change of enzyme activity after chilling injury

The seedlings of three rice varieties(Damagu,Ligeng 2,and Xiuzinuo)were cultivated at 25     

Growth and nutrient uptake of two varieties of groundnuts under irrigation in Israël

Summary Some data on growth, development, and mineral nutrition of two varieties of groundnuts — Improved Virginia Bunch and Spanish-33 — under irrigation are reported.There was almost no difference in the yield of pods of the two varieties, but the yield of hay was much lower in Spanish. Spanish had also a lower total yield of dry matter, a smaller leaf area, and fewer branches than Virginia.In both varieties a negative correlation was found between Net-Assimilation-Rate and Leaf-Area-Index. Under the conditions of our observations, the highest rate of dry matter accumulation per plant was at a Leaf-Area-Index of approximately 3.There was a gradual decrease in the nitrogen content of the vegetative parts from the beginning of the season until harvest time. Most of the final amount of nitrogen was taken up before the end of August. After that, there was a transportation of this element to the newly formed pods. Pods and kernels of the Spanish variety had a higher nitrogen content than Virginia. The total amount of nitrogen taken up by the plants was equal in both varieties, 22 g per sq.m.A slight decrease in the phosphorus content of the vegetative parts was found throughout the season. The percentages of phosphorus were roughly equal, but the final amounts taken up by the two varieties were different: 3.16 g P per sq.m in Virginia, 2.34 in Spanish. The plants continued to take up phosphorus until harvest time.As the season progressed, the percentages of potassium decreased in the vegetative parts as well as in the pods and pegs. The stems had the highest potassium contents. Almost all the final amount of potassium was taken up by August. Total amounts of potassium taken up by the plants were found to be 5.7 g per sq.m. in Virginia, 3.4 in Spanish.The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Miss HelenaBodek in carrying out the chemical analyses. This work was aided by a grant by the Israel Groundnut Production and Marketing Board.

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Zusammenfassung Der Bericht enthält Angaben über Wachstum, Entwicklung und mineralische Ernährung von zwei unter Bewässerung angebauten Erdnuss-Sorten — Improved Virginia Bunch und Spanish — 33.Die zwei Sorten unterschieden sich kaum in ihrem Hülsenertrag, dagegen aber war der Heuertrag der Sorte Spanish erheblich niedriger. Spanish war auch geringer als Virginia in allgemeinem Trockensubstanzertrag, Blattoberfläche und Stengelzahl.In beiden Sorten wurde eine negative Korrelation zwischen Rein-Assimilations-Wert und Blatt-Flächen-Index gefunden. Bei den Bedingungen, unter welchen unsere Beobachtungen angestellt wurden, ergab sich die höchste Trockensubstanzansammlung bei einem Blatt-Flächen-Index von annähernd 3.Eine allmähliche Abnahme des Stickstoffgehalts der vegetativen Organe im Laufe der Entwicklungsperiode bis zur Erntezeit wurde beobachtet. Der Hauptteil der endgültigen Menge des Stickstoffs wurde bis Ende August absorbiert. Nach diesem Termin fand eine Überführung des Stickstoffs in die neugebildeten Hülsen statt. Hülsen sowohl wie Samen der Sorte Spanish hatten einen höheren Stickstoffgehalt als Virginia. Die Gesamtmenge des durch die Pflanzen absorbierten Stickstoffs war in beiden Sorten gleich und betrug 22 g pro m².Eine geringe Abnahme des Phosphorgehalts der vegetativen Organe im Laufe der Entwicklungsperiode wurde festgestellt. Der Prozentsatz des Phosphors der zwei Sorten war beinahe gleich, jedoch die Gesamtmenge des durch die Pflanzen aufgenommenen Phosphors betrug 3.16 g pro m² bei der Sorte Virginia und 2.34 bei der Sorte Spanish. Die Phosphorabsorption der Pflanzen hielt bis zur Enrte an.Im Laufe der Entwicklungsperiode nahm der Kalium Prozentsatz in den vegetativen Organen sowohl wie in den Hülsen und Stielen ab. Die Stengel ergaben den höchsten Kaliumgehalt. Im August war beinahe die endgültige Menge des Kaliums aufgenommen. Die Gesamtmenge des durch die Pflanzen absorbierten Kaliums betrug 5.7 g pro m² bei der Sorte Virginia und 3.4 bei der Sorte Spanish.

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Résumé Quelques données sur la croissance, le développement et la nutrition minérale de deux variétés d'arachides — Improved Virginia Bunch et Spanish 33 sont présentées ici.Les deux variétés ont donné des rendements en gousses très voisins alors que le rendement en foin de la variété Spanish a été très inférieur. Pour la variété Spanish, on a eu, également, un rendement total en matière sèche plus faible, une surface foliaire plus réduite et un nombre de branches moindre que pour la Virginia.Chez les deux variétés, on a trouvé une correlation négative entre le Taux d'Assimilation Nette et l'Index de Surface Foliaire. Dans les conditions de nos observations, le taux maximum d'accumulation de matière sèche correspond à un index voisin de 3.Le taux d'azote contenu dans les organes végétatifs a diminué progressivement du début de la saison jusqu'au moment de la récolte. La plus grande partie de la quantité finale d'azote a été fixée avant la fin août. Après cette date, il y a eu transport de cet élement vers les gousses nouvellement formées. Le taux d'azote des gousses et des graines de la variété Spanish est plus éléve que celui des gousses et graines de Virginia. La quantité totale d'azote prélevé par les plantes a été la même pour les deux variétés, soit 22 g par m².On a noté une légère diminution du taux de phosphore des organes végétatifs au cours de la saison. Les pourcentages de phosphore ont été très voisins, mais les quantités totales prévelées par les plantes des deux variétés ont été différentes: 3.16 g P par m² pour la variété Virginia et 2.34 pour la Spanish. Les plantes ont continué à prélever du phosphore jusqu'au moment de la récolte.A mesure que la saison a avancé, le pourcentage de potassium des organes végétatifs ainsi que des gousses et des gynophores a décru. Les tiges out contenu les taux de potassium les plus élevés. La presque totalité du potassium a été prélevé avant le mois d'août. Les quantités totales de potassium prélevées par les plantes ont été de 5.7 g par m² pour la variété Virginia et de 3.4 pour la variété Spanish.

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With 10 figs.     

Field assessment of imidacloprid to reduce the spread of PVY° and PLRV in potato

A three year field study conducted at the Potato Research Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick, showed that imidacloprid applied in furrow at planting or twice to the foliage in mid July could result in a limited reduction of PLRV spread in the potato crop. Tests did not determine any significant effect on the reduction of the spread of PVY. The aphicidal property of imidacloprid was confirmed.     

Assessment of irrigation practices at the tertiary canal level in an improved system—a case study of Wasat area, the Nile Delta

Egypt faces great challenges due to its limited water resources by enforcement policies to improve the performance of the existing delivery system and its development. The improvement of irrigation systems in the Nile Delta is one of the most important attempts in Egypt to implement more effective irrigation technologies. This study was carried out to evaluate improved tertiary canal level and farmers’ practices by comparing with other unimproved systems to understand the farmers’ practices in their farms after modifying the existing irrigation system. This study area applied to the Wasat command area’s most commonly used to the cultivation of a paddy field in Egypt, which contributes 40 % of production. The overall results indicate that the water-use application at the improved system level improved. This was due to the role of water user association in the successful management and operation of the water-supply system on the private level of water distribution network. So, water users’ association has the positive effect on managing of the improved tertiary canal. Although, there are main problems of water delivery in the irrigation networks that was a water shortage in the main canal owing to its location at the tail of the feeder canal system in the Nile Delta, and other reasons include the absence of crop production planning by farmers, especially rice farmers in summer, and the greater demand of some fields than supply.     

Understanding the relationship between volunteers’ motivations and learning outcomes of Citizen Science in rice ecosystems in the Northern Philippines

This study relies on the Flying Beauties Citizen Science project conducted in the Philippines to assess personal motivations and learning outcomes of volunteers who were involved in documenting butterflies and dragonflies in rice ecosystems. While evaluation of motivations of volunteers in Citizen Science is not new, at least in affluent western countries, little is done in investigating volunteers’ motivations and learning outcomes of Citizen Science projects in low-income countries. Using surveys, we collected data from volunteers that were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. We adopted a two stages evaluation format—before and after volunteers finished the project exercise. We compared pre-motivations to motivations attained and changes in level of knowledge before and after the project ended. We use Spearman’s Rho, Kendall’s Tau—nonparametric tests to draw correlations between variables. The results showed that key determinants that drove people to volunteer in the project were (a) learning about species and (b) being part of scientific research and the principal learning outcome was improved awareness about ecosystem functions of the species.     

The relationship between water intake rates,paddy ponding depth,and farmers’ water management techniques

Japanese farmers manage their irrigation water based on their past experiences and preferences, considering such factors as weather and available water (hereafter defined as empirical water management). They elaborately control the intake and drainage rates of their own paddy fields to maintain optimal ponding depths. But these well-managed systems will drastically change because of the decreasing number of farmers. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify if the optimal ponding depth will be maintained within the limits of traditionally-allowed water intake rate from the main river. The first objective of this study was the quantification of actual water use in the paddy fields, resulting from the farmers water management on the basis of their experience. The significance of the present water intake rate under empirical water management was studied for a paddy field command area of about 230 ha. Water intake rates and the water requirements of the whole area were investigated by measuring the flow rate at 17 points of irrigation and drainage canals. Characteristics of the farmers empirical water management were investigated by measuring the hourly changes in inflow and outflow rates for a sub-area using an automatic measurement system, and an inferential method of determining water management patterns for the paddy fields was proposed. The newly-proposed inferential method was introduced in the tank model, which expresses the characteristics of water management in the command area. The Shuffled Complex Evolution Algorithm (SCE-UA) method was used for optimizing the model parameters. It was proven that the model accuracy improved when the farmers empirical water management was taken into account. The optimal amount of water to be applied to the command area was quantified by the simulation. The second objective was to predict the effect of the decreasing number of farmers on future water use conditions. The simulated result indicates the difficulty of maintaining optimal ponding depth for the whole command area when the farmers empirical water management is not maintained. In other words, results indicated that efficient water use requires an automatic water management system or a new pipeline system to replace the farmers present empirical water management.     

Climate change’s impact on irrigation system and farmers’ response: a case study of the Plaichumpol Irrigation Project,Phitsanulok Province,Thailand

The Plaichumpol Irrigation Project, in Nan Basin of Thailand, is selected as a case study of impact study, where farmers depended on both surface and groundwater sources (especially in the dry year), to assess the impact on irrigation systems. The study used the MRI-GCM data to project the future climate condition and assess the impact on irrigation systems focusing on water shortage and groundwater pumping aspects in the selected consecutive dry years. The responses from farmers on the impact and adaptation were also gathered via site interviews and analyzed. Based on the bias-corrected MRI-GCM data, the annual rainfall in Nan Basin will decrease in the near future (2015–2039), compared with the past average data (1979–2006), while the rainfall will increase in the far future (2075–2099) compared with past. Water supply from dam will decrease in wet season and dry season, while water demand in both of near future and far future will increase in wet season and dry season. Less water shortage and groundwater pumping in both near-future and far-future periods are expected in the future consecutive dry years compared with the past, though the groundwater is still an important supplementary irrigation water source in the dry year. From the field interview, the farmers are ready to adapt to the changing situations and join in the water use meeting to follow up with irrigation officers about the adjustment of plant calendar and water allocation due to the climate change and to prepare adaptation measures as necessary.     

Climate change’s impact on irrigation system and farmers’ response: a case study of the Plaichumpol Irrigation Project,Phitsanulok Province,Thailand

The Plaichumpol Irrigation Project, in Nan Basin of Thailand, is selected as a case study of impact study, where farmers depended on both surface and groundwater sources (especially in the dry year), to assess the impact on irrigation systems. The study used the MRI-GCM data to project the future climate condition and assess the impact on irrigation systems focusing on water shortage and groundwater pumping aspects in the selected consecutive dry years. The responses from farmers on the impact and adaptation were also gathered via site interviews and analyzed. Based on the bias-corrected MRI-GCM data, the annual rainfall in Nan Basin will decrease in the near future (2015–2039), compared with the past average data (1979–2006), while the rainfall will increase in the far future (2075–2099) compared with past. Water supply from dam will decrease in wet season and dry season, while water demand in both of near future and far future will increase in wet season and dry season. Less water shortage and groundwater pumping in both near-future and far-future periods are expected in the future consecutive dry years compared with the past, though the groundwater is still an important supplementary irrigation water source in the dry year. From the field interview, the farmers are ready to adapt to the changing situations and join in the water use meeting to follow up with irrigation officers about the adjustment of plant calendar and water allocation due to the climate change and to prepare adaptation measures as necessary.