INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND RESEARCH
Year:2010 | Volume:1 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

Emphasis on sustainable agriculture in Iran like the other developing countries, is responsed to the adverse environmental and economic impacts of conventional agriculture. This problem, particularly about “greenhouse production” is considerable. The perceptions of greenhouse owners about the environmental, economical and social aspects of sustainable agriculture was discussed in this article. The research in terms of nature is a kind of quantitative research and in terms of goal is applied research, in terms of controlling the variables is descriptive and correlation kind, which has been carried out in a survey way. The target population for this study consisted greenhouse owners in the Province of Tehran (N=1787). By multi-stage cluster sampling technique, 306 were selected. Data were collected through interview schedules. The regression analysis showed that the farming and policy making factors determined 26 percent of variance on the perception of respondents regarding the environmental aspect of sustainable agriculture. Also, 19 percent of the variance on perception of respondents about economical aspect of sustainable agriculture could be explained by economical and policy making factors. In addition, 33 percent of the variance on perception of respondents about social aspect of sustainable agriculture could be explained by farming and extension / education factors.

This purpose of this research is to explain adaptation with drought from sustainability dimensions in nomadic societies. A questionnaire was developed from a review of literature, observations and open and semi-structural interviews with public and informant Nomads, local leaders and with experts from the local and provincial institutions. Prior to the application of factor analysis, two checks of internal reliability and validity were undertaken. In this regard, a pilot study was conducted with 21 Nomadic families in four townships (Iranshahr-Zabol-Jiroft-Anbarabad) that were not included in the sample population to determine the reliability of the questionnaire for the study through which 82-96 percent was obtained for different parts of research instrument which indicated that the questionnaire was highly reliable. Face and content validity of the instrument were established, refined and finally confirmed using an expert panel, which consisted of research committee, a number of university professors and some senior experts in the Nomadic organization of Iran. The research population consisted of total population of Nomads in the southern of Kerman Province of Iran included between 8314 to 10995 families according to winter and summer quarters population, of whom 374 families were selected stratified sampling with proportional assignment (n=374). Factors respectively based on the nature of their constituent questions, were named as educational, economic, service, political and institutional factors.

Botrytis cinerea is an important pathogen that causes diseases in ornamental crops. In present research several greenhouses of roses located in central region of Iran were surveyed to identify the Botrytis cinerea. A total of 80 isolates were collected from rose greenhouses in central region of Iran. Morphological identification was based on characters such as conidiophore and conidial length. According to the results conidiophores length was (587) 657-3123 (3896) mm, conidial dimension were in the range of (4)8–13(16)×(2)4–7(10) mm. Based on these characteristics, all isolates belonged to morphospecies Botrytis cinerea. Using specific primer pairs C729 and PCR molecular method, a DNA fragment of 700bp was amplified to the gene isolates for 30 representative isolates identified by morphological assessment indicating the presence of Botrytis cinerea rose samples.

The purpose of this research was to study the role of non-governmental organization in preserving of urban green areas in the city of Tehran. This is a descriptive-correlation research method. Population of this study was 120 active members of two non-governmental organizations in Tehran. After distributing the questionnaires, 62 questionnaires were returned. Content and face validity of the instrument were confirmed by experts in the field of agricultural extension and education and environmental protection. Reliability of the questionnaire measured by cronbach's alpha coefficient and its coefficient was 0.83. The results of spearman correlation coefficient test indicated that there was significant relationship between access to the educational materials, contacts with municipality and non-governmental organizations, providing financial resources to non-governmental organizations as independent variables and dependent variable. Results obtained from multiple regressions analysis show that providing financial resources to non-governmental organizations, participating in municipality planning programs and level of education had impact on preservation of urban green area.

Nitrogen components of yoghurt milk samples and resulting probiotic set yoghurt were determined. Analyses included total nitrogen (TN), non-casein nitrogen (NCN), non-protein nitrogen (NPN), casein nitrogen (CN) and proteolysis index (PI). Yoghurt samples were analyzed 1, 7, 14 and 21days after production and storage at 5±1oC. TN, CN and PI contents of yoghurt milk samples with high SC level were lower than yoghurt milk with low SC (p<0.05). NCN and NPN concentrations of yoghurt milk increased by the elevation of SC level, however differences between low and medium milk samples were not significant. During storage life, TN and CN contents of all yoghurt samples decreased significantly. NCN and NPN concentrations of probiotic yoghurt samples increased (p<0.05) after 21 days. It was concluded that SC level elevation in milk decreased casein as a percentage of true protein in the resulting probiotic yoghurt throughout storage for 21 days.

Reluctance towards implementation of precision agriculture (PA) seems to be based on lack of consideration to education, extension, and research sectors. The objective of this study is to identify educational, extensional, and research requirements in application of the PA system. The research population included all the experts in Qazvin province who are familiar with PA concepts and PA’s equipments, such as GPS and GIS. The results showed that offering a practical PA education and preparation of extension programs to introduce PA’s benefits provide more impact in the extensional requirement, among other variables. Findings of this article emphasize, again, on key role of the agricultural extension in efficient implementation of PA.

Among the agricultural crops, rice has had the largest share in pesticide use. Most of the crop losses are caused by the attack of Chilo suppressalis. The purpose of this was to examine effective factors on adoption of biological control by farmers in Talesh region of Iran. A survey study was conducted using a stratified random sampling to collect data from farmers in the selected rural areas of Talesh. The sample population was 184 farmers. In this study, results showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups of adopters and non-adopters of biological control regarding variables of number of domestic animals, number of plows, farm workers and kinds of fertilizers in rice field. But, there were no significant relationship between other variables and adoption of biological control of rice stem borer Chilo suppressalis.

The major purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing the design of agricultural advisory service network in the West Azerbaijan province of Iran. The population of this research consisted of consultants who provided services to farmers. By using a Cochran formula, 306 respondents were selected. The results of the study showed that consultants faced many obstacles such as lack of necessary facilities, illiteracy of farmers and lack of cooperation among related institutions and organizations. Results also showed that factors influencing effectiveness of network included economic, extension-educational, policy-making, socio-cultural, managerial and infrastructure factors. These six factors accounted for 59 percent of the variance in the effectiveness of advisory services.