2016 - Volume 11 Issue 1

Agri Tourism as a Risk Management Strategy in Rural Agriculture Sector: With Special Reference to Developing Countries

2021-01-08T07:28:53Z

Agri Tourism as a Risk Management Strategy in Rural Agriculture Sector: With Special Reference to Developing Countries Mahaliyanaarachchi, Rohana P This article reviewed literature on potential of agri tourism as a risk management strategy in rural agriculture sector with special reference to developing countries. Reviewing literature indicated that agri tourism as a risk management strategy in rural agriculture sector has an immense potential to contribute to manage the risk in agricultural economy. Evidence from the production and price fluctuations during last three to four decades in both conventional agriculture sector with intensive production of rice, vegetables, and other subsistence crops and plantation agriculture sector with intensive production of tea, rubber, coconut, coffee, etc shows that they are highly vulnerable to external factors such as internal & international politics, climate change and whether pattern changers, market and trade slumps, etc. Sudden and unanticipated influences of these external factors cause higher risks in sustainability of agriculture sector and it results in the collapse of both micro and macro economies in a country. This paper attempts to discuss how agri tourism can be introduced to agriculture sector as a supplementary income source as a risk management strategy which is less susceptible to above mentioned externalities. Further, agri tourism will motivate and encourage farming communities to raise their crops in eco friendly approach and to conserve the biodiversity of farms which will minimize the internal risk factors of farming such as pest and disease outbreaks, soil degradation, etc. Research studies has shown that a well-developed agri tourism industry would result in a market mechanism generating additional income of US $251 to US $364 million annually in counties like Dominican Republic. Agri tourism sector would improve sustainable agricultural practices by maintaining and increasing positive externalities and nonmarket services provided by agriculture. Agri tourism products and services would have the added benefit of promoting sustainable agricultural practices too. This is a good option for farmers and planters who are willing to diversify their farming operations that will help bringing more economic activities to rural areas sustaining livelihoods of the rural people. In addition, agri tourism not only allows farmers to enjoy greater economic benefits through managing risks, but also helps to retain the young generation of the farming community in the rural areas instead of migrating to urban areas for better livelihoods.

A Comparative Assessment of the Antibacterial Activity in Fruit Juice of Sri Lankan Sweet Orange Cultivars vis a vis Sour Orange

2021-01-08T07:27:16Z

A Comparative Assessment of the Antibacterial Activity in Fruit Juice of Sri Lankan Sweet Orange Cultivars vis a vis Sour Orange Herath, H. M. P. D; Chamikara, M. D. M; Dissanayake, D. R. R. P; Dissanayake, M. D. M. I. M; Ishan, M Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), a key fruit species, is considered as a primary ingredient in herbal medical formulations against ailments such as food borne diseases. Sour orange (C. aurantium) is also very famous as a medicinal plant. There are six commonly grown sweet orange cultivars in Sri Lanka (Arogya, Bibila sweet, MKD, Sisila, BAN and MT) but the antibacterial activity present in their fruit juice is not well documented. Therefore, the present study was conducted to characterize the antibacterial activity of the fruit juice of these sweet oranges in comparison to sour orange and also to establish DNA barcodes for the tested cultivars for precise identification. Fruit juice was collected from sweet orange cultivars and sour orange and antibacterial activity was measured against three model pathogenic bacterial species, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus. After employing filter paper disc method, the diameter of zone of bacterial inhibition (DZI) was measured as the parameter of antibacterial activity. The genomic DNA was extracted from all the tested plants and PCR amplified using trnH–psbA primer pair and subjected to DNA sequencing, followed by alignment analysis and dendrogram construction. Arogya and MKD did not show any antibacterial activity (DZI = 0.0 mm), whereas Sisila, BAN and MT showed antibacterial activity only against E. coli and S. aureus (mean DZI of 8.2 mm and 8.4 mm respectively). Bibila sweet and sour orange showed significantly higher antibacterial activity against all E. coli, S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (mean DZI of 10.2 mm, 10.5 mm and 7.8 mm respectively). DNA barcoding provided unique sequence identifiers for each cultivar. These antibacterial activity data in combination with DNA barcodes could help to develop new cultivars through breeding to promote the sweet orange industry in Sri Lanka.

Microbial Status of Fresh Cut Cooking Banana Variety Alukesel (Musa acuminata × Musa balbisiana, ABB Group) as Affected by Pre-Treatments

2021-01-08T07:11:34Z

Microbial Status of Fresh Cut Cooking Banana Variety Alukesel (Musa acuminata × Musa balbisiana, ABB Group) as Affected by Pre-Treatments Siriwardana, H; Abeywickrama, K; Herath, I Fresh cut (minimally processed) cooking banana variety Alukesel was subjected to different pretreatments, packed in polystyrene packages and stored at 5-7 °C for a week. Effect of several identified pre-treatments on Total Plate Count (TPC) and Total Yeast and Mould counts (TYM) were evaluated. Bacteria isolated from plates were identified using biochemical tests and molecular tools. In pre-treated samples, microbial counts were within safe-to-consume limits. Bacillus cereus, Enterobacter ludwigii and Bacillus thuringiensis were identified from fresh cut samples using molecular tools. Citric acid at 3% w/v effectively controlled bacteria, yeasts and moulds and this observation was significantly different from the control (p<0.05). The present study has shown that 3% citric acid was the most effective pretreatment for minimal processing of Alukesel which controlled bacteria, yeasts & moulds completely. Alukesel pretreated with 3% citric acid was free from food borne pathogens such as Salmonella, Clostridium, Yersinia, and Listeria.

Impact of Insurgence on the Agricultural Development in Nigeria

2021-01-08T07:04:55Z

Impact of Insurgence on the Agricultural Development in Nigeria Ojogho, O; Egware, R. A. Low agricultural production and productivity in Nigeria over the years compared to leading countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Brazil have been largely ascribed to low fertilizer usage, low utilization of improved seed, inadequate government expenditure and the inability to compete with other sectors. The issues of environmental sustainability, capital accumulation, foreign exchange earnings ability and well-being vis-á-vis production, productivity and agricultural development are rarely considered. The study examined the impact of insurgence on the agricultural development in Nigeria using secondary time-series data collected on Nigerian agricultural share of GDP, infant mortality rate, CO2 emission from fuel combustion and level of food production as proxies for agricultural transformation for the years, 1960-2011 while Nigerian civil war, Boko-Haram, Niger-Delta, Fulani herdsmen insurgences were used as proxies for insurgence. The data were analysed using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) after testing for stationarity, co-integration and lag selection using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), Johansen and the Schwarz’s Bayesian Information Criterion (SBIC) statistics respectively. The results from the VECM showed that a unit decrease in previous year food production level would increase the share of agriculture to GDP by 4.26% the following year while a shift from noninsurgence to insurgence in any year by Boko-Haram, Niger-Delta and Fulani herdsmen reduced the share of agriculture to GDP by 17.56%, 19.45% and 17.47% respectively. A similar shift from non-insurgence to insurgence in any year by Boko-Haram and Fulani herdsmen insurgences reduced food production level, on average, by 10.21 and 4.69 tonnes respectively while a shift from non-insurgence to insurgence in any year by Niger-Delta crisis and Fulani herdsmen increased CO2 emission, on average, by about 5% and 8% respectively. It is inferred, from the results, that agricultural development should be all-embracing since its component elements have a long-run equilibrium relationship, that insurgence indirectly impact on agricultural development through its effect on the change in food production level, the share of agriculture to GDP, CO2 emission from fuel combustion and infant mortality, and that attempt at ignoring the insurgence by any sect from any region, whether religious, cultural, or communal is also a threat to agricultural development.