Heavy metals phyto-assessment in commonly grown vegetables: water spinach (I. aquatica) and okra (A. esculentus)

The growth response, metal tolerance and phytoaccumulation properties of water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) were assessed under different contaminated spiked metals: control, 50 mg Pb/kg soil, 50 mg Zn/kg soil and 50 mg Cu/kg soil. The availability of Pb, Zn and Cu metals in both soil and plants were detected using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The concentration and accumulation of heavy metals from soil to roots and shoots (edible parts) were evaluated in terms of translocation factor, accumulation factor and tolerance index. Okra recorded the highest accumulation of Pb (80.20 mg/kg) in its root followed by Zn in roots (35.70 mg/kg) and shoots (34.80 mg/kg) of water spinach, respectively. Different accumulation trends were observed with, Pb \u3e Zn \u3e Cu in okra and Zn \u3e Pb \u3e Cu in water spinach. Significant differences (p \u3c 0.01) of Pb, Zn and Cu accumulation were found in both water spinach and okra cultivated among tested treatments. However, only the accumulation of Pb metal in the shoots of water spinach and okra exceeded the maximum permissible levels of the national Malaysian Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985 ([2006]) as well as the international Codex Alimentarius Commission limits. This study has shown that both water spinach and okra have good potential as Pb and Zn phytoremediators

TERMINAL MARKET WINDOWS FOR MISSISSIPPI SMALL-FARM VEGETABLE PRODUCERS

This study investigated various marketing strategies involving market windows at wholesale fruit and vegetable terminal markets. Data used in the analysis included weekly prices for okra, sweet corn, strawberries, and green cabbage at terminal markets located in Dallas, St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Detroit. Strawberries showed relatively high profit margins for small farmers operating in southwest Mississippi. Sweet corn and okra showed more narrow profit margins, while green cabbage appeared to yield negative net returns (generally) for these farmers. Furthermore, stochastic dominance analysis of various combinations of crop/market/window revealed the following as the preferred marketing strategies: (1) strawberries in all markets in the last third of the calendar year; (2) sweet corn in all six markets in the first third of the calendar year; and (3) okra in St. Louis and Cincinnati in the first third of the calendar year.Agribusiness,

New options for pest management in horticultural crop-based agroecosystems of Sudano-Sahelian Africa in the climate change context

In the climate change context, ICRISAT is promoting water-saving cropping systems mixing food and horticultural crops for the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Western Africa. ICRISAT's partners in Niger (CIRAD, the University of Niamey and INRAN) are seeking ways to minimize the impact of crop pests in these systems, using the agroecological approach. Following encouraging earlier results, agroecological management options were further investigated in 2010 for the major pests of okra, jujube tree and watermelon, the major horticultural crops in the water harvesting-based Bio-Reclamation of Degraded Lands (BDL) and Dryland Eco-Farm (DEF) systems. Pigeon pea was evaluated as a trap crop for regulating infestation of okra by the fruit worm Helicoverpa armigera in a design with four treatments (unbordered cypermethrin-sprayed and unsprayed controls, and two pigeon pea-bordered unsprayed treatments, with an early and an extra-early cultivar). On the other hand, the foliage of 4 trees in a jujube orchard was sprayed with GF-120 (mixture of food attractant and biological insecticide) with 2 trees remaining unsprayed. White linen sheets were placed under the sprayed trees, in view of collecting the flies that would have ingested the bait, and ripe jujube fruits were harvested and weighed. Results on okra suggested a new ''top-down" regulation process, further to the mere "bottom-up" trap-cropping effect, which questions the relevance of both attempting to reinforce the "pull" trap-cropping effect with a ''push"' effect using insect-repellent sprays on the main okra crop, and playing on a barrier effect of the perirneter trap crop against piercing-sucking homopteran pests. Results on jujube suggested that GF-120 could be used both as a repellent to protect jujube trees from the fruit fly Carpomya incompleta, and as an attractant to protect water melon, which is part of the DEF system, from Dacus spp., thus killing two birds with one stone. (Résumé d'auteur

Task- and Risk-Mapping Study of Hybrid Vegetable Seed Production in India

Gives an overview of vegetable seed production in India, followed by recommendations for monitoring high-risk tasks, training, and capacity building to improve labor compliance

Were the first Bantu speakers south of the rainforest farmers? A first assessment of the linguistic evidence

Popular belief has it that the Bantu Expansion was a farming/language dispersal. However, there is neither conclusive archaeological nor linguistic evidence to substantiate this hypothesis, especially not for the initial spread in West-Central Africa. In this chapter we consider lexical reconstructions for both domesticated and wild plants in Proto-West-Coastal Bantu associated with the first Bantu speech communities south of the rainforest about 2500 years ago. The possibility to reconstruct terms for five different crops, i.e. pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), okra (Hibiscus/Abelmoschus esculentus), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) and plantain (Musa spp.), indicates that by that time Bantu speakers did know how to cultivate plants. At the same time, they still strongly depended on the plant resources that could be collected in their natural environment, as is evidenced by a preliminary assessment of reconstructible names for wild plants. Agriculture in Central Africa was indeed “a slow revolution”, as the late Jan Vansina once proposed, and certainly not the principal motor behind the early Bantu Expansion

Economic Analysis of Post-harvest Losses in Marketing of Vegetables in Uttarakhand

The study has examined the nature and extent of post-harvest losses in vegetable supply chain in the Kumaon division of Uttarakhand. Multistage cluster sampling has been used for selection of 80 vegetable growers, 40 farmers from the hilly region and 40 farmers from the bhabhar region. The sample has also included 25 market functionaries. Twelve major vegetables have been selected for the study. The maximum aggregate post-harvest losses have been found in tomato, followed by potato, brinjal, chilly, French bean and pea. The study has suggested that establishment of producer co-operatives to handle various activities relating to production and marketing of vegetables would help in reducing post-harvest losses.Post-harvest losses, Uttarakhand, Vegetable supply chain, Tomato, Potato, Brinjal, Chilly, French bean, Pea, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q13, Q12, Q18,

Field Evaluation of Herbicides on Small Fruit, Vegetable, and Ornamental Crops, 1997

Growers generally use herbicides to efficiently produce high-quality fruit and vegetables for processing or fresh market sales. Due to the smaller acreage of these crops compared to major field crops, fewer herbicides are registered for use in fruit and vegetable crops than for field crops. Each year, new herbicides are evaluated under Arkansas growing conditions with the objective of improving the herbicide technology for the grower, processor, and ultimately the consumer. This report includes studies on the control of many of the more serious weed problems in important crops of this region, including snapbeans, spinach, southern pea, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomato, blackberry, and grape. In addition, the report includes information on the tolerance of selected bedding plants to some effective herbicides