Asian Journal of Research in Agriculture and Forestry

Spatial modelling of land use change is a technique for understanding changes in terms of the location and amount. In this study, logistic regression and Geomod approaches were used for modelling forest change in Gorgan area in Northern Iran in the time period of 1988-2007. To do this, at first, remotely sensed imagery data of the years 1988, 1998 and 2007 were used to produce land use maps. Land use maps accuracy assessments were achieved using Error matrix method and then the maps were used to implement change detection process in two time periods of 1988-1998 and 1998-2007. Results indicated a reduction in forest areas during the mentioned time period. Next, the independent variables were extracted in order to land use change modeling. The Results of the models implementation showed the ability of both models for forest change modeling in this region. Also, the models were used to predict the future condition of forest area in the years 2016 and 2025. The results revealed that the forest area would be associated with a reduction in the future. Comparison of the results of the models using kappa indices showed the successful implementation of both models for forest change modelling in this region. The results of this research reveal the need for appropriate applications of the proper plans to control land use change in order to preserve the environment and ecological balance of the area. Therefore, careful planning can reduce the land use change and its impacts in the future in this region.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different pre-sowing treatments of seeds on germination and growth performance of native threatened tree species Lithocarpus elegans at the nursery of Chittagong University, Bangladesh. Seeds were placed to eight pre-sowing treatments e.g. control (PT₀), treated with sand paper rubbing (PT₁), nicking (PT₂), seeds immersed in cold water for 24 hours (PT₃), seeds immersed in cold water for 48 hours (PT₄) and seeds immersed in cold water for 7 days (PT₅), seeds sown at propagator house (PT₆), seeds immersed in cold water for 7 days and then sown at propagator house (PT₇). Germination percentage was found highest (100%) in seeds sown at propagator house (PT₆) followed by seeds immersion in cold water for 24 hours (PT₃) (91.11%). For fertilizer dose experiment to seedlings at the nursery level, treatment FT₁: 100 kg/ha (0.33679 g urea/pot/seedling) comparing with other treatments FT₀: 0 kg/ha (Control), FT₂:  200 kg/ha (0.67358 g urea/pot/seedling) showed better performance in case of shoot length, collar diameter, number of leaves, shoot fresh weight, total fresh weight, total dry weight, volume index.  Finally, it can be concluded that Lithocarpus elegans seedlings revealed better performances under the seed pre-treatment PT₆ (seeds sown at propagator house) and fertilizer dose FT₁ (100 kg N ha^-1) in growth and biomass production.

This study examined the effect of seed source and pre-sowing treatment on germination of Canarium schweinfurthii [Engl] seeds. The seeds were sourced from Unubi in Anambra state (T1) and Jos in Plateau state (T2) in Nigeria. The experiment was conducted at the University of Benin and lasted for 14 weeks. It was laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) pattern using 2x7 factorial combinations of 2 sources and 7 pre-sowing treatments.

The pre-sowing treatments were complete removal of seed coat (CR), partial cracking (PC), burning under dry grass (BG), 70% H2S04 (7H), 80% H2S04 (8H), 3 days (72 hours) soaking in water (SW) and control (CT). Germination parameters investigated were days to germination, germination percentage, germination energy, germination period and germination value. Data collected were subjected to Analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% significance and significant means were separated using LSD. There was no significant difference in the mean days to germination (20.7 days in T1 and 21 days for T2) and mean germination percentages (31.14% in T1 and 31.71% for T2) of the sources. The treatments days to germination were significantly different with CR being the first to germinate (12 days) while 7H germinated last (41 days). There was significant difference in the mean germination period (31.71 days in T1 and 23.57 days for T2), germination energy (1.24 in T1 and 2.38 for T2) and germination values (0.3 in T1 and 0.54 for T2) in the investigated sources, while the mean germination percentages of the pre-sowing treatments irrespective of source were significantly different. Treatments BG had the best mean germination percentage followed by treatment SW and CT while 8H had the poorest.

It is therefore recommended that treatment BG is the best followed by SW for increase in germination percentage. But where seedlings are needed in little quantity within a short time, treatments CR and PC are recommended. Acid treatment is unsuitable for the seeds of Canarium schweinfurthii.

This study assessed the adoption of agroforestry practices among farmers in Gwaram Local Government Area of Jigawa State, Nigeria. The multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 farmers from four (4) out of the six (6) districts in the Local Government Area for the study. Primary data were collected through the use of questionnaires and oral interview and were subjected to both descriptive and logit regression analysis. Findings from the study revealed that the mean age of the farmers was 39 years. Majority of the farmers were male and mostly married. The study also showed that majority of the respondents had at least one form of education with a mean farming experience of 7 years and a mean farm size of 3.5 hectares. A greater percentage of the respondents acquired their farmlands through inheritance. The greater proportion of the farmers affirmed to have had contact with extension agents three times in a year and the majority of them aware of agroforestry. The average number of agroforestry practices adopted by the farmers is approximately 2 with home garden adopted by the majority of the farmers. The results also revealed that the mean annual income of respondents is N113,529. The logit regression result showed that educational level, income, membership of cooperatives and land tenure had a significant relationship with the adoption of agroforestry practices at different levels of probabilities. The major constraints to agroforestry practices as opined by the respondents include; land and tree tenure rights,  long gestation period to obtain benefits, lack of knowledge and skills in agroforestry, low awareness of agroforestry practice and the high cost associated in adopting agroforestry. The study recommended the formulation of a good land use policy so that farmers can acquire land titles to guarantee the security of their land.

Maize (Zea mays L) is still largely a subsistence food crop under promotion as a food security crop and source of income for smallholders. It is grown in the mid altitude zone of Rwanda. Herbagreen is a Bio fertilizer, used successfully in agriculture in different countries of the world.

The objective of this study was to determine the maize response to herbagreen foliar fertilizer application and determine the optimum rate for maximum yield. This was done in Randomized Complete Bloc Design (RCBD) with four treatments, replicated in four times. Four treatments of herbagreen rates including T₁ as control, T₂=0.31Kg/ ha^-1, T3=0.63Kg/ha^-1and T₄=0.94Kg ha^-1 of herbagreen foliar fertilizer. This was applied to a population of 53.333 plants/ha. The planting spacing was used at 75 cmX50 cm with 2 plants per hill. Analysis of variance for the different parameters measured showed that there was a high significant (p<0.001) among treatment for number of leaves, ear weight and grain yield. The effect of herbagreen foliar fertilizer differed significantly (p<0.05) for male flowering, female flowering, ear length, ear diameter and plant height. The maximum grain yield was 4.922 t ha^-1 recorded with the application of 0.94 kg ha^-1, followed by 0.63 kg/ha which produced 4.629 t ha^-1 also 0.31 kg ha^-1of herbagreen yielded 4.589 t ha^-1 and lastly the minimum grain yield was found in control plots where it produced 3.569 t ha^-1 The control plots did not receive any herbagreen foliar fertilizer. The optimum herbagreen foliar fertilizer rate for maximum grain yield was 0.94 kg ha^-1 from the regression equation and the predicted grain yield at this rate was 4.8 t ha^-1. Herbargreen foliar application can increase Maize yield to a certain extent. However, further experiments need to be done to ensure the sustainability of the application.