Santiago T. Peña, Jr., Bianca Therese P. Ymas, Mark Edd B. Janier, and Heherson A. Luza Received: October 18, 2023 / Revised: April 13, 2024 / Accepted: June 03, 2024 When transporting highly valuable boar semen samples over long distances, it is crucial to ensure that boar semen is stored ideally at approximately 15 – 17°C to minimize the impact of cold shock and oxidative damage on sperm quality. This study evaluated the performance of a commercially available semen and embryo polystyrene transport cool box, BotuFLEX®, in preserving the quality of extended boar semen under different storage conditions and holding times. Boar ejaculates were extended at 1:1 or 1:3 using a commercial mid-term extender, stored in a BotuFLEX® semen cool box, and examined 24 vs. 48 h thereafter (Experiment 1; n = 12), or 24 h after storage in air-conditioned room vs. ambient room (Experiment 2; n = 9) conditions. Comprehensive sperm motility using the Sperm Class Analyzer® CASA system revealed no signi...

Jehru C. Magahud Received: February 08, 2023 / Revised: July 17, 2024 / Accepted: August 05, 2024 Information about the influence of soil type, irrigation method, and biomass use on rice productivity in Agusan is insufficient, despite their importance in developing or improving irrigated lowland rice production. Hence, this study determined the influence of these factors on grain yield and yield-contributing crop traits. It also explained grain yield based on yield determinants and recommended water management for improving grain yield. The greenhouse experiment was laid out in a three-factor randomized complete block design with 10 replications. The treatments were [a] Butuan sandy loam soil (SLS) and Butuan loam soil (LS); [b] continuously flooded (CF) and controlled irrigation (CI); and [c] applied and unapplied biomass. Data on grain yield and yield determinants were gathered weekly, during harvesting, and after harvesting. Relative to LS, SLS had a statistically greater grain o...

Frolan A. Aya, John Carlo L. Unida , Luis Maria B. Garcia , and Ma. Rowena Romana-Eguia Received: June 22, 2023 / Revised: June 05, 2024 / Accepted: June 07, 2024 This study examined the effect of stocking density on growth, biochemical composition, and blood parameters of the Pacific shortfin eel Anguilla bicolor pacifica. Elvers (1.95 ± 0.14 g body weight) were randomly stocked in indoor tanks and reared over 186 d at three stocking densities (0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 kg m-3) set up in triplicates. Except for survival and biometric indices, elvers maintained at 0.3 and 0.6 kg m-3 densities exhibited higher growth and feed utilization than those held at 0.9 kg m-3. Yield increased with stocking density, which were significantly higher at 0.6 and 0.9 kg m-3. RNA/DNA ratio did not reflect growth rate, but trends in survival and RNA/DNA ratio with stocking density were positively related. In contrast to body proximate composition, increasing stocking density resulted in significantly higher ...

Yu Wang, Shiwei Xu, Ganqiong LI, Yongen Zhang, Xiaoyun Zhang, Shengwei Wang , Wen Yu, and Han Zhou Received: November 29, 2023 / Revised: August 21, 2024 / Accepted: August 27, 2024 This study aimed to identify warning thresholds that can guide sellers in achieving reasonable profits while reducing buyer payment costs. Monthly price data from January 2009 to June 2023 and the two-regime threshold regression model were used for an empirical analysis of the asymmetric effects of the changes in household consumption under different pork price fluctuation levels to verify that the changes in household consumption have significant pork price fluctuation thresholds and threshold effects. It was found that as the fluctuation of pork prices approached the threshold, the temporary price-intervention policy (e.g., reference price) effect of adjusting prices diminished. An empirical analysis was conducted from the perspective of asymmetric effects of the upstream (feed and piglets), midstream ...

Maria Victoria Migo-Sumagang and Michael Angelo B. Promentilla Received: April 18, 2022 / Revised: April 04, 2024 / Accepted: June 30, 2024 The Philippines produces up to 15.2 Mt of rice straw waste annually. Unmanaged rice straw waste disposal can lead to pollution from open field burning. On the other hand, rice straw agricultural waste can be used sustainably to produce valuable products such as mushrooms, fodder, pellets, or bioenergy, in a rice straw management system. Such systems can be optimized using Process Integration tools so that the raw materials are used efficiently at the maximum profit and with a minimal carbon footprint. The P-graph framework is an efficient Process Integration tool that solves Process Network Synthesis problems. A P-graph finds the optimal and suboptimal solutions for further analysis, which is useful in decision-making. This work developed a P-graph model for a rice straw management network considering the straw collection and storage steps and t...

Selcuk Ugurluay and Gamze Genc Received: October 16, 2023 / Revised: July 15, 2024 / Accepted: July 29, 2024 This study aimed to explore the use of rotary disc blades in cutting, since the mowing units used in sesame harvesting contain many parts, require frequent lubrication, and have vibration problems. An experimental setup with a disc blade working on a cut-mowing system based from harvesting methods of sesame plants was designed and fabricated. The most suitable cutting criteria which are blade edge types (30°-30°, 30°-Flat, 45°-45°, 45°-Flat) and disc blade diameters (150, 180, and 210 mm) were determined for shearing and disc cutting action. The lowest cutting energy was consumed by the disc blade with a 30°-wedge angle at all stem thicknesses and by the disc blade with a diameter of 180 mm for large stem thicknesses. In all pairs of edge, as the disc diameter increased, the energy spent for cutting the stems decreased. There was a significant difference between the two metho...

Cielo Luz C. Mondejar, Gerald E. Bello, Karla V. Canto, Chennille Kaye L. Galvan, and June Nill F. Paclibar Received: January 31, 2023 / Revised: September 21, 2023 / Accepted: March 20, 2024 A survey was conducted to determine information needs and assess variants of organic rice-based production among rice farmers in Negros Occidental, Philippines. Survey data were gathered from 199 out of 400 identified organic rice practitioners in the province, which accounts for a > 95% confidence level and 5% of margin of error. Among the respondents, only 20.1% had organic certification from third-party representatives, and 42.2% can be classified under a low-input farming system. Some (21.1%) were in transition for certification or were farmers intending to go into organic certification with third-party representatives. The remaining (16.6%) used organic inputs but were not certified nor in transition for certification. Results also showed that farmers’ access to information and te...

Mohsen Zarehpour, Mohammad Mehdi Rahimi, Abdolsamad Kleidari, and Moslem Abdipour Received: April 15, 2023 / Revised: July 04, 2024 / Accepted: July 08, 2024 Drought is one of the major constraints on agricultural productivity in arid and semiarid regions. Coping with drought stress involves several adaptations and mitigation strategies such as the use of plant-growth promoting bacteria and salicylic acid, which was examined in this study under two levels of water regimes (well-watered as control and drought stress) in southwest Iran in 2018 and 2020 on common yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Catalase levels significantly increased in response to drought stress and salicylic acid application. Salicylic acid and combined application treatment of both bacteria also resulted in a significant increase in proline compared with the control. Different bacteria strains also resulted in a significant increase in peroxidase and superoxide dismutase when compared with the control. Drought stress...

Ömer Sari and Fisun G. Çelikel Received: March 29, 2024 / Revised: July 20, 2024 / Accepted: August 6, 2024 Boxwoods are constantly pinched to shape and form hedges, and Promalin® application is used to boost their shoot yield. Having good root development is crucial for the healthy development of plants; however, the effects of such applications on plant root development have generally been ignored in previous studies. Hence, this study evaluated the effects of applications on the root growth of two boxwood species (Buxus sempervirens L. and Buxus balearica Lam.) during the summer dormancy period. Pinching and Promalin® (0, 1 000, 2 000, and 4 000 ppm) were applied to one-year-old seedlings at three different times. Results showed that pinching had a negative effect on root development in both species and both years. Root development was lower in pinched plants than in control plants, which were not pinched. Promalin® at 2 000 ppm was found to be the most effective application on t...

Leonisa A. Artes, Amparo M. Wagan, Michelle E. Omana, and Leonardo L. Tamisin, Jr. Received: September 05, 2023 / Revised: July 01, 2024 / Accepted: July 04, 2024 Katmon fruit has great economic potential but little is known about its postharvest behavior. This study characterized the katmon fruit after harvest so that appropriate handling may be recommended to extend its shelf life during storage or market display. Physicochemical characteristics, particularly firmness, pH, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acids (TA), and TSS:TA ratio were evaluated during storage under room condition (22°C) and at low temperature (15°C). These characteristics were almost constant under 22°C or at 15°C for two weeks, with pH at 2.8, TSS at about 3.40°Brix, TA at 1.1 – 1.5%, and TSS:TA ratio at 3.1 – 2.04. Only moisture loss significantly increased, reaching 29% after the first week, which reduced the fruit’s shelf life and quality. Fruit in small quantities (1.5 kg) favorably responded to mod...