https://scialert.net Asian Journal of Crop Science en-us Science Alert Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:11:57 +0200 Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:14:14 +0200 RssPublisher 0.2.0 beta https://scialert.net/images/logo.gif https://scialert.net 41 233 Asian Journal of Crop Science Post-Harvest Management of Fruits and Vegetables: Addressing Urban Nutrition and Food Security Challenges Background and Objective: Postharvest losses have been a serious challenge around the world and Benin City, Nigeria, is not left out of the problem. Most households in the urban areas are being affected by losses of perishable farm produce such as fruits and vegetables. This study investigated post-harvest handling of fruits and vegetables: A key panacea for nutritional and food security challenges in urban areas in Benin City, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A structured questionnaire titled “Post-Harvest Losses of Fruits and Vegetables in Urban Areas Questionnaire (PHLFVUAQ) was used to solicit information from the respondents. The questionnaire was validated by three experts, while Cronbach’s Alpha was used to test the reliability of the instrument and the result was 0.74. The instruments were later administered to farmers, food vendors and consumers who were randomly selected and used for the study. Data gathered were analyzed using statistical mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at the 0.05 level of significance. Results: The findings showed some of the postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables in the study area, such as washing before eating, storing in clean containers, using of refrigerator for preservation and keeping away from direct sunlight. Major causes of postharvest losses were also discovered to include transporting fruits and vegetables on bad roads and wrong packaging materials and inadequate modern facilities for storage, among others. The influences of the losses on availability and affordability include bruises, which cause a reduction in market value and quantities, as well as scarcity. The findings also revealed some levels of awareness and adoption of modern postharvest technologies, such as the use of cold storage, the use of plastic crates to transport produce and cleanliness while handling fruits and vegetables. Conclusion: The governments at all levels, non-governmental organizations and spirited individuals should help in providing modern technological facilities for the storage of fruits and vegetables, such as evaporative coolers and solar dryers, among others, while the use of hazardous chemicals for storage should be discouraged.]]> https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ajcs.2026.1.7 10 June, 2026 Effects of Organic and Chemical Farming on Growth, Yield Components and Bioactive Compounds of Three Fragrant Thai Rice Varieties Background and Objective: The organic and chemical cultivation of rice impacts yield and important compounds in the rice grains. This research studied how organic and chemical rice cultivation affected the growth and yield of rice as well as the bioactive compounds in fragrant rice grains. Materials and Methods: Experimental design was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six treatments and three replications. This experimental research utilized two factors. The first was three varieties of fragrant rice (Hom Bai Toey, Hom Chong Sakae and KDML105), while second was two rice planting systems (organic and chemical paddy fields), using the transplanting method with a spacing of 25×25 centimeters with three repetitions. Results: The three fragrant rice varieties grown in organic fields had lower plant height, panicle length, number of grains per panicle, number of filled grains per panicle, seed set percentage, and grain yield compared to those grown in chemical fields. However, the organic rice fields showed higher 2-AP contents and gamma-oryzanol in brown rice grains than chemically cultivated fields for the three fragrant rice varieties. The percentage of amylose under both cultivation systems ranged from 17.98% to 21.64%, with a decrease in amylose content reflecting an increase in GABA concentration. Conclusion: Organic and chemical cultivation affected rice growth and grain yield. Organic cultivation resulted in higher nutrition levels and bioactive compounds such as gamma oryzanol and 2-AP than chemical cultivation but this also depended on rice variety.]]> https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ajcs.2026.8.16 10 June, 2026 Growth Performance of Adaptive Oil Palm Seedlings on Marginal Soils through the Application of Cow Biourine Background and Objective: Oil palm is one of the leading plantation crops compared to other plantation crops, because its processed products generate high economic value and contribute to the country’s foreign exchange earnings. The purpose of this study was to produce oil palm seedlings that are adaptive to marginal growing media with the addition of liquid organic fertilizer from cow biourine. Materials and Methods: This study used a Complete Randomized Block Design (CRBD) factorially and the data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), thereby obtaining the best adaptive oil palm varieties on various marginal soils as follows: (A1) Adaptive Themba varieties on sub-ultisol soil at a depth of 0-50 cm, (A2) Adaptive Icalix varieties on sub-ultisol soil at a depth of 51-100 cm, (A3) Adaptive Spring varieties on sub-ultisol soil at a depth of 101-150 cm, (A4) Adaptive Spring to Marginal Histosol Soil and (A5) Adaptive Themba to Marginal Entisol Soil. The marginal soil characteristics used in this study are less fertile soils in dryland soils for second-layer ultisols and wetland soils in histosols and entisols and Cattle Biourine. Data were analyzed by ANOVA, with significance determined at 5 and 1% levels based on F-values. Results: The results of the diversity analysis show that the interaction between adaptive oil palm seedling treatments and cow urine application (I) had a very significant effect on the wet weight of seedlings and root weight and a significant effect on root volume. Conclusions: It is recommended that adaptive varieties be used through interaction between themba varieties in entisol growing media with 40% cow biourine concentration treatment (A5B2), which gives a positive response to plant growth.]]> https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ajcs.2026.17.26 10 June, 2026