• Title/Summary/Keyword: dryland crop

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Technological Experience and Crop Production in Dryland Farming Systems in Africa : The Case of Draught Animal Power in Ghana

  • Panin, Anthony
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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    • 1993.10a
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    • pp.591-600
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    • 1993
  • Considerable controversy exists about the trend of animal traction effects on crop production in dryland farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This problem arises on account of the failure of the few available empirical studies to recognise the important of technological experience of the individual adopting farmers. This study hence addresses this issue by examining the effects of experience in animal traction technology (ATT) on farm size, cropping emphasis, total crop output and farm productivity. It is based on farm management survey data on 42 small holder farm households fro Ghana. Thirty of these households used animal traction technology (ATT) fro crop cultivation and the rest, mainly hand-hoe. The animal traction sub-sample is classified into three groups according to farmers' years of experience with the technology , thus , those with 1-2, 3-10, and more than 10. Evidence from the study shows that the progression of years of experience with ATT leads to inten ification of labour and land use systems, enhancement of degree of motivation to enter into the market economy, increases in total crop output and farm productivity resulting for decreases in cultivated acreages. The implication of the findings is that institutioal and technical support that do accompany the introduction of such technologies should be structured to last for a relatively longer period to accomodate the learning process.

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Agricultural Systems for Saline Soil: The Potential Role of Livestock

  • Masters, D.G.;Norman, H.C.;Barrett-Lennard, E.G.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.296-300
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    • 2005
  • Human-induced soil salinity is becoming a major threat to agriculture across the world. This salinisation occurs in both irrigated and rain-fed agricultural zones with the highest proportions in the arid and semi-arid environments. Livestock can play an important role in the management and rehabilitation of this land. There are a range of plants that grow in saline soils and these have been used as animal feed. In many situations, animal production has been poor as a result of low edible biomass production, low nutritive value, depressed appetite, or a reduction in efficiency of energy use. Feeding systems are proposed that maximise the feeding value of plants growing on saline land and integrate their use with other feed resources available within mixed livestock and crop farming systems. Salt-tolerant pastures, particularly the chenopod shrubs, have moderate digestible energy and high crude protein. For this reason they represent a good supplement for poor quality pastures and crop residues. The use of salt-tolerant pasture systems not only provides feed for livestock but also may act as a bio-drain to lower saline water tables and improve the soil for growth of alternative less salt tolerant plants. In the longer term there are opportunities to identify and select more appropriate plants and animals for saline agriculture.

Classification of Land Cover over the Korean Peninsula using MODIS Data (MODIS 자료를 이용한 한반도 지면피복 분류)

  • Kang, Jeon-Ho;Suh, Myoung-Seok;Kwak, Chong-Heum
    • Atmosphere
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.169-182
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    • 2009
  • To improve the performance of climate and numerical models, concerns on the land-atmosphere schemes are steadily increased in recent years. For the realistic calculation of land-atmosphere interaction, a land surface information of high quality is strongly required. In this study, a new land cover map over the Korean peninsula was developed using MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. The seven phenological data set (maximum, minimum, amplitude, average, growing period, growing and shedding rate) derived from 15-day normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were used as a basic input data. The ISOData (Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis), a kind of unsupervised non-hierarchical clustering method, was applied to the seven phenological data set. After the clustering, assignment of land cover type to the each cluster was performed according to the phenological characteristics of each land cover defined by USGS (US. Geological Survey). Most of the Korean peninsula are occupied by deciduous broadleaf forest (46.5%), mixed forest (15.6%), and dryland crop (13%). Whereas, the dominant land cover types are very diverse in South-Korea: evergreen needleleaf forest (29.9%), mixed forest (26.6%), deciduous broadleaf forest (16.2%), irrigated crop (12.6%), and dryland crop (10.7%). The 38 in-situ observation data-base over South-Korea, Environment Geographic Information System and Google-earth are used in the validation of the new land cover map. In general, the new land cover map over the Korean peninsula seems to be better classified compared to the USGS land cover map, especially for the Savanna in the USGS land cover map.

Enhancement of flood stress tolerance for upland-adapted cereal crops by the close mixed-planting with rice

  • Iijima, Morio;Awala, Simon K;Hirooka, Yoshihiro;Yamane, Koji
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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    • 2017.06a
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    • pp.44-44
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    • 2017
  • Recently, the occurrences of extreme flooding and drought, often in the same areas, have increased due to climate change. We tested the hypothesis that wetland species could help upland species under flood conditions; that is, the roots of wetland crops may supply $O_2$ to the roots of upland crops by a series of experiments conducted in both humid Japan and semi-arid Namibia (See Iijima et al, 2016 and Awala et al, 2016). Firstly, flooding tolerance of upland-adapted staple crops-pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) mix-cropped with rice (Oryza spp.) was investigated in glasshouse and laboratory experiments in Japan. We found a phenomenon that strengthens the flood tolerance of upland crops when two species-one wetland and one drought tolerant-were grown using the mixed cropping technique that results in close tangling of their root systems, hereinafter referred to "close mixed-planting". This technique improved the photosynthetic and transpiration rates of the upland crops subjected to flood stress ($O_2$-deficient nutrient culture). Oxygen transfer was suggested between the two plants mix-cultured in water, implying its contribution to the phenomenon that improved the physiological status of upland crops under the simulated flood stress. Secondly, we further tested whether this phenomenon would be expressed under field flood conditions. The effects of close mixed-planting of pearl millet and sorghum with rice on their survival, growth and grain yields were evaluated under controlled field flooding in semi-arid Namibia during 2014/2015-2015/2016. Single-stand and mixed plant treatments were subjected to 11-22 day flood stress at the vegetative growth stage. Close Mixed-planting increased seedling survival rates in both pearl millet and sorghum. Grain yields of pearl millet and sorghum were reduced by flooding, in both the single-stand and mixed plant treatments, relative to the non-flooded upland yields, but the reduction was lower in the mixed plant treatments. In contrast, flooding increased rice yields. Both pearl millet-rice and sorghum-rice mixtures demonstrated higher land equivalent ratios, indicating a mixed planting advantage under flood conditions. These results indicate that mix-planting pearl millet or sorghum with rice could alleviate flood stress on dryland cereals. The results also suggest that with this cropping technique, rice could compensate for the dryland cereal yield losses due to field flooding. Mixed cropping of wet and dryland crops is a new concept to overcome flood stress under variable environmental conditions.

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Response of Millet and Sorghum to Water Stress in Converted Poorly Drained Paddy Soil

  • Jung, Ki-Yuol;Yun, Eul-Soo;Park, Chang-Young;Hwang, Jae-Bok;Choi, Young-Dae;Oh, In-Seok
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.46 no.6
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    • pp.409-416
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    • 2013
  • Millet and sorghum are major dryland cereal crops, however their growth and productivity is limited by soil water stress with varying intensity. The major objective of this study was to evaluate water stress of millet and sorghum yield under drainage classes of poorly drained soil and to test the effect of the installed pipe drainage in poorly drained paddy soil to minimize crop stress. The research was carried out in poorly drained paddy fields located at alluvial slopping area resulting in non-uniform water content distribution by the inflow of ground water from the upper part of the field. Stress Day Index (SDI) was determined from a stress day factor (SD) and a crop susceptibility factor (CS). SD is a degree of measurement by calculating the daily sum of excess water in the profile above 30cm soil depth ($SEW_{30}$). CS depends on a given excess water on crop stage. The results showed that sum of excess water day ($SWD_{30}$) used to represent the moisture stress index was lower on somewhat poorly drained soil compared with poorly drained soil on 117 days. CS values for sorghum were 57% on $3^{rd}$ leaf stage, 44% on $5^{th}$ leaf stage, 37% on panicle initiation, 23% on boot stage, and 16% on soft dough stage. For proso millet CS values were 84% on $3^{rd}$ leaf stage, 70% on $5^{th}$ leaf Stage, 65% on panicle initiation, 53% on boot stage, and 28% on soft dough stage. And for foxtail millet the values were 73% on $3^{rd}$ leaf stage, 61% on $5^{th}$ leaf stage, 50% on panicle initiation, 29% on boot stage, and 15% on soft dough stage. SDI of sorghum and millet was more susceptible to excess soil water during panicle initation stage more poorly drained soil than somewhat poorly drained soil. Grain yield was reduced especially in proso millet and Foxtail millet compared to Sorghum.

Effect of Fermented (Oenanthe stolonifera DC) Extract on the Activity of Enzymes Related to Liver Function of Alcohol-administered Rats and Mice (밭미나리 발효액이 알콜투여 흰쥐의 간기능관련효소활성에 미치는 영향)

  • Whang, Tay-Eak;Lim, Hyun-Ock;Lee, Jae-Wa
    • Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.107-114
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    • 1999
  • It has long been recognized that dropwort contains specific funtional subtances for protecting human liver and preventing and curing its diseases, and thus it has been widely utilized in traditional folk remedy. In the present study. fresh of fermented extract of dropwort shoots grown on dryland and fresh extract of those grown on flooded fie1d were fed to the rats suffering from acute, subacute or chronical toxication induced by alcohol administration, and their affects were investigated. Administration of alcohol to rats and mice for 2 days at 5ml of 30% EtOH/kg/day raised total cholesterol and total glyceride which were, however, great1y supressed when alcohol was administered to the laboratory animals previously fed on fresh or fermented extract of dryland dropwort, or fresh extract of flooded field-grown dropwort for 20 days, without significant differences among the extracts. The levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase which were raised by alcohol adminstration were also lowered by feeding dropwort extract, among which that of fermented dryland-grown one was more effective than the other two. Chronic alcohol toxication was induced to rats by administering 10% alcohol for 10 months and fermented dropwort extract or tap water was fed to the rats for 5 days. The rats fed on fermented dropwort extract were lower in total cholesterol by 40% and in tota1 glyceride by 60% than the control. Alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase in the rats fed on fermented dropwort extract were decreased by 87.2% and 91.7%, respectively, compared to the control, and the rats recovered almost to normal. Activity of alkaline phosphatase, catalase, superoxide dismutase or glutathione peroxidase changed greatly by alcohol administration in the rats suffering from chronic as well as acute toxication. The extract of fermented dry land dropwort significantly lowed the activity of those enzymes, especially, alkaline phosphatase and superoxide dismutase. The present results suggesting the possible medicinal effect of fermented dropwort extract to liver diseases.

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Fabrication and field performance test of a tractor-mounted 6-row cabbage collector

  • Han, Kwang-Min;Ali, Mohammod;Swe, Khine Myat;Islam, Sumaiya;Chung, Sun-Ok;Kim, Dae-Geon
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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    • v.48 no.1
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    • pp.141-149
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    • 2021
  • The cultivation area for domestic cabbage increased by 26.3% from 10,968 ha in 2019 to 13,854 ha in 2020, and among leafy vegetables, the cabbage cultivation area was 62%, and production was 78.9%. Demand for field crop production of cabbage, which has a relatively high-income level compared to rice farming, is increasing, and mechanization of the field operation is urgently needed due to the insufficient development of related farming machinery. In this study, a prototype fabrication and performance test of a tractor-attached cabbage collector was carried out. The transport section was divided into two parts, one for the feeding and transportation and the other for the screening and packaging to selectively collect cabbages in bulk bags or boxes. The length of the primary collecting conveyor was designed to meet the field conditions of the Korean cabbage cultivation standards so that six cultivation rows could be worked simultaneously. Power was controlled by a hydraulic transmission line of the tractor and was easily mounted onto the 3-point hitch links behind the tractor. When the performance was evaluated, the transfer rate, loss rate, damage rate, and work performance were 100, 0, 1.2%, and 1.9 h·10 a-1. Final improvement and commercialization of the prototype would considerably contribute to the mechanization of harvesting cabbage, the main ingredient of Kimchi.

Rainfed Areas and Animal Agriculture in Asia: The Wanting Agenda for Transforming Productivity Growth and Rural Poverty

  • Devendra, C.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.122-142
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    • 2012
  • The importance of rainfed areas and animal agriculture on productivity enhancement and food security for economic rural growth in Asia is discussed in the context of opportunities for increasing potential contribution from them. The extent of the rainfed area of about 223 million hectares and the biophysical attributes are described. They have been variously referred to inter alia as fragile, marginal, dry, waste, problem, threatened, range, less favoured, low potential lands, forests and woodlands, including lowlands and uplands. Of these, the terms less favoured areas (LFAs), and low or high potential are quite widely used. The LFAs are characterised by four key features: i) very variable biophysical elements, notably poor soil quality, rainfall, length of growing season and dry periods, ii) extreme poverty and very poor people who continuously face hunger and vulnerability, iii) presence of large populations of ruminant animals (buffaloes, cattle, goats and sheep), and iv) have had minimum development attention and an unfinished wanting agenda. The rainfed humid/sub-humid areas found mainly in South East Asia (99 million ha), and arid/semi-arid tropical systems found in South Asia (116 million ha) are priority agro-ecological zones (AEZs). In India for example, the ecosystem occupies 68% of the total cultivated area and supports 40% of the human and 65% of the livestock populations. The area also produces 4% of food requirements. The biophysical and typical household characteristics, agricultural diversification, patterns of mixed farming and cropping systems are also described. Concerning animals, their role and economic importance, relevance of ownership, nomadic movements, and more importantly their potential value as the entry point for the development of LFAs is discussed. Two examples of demonstrated success concern increasing buffalo production for milk and their expanded use in semi-arid AEZs in India, and the integration of cattle and goats with oil palm in Malaysia. Revitalised development of the LFAs is justified by the demand for agricultural land to meet human needs e.g. housing, recreation and industrialisation; use of arable land to expand crop production to ceiling levels; increasing and very high animal densities; increased urbanisation and pressure on the use of available land; growing environmental concerns of very intensive crop production e.g. acidification and salinisation with rice cultivation; and human health risks due to expanding peri-urban poultry and pig production. The strategies for promoting productivity growth will require concerted R and D on improved use of LFAs, application of systems perspectives for technology delivery, increased investments, a policy framework and improved farmer-researcher-extension linkages. These challenges and their resolution in rainfed areas can forcefully impact on increased productivity, improved livelihoods and human welfare, and environmental sustainability in the future.

Effects of supplementing sweet sorghum with grapeseeds on carcass parameters, and meat quality, amino acid, and fatty acid composition of lambs

  • Jianxin Jiao;Ting Wang;Shanshan Li;Nana Gou;A. Allan Degen;Ruijun Long;Hucheng Wang;Zhanhuan Shang
    • Animal Bioscience
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    • v.36 no.3
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    • pp.461-470
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    • 2023
  • Objective: Sweet sorghum is an important forage crop for ruminants, especially in low rainfall areas. Grapeseeds are an abundant by-product of wine-making and contain bioactive substances that can improve the antioxidant capacity of meat. We examined the effect of sweet sorghum forage with supplementary grapeseeds on carcass and meat quality in lambs. Methods: Twenty-eight Small-tailed Han lambs (body weight = 19.1±1.20 kg), aged 3 to 4 months, were penned, and fed individually. The lambs were divided into four groups (n = 7 each) and were offered one of four diets: i) sweet sorghum silage; ii) sweet sorghum silage + grapeseeds; iii) sweet sorghum hay; and iv) sweet sorghum hay + grapeseeds. The grapeseeds were added to the concentrate at 6% DM and the diets were fed for 100 d. Results: Sweet sorghum silage tended (p = 0.068) to increase hot carcass weight, while grapeseeds tended (p = 0.081) to decrease dressing percentage without affecting other carcass parameters. Lambs consuming supplementary grapeseeds increased (p<0.05) meat redness and tended to decrease (p = 0.075) concentration of methionine in meat. Lambs consuming sweet sorghum silage increased (p<0.001) water content of the meat and had a lower (p<0.05) concentration of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio than lambs consuming sweet sorghum hay. Saturated fatty acids content in meat was lowest (p<0.05) in lambs consuming sweet sorghum silage with grapeseeds. Lambs with supplementary grapeseeds tended (p<0.10) to increase eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid and have a lower thrombogenic index than lambs not consuming grapeseeds. Conclusion: It was concluded that sweet sorghum with supplementary grapeseeds fed to lambs; i) improved the color of the meat to be more appetizing to the consumer; ii) tended to improve the fatty acids composition of the meat; and iii) lowered thrombogenic index of the meat.