• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2020

Area exclosure is a widely practiced intervention of restoring degraded lands though its impact in sequestering terrestrial and soil carbon is scanty. The study was initiated to investigate the effect of exclosure of different ages on carbon sequestration potential of restoring degraded dryland ecosystems in eastern Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Twelve plots each divided into three layers were randomly selected from 5, 10 and 15 years old exclosures and paired adjacent open grazing land. Tree and shrub biomasses were determined using destructive sampling while herb layer biomass was determined using total harvest. The average total biomass obtained were 13.6, 24.8, 27.1, and 55.5 Mg ha^-1 for open grazing, 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years exclosures respectively. The carbon content of plant species ranged between 48 to 53 percent of a dry biomass. The total carbon stored in the 5 years, 10 years and 15 years age exclosures were 39 Mg C ha^-1, 46.3 Mg C ha^-1, and 64.6 Mg C ha^-1 respectively while in the open grazing land the value was 24.7 Mg C ha^-1. Carbon stock is age dependent and increases with age. The difference in total carbon content between exclosures and open grazing land varied between 14.3-40 Mg C ha^-1. Although it is difficult to extrapolate this result for a longer future, the average annual carbon being sequestered in the oldest exclosure was about 2.7 Mg C ha^-1 yr^-1. In view of improving degraded area and sequestering carbon, area exclosures are promising options.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.177-185
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• 2009

Dryland species and ecosystems have developed unique strategies to cope with low and sporadic rainfall. They are highly resilient and recover quickly from prevailing disturbances such as fires, herbivore pressure and drought. Dryland people have engineered pastoral and farming systems, which are adapted to these conditions and have sustained the livelihoods of dryland people for centuries. In this article, we present the status of potentials and threats to dryland biodiversity and explore options for its conservation and sustainable use. Findings of the research can be summarized as follows: (i) The ecosystem goods and services are highly valued by the community but mechanism for wise use of the resources has disappeared, (ii) forests are under the ownership of the government but the local community is the realistic custodian of the forests through village leaderships and environmental committees; (iii) the immediate major threat to dryland biodiversity held in the forests appears to be the degradation of ecosystems and habitats caused by new and powerful forces of environmental degradation such as large scale irrigation of rice farms, poverty-induced overexploitation of natural resources, and disappearance and ignorance of traditional institutions for management of dryland biodiversity. These new forms of disturbances often overpower the legendary resilience of dryland ecosystems and constitute potentially serious threats to dryland biodiversity. Forests, wetlands and oases all of which are micro hot spots of dryland biodiversity, appear to be particularly vulnerable hence the need to set up some rules and regulations for sustainable utilization of these resources.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2019.09a
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• pp.17-17
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• 2019

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.296-300
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• 2005

Human-induced soil salinity is becoming a major threat to agriculture across the world. This salinisation occurs in both irrigated and rain-fed agricultural zones with the highest proportions in the arid and semi-arid environments. Livestock can play an important role in the management and rehabilitation of this land. There are a range of plants that grow in saline soils and these have been used as animal feed. In many situations, animal production has been poor as a result of low edible biomass production, low nutritive value, depressed appetite, or a reduction in efficiency of energy use. Feeding systems are proposed that maximise the feeding value of plants growing on saline land and integrate their use with other feed resources available within mixed livestock and crop farming systems. Salt-tolerant pastures, particularly the chenopod shrubs, have moderate digestible energy and high crude protein. For this reason they represent a good supplement for poor quality pastures and crop residues. The use of salt-tolerant pasture systems not only provides feed for livestock but also may act as a bio-drain to lower saline water tables and improve the soil for growth of alternative less salt tolerant plants. In the longer term there are opportunities to identify and select more appropriate plants and animals for saline agriculture.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1881-1889
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• 2018

Objective: In dryland areas of China, alfalfa hay (AH) is a possible substitute for concentrate feed for beef cattle. To evaluate the potential benefits of this substitution, we studied the effect of the ratio of AH intake to total dry matter (DM) intake on average daily body-weight gain (ADG), dietary energy utilization status, and economic benefit in Gansu province. Methods: In each of two feeding trials in 2016 (trial 1 [T1], July 3 to 17; trial 2 [T2], August 15 to September 23), crossbred male Simmental calves were allocated to low AH (LA), medium AH (MA), and high AH (HA) feeding groups (n = 4 per group). The target ADG was set as 1 kg for both trials. In a one-way-layout design based on conventional feeding practices in the province, calves received diets containing the different AH amounts, with a constant ratio of corn stover:total DM and decreasing rations of concentrate feed proportional to the increase in AH. Calves in T1 received AH at 15% (T1-LA), 23% (T1-MA), or 31% (T1-HA) of their dietary DM allowances; those in T2 received 9% (T2-LA), 24% (T2-MA), or 34% (T2-HA) AH. Results: Among the T1 groups, both ADG and economic benefit were highest in T1-LA; whereas in T2, they were higher in the T2-LA and T2-MA groups than in T2-HA. Energy digestibility did not significantly differ among the groups in either trial. The dietary AH inclusion ratios of 14% in the warm season and 8% to 21% in the cool season appeared to yield optimal ADG, metabolizable energy intake, and economic benefit. Conclusion: Low-level inclusion of AH, ranging from 8% to 21%, is a practical approach for beef cattle feeding. This modified feeding regimen likely will promote increased growth performance during the fattening stage of beef steers in dryland areas of Gansu province, China.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.591-600
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• 1993

Considerable controversy exists about the trend of animal traction effects on crop production in dryland farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This problem arises on account of the failure of the few available empirical studies to recognise the important of technological experience of the individual adopting farmers. This study hence addresses this issue by examining the effects of experience in animal traction technology (ATT) on farm size, cropping emphasis, total crop output and farm productivity. It is based on farm management survey data on 42 small holder farm households fro Ghana. Thirty of these households used animal traction technology (ATT) fro crop cultivation and the rest, mainly hand-hoe. The animal traction sub-sample is classified into three groups according to farmers' years of experience with the technology , thus , those with 1-2, 3-10, and more than 10. Evidence from the study shows that the progression of years of experience with ATT leads to inten ification of labour and land use systems, enhancement of degree of motivation to enter into the market economy, increases in total crop output and farm productivity resulting for decreases in cultivated acreages. The implication of the findings is that institutioal and technical support that do accompany the introduction of such technologies should be structured to last for a relatively longer period to accomodate the learning process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1618-1618
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• 2001

Predicting quality traits using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy on whole grain samples has gained wide acceptance as a non-destructive, rapid and cost effective technique. Barley breeding programs throughout southern Australia currently use this technology as a tool for selecting malting quality lines. For the past 3 years whole grain barley calibrations have been developed at VIDA to predict malting quality traits in the early generation selections of the breeding program. More recently calibrations for whole grain malt have been developed and introduced to aid in selecting malted samples at the mid-generation stage for more complex malting quality traits. Using the same population set, barley and malt calibrations were developed to predict hot water extracts (EBC and IoB), diastatic power, free $\alpha$-amino nitrogen, soluble protein, wort $\beta$-glucan and $\beta$-glucanase. The correlation coefficients between NIR predicted values and laboratory methods for malt were all highly significant ($R^2$ > 0.84), whereas the correlation coefficients for the barley calibrations were lower ($R^2$ > 0.57) but still significant. The magnitude of the error in predicting hot water extract, diastatic power and wort $\beta$-glucan using whole grain malt was reduced by 50% when compared with predicting the same trait using whole grain barley. This can be explained by the complex nature of attempting to develop calibrations on whole grain barley utilizing malt data. During malting, the composition of barley is modified by the action of enzymes throughout the steeping and germination stages and by heating during the kilning stage. Predicting malting quality on whole grain malt is a more reliable alternative to predicting whole grain barley, although there is the added expense of micro-malting the samples. The ability to apply barley and malt calibrations to different generations is an advantage to a barley breeding program that requires thousands of samples to be assessed each year.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.1415-1424
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• 2021

Objective: Portable laser methane detectors (LMDs) may be an economical means of estimating CH₄ emissions from ruminants. We validated an LMD-based approach and then used that approach to evaluate CH₄ emissions from indigenous dairy cows in a dryland area of Ethiopia. Methods: First, we validated our LMD-based approach in Simmental crossbred beef cattle (n = 2) housed in respiration chambers and fed either a high- or low-concentrate diet. From the results of the validation, we constructed an estimation equation to determine CH₄ emissions from LMD CH₄ concentrations. Next, we used our validated LMD approach to examine CH₄ emissions in Fogera dairy cows grazed for 8 h/d (GG, n = 4), fed indoors on natural-grassland hay (CG1, n = 4), or fed indoors on Napier-grass (Pennisetum purpureum) hay (CG2, n = 4). All the cows were supplemented with concentrate feed. Results: The exhaled CH₄ concentrations measured by LMD were linearly correlated with the CH₄ emissions determined by infrared-absorption-based gas analyzer (r² = 0.55). The estimation equation used to determine CH₄ emissions (y, mg/min) from LMD CH₄ concentrations (x, ppm m) was y = 0.4259x+38.61. Daily CH₄ emissions of Fogera cows estimated by using the equation did not differ among the three groups; however, a numerically greater milk yield was obtained from the CG2 cows than from the GG cows, suggesting that Napier-grass hay might be better than natural-grassland hay for indoor feeding. The CG1 cows had higher CH₄ emissions per feed intake than the other groups, without significant increases in milk yield and body-weight gain, suggesting that natural-grassland hay cannot be recommended for indoor-fed cows. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the potential of using LMDs to valuate feeding regimens rapidly and economically for dairy cows in areas under financial constraint, while taking CH₄ emissions into consideration.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.212-227
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• 2017

Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6, isolated from the roots of dryland, field-grown commercial wheat in the USA, enhances plant health and therefore it is used in agriculture as a biofertilizer and biocontrol agent. The metabolites produced by this pseudomonad stimulate plant growth through direct antagonism of pathogens and by inducing systemic resistance in the plant. Studies upon P. chlororaphis O6 identify the pathways through which defined bacterial metabolites generate protection against pathogenic microbes, insects, and nematodes. P. chlororaphis O6 also triggers plant resistance to drought and salinity stresses. The beneficial determinants are produced from bacterial cells as they form biofilms during root colonization. Molecular control these processes in P. chlororaphis O6 involves the global regulatory Gac/Rsm signaling cascade with cross-talk between other global regulatory pathways. The Gac/Rsm regulon allows for coordinate phasing of expression of the genes that encode these beneficial traits among a community of cells. This review provides insights on the Gac/Rsm regulon in expression of beneficial traits of the P. chlororaphis O6 which can contribute to help yield enhancement and quality in agricultural production.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.271-279
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• 1996

On-farm experiments were carried out in dryland farming in Bali for 48 weeks to study the effect of flock size on the growth and carcass characteristics of cross-bred goat fed gliricidia-supplemented diet. Eighty four bucks with average live weight of 15.87 kg were allocated in a completely randomized block design arrangement, consisted of three treatments and four blocks. The treatments were $3goats/2.7m^2$ (A), $6goats/5.4m^2$ (B) and $12goats/10.8m^2$ (C), while the floor density was the same ($0.9m^2$ per goat). Feed consumed by goat B was similar (p > 0.10), while feed consumed by goat C was lower (p < 0.10) than goat A. Live weight gain of goat B and C were lower (p<0.05) than goat A. FCR of goat B was higher (p < 0.10) than goat A, while FCR of goat C was similar (p > 0.10) with goat A. Goat B has heavier (p < 0.10) head and digestive tract, while goat C has heavier (p<0.10) hindlegs and digestive tract than goat A. Goat B has lighter (p < 0.10) shoulder, while goat C has lighter shoulder and heavier legs (p < 0.10) than goat A. The carcass quality (measured in terms of loin eye muscle area, meat, bone and fat portions) were not affected (p > 0.05) by the flock sizes.