A new and relatively straightforward approach to interpolating and spatially averaging air temperature from weather-station observations is introduced and evaluated using yearly station averages taken from the Jones et al. archive. All available terrestrial station records over the period from 1881 through to 1988 are examined. Called climatologically aided interpolation, or CAI, our procedure ...

Coloured rice genotypes have greater nutritious value and consumer demand for these varieties is now greater than ever. The documentation of these genotypes is important for the improvement of the rice plant. In this study, 42 coloured rice genotypes were selected for determination of their genetic divergence using 25 simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers and 15 agro-morphological traits. Twenty...

The climatological characteristics of total ozone over Estonia based on the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data are discussed. The mean annual cycle during 1979–2000 for the site at 58.3 N and 26.5 E is compiled. The available ground-level data interpolated before TOMS, have been used for trend detection. During the last two decades, the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) corrected syste...

Paecilomyces lilacinus has potential for pests control. We aimed to analyze mycelial growth and spore production in P. lilacinus strains in several agro-industrial residues and commercial media. This study suggests alternative nutrient sources for fungi production and that the biotechnological potential of agro-industrial refuses could be employed in byproducts development.

Blended satellite–ship evaporation and SSM/I retrieved precipitation fields are used to compute oceanic freshwater budget (FWB) and transport (FWT) over a 3-year period (1988–90). In order to validate the results, comparisons on monthly, seasonal, and multiyear average bases are performed with ECMWF analyzed field and climatology respectively. For May 1988, differences between ECMWF output and ...

The simulation of major midwinter stratospheric sudden warmings (SSWs) in six stratosphere-resolving general circulation models (GCMs) is examined. The GCMs are compared to a new climatology of SSWs, based on the dynamical characteristics of the events. First, the number, type, and temporal distribution of SSW events are evaluated. Most of the models show a lower frequency of SSW events than th...

This paper examines the effect of pastoralist-farmers conflict on access to resources in savanna area of Oyo state, Nigeria. A snow ball technique was used to obtain a list of agro-pastoralists and their camps in the study area whose conflicts with crop farmers were caused by the nomadic pastoralists’ uncontrolled grazing. Fifty percent of the households in each camp were randomly chosen and si...

In a bid to return the country to food selfsufficiency, the Government of Kenya has been spearheading strategies for a new ‘Green Revolution’ in the food producing sector, as spelt out in its Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture (SRA), a ten-year action plan launched in 2004. The SRA is entrenched in Kenya’s Vision 2030, the country’s framework for long-term investment and development (Republi...

There is increasing interest in rural development circles in promoting alternative livelihoods opportunities for pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods. However, there is very little empirical evidence that effectively evaluates the impact of the existing approaches. As pastoral and agro-pastoral production conditions change, due to factors such as increasing competition over natural resources ...

A viable simplified climate model using a three-layer representation of the earth is described. The distinct layers correspond to the earth’s surface, lower atmosphere, and upper atmosphere. By considering the fact that any inequality of inward and outward energy fluxes would adjust to equilibrium according to blackbody laws, it is possible to generate layer-centric equations of climate variabl...