Journal of the Austrian Society of Agricultural Economics (JASAE)

Abstract : This study was conducted at the Visayas State University Arboretum in Baybay City, Leyte, and a reforestation site in Ormoc City. It aimed to compare the N and P Resorption Efficiency (%) of four dipterocarp species; namely, Hagakhak (Dipterocarpus validus), White Lauan (Shorea contorta), Bagtikan (Parashorea malaanonan), and Yakal-Saplungan (Hopea plagata); and determine which nutrient is limiting based on such parameters. The mature leaves of Hagakhak had the highest N content while Yakal-Saplungan had the lowest. In the senesced leaves, all the four species had comparable amounts of N. Phosphorus contents in the mature leaves of all the four species were significantly highest in White Lauan, while Bagtikan, Hagakhak, and Yakal-Saplungan contained similar amounts. In the senesced leaves, Hagakhak and White Lauan had comparable P content which was higher than those in Bagtikan and Yakal-Saplungan. The four dipterocarp species had a Nitrogen Resorption Efficiency (NRE) of 32.2%-54.6% with a mean of 41.09%. Phosphorus Resorption Efficiency (PRE) ranged from 36.2% - 62.1%, with a mean of 50.7%, which were higher than the NRE values. This means that Yakal-Saplungan and Bagtikan are more efficient in recycling P in the leaves than Hagakhak and White Lauan, making them better adapted to P-deficient soils. The consistently high PRE compared to NRE suggests that P is more limiting than N in the soils of both sites..
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Abstract : During the 2019 and 2020 seasons, an experiment was conducted at the Karada water requirements research station, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Water Management Research Institute, National Water Research Center, Egypt, to investigate the effects of skipping irrigations at various growth stages and foliar spraying by indole acetic acid (IAA) on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the rice cultivar Giza 179. A split-plot design with four replications was used. Main plots were devoted to water treatments i.e., I1= traditional irrigation (control) full irrigation during the season, I2= skipping two irrigation during the tillering stage, I3= skipping two irrigation during the flowering stage, I4= skipping one irrigation at tillering, and one at heading stage I5= skipping one irrigation at tillering and one irrigation at ripening stages and I6= skipping two irrigation during ripening stage. Subplot treatments were devoted to foliar spraying of (IAA), i.e., So= spraying with water (control), S1= 50 mg l-1 of IAA, and S2= 75 mg l-1 of IAA. The results showed that flowering stage was the most vulnerable to the stress of water shortage and escaping irrigation at this stage caused a marked decrease in chlorophyll content in leaves, relative water content (RWC %), flag leaf area, yield, and its components, while increased proline content, peroxidase and catalyse enzymes content in the two growing seasons. Additionally, traditional irrigation had the greatest mean values for seasonal water use and water productivity..
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Abstract : Edamame is a soybean type with a high potential to be developed because it has a high commercial value and great opportunities in the domestic and export markets. Efforts to increase Edamame production must be carried out to meet the market demand. One of the efforts that can be made is to manage soil fertility by utilizing organic waste as fertilizer and ameliorant. Green mussel shells (GMS) are organic waste that is abundantly available and has the potential to be used as organic material to improve soil fertility and increase soil pH. This research aimed to study the effect of GMS powder on the growth and production of Edamame. The research was conducted in two locations from October 2020 to April 2021. The study used Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with a treatment factor of GMS which consisted of five levels, namely inorganic fertilizer (control), 5 g GMS powder (1 ton ha-1) + urea, 10 g GMS powder (2 tons ha-1) + urea, 15 g GMS powder (3 tons ha-1) + urea, and 20 g GMS powder (4 tons ha-1) + urea. The results showed that various doses of GMS powder with urea had the same effect as inorganic fertilizers on the growth and production of Edamame plants on both Oxisol and Ultisol soils. Edamame plants grown on Oxisol soil had better yields than plants grown on Ultisol soil. Results also indicated that GMS can be used as an ameliorant due to its ability to increase soil pH..
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Abstract : This study aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary replacement of soybean (SB) with groundnut cake (GNC) on the physiochemical characteristics of Novogen cockerel humerus and femur. A total of 240 one-day-old Novogen Cockerel were used for the experiment, at the end of the brooding period, twenty birds were randomly weighed and slaughtered by severing the jugular vein with sharp knife for humerus and femur morphometric baseline data, and the remaining 220 birds were randomly allocated to four experimental diets (T1=100% SB + 0% GNC, T2= 50% SB + 50% GNG, T3= 25% SB + 75% GNC, T4= 0% SB + 100% GNC) and were fed to an equal number of replicated pens (55 birds per treatment with 11 replicates each) with ad libitum access to fresh water. The means squares show that the treatments were not significantly different for most measured physical and chemical characteristics of humerus and femur. Replicate had no significant effect on any of the humerus characteristics, but differed for some of the femur characteristics, except for the humerus circumference at P<0.05. the variations among the treatments were not significant for most humerus characteristics, except for humerus circumference that was significantly different P<0.05. There was significant difference P<0.05 observed on femur ash weight, femur ash percentage and femur organic matter percentage. Correlation between physical and chemical characteristics of humerus shows a positive correlation but not significant except for humerus organic matter which shows significant positive correlation at P<0.05. It was also revealed that correlation between humerus fresh weight and the dry weight shows significance at P≤0.01. Correlation of humerus moisture with length shows significance at P≤0.01. Correlation between Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Femur shows that correlation between femur live weight and femur fresh width and length shows significance at P≤0.05 and P≤0.01 respectively. Correlation between femur fresh weight and dry weight was significant at P≤0.01, correlation between ash weight and organic matter weight is negative and significant at P≤0.001. Finally, the obtained results shows that groundnut cake and soybean meal have similar crude protein content, but soybean meal is of superior quality due to its greater amino acid profile..
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Abstract : The study assessed the constraints to the production of Senecio biafrae (Worowo) in Ekiti State, Southwestern Nigeria. A structured interview schedule was used to obtain information from 120 respondents. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages and mean score. The majority (71.6%) of the respondents was male and greater proportion (35.0%) was above 60 years of age. The majority (74.0%) were married while a greater proportion (30.1%) had secondary education. For the family size, 38.0% had between 4-6 persons while the major occupation of 64.2% of the respondents was farming. However, only 7.3% of these farmers had extension contact in the last one year. On the production characteristics of Senecio biafrae, 59.3% indicated it was difficult finding the crop and hence the majority (22.8%) indicated they harvested once in every two weeks and 37.4% indicated the total bunches harvest in the last farming season was ≤2. On the sources of information on Senecio biafrae, the majority (79.7%) of the respondents indicated they sourced information from family members and their major constraint to cultivation and utilization of Senecio biafrae was poor availability of planting materials. However, the perceived strategy for large scale production and utilization of Senecio biafrae as indicated by the respondents was irrigation (35.0%). Senecio biafrae is an endangered crop species and the major sources of information were not research- based. This has led to poor availability of planting material, sustainable production and utilization of the crop. Hence, there is need for synergy among farmers, extension agents and research institutes for proper domestication and production of Senecio biafrae. Farmers should be encouraged also to plant Senecio biafrae in homegardens, around streams and other sources of water as irrigation has been found to be key among other factors for all-year-round sustainable production and utilization of Senecio biafrae..
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