Merit Research Journal of Agricultural Science and Soil Science

047-052

Authors: Pushpa C. O. and Akashraj D. P.

Agriculture is a land-based activity and as such land and water is major factors of production. The present research attempts to analyse land use dynamics in Karnataka, the study was based on the secondary data on land use pattern for nine fold classification were collected for the period from 1980-81 to 2008-09 for all the districts of Karnataka. In order to study intra and inter sectoral shift land use, the land classes have grouped into three broad sectors (I) Ecological sector (ii) Non agricultural sector (iii) Agricultural sector and multiple linear regression models fitted to aggregate sectoral terms indicated, extent of small and marginal farmers have negative impact on area under desirable ecological sector and urbanisation has influence on land shift towards non agriculture. Keywords: Land use dynamics, Sectorial change, OLS-estimates

038-046

Authors: Prince Antwi-Agyei and B.K. Maalekuu

Food borne diseases are considered to be the most wide spread health problem in most parts of the world especially in the developing countries. This is mainly due to the way food is handled by the producer and the final consumer. The food safety risks associated with meat and fish products have been widely documented. This study evaluates the level of microbial contamination of meat and fish products that are sold in two major markets in the Kumasi metropolis of the Ashanti Region in Ghana. Ten samples of different meat portions and fish samples each were selected from the two markets (5 meat and 5 fish samples from Bantama market and then 5 meat and 5 fish samples from Kumasi Central market). The samples were analyzed for total viable bacteria count, total coliforms count, Escherichia coli and salmonella using different biochemical test. Pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus, mould, Pseudomonas spp. Salmonella and Bacillus spp. were also isolated from both the meat and fish products. The study suggested that most of the meat and fish products that are sold are commonly contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms. Bantama market recorded the highest level of contamination. This contamination may play a significant role in the transmission of potentially harmful microorganisms which causes different diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and skin infections. It is therefore expedient that great care is taken during handling and the preparation of our meat and fish products to avoid or reduce the level of microbial load and contamination. Thorough cooking processes and good hygiene practices could help reduce the microbial load to harmless level. Keywords: Microbial contamination, Food safety, pathogenic micro-organisms, meat and fish.

032-037

Authors: Kanta Bokaria, Siva Kumar Balsundram, Indira Bhattarai and Krishna Kaphle

Mushroom is now considered crucial component for food safety and security. The phytonutrients in mushroom are now sought after food items. Micro-economy and community engagement in mushroom cultivation is helping rural economy. Urban and semi urban cultivation is also gaining popularity for various edible plants including mushroom and Calocybe indica an edible mushroom, native to India was first described by Purkayastha and Chandra (1947). Its milky white colour and robust appearance is appealing to all and provided with easy, reliable, renewable method of growing, its popularity is bound to increase. In this work the first two authors worked to develop the model for easy production. Findings reveal that, cylindrical polythene bag beds of 15 x 30 cm size were found useful for commercial cultivation. Clay loam soil (pH 8.4) was found to be the best casting soil which recorded 388.0 g for mushrooms per bed. Incubating the beds after casing in a partially sunken 3 feet deep polythene chamber lined with high density sky blue coloured polythene sheet as roofing material was found to be effective. Inside this chamber temperature range was 30-35°C, relative humidity of more than 85 percent and a light intensity of 1600 to 3200 lux at least for 6 h during day time was determined to be best suitable. Commercial production techniques for Milky mushroom, Calocybe indica recorded yield of 356.5 to 375.0 g of mushrooms per 250 g of paddy straw (dry weight) which accounts to 142.6 to 150.0 percent bio-efficiency. Substrates like maize stalks, sorghum stalks, vetiver grass and straw were also found to be suitable for growing Calocybe indica. However, paddy straw the commonly employed material showed relatively less yield. Substrate pre-treatment namely; steaming for 30 min. or soaking in hot water (80° C) for 60 min, are recommended for commercial purpose. While chemical substrate treatment (with Carbendazim 75 ppm + formalin 500 ppm for 16 h) was effective in viability and preservation. Mushroom grow competing and utilizing resources around it in special environment and their commercial conditions creation is importantly for science and society. Keywords: Milky Mushroom (Calocybe indica), Appropriate Growing Method, Science and Society.

024-031

Authors: Hamed Fathi, Habib Fathi and Hossein Moradi

Abstract Analysis and interpretation of spatial variability of soils is a keystone in site-specific farming. Grid soil sampling is typically used for establishing management zones for site-specific application of nutrients. The objectives of this study were to determine the degree of spatial variability of soil chemical properties, soil texture, and variance structure. Spatial distributions for thirteen soil chemical properties and soil texture were examined in a fallow land in Bajgah district, in Fars province, Iran. Soil samples were collected at approximately 60 m square at 0-30 cm depth and coordinates of each of the 100 points were recorded with GPS. The spatial distribution and spatial dependence level varied within location. The range of spatial dependence was found to vary within soil parameters. Phosphorous had the shortest range of spatial dependence (49.50m) and percentage of calcium carbonate equivalent had the longest (181.94m). All parameters were strongly spatially dependent. The results demonstrate that within the same field, spatial patterns may vary among several soil parameters. Soil nutrients were found to be affected by farmer management. Variography and Kriging can be useful tools for designing effective soil sampling strategies and variable rate application of inputs for use in site-specific farming. Keywords: Kriging, Site-specific, farming, Spatial variability, Soil properties, Southern Iran

007-023

Authors: Pratip Kumar Datta

In this paper, we assume that agricultural sustainability (AS) is an integral part of environmental sustainability, and geographical, cultural and social differences among countries are certainly important factors for development, but economic compulsion is an extremely important and decisive factor under the present ‘borderless world’. This paper attempts to investigate the relationship between agricultural sustainability and economic development in a broader perspective by constructing inter-country agricultural sustainability index and economic development in a time series cross section pooled framework introducing dummy variables for continent as well as some threshold level of development at the country level. In this connection, we also try to test the validity of the Environmental Kuznets’ Curve (EKC) across the countries. Keywords: Agricultural Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability, Economic Development, Environmental Kuznets’ Curve, Agricultural Sustainability Index.