Nutrient uptake in cotton in relation to plant architecture
SummaryThe studies on uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium by two morphologically contrasting varieties of cotton MCU-1 and PRS-72 (bothGossypium hirsutum L.) at weekly intervals, showed that till the bursting of early formed bolls, the former type accumulated these nutrients in larger quantities in leaves and stem than in the fruiting parts unlike the latter type where differences in nutrient contents of these organs were very narrow till the active bolling phase. From flowering onwards, the fruiting parts of PRS-72 contained more phosphorus. Because of its bushy habit more dry matter accumulated and more nutrients remained unutilised in leaves and stem of MCU-1 at harvest compared with the short-branch variety PRS-72. Though both the varieties gave the same yield of seed cotton per unit area, PRS-72 removed considerably less quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus and pottassium. The short fruiting branch character in cotton therefore appears to contribute substantially towards balanced and economic utilization of nutrients.
Rendimiento y calidad de fibra de algodón en respuesta al número de riegos y dosis de nitrógeno
Resumen es: Las variedades de algodon cultivadas en Mexico son de ciclo largo y de gran desarrollo vegetativo por lo que requieren de cuatro riegos de auxilio y de u...
Drivers of Live Cattle Price in the Livestock Trading System of Central Cameroon
Livestock production and trade are critical for the food security and welfare of rural households in sub-Saharan Africa. In Cameroon, animal trade consists mainly of live cattle commercialized through livestock markets. Identifying the factors contributing to cattle price formation is critical for designing effective policies for sustainable production and for increasing food availability. In this study, we evaluated the influence of a range of individual- and market-level factors on the price of cattle that were sold in all transactions (n = 118,017) recorded over a 12-month period from 31 livestock markets in the main cattle production area of the country. An information-theoretic approach using a generalized additive mixed-effect model was implemented to select the best explanatory model as well as evaluate the robustness of the identified drivers and the predictive ability of the model. The age and gender of the cattle traded were consistently found to be important drivers of the price (p < 0.01). Also, strong, but complex, relationships were found between cattle prices and both local human and bovine population densities. Finally, the model highlighted a positive association between the number of incoming trading connections of a livestock market and the price of the traded live cattle (p < 0.01). Although our analysis did not account for factors informing on specific phenotypic traits nor breed characteristics of cattle traded, nearly 50% of the observed variation in live cattle prices was explained by the final model. Ultimately, our model gives a large scale overview of drivers of cattle price formation in Cameroon and to our knowledge is the first study of this scale in Central Africa. Our findings represent an important milestone in designing efficient and sustainable animal health management programme in Cameroon and ensure livelihood sustainability for rural households.