International Journal of Agricultural Sciences

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2167-0447 Vol. 10 (4), pp. 001-007, April, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effect of skip-a-day feed restriction on carcass yield characteristics and economic advantages of Rhode Island Red Pullets

Etalem Tesfaye¹*, Berhan Tamir², Aynalem Haile³ and Tadelle Dessie³

¹Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia.

²Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

³International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Accepted 20 September, 2019

Abstract

Two hundred and forty day-old chicks with average body weight of 48.92±1.5 g were randomly distributed into 12 pens each with 20 chicks, representing four feeding regimen of T₁ (Unrestricted, Control), T₂ (Restricted at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of age), T₃ (Restricted at 35, 42, 49 and 56 days of age) and T₄ (Restricted at 63, 70, 77 and 84 days of age). The experiment lasted for 22 weeks, during which feed intake and body weight changes were monitored. At the end of the experimental period, six pullets from each treatment were randomly selected and slaughtered to evaluate carcass yield, abdominal fat and weights and lengths of different parts of gastrointestinal tracts. The daily feed intake as well as body weight changes at different ages were non-significant (P>0.05). The feed efficiency also did not significantly varied (P>0.05). In contrast, the total feed intake (g) was significantly different (P<0.05) between treatments and birds under T₄ consume less. Dressed weight (g); abdominal fat free carcass (g); carcass with abdominal fat (g) and breast meat weights (g) were significantly (P<0.05) different. Abdominal fat weight was also highly significant (P<0.01) between the treatments. The weight and percentage of GIT and total giblet and parts of giblets were not (P>0.05) affected except liver weight which was higher (P<0.05) for T ₃. Cost of feed consumed per kg live weight gain was lower for the feed restricted birds and it was the least for T₄. Besides, the labor cost was lower for the feed restricted groups. It is concluded that feed restriction at later days of age (T₄) is economically beneficial compared to the other early age restricted groups based on partial budget analysis. The results of this study suggested that the feed restriction at middle age (T₃) might be considered as beneficial in terms of carcass cut characteristics and T₄ on economic return.

Key words: Carcass yield characteristics, economic advantages, feed restriction, skip-a-day, Rhode Island Red pullet.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2167-0447 Vol. 10 (4), pp. 001-009, April, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effect of strategic supplementation with different proportion of agro-industrial by-products and grass hay on body weight change

Yoseph Mekasha*, Mengistu Urge, Mohammed Y. Kurtu and Merga Bayissa

Department of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture, Haramaya University, P.O. Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

Accepted 20 February, 2020

Abstract

The effect of supplementation with agro-industrial by-products and hay on body weight change and carcass characteristics of Ogaden bulls grazing natural pasture was investigated at Haramaya University beef farm. Eighteen uniform and healthy Ogaden bulls with initial mean body weight of 258.5±41.5 kg were selected from the University farm and randomly assigned to one of the three treatments. Treatment 1 (T1; Control) constituted grazing natural pasture alone, while treatments 2 and 3 constituted grazing natural pasture supplemented with agro industrial by-products and hay at a ratio of 25:75 and 50:50, respectively. Average daily body weight gain was highest (P < 0.05) for bulls in T3 (0.65±0.05 kg), while no difference was observed between bulls in T2 (0.47±0.05) and T1 (0.39±0.05). Mean body condition score was highest (P < 0.05) for bulls in T3 and T2 compared to bulls in T1. Feeding period influenced (P < 0.05) body weight change and body condition score , where bulls in the final period were heavier and had better body condition score than the preceding periods Feeding Ogaden bulls with T3 and T2 improved (P < 0.05) empty body and hot carcass weights compared to grazing alone (T1). Dressing percentage was slightly higher for bulls in T3 and T2 compared to bulls in T1. Thus, it could be concluded that supplementation with T3 would be a better feeding strategy to improve the performance of Ogaden bulls under tropical environment.

Key words: Body weight, body condition score, carcass and non-carcass components, supplementation, Ogaden bulls.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2167-0447 Vol. 10 (4), pp. 001-008, April, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Performance evaluation of a v-groove solar air collector for drying maize (Zea mays) in lraq

Mudafer kareem Abdullah and Ahmed Abed Gatea*

Department of Agricultural mechanization, College of Agriculture, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, lraq.

Accepted 21 January, 2020

Abstract

In this work, a solar drying system was constructed, consisting of three parts (solar collector, drying chamber, and air blower). Solar collector having V-corrugated absorption plate of two air passes, a single glass cover was used. The total area of the collectors is 2.04 m². The dimension of the drying chamber is 1.06, 0.66 and 0.56 m for width, depth, and height, respectively. 38 kg of corn were dried. The moisture content was reduced from 21 to 13% within four hours drying. The drying air temperatures at the inlet of the dryer were found in the range of 30 to 45ºC when the range of ambient air temperature was from 8.5 to 20ºC and total solar radiation intensity was from 270 to 560 W/m². Increasing volumetric air flow rate from 0.025 to 0.030 m³/s raises the daily solar collector efficiency by 3.25%, while increasing volumetric air flow rate from 0.030 to 0.035 m ³/s raises the solar daily collector efficiency by 11.11%. The drying rate is reduced with the decrease of moisture content. Efficiency of the collector is very much dependant on air flow rate.

Key words: Solar energy, solar air collector, two passes collector, V-corrugated collector, solar drying, performance evaluation.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2167-0447 Vol. 10 (3), pp. 001-009, March, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Proteomics-based identification of storage, metabolic, and allergenic proteins in wheat seed from 2-DE gels

Liming Yang¹, Dagang Tian², Yuming Luo¹*, Ruiyue Zhang¹, Chongmiao Ren¹ and Xin Zhou¹

¹School of Life Sciences, Huaiyin Normal University, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Eco-Agricultural Biotechnology around Hongze Lake, Huai’an 223300, Jiangsu, China.

²Biotechnology Institute, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou 350003, China.

Accepted 21 January, 2020

Abstract

Proteomic approach combining two -dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), mass spectrometry and bioinformatics analysis were applied to identify major proteins in extracts of mature wheat seeds. About 920 or 700 protein spots were detected on 2-DE gels by silver staining or colloidal Coomassie Brilliant Blue staining. Eighty spots with higher abundance were selected to cut for in-gel digestion followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry-peptide map fingerprint analysis and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry-peptide sequence tags analysis. Database searches using measured peptide masses or peptide sequence tags querying wheat expressed sequence tags determined protein identities of 73 spots. These identified proteins were categorized into six classes according to the functional annotation including those with unknown functions and difficult to classify. Proteins involved in storage proteins, metabolism, defense, chaperones and allergy were the major categories. The present identification of proteins in major spots from 2-D gels includes 11 different proteins from 29 spots from wheat seed extract. It is suggested that post-translational processing or isoforms causes the same proteins to occur in different spots. In addition, we also discussed the efficiency of protein identification using species-specific EST databases.

Key words: Wheat seed, proteome profile, protein identification, expressed sequence tags, allergens, storage proteins.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2167-0447 Vol. 10 (3), pp. 001-008, March, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

An assessment of genetic diversity among marula populations using the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique

Kgabo Moganedi¹*, Mbudzeni Sibara², Paul Grobler^3,4 and Elisabeth Goyvaerts^1,5

¹Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, University of

Limpopo, Private Bag X 1106 Sovenga, 0727 - South Africa.

²Office of Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X 1106 Sovenga, 0727, South Africa.

³Department of Biodiversity, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X 1106 Sovenga, 0727 - South Africa.

⁴Department of Genetics, University of the Free State, P. O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, 9300 - South Africa.

⁵Kitso Biotech Pty Ltd, 23 Fernvilla P1, Pietermaritzburg 3201, South Africa.

Accepted 26 October, 2019

Abstract

Marula is a wild-growing dioecious leafy tree species indigenous to Africa. The species exhibits a high phenotypic variability, especially in fruit size and quality and these traits are exploited by indigenous communities for commercial gain. As a first step towards assessing the relationship between the phenotypic and genotypic properties of the marula species, the genetic structure of natural marula populations was assessed using the Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP ) technique. Seven primer combinations were used to assess the degree of genetic diversity within and among natural marula sampled from the Bochum, Tzaneen and Nelspruit areas of South Africa. A total 141 unambiguous bands were amplified, of which 83 (59%) displayed polymorphism in one or more populations. Representative levels of genetic diversity were observed within all local populations. Coefficients of genetic differentiation showed evidence of drift among populations from the Limpopo-and Mpumalanga Provinces. A Bayesian assignment technique supported this trend, and suggested a true genetic structure of two populations, containing the Limpopo and Mpumalanga trees respectively. This diversity provides a plausible foundation for the marked phenotypic variation observed in marula, and suggest genetic diversity to provide for artificial selection during future artificial propagation programmes is present.

Key words: Sclerocarya birrea, marula, genetic diversity, genetic structure, amplified fragment length polymorphism.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2167-0447 Vol. 10 (3), pp. 001-010, March, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

The interaction between drought stress and salicylic and ascorbic acids on some biochemical characteristics of Satureja hortensis

S. Yazdanpanah^1,2, A. Baghizadeh³* and F. Abbassi¹

¹Department of Biology, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad Branch, Iran.

²Young Researcher’s Club, Kerman Unit, Iran.

³International Center For Science, High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

Accepted 12 January, 2020

Abstract

Water is one of the most important environmental factors that regulate plant growth and development, and water deficit is considered the most important restricted factor for plant products, in that several chemical materials have been used to reduce the harmful effects of water deficit. Some of these compounds (for instance, ascorbic and salicylic acid) have antioxidant effects in plants. In order to study the interaction between drought stress with salicylic and ascorbic acid on some biochemical criteria of Satureja hortensis, a factorial experiment with a completely randomized design in three replications and different combination of three levels of irrigation (1/3, 2/3 and total field capacity), three levels of salicylic acid (0, 1 and 3 mM) and three levels of ascorbic acid (0, 1 and 3 mM) under green house conditions was conducted. Results, revealed under aridity, sugar content and protein content of S. hortensis, were decreased; however, proline and lipid per oxidation increased. The results concluded that when drought stress affected the plants, the protective mechanism was activated. The reduction of protein content in this condition showed that drought stress affected protein synthetic and degradation. The reduction of sugar content showed that stress affected the photosynthetic process. On the other hand, in the presence of both salicylic and ascorbic acids, the harsh influences of water deficit reduced and some growth parameters increased. It seemed that two external acids were able to enhance the tolerant ability of the plant to aridity stress.

Key words: Satureja hortensis, water deficit, salicylic acid, ascorbic acid.