Asian Journal of Advances in Agricultural Research

Water is fast becoming an economically scarce resource in many areas of the world, including Eswatini, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. A study to test the response of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) to deficit irrigation was conducted in a field plot experiment at the Faculty of Agriculture at the Luyengo Campus of the University of Eswatini. The treatments were laid in a randomized block design. The experiment consisted of four treatments, each replicated three times. Treatment 1 (T1) was irrigated daily, treatment 2 (T2) irrigated after 2 days, treatment 3 (T3) irrigated after 3 days and treatment 4 (T4) irrigated after 4 days. A total of 30 lettuce plants were planted in each treatment. The lettuce was grown for a period of four weeks and then harvested whole. Yield parameters measured included the number of leaves, the plant height (cm), leaf area index (LAI), and the fresh and dry head mass (grams). Significant differences (P < 0.01) between treatments T3 and T4 were obtained for fresh and dry lettuce head mass. The highest water use efficiency and crop water productivity were obtained in treatment T3. It was concluded that irrigating lettuce every three days was the best option for the area under the conditions of the experiment.

Feed restriction has been described as a management tool to limit birds’ access to feed in order to reduce feed cost without compromising their health and meat products. The present study was undertaken to assess the effects of strain of cocks and feed restriction at different ages on carcass characteristics. The study was conducted at Teaching and Research Farm of Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria for a period of 16 weeks. A total number of 180 day-old cockerels of two strains comprising Black and White plumage (90 chicks each) were procured to examine and compare their carcass characteristics. At 6^th week of age, the birds were randomly distributed into four treatments with three replicates for each strain. The treatments are, T₁: control (ad libitum), T₂: feed restricted from 6^th -7^th week, T₃: feed restricted from 8^th -9^th week and T₄: feed restricted from 10^th -11^th week. Data collected at 16^th week of age include live body weight, bled weight, dressed weight, eviscerated weight, breast weight, back muscle weight, drumstick and thigh weights. Analyzed results showed that live weight and carcass weights were not significantly (P > 0.05) affected by strain. Both strains recorded similar mean values. With regard to feed restriction, no significant (P > 0.05) effect was found for live weight and most traits with the exception of bled weight, breast muscle weight and thigh weight. However, the control and 6^th week restricted birds recorded superior mean values in such cases. The study indicates that the two strains are good for increased meat production and revenue generation, while the 6^th week feed restriction is suggested for maximum productivity and profit.

The residual effect of eight herbicides (Pendimethalin, Pretilachlor, TriasulfuronEthoxysulfuron, Pyrazosulfuron Ethyl, Carfentrazone – ethyl, Carfentrazone – ethyl+ Isoproteuron, 2, 4 –D) used in wheat of Agronomy Field Laboratory during March to June 2014 was evaluated for the sunflower. The eighteen herbicide treatment combinations of the eight herbicides used in wheat. The experiment was conducted in Random Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The effect of herbicide residues on the sunflower was evaluated in terms of germination, the seedling root and shoot length, leaf chlorophyll content and seeding dry matter. The result showed that the seedling establishment of sunflower was not adversely affected by the herbicides applied to the previous wheat crop.

Dual (cushion and spring) compartment ginger slicing machine was developed to address the dificulties associaed with manual slicing of ginger. However, there is no establisbed  operational perfomance on record for this particular machine; thus, the need for this study. To achieve this, the machine perfomance was evaluated at the Department of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering, Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi in April, 2019 interms of Slicing Efficiency and Percent Broken and Bruises at a ginger moisture content of 80.2 and 78.5%, using completely randomized Design (CRD) with 5 x 2 x 2 factorial experiment. The experiment was conducted with one horse power petrol engine. The data collected were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for significance level of the experimental factors and their interactions and those found significant were further analyzed using Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) for mean separations at (P0.05), respectively. The results showed that, the highest mean Slicing Efficiencies for cushion and spring compartments were: 61.2 and 45.1%, respectively. The lowest mean Percent Broken and Bruises was with cushion compartment as 38.8% and 54.9% spring compartment, respectively.

This study develops an understanding on human dimension approach of adaptation with special context to Indian agriculture. The study conducts a micro-level assessment of farmer’s perception and adaptation responses based on survey data analysis of 200 farm household from two districts, i.e., Jalaun and Jhansi of Bundelkhand region. The study finds perceive and adapt cognitive condition to the main adaptation condition. The study recognizes the importance of social relations for developing an understanding of climate change. Government sources are found to be less impactful in delivering climate information along with other hypothesized sources. The study results provide a useful guide for identifying region-specific adaptation strategies options like, adoption of disease resistant seed varieties and use of new plant protection chemicals to deal with climate change. The role of government needs to be escalated in providing appropriate and adequate climate information to the farmers. Policy action is needed in creating awareness, increasing faith on reliability and accuracy of climate information services by the government.