JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURE

Induced response of soil properties and Oribatid mites (Acari, Cryptostigmata) community structure after the conversion of tropical secondary forests into oil palm and rubber plantations

Julien Kouadio Julien — 2022-11-24

The aim of investigation was to address the impacts of tropical forests conversion into agricultural land on changes in Oribatid mites’ communities as well as soil physico-chemical properties across 2–4 texturally distinct soils in La Mé and Grand Lahou, Côte d’Ivoire. The fieldwork was conducted in the humid period on two study sites: 1– rubber landscape (secondary forest, 7-, 12- and 25-year-old rubber plantations) and 2– oil palm landscape (secondary forest, 13-, 20- and 39-year-old oil palm plantations). Three sampling areas were established on each land-use type and age class, for a total of 24 sampling areas. In each sampling area, soil cores for Oribatid mite’s extraction were taken at a depth of 10 cm across a 40–50 m transect. The soil physical and chemical properties were also measured. The results showed a decrease in Oribatid density (–29% and –71%), species richness (–29% and –42%), diversity (–29% and –59%), soil organic carbon (–56% and –17%), total nitrogen (–55% and –12%) and soil organic matter (–56% and –17%), and an increase in bulk density (+28% and +21%), respectively after the conversion of the secondary forests into rubber and oil palm plantations. Whatever the study site, the soil physico-chemical and biological properties were more stabilized in the clay and clay sandy textures compared to sandy clay and sandy soil textures. Our findings suggest the incorporation of woody trees with an understory of nitrogen-fixing legume species as a cover crop, which can create a sustainable agroforestry system with improved land quality.

Influence Of Moisture Content On Some Physical Properties Of Baobab Seeds (Adansonia Digitata) In Relation To Equipment Development For Postharvest Processing And Handling.

Hayford Ofori — 2022-11-16

In this study, the effect of moisture content on the physical attributes of baobab seeds was examined, along with the implications for the design of machinery for postharvest handling and processing of the seeds. The seed's volume, sphericity, aspect ratio, axial dimensions, arithmetic, and geometric mean diameters were all determined. Gravimetric properties including porosity, bulk density, and thousand grain mass were measured. Additionally, the seeds' frictional characteristics on different surfaces for handling after harvest were established. The arithmetic and geometric mean diameters were found to be in a range of 8.00 and 9.64 mm and 7.86 and 9.50 mm, respectively, with moisture contents between 5.4 and 20.6% on a dry basis. The seed's sphericity ranged from 78.18 to 80.38 percent. Densities for the bulk and particle ranged from 740.77 to 763.40 kg/m3 and 1155.22 to 1223 -29 kg/m3, respectively. The study revealed that among the four frictional surfaces, plywood surface had the greatest resistance to the flow of the seeds, and the least was registered for the glass surface material. The effect of moisture content on the seed’s physical properties were statistically significant (p≤0.05). Regression equations for future predicting the various physical properties at different moisture contents were developed. The study has produced valuable information that will help with the design of machinery for handling and processing baobab seeds after harvest.

Soil exchangeable cations and acidity components in different cropping systems for onion

Belo Afonso Muetanene — 2022-10-02

This study aimed to evaluate K, Ca, Mg, Al concentrations and active acidity (pH-H2O) in different cropping systems for onion. The study was conducted on a Humic Dystrudept in Ituporanga, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, where eight different cropping systems for onion were evaluated, namely: T1: maize-onion succession, T2: common vetch-maize/rye+fodder raddish-onion-maize/rye+fodder raddish-common bean, T3: rye-onion-maize/black oat-maize, T4: onion-velvet bean succession, T5: rye-onion-millet/black oat-onion-millet, T6: rye-onion-velvet bean succession, T7: onion-velvet bean+millet+sunflower succession, from T1 to T7 were conducted under no tillage system (NTS), T8, T8: maize-onion succession, was conducted under conventional tillage system. We used the randomized complete block design, with 5 replications. All the chemical samples were collected and evaluated at the 0-5, 5-10 and 10-20 cm soil layers. We observed that the different cropping systems were similar in terms of Ca, Mg and K concentrations in all the soil layers, significant differences were only found for exchangeable Al concentrations at the 0-5 cm layer. More time is needed to observe better the performance of the treatments since their effect on the soil depends a lot on the time of implantation.

Agronomic Performance of Corn Silage Intercropped with Urochloa Ruziziensis

Wellington Ferrari — 2022-03-03

The integrated cultivation of corn with forages leads to competition for production factors such as water, light and nutrients however, currently, it is being practiced to improve the chemical, physical and biological characteristics of the soil, in addition to increasing grain and straw production for the next crop. In this sense, the objective of this work was to evaluate the agronomic performance of corn silage intercropped with the species Urochloa ruziziensis. The experiment was carried out on a rural property located in the municipality Abadia dos Dourados - Minas Gerais, Brazil. A randomized block design was used with two treatments (corn cultivated with and without intercropping with U. ruziziensis) and ten replications. The evaluations in the corn crop were carried out at 100 days after planting. The variables analyzed were: plant height, corn cob insertion height, corn cob weight and corn cob size. Data were selected for analysis of variance and level means of Tukey test models at 5% probability test. Urochloa ruziziensis when intercropped with a corn hybrid increased the height of the corn cob insertion, the size and weight of the corn cob reaching satisfactory levels.