AJAR - 24 July, 2012 Issue

African Journal of

Agricultural Research Volume 7 Number 28 ISSN 1991-637X

24 July, 2012

ABOUT AJAR The African Journal of Agricultural Research (AJAR) is published weekly (one volume per year) by Academic Journals. African Journal of Agricultural Research (AJAR) is an open access journal that publishes high-quality solicited and unsolicited articles, in English, in all areas of agriculture including arid soil research and rehabilitation, agricultural genomics, stored products research, tree fruit production, pesticide science, post harvest biology and technology, seed science research, irrigation, agricultural engineering, water resources management, marine sciences, agronomy, animal science, physiology and morphology, aquaculture, crop science, dairy science, entomology, fish and fisheries, forestry, freshwater science, horticulture, poultry science, soil science, systematic biology, veterinary, virology, viticulture, weed biology, agricultural economics and agribusiness. All articles published in AJAR are peerreviewed.

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Editors Prof. N.A. Amusa Editor, African Journal of Agricultural Research Academic Journals.

Dr. Bampidis Vasileios National Agricultural Research Foundation (NAGREF), Animal Research Institute 58100 Giannitsa, Greece.

Dr. Panagiota Florou-Paneri Laboratory of Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Dr. Zhang Yuanzhi Laboratory of Space Technology, University of Technology (HUT) Kilonkallio Espoo, Finland.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Majeed Department of Botany, University of Gujrat,India, Director Horticulture, and landscaping. India. Prof. Suleyman TABAN Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara-TURKEY. Prof.Hyo Choi Graduate School Gangneung-Wonju National University Gangneung, Gangwondo 210-702, Korea. Dr. MATIYAR RAHAMAN KHAN AICRP (Nematode), Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, P.O. Kalyani, Nadia, PIN-741235, West Bengal. India. Prof. Hamid AIT-AMAR University of Science and Technology, Houari Bouemdiene, B.P. 32, 16111 EL-Alia, Algiers, Algeria. Prof. Sheikh Raisuddin Department of Medical Elementology and Toxicology, Jamia Hamdard (Hamdard University) New Delhi, India. Prof. Ahmad Arzani Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding College of Agriculture Isfahan University of Technology Isfahan-84156, Iran.

Dr. Mboya E. Burudi International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) P.O. Box 30709 Nairobi 00100, Kenya. Dr. Andres Cibils Assistant Professor of Rangeland Science Dept. of Animal and Range Sciences Box 30003, MSC 3-I New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM 88003 (USA). Dr. MAJID Sattari Rice Research Institute of Iran, Amol-Iran. Dr. Agricola Odoi University of Tennessee, TN., USA. Prof. Horst Kaiser Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science Rhodes University, PO Box 94, South Africa. Prof. Xingkai Xu Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China. Dr. Agele, Samuel Ohikhena Department of Crop, Soil and Pest Management, Federal University of Technology PMB 704, Akure, Nigeria. Dr. E.M. Aregheore The University of the South Pacific, School of Agriculture and Food Technology Alafua Campus, Apia, SAMOA.

Editorial Board Dr. Bradley G Fritz Research Scientist, Environmental Technology Division, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, Washington, USA. Dr. Almut Gerhardt LimCo International, University of Tuebingen, Germany. Dr. Celin Acharya Dr. K.S.Krishnan Research Associate (KSKRA), Molecular Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, Mumbai-85, India. Dr. Daizy R. Batish Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. Dr. Seyed Mohammad Ali Razavi University of Ferdowsi, Department of Food Science and Technology, Mashhad, Iran.

Dr. Mohamed A. Dawoud Water Resources Department, Terrestrial Environment Research Centre, Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA), P. O. Box 45553, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Dr. Phillip Retief Celliers Dept. Agriculture and Game Management, PO BOX 77000, NMMU, PE, 6031, South Africa.

Dr. Rodolfo Ungerfeld Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Lasplaces 1550, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay.

Dr. Timothy Smith Stable Cottage, Cuttle Lane, Biddestone, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 7DF. UK.

Dr. E. Nicholas Odongo, 27 Cole Road, Guelph, Ontario. N1G 4S3 Canada.

Dr. Yasemin Kavdir

Dr. D. K. Singh

Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Department of Soil Sciences, Terzioglu Campus 17100 Canakkale Turkey.

Scientist Irrigation and Drainage Engineering Division, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineeinrg Bhopal- 462038, M.P. India.

Prof. Giovanni Dinelli Department of Agroenvironmental Science and Technology Viale Fanin 44 40100, Bologna Italy. Prof. Huanmin Zhou College of Biotechnology at Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, No. 306# Zhao Wu Da Street, Hohhot 010018, P. R. China, China.

Prof. Hezhong Dong Professor of Agronomy, Cotton Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100 China. Dr. Ousmane Youm Assistant Director of Research & Leader, Integrated Rice Productions Systems Program Africa Rice Center (WARDA) 01BP 2031, Cotonou, Benin.

Instructions for Author Electronic submission of manuscripts is strongly encouraged, provided that the text, tables, and figures are included in a single Microsoft Word file (preferably in Arial font). The cover letter should include the corresponding author's full address and telephone/fax numbers and should be in an e-mail message sent to the Editor, with the file, whose name should begin with the first author's surname, as an attachment. Article Types Three types of manuscripts may be submitted: Regular articles: These should describe new and carefully confirmed findings, and experimental procedures should be given in sufficient detail for others to verify the work. The length of a full paper should be the minimum required to describe and interpret the work clearly. Short Communications: A Short Communication is suitable for recording the results of complete small investigations or giving details of new models or hypotheses, innovative methods, techniques or apparatus. The style of main sections need not conform to that of full-length papers. Short communications are 2 to 4 printed pages (about 6 to 12 manuscript pages) in length. Reviews: Submissions of reviews and perspectives covering topics of current interest are welcome and encouraged. Reviews should be concise and no longer than 4-6 printed pages (about 12 to 18 manuscript pages). Reviews are also peer-reviewed. Review Process All manuscripts are reviewed by an editor and members of the Editorial Board or qualified outside reviewers. Authors cannot nominate reviewers. Only reviewers randomly selected from our database with specialization in the subject area will be contacted to evaluate the manuscripts. The process will be blind review. Decisions will be made as rapidly as possible, and the journal strives to return reviewers’ comments to authors as fast as possible. The editorial board will re-review manuscripts that are accepted pending revision. It is the goal of the AJAR to publish manuscripts within weeks after submission.

Regular articles All portions of the manuscript must be typed doublespaced and all pages numbered starting from the title page. The Title should be a brief phrase describing the contents of the paper. The Title Page should include the authors' full names and affiliations, the name of the corresponding author along with phone, fax and E-mail information. Present addresses of authors should appear as a footnote. The Abstract should be informative and completely selfexplanatory, briefly present the topic, state the scope of the experiments, indicate significant data, and point out major findings and conclusions. The Abstract should be 100 to 200 words in length.. Complete sentences, active verbs, and the third person should be used, and the abstract should be written in the past tense. Standard nomenclature should be used and abbreviations should be avoided. No literature should be cited. Following the abstract, about 3 to 10 key words that will provide indexing references should be listed. A list of non-standard Abbreviations should be added. In general, non-standard abbreviations should be used only when the full term is very long and used often. Each abbreviation should be spelled out and introduced in parentheses the first time it is used in the text. Only recommended SI units should be used. Authors should use the solidus presentation (mg/ml). Standard abbreviations (such as ATP and DNA) need not be defined. The Introduction should provide a clear statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject, and the proposed approach or solution. It should be understandable to colleagues from a broad range of scientific disciplines.

Materials and methods should be complete enough to allow experiments to be reproduced. However, only truly new procedures should be described in detail; previously published procedures should be cited, and important modifications of published procedures should be mentioned briefly. Capitalize trade names and include the manufacturer's name and address. Subheadings should be used. Methods in general use need not be described in detail.

Results should be presented with clarity and precision. The results should be written in the past tense when describing findings in the authors' experiments. Previously published findings should be written in the present tense. Results should be explained, but largely without referring to the literature. Discussion, speculation and detailed interpretation of data should not be included in the Results but should be put into the Discussion section. The Discussion should interpret the findings in view of the results obtained in this and in past studies on this topic. State the conclusions in a few sentences at the end of the paper. The Results and Discussion sections can include subheadings, and when appropriate, both sections can be combined. The Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc should be brief. Tables should be kept to a minimum and be designed to be as simple as possible. Tables are to be typed doublespaced throughout, including headings and footnotes. Each table should be on a separate page, numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and supplied with a heading and a legend. Tables should be self-explanatory without reference to the text. The details of the methods used in the experiments should preferably be described in the legend instead of in the text. The same data should not be presented in both table and graph form or repeated in the text. Figure legends should be typed in numerical order on a separate sheet. Graphics should be prepared using applications capable of generating high resolution GIF, TIFF, JPEG or Powerpoint before pasting in the Microsoft Word manuscript file. Tables should be prepared in Microsoft Word. Use Arabic numerals to designate figures and upper case letters for their parts (Figure 1). Begin each legend with a title and include sufficient description so that the figure is understandable without reading the text of the manuscript. Information given in legends should not be repeated in the text. References: In the text, a reference identified by means of an author‘s name should be followed by the date of the reference in parentheses. When there are more than two authors, only the first author‘s name should be mentioned, followed by ’et al‘. In the event that an author cited has had two or more works published during the same year, the reference, both in the text and in the reference list, should be identified by a lower case letter like ’a‘ and ’b‘ after the date to distinguish the works. Examples: Smith (2000), Steddy et al. (2003), (Kelebeni, 1983), (Singh and Chandra, 1992), (Chege, 1998; Gold, 1987a,b;

Blake, 1993, 1995), (Kumasi et al., 2001) References should be listed at the end of the paper in alphabetical order. Articles in preparation or articles submitted for publication, unpublished observations, personal communications, etc. should not be included in the reference list but should only be mentioned in the article text (e.g., A. Kingori, University of Nairobi, Kenya, personal communication). Journal names are abbreviated according to Chemical Abstracts. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy of the references. Examples: Li XQ, Tan A, Voegtline M, Bekele S, Chen CS, Aroian RV (2008). Expression of Cry5B protein from Bacillus thuringiensis in plant roots confers resistance to rootknot nematode. Biol. Control 47: 97-102. Pandey R, Kalra A (2003). Root knot disease of ashwagandha Withania somnifera and its ecofriendly cost effective management. J. Mycol. Pl. Pathol. 33(2): 240-245. Charnley AK (1992). Mechanisms of fungal pathogenesis in insects with particular reference to locusts. In: Lomer CJ, Prior C (eds) Biological Controls of Locusts and Grasshoppers: Proceedings of an international workshop held at Cotonou, Benin. Oxford: CAB International, pp. 181-190. Mundree SG, Farrant JM (2000). Some physiological and molecular insights into the mechanisms of desiccation tolerance in the resurrection plant Xerophyta viscasa Baker. In Cherry et al. (eds) Plant tolerance to abiotic stresses in Agriculture: Role of Genetic Engineering, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands, pp. 201-222.

Short Communications Short Communications are limited to a maximum of two figures and one table. They should present a complete study that is more limited in scope than is found in full-length papers. The items of manuscript preparation listed above apply to Short Communications with the following differences: (1) Abstracts are limited to 100 words; (2) instead of a separate Materials and Methods section, experimental procedures may be incorporated into Figure Legends and Table footnotes; (3) Results and Discussion should be combined into a single section. Proofs and Reprints: Electronic proofs will be sent (email attachment) to the corresponding author as a PDF file. Page proofs are considered to be the final version of the manuscript. With the exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made in the manuscript at the proof stage.

Fees and Charges: Authors are required to pay a $600 handling fee. Publication of an article in the African Journal of Agricultural Research is not contingent upon the author's ability to pay the charges. Neither is acceptance to pay the handling fee a guarantee that the paper will be accepted for publication. Authors may still request (in advance) that the editorial office waive some of the handling fee under special circumstances. Copyright: © 2012, Academic Journals. All rights Reserved. In accessing this journal, you agree that you will access the contents for your own personal use but not for any commercial use. Any use and or copies of this Journal in whole or in part must include the customary bibliographic citation, including author attribution, date and article title. Submission of a manuscript implies: that the work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, or thesis) that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher. Disclaimer of Warranties In no event shall Academic Journals be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the use of the articles or other material derived from the AJAR, whether or not advised of the possibility of damage, and on any theory of liability. This publication is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Descriptions of, or references to, products or publications does not imply endorsement of that product or publication. While every effort is made by Academic Journals to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statements appear in this publication, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisements herein are the responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Academic Journals makes no warranty of any kind, either express or implied, regarding the quality, accuracy, availability, or validity of the data or information in this publication or of any other publication to which it may be linked.

International Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences African Journal of Agricultural Research

Table of Contents:

Volume 7

Number 28

24 July, 2012

ences ARTICLES REVIEW Phytoremediation: Curing soil problems with crops Shabir Hussain Wani, Gulzar Singh Sanghera, Haribhushan Athokpam, Jyotsna Nongmaithem, Rita Nongthongbam, Brajendra Singh Naorem and Herojit Singh Athokpam

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The concept of sustainable agriculture: Global and African perceptions with emerging issues from Swaziland Banele L. Nkambule and Cliff S. Dlamini

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A review of the poverty and food security issues in South Africa: Is agriculture the solution? Tshuma, M. C.

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Research Articles AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS Consumers’ awareness of food labeling: A case study of United Arab Emirates Aydin Basarir and Sherin Sherif

Social capital between farmers of Iran Seyed Abolhasan Sadati, Alireza Ansari Ardali and Fatemeh Abbasi

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24 July, 2012

ences ARTICLES Mapping Indonesian paddy fields using multiple-temporal satellite imagery Nono Lee, Agnes Monica and Inul Daratista

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HORTICULTURE The leaf growth model and influencing factors in Phalaenopsis orchid Chiachung Chen and Meiyu Chien

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PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE Storage pests of maize and their status in Jimma Zone, Ethiopia Waktole Sori and Amsalu Ayana

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FISHERIES Length - weight relationship and condition of five marine fish species collected by shrimp trawls in Bushehr coastal waters, Northern Persian Gulf Moslem Daliri, Seyed Yousef Paighambari, Mohammad Javad Shabani and Reza Davoodi

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PLANT PATHOLOGY Management of post-harvest Pectobacterium soft rot of cabbage (Brassica oleracea var capitata L.) by biocides and packing material K. A. Bhat, N. A. Bhat, F. A. Mohiddin, S. A. Mir and M. R. Mir

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SOIL SCIENCE Predicting soil and forest floor carbon stocks in Western Anatolian Scots pine stands, Turkey Şükrü Teoman Güner, Aydın Çömez and Kürşad Özkan

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Volume 7

Number 28

24 July, 2012

ences ARTICLES CROP SCIENCE Effect of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) illumination on postharvest quality and bioactive compounds in yellow bell pepper fruit (Capsicum annuum L.) during storage Surassawadee Promyou and Suriyan Supapvanich

Yield and yield components in vegetable cowpea on an ultisol Nwofia, G.E

Evaluation of some morphological traits associated with wheat yield under terminal drought stress Farzad Aslani, Mohammad Reza Mehrvar and Abdul Shukor Juraimi

Seed drilling distance applications in sugar beet cultivation Koç Mehmet TUĞRUL, Şevki BUZLUK and Ayşegül BOYACIOĞLU

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African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 7(28), pp. 3991-4002, 24 July, 2012 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR DOI: 10.5897/AJAR12.1061 ISSN 1991-637X ©2012 Academic Journals

Review

Phytoremediation: Curing soil problems with crops Shabir Hussain Wani1*, Gulzar Singh Sanghera2, Haribhushan Athokpam1, Jyotsna Nongmaithem1, Rita Nongthongbam3, Brajendra Singh Naorem3 and Herojit Singh Athokpam3 1

2

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Farm Science Centre), Senapati, Manipur, 795129, India. Shere Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops, Khudwani, Anantnag, Kashmir, 192102, India. 3 College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Iroisemba, Imphal, Manipur, 795004 India. Accepted 6 July, 2012

Among the different contaminants in the environment, heavy metals (HMs) are unique due to the fact that they cannot be broken down to non-toxic forms. According to the reports published worldwide, these metals are released into the environment by both natural and anthropogenic sources, especially, mining and industrial activities, and automobile exhausts (for lead). They leach into underground waters, moving along water pathways and eventually depositing in the aquifer, or are washed away by run-off into surface waters thereby, resulting in water and subsequently soil pollution. The HM contamination is increasing day by day because of increase in population, industrialization and urbanization. Therefore, posing a serious threat to health and environment. Researchers worldwide have used different methods for removing these hazardous elements. Although, these methods for cleaning up of contaminated environment including soil and water are usually expensive and do not give optimum results. Currently, phytoremediation is an effective and affordable technology used to remove inactive metals and metal pollutants from contaminated soil and water. It includes phytoextraction, rhizofiltration, phytostabilization, phytovolatization, and phytodegradation/ phytotransformation. This technology is ecofriendly and exploits the ability of plants to remediate pollutants from contaminated sites. More than 400 plant species have been identified to have potential for soil and water remediation. Among them, Thlaspi, Brassica, Sedum alfredii H., and Arabidopsis species have been mostly studied. Our paper aims to cover the causes of HM pollution and phytoremediation technology, including HM uptake mechanism and several reports describing its application at field level. Key words: Phytoremediation, heavy metals, phytostabilisation, rhizofiltration, phytoextraction.

INTRODUCTION Heavy metals (HM) are a unique class of toxicants since they cannot be broken down to non-toxic forms (Jabeen et al., 2009). Concentration of these toxic metals has accelerated dramatically since the beginning of the industrial revolution (Ana et al., 2009) thus, posing problems to health and environment (Nriagu, 1979). Once the heavy metals contaminate the ecosystem, they remain a potential threat for many years. HM contaminants causing ecological problems are of global concern. HM refers to metals and metalloids having

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 09856327059.

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densities greater than 5 g cm and is usually associated with pollution and toxicity although, some of these elements (essential metals) are required by organisms at low concentrations (Adriano, 2001). The most common HM contaminants are: cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) (USEPA, 1997; Lasat, 2002). Due to the awareness of the negative effects of environmental pollution, everyone is becoming aware about finding innovative methods for preventing pollution of the environment including soil (Gruca-Królikowska and Wacławek, 2006). There are various factors leading towards environmental degradation and soil pollution in particular. The main factors contributing to soil pollution are the

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increased growth of industry; nearly 1000 new chemicals are being synthesized every year (Shukla et al., 2010). Almost 60,000 to 95,000 chemicals are in commercial use. According to Third World Network reports, more than one billion pounds (450 million kilograms) of toxins are released globally in air and water. Similarly, the excessive uses of pesticides in agriculture, wastes from de-acidifying soils are other factors leading to soil pollution (Szczygłowska et al., 2011). Among environmental pollutants, HMs play a major role in causing hazard to human and animal health due to their prolong existence in the soil (Gisbert et al., 2003; Halim et al., 2003). For instance, a very typical example of lead (Pb) pollution has been reported by plentiful researchers (Nandkumar et al., 1995; Yang et al., 2005). Due to the long term persistence nature of lead, it can persist up to 150 to 5000 years and was reported to a high concentration for as long as 150 years after application of sludge to the soil. Similarly, the biological half life of cadmium (Cd) has been reported to be about eighteen years in human body (Fostner, 1995; Yang et al., 2005). Remediation of polluted soils has been a matter of concern and for its remediation, many technologies like pneumatic fracturing, soil flushing, solidification, vitrification, electrophoresis, chemical reduction, soil washing and excavation have been tried. But these traditionally used methods are limited in their application to selected areas because of some limitations. Currently, conventional remediation methods of HM contaminated soils are expensive and environmentally destructive (BioWise, 2003; Aboulroos et al., 2006). Since then, scientists all over have been in search of some innovative, eco-friendly and low cost alternative technologies. One of them is the phytoremediation, which includes the use of plants to clean and cure the environment; and plants have been known for their property to absorb, accumulate and detoxify the impurities present in the soil, water and air through various physical, chemical and biological processes (Hooda, 2007). Phytoremediation, a fast-emerging new technology for removal of toxic HMs, is cost-effective, non-intrusive and aesthetically pleasing. It exploits the ability of selected plants to remediate pollutants from contaminated sites. Plants have inter-linked physiological and molecular mechanisms of tolerance to HMs. High tolerance to HM toxicity is based on a reduced metal uptake or increased internal sequestration, which is manifested by interaction between a genotype and its environment. The growing interest in molecular genetics has increased our understanding of mechanisms of HM tolerance in plants and many transgenic plants have displayed increased HM tolerance. Improvement of plants by genetic engineering, that is, by modifying characteristics like metal uptake, transport and accumulation and plant‟s tolerance to metals, opens up new possibilities of phytoremediation. Either naturally occurring or genetically engineered plants are used for

cleaning contaminated environments. Phytoremediation can be used to remove not only metals (for example, Ag, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Zn) but also 90 137 239 234 238 radionuclides (for example, Sr, Cs, Pu, U, U) and certain organic compounds (Andrade and Mahler, 2002). The phytoremediation efficiency of plants depends upon various physical and chemical properties of soil, plant, bioavailability of metals and capacity of plants to uptake, accumulate and detoxify metals. For selections of plants which are suitable for phytoremediation of polluted soils, one has to understand the mechanism underlying plant tolerance towards a particular metal. The HM pollution is a very vast subject, but in this review, we will try to focus on the sources of soil pollution, mechanism of metal uptake by the plants and the different types of phytoremediation and their practical application in soil remediation. Where does the soil metal pollution come from? HM contamination is a result of various geological and anthropogenic activities (Dembitsky, 2003). Some natural processes like volcanic eruptions and weathering of rocks may be the cause of metal contamination in the environment; but, human intervention is also a reason (Marchiol et al., 2004). Contaminants can spread in the environment through air, as dust and gases, and can also spread into the soil and water from the air through surface run-off. Anthropogenic metal contamination is broadly due to fuel production, industrial wastes, defense activities, coal mining, smelting, brick kilns, coal combustion, melting of metallic ferrous ores, municipal wastes, fertilizers, pesticides, sewage sludge and many small scale industries which release enormous effluents, causing HM contamination in the environment (Zhen-Guo et al., 2002; Peng et al., 2006). The main threats to human health from heavy metals are associated with exposure to lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic (Jarup, 2003). Cigarette smoking is a major source of Cd exposure. Biological monitoring of Cd in the general population has shown that cigarette smoking may cause significant increases in blood Cd (B to Cd) levels, the concentrations in smokers being on average 4 to 5 times higher than those in non-smokers (Jarup et al., 1998). Food is the most important source of cadmium exposure in the general non-smoking population in most countries (WHO, 1992). Cadmium is present in most foodstuffs, but concentrations vary greatly, and individual intake also varies considerably due to differences in dietary habits (Jarup et al., 1998). Cd is released as a by-product of Zn (and occasionally Pb) refining; Pb is emitted during its mining and smelting activities from automobile exhausts (by combustion of petroleum fuels treated with tetraethyl Pb anti-knock) and from old lead paints; Hg is emitted by the degassing of the earth‟s crust. Generally, metals are emitted during their mining and processing activities (Lenntech, 2004). People are basically exposed to

Wani et al.

mercury through food; fish, being a major source of methyl mercury exposure (Sallsten et al., 1996) and dental amalgam. Many reports have revealed that mercury vapour is released from amalgam fillings, and that the release rate may increase by chewing (WHO, 1990). Energy production from fossil fuel and smelting of non-ferrous metals are the two major industrial processes that leads to arsenic contamination of air, water and soil; smelting activities being the largest single anthropogenic source of atmospheric pollution (Chilvers et al., 1987). The amount of arsenic contamination in air in rural areas 3 ranges from 1000 ng/m ) have been measured near industrial sources. Water concentrations are usually Cu>Cd>Ni>Pb. The large surface area of fibrous roots of sorghum and intensive penetration of roots into the soil reduces leaching via stabilization of soil and capable of immobilizing and concentrating HMs in the roots. Recently, a study was conducted by Cheraghi et al. (2011) on phytostabilization using different plant species. Their results indicated that C. bijarensis, C. juncea, V. speciosum, S. orientalis, C. botrys, and S. barbata, had a high bioconcentration factor and low translocation factor for Mn, therefore having potential for the phytostabilization of Mn.

Phytovolatilization Phytovolatilization refers to the uptake and transpiration of contaminants, primary organic compounds by plants. The contaminant, present in the water taken up by the plant, passes through the plant or is modified by the plant, and is released to the atmosphere (evaporates or vaporizes). The contaminant may become modified along the way, as the water travels along the plant‟s vascular system from the roots to the leaves, whereby the contaminants evaporate or volatilize into the air surrounding the plant. The use of phytoextraction and phytovolatilization of metals by plants offers a viable remediation on commercial projects (Sakakibara et al., 2007). Phytovolatilization has been primarily used for the removal of murcury, the mercuric ion is transformed into less toxic elemental Hg (Ghosh and Singh, 2005). Phytovolatilization has been successful in tritium (3H), a radioactive isotope of hydrogen; it is decayed to stable helium with a half-life of about 12 years. Phytovolatilization is the most controversial of all phytoremediation technologies. Some metals, like As, Hg and Se, may exist as gaseous state in the environment. Some naturally occurring or genetically modified plants, like Chara canescens (muskgrass), B. juncea (Indian mustard) and Arabidopsis thaliana, are reported to possess capability to absorb HMs and convert them to gaseous state within the plant and subsequently release them into the atmosphere (Ghose and Singh, 2005).

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Some plants growing in high Se media, for example, A. thaliana and B. juncea, produce volatile Se in the form of dimethylselenide and dimethyldiselenide. Similarly results from a study conducted on volatilization of heavy metals suggest that P. vittata is a plant species that is effective at volatilizing Arsenic (As); it removed about 90% of the total uptake of As from As-contaminated soils in the greenhouse, where the environment was similar to the subtropics (Sakakibara et al., 2007). However, if a large amount of arsenic had been released from the contaminated site into the atmosphere by the fern, the process may have caused a secondary As-contamination to the surrounding environments. Unlike other remediation techniques, once the contaminants have been removed via volatilization, one has no control over their migration to other areas. Similar cases of volatilization based soil remediation has also been reported in many recently published reports (Tangahu et al., 2011; Conesa et al., 2012)

Phytodegradation /phytotransformation Phytodegradation is the breakdown of organic contaminants within plant tissue. Plants produce enzymes, such as dehalogenase and oxygenase that help catalyze degradation. It appears that both the plants and the associated microbial communities play a significant role in attenuating contaminants.It is referred to the degradation or breakdown of organic contaminants by internal and external metabolic processes driven by the plant (Prasad and Freitas, 2003). Ex planta metabolic processes hydrolyse organic compounds into smaller units that can be absorbed by the plant. Some contaminants can be absorbed by the plant and are then broken down by plant enzymes. These smaller pollutant molecules may then be used as metabolites by the plant as it grows, thus becoming incorporated into the plant tissues. Plant enzymes have been identified that breakdown ammunition wastes, chlorinated solvents such as TCE (Trichloroethylene), and others which degrade organic herbicideds. Plant enzymes that metabolise contaminants may be released into the rhizosphere, where they may play active role in transformation of contaminants. Enzymes, like dehalogenase, nitroreductase, peroxidase, laccase and nitrilase, have been discovered in plant sediments and soils. Organic compounds such as munitions, chlorinated solvents, herbicides and insecticides and the inorganic nutrients can be degraded by this technology (Schnoor et al., 1995). The dissolved TNT (trinitrotoluene) concentrations in flooded soil decreased from 128 ppm within one week in the presence of the aquatic plant, Myriophyllum aquaticum, which produces nitroreductase enzyme that can partially degrade TNT (Schnoor et al., 1995). To engineer plant tolerance to TNT, two bacterial enzymes (PETN reductase and nitroreductase), able to reduce

TNT into less harmful compounds, were over-expressed in tobacco plants. The two genes onr and nfs , under the control of a constitutive promoter, provided the transgenic plants with increased tolerance to TNT at a concentration that severely affected the development of wild type plants (Hannink et al., 2001). The term “Green Liver Model” is used to describe phytotransformation, as plants behave analogously to the human liver when dealing with these xenobiotic compounds (foreign compound/ pollutant). After uptake of the xenobiotics, plant enzymes increase the polarity of the xenobiotics by adding functional groups such as hydroxyl groups (OH ). This is known as Phase I metabolism, similar to the way that the human liver increases the polarity of drugs and foreign compounds. Whilst in the human liver, enzymes such as Cytochrome P450s are responsible for the initial reactions (Yoon et al., 2008). In plants, enzymes such as nitroreductases carry out the same role. Similar results showing the role of phytotransformation in soil remediation have also been reported recently (Shukla et al., 2010). Phytoremediation is a potential remediation strategy that can be used to decontaminate soils contaminated with inorganic pollutants. Research related to this relatively new technology needs to be promoted and emphasized and expanded in developing countries since it is low cost. In situ, solar driven technology makes use of vascular plants to accumulate and translocate metals from roots to shoots. Harvesting the plant shoots can permanently remove these contaminants from the soil. Phytoremediation does not have the destructive impact on soil fertility and structure that some more vigorous conventional technologies have such as acid extraction and soil washing. This technology can be applied “in situ” to remediate shallow soil, ground water and surface water bodies. Also, phytoremediation has been perceived to be a more environmentally-friendly “green” and lowtech alternative to more active and intrusive remedial methods. The broader importance of protecting soils and improved management for the services they provide are currently receiving considerable attention from policymakers. Soils provide fundamental ecosystem services, with extensive economic, ecological, and sociological influences on the wellbeing of the human society. Metalcontaminated soils provide a significant but previously neglected component of the global soil resource. There is much scope to optimize the utilization of this resource for improved services. Phytoremediation does have real applications, but it is vital that it emerges as a realistic technology and in the right context. It has been tested successfully in many places around the world for many different contaminants (Table 1). Some of the recent applications of different plants for phytoremediation of metals and radionuclides are shown in Table 2. The unending use of various forms of HMs in industries and agriculture has been a serious concern of environmental pollution worldwide. HM uptake by plants due to

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Table 1. Extent of testing of phytoremediation across some sites in USA.

Location Ogden, UT Anderson, ST Ashtabula, OH Upton, NY Milan, TN Amana, IA Pennsylvania San Francisco, CA

Application Phytoextraction and rhizodegradation Phytostabilisation Rhizofiltration Phytoextraction Phytodegradation Riparian corridor, phytodegradation Phytoextraction mine wastes Phytovolatization

Pollutant Petroleum and hydrocarbons HMs Radionuclides Radionuclides Expolsives waste Nitrates Zinc and cadmium Se

Medium Soil and groundwater Soil Groundwater Soil Groundwater Groundwater Soil Refinery wastes and agricultural soils

Plants Alfalfa, poplar, juniper, fescue Hybrid poplar, grasses Sunflowers Indian mustard, cabbage Duckweed, parrot feather Hybrid poplar Thlaspi caerulescens Brassica sp.

(http://arabidopsis.info/students/dom/mainpage.html).

Table 2. Details of application of Phytoremediation.

Mechanism Phytoextraction

Contaminant Zn, Cd, and As

Media Soil

Plant Datura stramonium and Chenopodium murale

Status Applied

Reference Varun et al. (2012)

Phytodegradation

Pb, Cd

Soil

Jatropha curcas L.

Applied

Mangkoedihardjo and Surahmaida (2008)

Phytostabilisation

Cd

Soil

Sunflower

Applied

Zadeh et al. (2008)

Extractionconcentration in shoot and root

Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn

Wetlands

Ipomoea aquatica Forsk, Eichhornia crassipes, (Mart.) Solms, Typha angustata Bory and Chaub, Echinochloa colonum (L.) Link, Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle, Nelumbo nucifera Gaerth. and Vallisneria spiralis L.

Field Demo

Kumar et al. (2008)

Phytodegradation

Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH)

Soil

Anogeissus latifolia, Terminalia arjuna, Tacomella undulata,

Field Demo

Mathur et al. (2 010)

Phytodegradation

Zn and Cd

Soil

Vetiveria, Sesbania, Viola, Sedum, Rumex

Field Demo

Mukhopadhyay and Maiti, 2010)

Phytodegradation Phytoextraction Phytoextraction Phytodegradation Phytoextraction Phytostabilisation

As Cr 137Cs U Uranium and Thorium Mn

Soil Soil Soil Soil Soil Soil

Cassia fistula Anogeissus latifolia Catharanthus roseus Brassica juncea Nyssa sylvatica, Liquidambar styraciflua Cousinia bijarensis, Chondrila juncea, Chenopodium botrys

Applied Applied Applied Field Demo Field Demo Soil

Preeti et al. (2011) Mathur et al. (2010) Fulekar et al. (2010) Huhle et al. (2008) Saritz (2005) Cheraghi et al. (2011)

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phytoremediation technology emerged to be a potential tool to remediate HMs from the contaminated soil and water. REFERENCES Aboulroos SA, Helal MID, Kamel MM (2006). Remediation of Pb and Cd polluted soils using in situ immobilization and phytoextraction techniques. Soil Sediment Contam. 15:199-215. Adriano DC (2001). Trace Elements in the Terrestrial Environment: Biogeochemistry, Bioavailability and Risks of Metals, 2nd edn. New York: Springer. Ana M, Antonio R, Paula C (2009). Remediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils: Phytoremediation as a Potentially Promising Clean-Up Technology. Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol. 39(8):622654. Andrade JCM, Mahler CF (2002). Soil Phytoremediation. In 4th International Conference on Engineering Geotechnology. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Baker AJM, Brooks RR (1989). Terrestrial higher plants which hyperaccumulate metallic elements-A review of their distribution, ecology and phytochemistry. Biorecovery 1:81-126. Berti WR, Cunningham SD (2000). Phytostabilization of metals. In: Raskin I & Ensley BD (eds), Phytoremediation of toxic metals: using plants to clean up the environment. Wiley, New York pp.71-88. Bio-Wise (2003). Contaminated Land Remediation: A Review of Biological Technology, London. DTI. Blaylock MJ, Huang JW (2000). Phytoextraction of Heavy Metals. In: Raskin I and Ensley BD (eds), Phytoremediation of Toxic Metals: Using Plants to Clean Up the Environment, New York, John Wiley and Sons pp.53-69. Blaylock MJ, Salt DE, Dushenkov S, Zakhrova O, Gussman C, Kapulnik Y, Ensley BD, Raskin I (1997). Enhanced accumulation of Pb in Indian mustard by soil-applied chelating agents. Environ. Sci. Technol. 13:860-865. Brown SL, Chaney RL, Angle JS, Baker AJM (1994). Phytoremediation potential of Thlaspi caerulescens and bladder campion for zinc- and Cadmium -contaminated soils. J. Environ. Qual. 23:1151-1157. Bucheli-Witschel M, Egli T (2001). Environmental fate and microbial degradation of aminopolycarboxylic acids. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 25:69-106. Chaney RL (1983). Plant uptake of inorganic waste. In Parr JE, Marsh PB, and Kla JM (eds) Land Treatment of Hazardous Wastes, Park Ridge, IL, Noyes Data pp. 50-76. Chaney RL, Green CE, Filcheva E, Brown SL (1994). Effect of iron, manganese, and zinc enriched biosolids compost on uptake of cadmium by lettuce from cadmium-contaminated soils. In: Parr JE, Marsh PB, Kla JM (eds), Sewage Sludge: Land Utilization and the Environment, X, American Soc. Agron, Madison, WI, pp.205-207. Cheraghi M, Lorestani B, Khorasani N, Yousefi N, Karami M (2011). Findings on the phytoextraction and phytostabilization of soils contaminated with Heavy Metals. Biol. Trace Elem. Res. 144:11331141. Chilvers DC, Peterson PJ (1987). Global cycling of arsenic. In: Hutchinson TC, Meema KM (Eds) Lead, Mercury, Cadmium and Arsenic in the Environment. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons pp. 279– 303. Clemens S, Palmgren MG, and Kr¨amer U (2002). A long way ahead: Understanding and engineering plant metal accumulation. Trends Plant Sci. 7:309-315. Conesa HM, Evangelou MWH, Robinson BH, Schulin R (2012). A critical view of current state of phytotechnologies to remediate soils: still a promising tool? Cooper EM, Sims JT, Cunningham SD, Huang JW, Berti WR (1999). Chelate assisted phytoextraction of lead from contaminated soils. J. Environ. Qual. 28:1709–1719. Cunningham SD, Berti WR, Huang JW (1995). Phytoremediation of contaminated soils. TIBTECH. 13: 393-397. Dembitsky V (2003). Natural occurrence of arseno compounds in plants, lichens, fungi, algal species, and microorganisms. Plant Sci.

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African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 7(28), pp. 4003-4009, 24 July, 2012 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR DOI: 10.5897/AJAR12.095 ISSN 1991-637X © 2012 Academic Journals

Review

The concept of sustainable agriculture: Global and African perceptions with emerging issues from Swaziland Banele L. Nkambule1 and Cliff S. Dlamini2* 1

Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Faculty of Natural and Agriculture Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa. 2 Swaziland Institute for Research in Traditional Medicine, Medicinal and Indigenous Food Plants, University of Swaziland, Swaziland. Accepted 6 June, 2012

This paper presents a review of literature in sustainable agriculture and related concepts, which entail economic, social and environmental considerations. It starts by introducing the concept of sustainable agriculture and the reasons behind its promotion in the modern day agriculture industry. The concept of sustainable agriculture is discussed together with the principles of sustainable agriculture and some concerns in agriculture. Changes which are a threat to sustainable food and fibre production include a decline in agriculture production, increasing fuel and transportation costs, increase in food prices, population growth, environmental degradation, climate change, flaws of global market, decreasing biodiversity, desertification, reduction in water supply and quality. Global and national development in agriculture through the use of irrigation water is highlighted as a technology advance in modern agriculture. Finally, this paper discusses anticipated future developments in as far as smallholder irrigation is concerned in Swaziland. Key words: Sustainability, agriculture, economic, social, environmental.

INTRODUCTION Sustainability and agriculture development The concept of sustainable agriculture These days the word “sustainable agriculture” has become a main issue of dialogue or rather a buzzword among scientists and policy makers as a means to express their vision for better agriculture. According to Rehber and Grega (2008), the vision for better agriculture is based on the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environmental and Development, Chapter 14 of Agenda 21, adopted by the UN General Assembly, and on the 1996 Rome Declaration on World Food Security. The advances for better agriculture development have been due to the fact

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +268 25185276.

[email protected], 6766612: Fax: +268

that agriculture is proclaimed to have a significant contribution to the negative changes the world is currently experiencing in the natural environment. It has been observed that human activities around agriculture development have led to huge losses of soil through soil erosion, loss of organic matter and loss of the biotic capacity of soils to nurture plant growth, structural deterioration, compaction and hard setting, nutrient imbalance and leaching, salinity, and diminution of root zone-moisture characteristics, as manifested through reduced water holding capacity and infiltration, draughtiness or water logging (Chel and Kaushik, 2011). Secondly, the changes in land use for agriculture are attributed to climate change which increases temperatures and reduces water supply in soils therefore leading to reduced crop yields per hectare (ha). Furthermore, the changes in land use patterns have resulted in deforestation, desertification, overgrazing and pollution by fertilizers herbicides and pesticides. Jordan and Constance (2008) states that the current state of

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affairs is a result of revolutions that have been taking place in agriculture: human beings shifting from traditional farming methods to modern techniques of plant and animal production. Therefore, since the publication of Agenda 21, agricultural sustainability has become a priority as the world strives to increase food production and enhance food security in an environmentally sound way, so as to contribute to sustainable natural resource management. In view of the fact that sustainable agriculture is a direction not a destination, there is no universal definition of sustainable agriculture. Several authors and organizations worldwide give their own definitions of sustainable agriculture. Despite all the different definitions, all the authors agree with the fact that a sustainable agriculture project must be “capable of maintaining its productivity and usefulness to the society over the long run, it must be environmentally sound, resource-conserving, economically viable and socially supportive, and commercially competitive” (Dantsis et al., 2009; Lichtfouse et al., 2009). Chel and Kaushik (2011) regard agricultural sustainability as a societal goal to be pursued forever and for everyone. The concept of sustainable agriculture is guided by five principles (productivity, security, protection, profitability, and social justice) which are briefly discussed subsequently. Principles of sustainable agriculture Maintenance and development of production and services (productivity): Sustainable agriculture calls for appropriate land use and management practices for the achievement of increased yields and improved food production to feed the world population and to reduce poverty. According to Lichtfouse et al. (2009), farming systems should be able to reach economic viability, environmental protection and social justice through the use of fewer inputs without reducing the yields considerably. Therefore, this requires shifts to crops with higher yields or value, less inputs per unit of production, and higher standards of management in terms of technology and agronomic practices. This should then result in higher output per farmer and more job opportunities in the agriculture service sectors. In addition, agricultural production technologies should be more carefully tailor made to local environmental conditions, and farming systems should be more flexible, more diversified and developed on a broader genetic base in order to increase input efficiency and valueadded marketing.

Reduction of production risk (security): In the past, farmers believed that increasing agricultural inputs was the most effective way to raise yields and considered produce price as the primary factor in agricultural production (Ma et al., 2009). In order to reduce risk in

agriculture investment, now the emphasis is on higher economic efficiencies to increase agriculture production even under the conflict of higher price of inputs versus the low price of agricultural products. Therefore, farmers must be able to evaluate business, technical and market risks associated with their agricultural enterprise.

Natural resources conservation and prevention of degradation (protection): Sustainable agriculture emphasizes that agriculture production practices must work within the bounds of nature not against them. This entails matching land uses to the constraints of the local environment, planning for production not exceeding the biological potentials of the area, carefully limiting fertilizer, pesticides and other inputs to ensure that they do not exceed the capacity of the environment to absorb and filter any excess. Moreover, sustainable agricultural systems should maintain or improve ground water and surface water quality as well as regenerate healthy agricultural soils.

Economic viability (profitability): Since the concept of sustainable agriculture advocates for a healthy agroecosystem, it must be profitable to motivate those implementing it. Therefore, economic viability comprises profit maximization through proper selection of enterprises, sound financial planning, proactive marketing, risk management and good management. In addition, sustainable agriculture advocates for change of government policies in order to promote the economic viability of agricultural enterprises that are not a threat to the ecosystem.

Social acceptability (social justice): A sustainable agricultural system improves the quality of life of individuals and communities. There is no sustainability if an agricultural enterprise is ecologically sound and economically viable in the absence of social justice. Agricultural enterprise must fairly meet the basic food and fibre needs of human beings, must provide economic opportunities for both owner and neighbours in a community setting, must support self-determination, and ensure social equity for both current and future generations. Social acceptability must ensure that agriculture works within the bounds of the society, not against it. Indicators of such include equity, social mobility, social cohesion, empowerment, cultural identity, and institutional development.

Global concerns on modern agriculture development Since agriculture is the backbone for economic development in a majority of developing countries, issues

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of its sustainability are vital for addressing some of the major current concerns in agriculture development worldwide. Included among the changes which are a threat to sustainable food and fibre production decline in agriculture production, increasing fuel and transportation costs, increase in food prices, population growth, environmental degradation, climate change, flaws of global market, decreasing biodiversity, desertification, reduction in water supply and quality, etc (Lichtfouse et al., 2009; Dantsis et al., 2009; Rehber and Grega, 2008). Developing countries are more affected by the challenges as food security is a growing challenge and it is also anticipated that developing countries will have a larger proportion of population growth. Therefore, it is very imperative for developing countries to engage in sustainable agriculture production in order to meet the food and fibre demand of their populations even with the changing weather conditions. The changes in weather conditions which involve the recurrent drought situations, especially in the South African region, continue to negatively impact economic development efforts by governments towards improved food security and smallholder agriculture development.

SMALLHOLDER AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT Africa: Strategies to improve smallholder production According to Panahi et al. (2009), agriculture is still the largest productive sector in the economies of both developed and developing countries since it is the source of most economic growth, employment and the largest contributor to export revenues. However, in Africa, the growth of agricultural production has been disappointing as the per capita agricultural productivity has remained stagnant for over 40 years (Panahi et al., 2009; Jama and Pizaro, 2008). This happens in a region where about two thirds of the population live in the rural areas and are smallholder farmers who are dependent on agriculture for livelihoods (Toenniessen et al., 2008). The reasons behind the poor performance of the agriculture sector in Africa as stated by scientists and researchers include, 1) policy and institutional failures; 2) economic and financial challenges; 3) declining investments, 4) the inability of technology and water resources to supply the growing demand; 5) poverty and rural income challenges; and 6) environmental factors and the sustainability factor. Kydd et al. (2004) further state that the disappointing performance in agriculture and the high poverty levels in Africa compared to other regions are due to poor governance, uncertain price of products, uncertain market opportunities, low rainfalls and small land under irrigation. As a result of the poor performance of the agriculture sector, approximately half of the people living in rural areas are living in extreme poverty, earning less than

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$1/day, and one third are estimated to be undernourished. Despite the poor agricultural performance, African countries still believe that with substantial investments and necessary support, smallholder farming can be productive and engage in competitive markets. Such support may include soil fertility improvement, improved seeds, market access, extension services, access to credit, improvement in weather forecasts, etc. According to Jama and Pizarro (2008), the promotion of improved agriculture performance through smallholder development can drive poverty in three broad dimensions, 1) the direct effects of increased agricultural productivity and income on the rural poor; 2) benefits of cheaper foods for both the urban and rural poor; and 3) agricultural contribution to economic growth and the generation of more opportunities in the farming sector. Therefore, many African countries have made huge investments in irrigated agriculture for smallholder development as a means to meet the demand for food that is coming up with the growing population. Panahi et al. (2009) stated that water management is critical for future growth and social wealth in both developed and developing countries. This is true given that within the agriculture sector, irrigated farming enhances value adding, farmer’s income, and food security at global, national and at household level by rapidly meeting the rising demand for food at affordable prices.

The role of smallholder irrigation in sustainable agriculture Literature reviewed by Smith (2004) indicated that the contribution of irrigation, especially in smallholder irrigation schemes, can either be positive or negative depending on the management practices applied. The subsequent discussion concerns the contribution of irrigation towards the objectives of sustainable agriculture:

Improved agricultural productivity Where all conditions are favourable, irrigation can boost agricultural productivity in the following ways: It improves productivity by ensuring adequate water throughout the growing season, resulting in higher yields and high quality farm produce; securing a crop where rainfall is inadequate or too variable; allowing growth of multiple crops by making water available throughout the year and also cultivation of new crops or varieties for which market opportunities exist; improving the timeliness and /or crop duration, allowing area expansion and/or increased cropping intensities; enabling farmers to adopt timing of production to market demand and higher prices, to take advantage of good weather conditions, or to avoid

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adverse weather conditions; facilitating multiple farm enterprises around livestock, crops and agro-processing; and raising farm household and hired labour productivity as a result of high output expectations.

Reducing of production risk Since agriculture investment analyst’s emphasis is now on higher economic efficiencies to increase agriculture production even under the conflict of higher price of inputs versus the low price of agricultural products. Irrigation can reduce production risks through reducing flooding, water-logging and soil salinization (if well designed); allowing farmers to diversify into high value crops or enterprises instead of specialization or the lowvalue subsistence diversification; enabling management of the micro-climate to reduce incidence of frost or low temperatures that damage crops; allowing the use of complementary inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizers thus reducing the risk of low yield and returns; offering increased, more continuous and more evenly spread farm employment and improved wages to landless and marginal households; and by improving security against impoverishment and the need to dispose assets or enter into debt by marginal households.

derive multiple usage of water such as water for drinking, washing, homestead gardens and for livestock drinking. With regards to infrastructure development, irrigation improves communication, market access, farm support services and eases transport of farm inputs and outputs. On the other hand, irrigation can worsen poverty if it involves land consolidation in which poor households lose rights to land or if it involves the displacement of labour by mechanization or extensive herbicide usage.

Contribution to economic growth At community level, irrigation improves the productivity of assets (land and human capital). It also improves the ability of households to engage in high value crops, intensified livestock, and access to capital and market opportunities. Through improved productivity, irrigation increases income for both household and employed labour. It also stimulates the ease of farm input supply, output processing and distribution enterprises hence lowering the price of food. At national level, irrigation ensures investment in agriculture itself, it improves the supply of food, raw materials and exports (gain in foreign exchange), it realizes surplus capital and labour to the non-farming sector; and it stimulates demand for local goods and services.

Natural resources conservation and degradation Irrigation can impact the environment in the sense that poor designs, construction or operation and maintenance can have upstream or downstream impacts such as water-logging, salinization and groundwater pollution through increased usage of agro-chemicals. On the other hand, positive impacts of irrigated farming can increase farmers’ ability to invest in land improvements that enhance sustainability, by reducing pressure on surrounding marginal areas. In addition, through the use of improved cultivars, agro-chemicals and the availability of irrigation water agricultural intensification can be expanded to marginal areas.

Contribution reduction

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Irrigation agriculture contributes to the empowerment, access to rights and improved quality of life for the rural poor. Through capacity enhancement on livelihood improvement, irrigated farming can increase access to decision making, and support independency, selfconfidence and assertiveness. It also promotes and enhances the capability for collective action and participation in community activities. In addition, it improves households’ ability to pay for utilities, goods and services like health and education. Households may also

Sustainability of smallholder irrigation projects: Africa As a result of wide spread poverty in Africa, many of its countries have put smallholder agricultural development as a priority in all their development programmes. Since water is important for the productivity of a society and the livelihood of its members, many countries have promoted irrigation development over the years. The key objective is to ensure that irrigated agriculture adds value to the agriculture sector, increases farmers’ income, and improves food security at household, national and global level in order to rapidly meet the rising demand for food at affordable prices (Panahi et al., 2009). Many of the irrigation projects have been supported by public funds, either national or international and implemented by state or government agencies who take charge of project management and other guarantee services. Despite all the huge investments by the national and international stakeholders on smallholder irrigation, Yves le-gal et al. (2003), Manyatsi (2005), Fanadzo et al. (2010), Malaza and Myeni (2009) and Tapela (2008) reported that irrigation schemes are faced with the challenge of ensuring long-term sustainability. As a result, many of the irrigation schemes are not performing up to the expected standard hence continued decline in agricultural productivity, especially in the rural areas. The challenges range from technical level (maintaining and

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replacing the hydraulic infrastructure, poor agronomic practices leading to low yields); to economic level (covering the long-term water costs, high debt, low farm income, market constraints and high input costs), social level to (conflicts, exclusions, and continued poverty), to ecological level (preserving water and soils under irrigation). A study conducted by Fanadzo et al. (2010) in South Africa reported that smallholder irrigation schemes are performing poorly and have not yielded the intended objectives of increasing crop production and improving rural livelihoods. This has been attributed to limited knowledge of irrigated crop production. In addition, studies conducted in other African countries indicate that although irrigation plays a fundamental role in world food provision, up to date, it has performed below expectations in Sub-Saharan Africa (Garcia-Bolanos et al., 2011; Panahi et al., 2009). In Swaziland, Malaza and Myeni (2009) indicated that farmers under the Komati Downstream Development Project (KDDP) have a sustainability challenge which can be ascribed to combined factors including smallholder management practices, institutional capacities and external capacities. Furthermore, Manyatsi (2005) concluded that smallholder irrigation schemes in the country are far from addressing the livelihood security in the rural areas.

AGRICULTURE IN SWAZILAND Overview of national context The kingdom of Swaziland is a small landlocked country 2 with a total area of 17,364 km , located in South eastern Africa bordered by Mozambique to the east and the Republic of South Africa on all the other sides. Swaziland is located at latitude 31° 30 ′ east of Greenwich and longitude 26° 30 ′ south of the equator. The country is characterized and traversed by four agro- ecological zones (AEZs), namely Highveld, Middleveld, Lowveld and the Lubombo. Annual rainfall ranges from 500 to 1500 mm, with an average of 788 mm per annum (GOS, 2010). Politically, the country is divided into four administrative districts, each administered by a Regional Administrator. There is Hhohho in the North West, Manzini in the centre (Midwest), Shiselweni in the south and Lubombo in the east. The districts are transgressed by the AEZs. The country’s population is estimated at 1,126,000 inhabitants, with annual growth rate of 2% (CSO, 2010). The total renewable water resources of the country are 3 4.51 km /year, of which 42% originates from South Africa. Irrigation uses about 90 to 95% of the water resources in the country (Lankford, 2001). Efforts towards improvement of agricultural productivity especially under SNL are constrained by the lack of water. According to Mlilo et al. (2011), the cultivated area is estimated at

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190,000 ha (178,000 ha is under annual crops and 12,000 ha is under permanent crops). Maize is the major crop in SNL because maize is the country’s staple food. However, there has been a noticed increase in the number of farmers in SNL growing sugar cane, especially those under irrigation. The irrigation potential for the country, based on the physical land capability and water availability, is estimated at 93,220 ha. Mlilo et al. (2011) reported that about 50,000 ha of the irrigated land is used for sugar cane production. Over 84% of the irrigated land is in the Lowveld, with 15% in the Middleveld. Concerning the types of irrigation, the author stated that about 52% of the land is under surface irrigation, while 48% is on other systems (draglines, fixed sprinklers and centre pivots). About 4000 ha of the irrigated land is under smallholder farmers mostly managed schemes, and irrigated mainly by overhead methods.

Smallholder irrigation in Swaziland As a result of the importance of agriculture in Swaziland’s economy, the government has prioritized water driven agriculture development programmes. It is anticipated that water will stimulate economic development by its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) via agriculture export earnings and improved livelihoods of the people. Water development is critical in rural development because it promotes the development of other infrastructure like roads, electricity and potable water, communication and provision of better health and education for the rural poor. Since the challenges of poor agriculture productivity are most felt in the rural areas, the irrigated agriculture development programmes are implemented in SNL. These are aimed to raise productivity and enable small scale Swazi farmers to convert from principally subsistence to commercial crop production (Terry, 2007). Consequently, the government has made huge investments in constructing and operating dams as a means of mitigating poverty in the rural areas. Such investments include, firstly, the (KDDP) on the Komati River in the northern Lowveld, irrigating 7,400 ha and dependent upon the Maguga Dam which was completed in 2002. The second is the ongoing Lower Usuthu Irrigation Project (LUSIP) which will service 14,500 ha in the southern Lowveld. Sugarcane is by far the dominant irrigated crop in the country, covering over 91% (more than 50,000 ha) of the harvested irrigated cropped area hence the largest single foreign exchange earner in the country (SADC, 2006). Therefore, the government is at the forefront in implementing irrigated agriculture development programmes with primary interest in the sugarcane industry of the country. Sugar cane is preferred because of its strong organizational structure and improved

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irrigation facilities hence reduced risks. Thus it is able to attract the private banking sector to finance on-farm development based on the estimated market value of future production. Because of the organized structure, lenders are able to collect their loan repayments via the sugar mills which are the primary receipt point for sugar sales proceeds. However, the sustainability of smallholder irrigation schemes cannot be guaranteed given the fact that the viability of sugar cane has been adversely affected by changes to the European Union (EU) Sugar Protocol. This has been confirmed by Malaza and Myeni (2009) who reported that a majority of the smallholder farmers under KDDP are unable to pay their loans back and might be forced out of production. In addition, the authors stated that the problem will be exacerbated by the increase of internal conflicts within the farmers’ associations as farmers are now becoming suspicious of their partners and committee members regarding financial security. The implementation of smallholder irrigation schemes in the country has been viewed differently by some authors. Matondo in 2001 [cited in Lankford (2001)] argues that the success of the sugar sector and increasing area under irrigation does not necessarily imply a healthy food security situation for the country, hence a need to promote crop diversification to reduce the risk of over-reliance on an exported cash crop. The author suggests two options for smallholder irrigation in Swaziland, which is to continue to provide and support formal smallholder irrigation that is able to cultivate cash crops, and to support traditional small-scale irrigation focused on food security by rural people. On the other hand, Manyatsi (2005) alleges that the contribution of small scale irrigation is constrained by lack of policy on agriculture and irrigation, lack of financial resources, lack of proper training, lack of adequate market for produce, and lack of appropriate technology irrigated agriculture. Lankford (2001), concerned about the sustainability of smallholder irrigation schemes, stated that further developments should consider issues of technology selection and design for management; institutional support for smallholder irrigation, and lastly the long term economic analysis of the scheme. Future developments According to the Swaziland National Development Strategy of 1995 (cited in Lankford, 2001), the following sites have been identified for future development of smallholder irrigation development projects: 1. “Along the Black Mbuluzi and White Mbuluzi Rivers in the Lowveld east of Vuvulane and along the Nkalashane River in the Lubombo region north of the Mbuluzi. 2. In the lower Mtilane basin and the lower Little Usuthu basin. 3. In the Mkhondvo basin in the middle reaches of the

Mkhondvo River and along the Ndlatane River. 4. The lower Great Usuthu basin (potentially the largest area of irrigable land) particularly in the Mabopheni area. 5. South of Ngwavuma River in the eastern Lowveld region (having the largest tracts of good to excellent soils), and also in the vicinity of the Ngwavuma’s confluence with the basin of Nsongweni River and the upstream from its confluence with the Mantambe River”. The literature review reveals that smallholder irrigation has a potential of addressing the challenge of low agricultural productivity in the country, but its ability is constrained by some sustainability factors. Then there is a need to understand and address the issue of sustainability within smallholder irrigation projects to improve their viability and improve food security in the rural communities.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The University of the Free State and the University of Swaziland are highly appreciated for their invaluable support throughout the preparation of this review paper. Special thanks go to all authors cited in the text.

REFERENCES Chel A, Kaushik G (2011). Renewable energy for sustainable agriculture. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 31:91-118. CSO (Central Statistic Office). 2010. Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. Swaziland. Dantsis, T, Loumou A, Giourage C (2009). Organic agriculture’s approach towards sustainability; its relationship with the agroinductrial complex, A case study in Central Macedonia, Greece. J. Agric. Environ. Ethics 22:197-216. Fanadzo M, Chiduza C, Mukeni PNS, van der Stoep I, Stevens J (2010). Crop production management practices as a cause for low water productivity at Zanyokwe irrigation scheme. Water SA, 36: 1: 27-36. GOS (2010). SADC regional agricultural policy. Swaziland Country Report, Zero Draft. Ministry of Agriculture, Swaziland. Jama B, Pizarro G (2008). Agriculture in Africa: Strategies to improve and sustain smallholder production systems: Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1136:218-232. Jordan J, Constance DH (2008). Sustainable agriculture and the social sciences: Getting beyond best management practices and into food systems. South. Rural Soc. 23(1):1-22. Kydd J, Dorward A, Morrison J, Cadisch G (2004). Agricultural development and pro-poor economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Potential and policy. Oxford Dev. Stud. 32(1):37-57. Lankford BA (2001). The rise of large scale formal smallholder irrigation schemes in Swaziland; An appropriate solution for rural livelihoods and agricultural production? Issue paper, School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Lichtfouse E, Navarrete M, Debaeke P, Souchere V, Alberola C, Menessiecu J (2009). Agronomy for sustainable agriculture. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 29:1-6. Ma Y, Chen L, Zhao X, Zheng H, Lu Y (2009). What motivates farmers to participate in sustainable agriculture? Evidence and policy implications. Inter. J. Sustain. Dev. World Ecol. 16(6):374-380. Malaza S, Myeni DM (2009). Integrating smallholder growers into competitive sugar production. Proc. S. Afr. Sug. Technol. Ass. 82:405-408.

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Manyatsi AM (2005). Smallholder Irrigated Agriculture and Poverty Alleviation in Swaziland. Paper presented in WARFSA/Waternet/GWPSA Symposium held at Ezulwini, Swaziland on 1st to 3rd November 2005. Mlilo P, Mhlanga NB, Senzenje AND (2011). Emerging issues in water resources management in Swaziland. http://iasc2008.glos.ac.uk. 28 May Panahi F, Malekmohammadin I, Chizari M, Samani JMV (2009). The role of optimizing agricultural water resource management to livelihood poverty abolition in Rural Iran. Austar. J. Basic Appl. Sci. 3(4):3841-3849. Rehber E, Grega L (2008). Agriculture, trade and sustainability. Eur. Leg. 13(4):463-479. SADC Review (2006). Swaziland Agriculture. SADC Review 10th Anniversary, 1997-2006. Smith LED (2004). Assessment of the contribution of irrigation to poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods. Water Resour. Dev. 20(2):243-257.

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Tapela BN (2008). Livelihoods in the wake of agricultural commercialization in South Africa’s poverty notes: insights from small-scale irrigation schemes in Limpompo Province. Dev. South. Afr. 25(2):181-198. Terry A (2007). The Komati Downstream Development Project: Achievements and Challenges. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. 98(5):641-651. Toenniessen G, Adesina A, Devries J (2008). Building an alliance for a green revolution in Africa. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1136:233-242. Yves le-gal P, Rieu T, Fall C (2003). Water pricing and sustainability of self-governing irrigation schemes. Irrigation and Drainage Systems 17: 213-238.

African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 7(28), pp. 4010-4020, 24 July, 2012 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR DOI: 10.5897/AJAR12.056 ISSN 1991-637X ©2012 Academic Journals

Review

A review of the poverty and food security issues in South Africa: Is agriculture the solution? Tshuma, M. C. Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Fort Hare, P. Bag X1314, Alice, 5700, South Africa. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +27 (0) 47 532 4601. Fax: +27 (0) 86 518 2541. Accepted 15 June, 2012

Poverty and high levels of food insecurity have been some of the biggest problems facing the nation of South Africa since the early days of democracy. Whilst the black majority hoped for a more improved economy after the country’s first democratic elections, the legacy of apartheid laws has made the reality to be a different story. Yes, it is true that the nation has continued to grow over the last decade but only the minority has enjoyed this growth at the expense of the majority. This paper attempts to review the situation in South Africa (SA) through discussing food insecurity and the different faces of poverty faced by the citizens of this rainbow nation. This paper covers a number of concepts, which include the concept of food security, poverty, their definitions and application in South Africa’s context. Poverty situation and their indicators in South Africa were also discussed. The paper advocates for the development of small-scale agricultural system in rural areas, provision of financial support and commercialization of the farm produce as the means to reduce poverty, achieve food security and decimate the high rate of unemployment in South Africa. Key words: Poverty, food security, smallholder agriculture, rural development.

INTRODUCTION Food security Food security is part of section 27 of the constitutional rights in South Africa (SA) (Department of Agriculture, 2002). Concerning these rights, the SA constitution states that, “every citizen has the right to have access to sufficient food and water, and that the state must, by legislation and other measures, within its available resources, avail to progressive realization of the right to sufficient food.” The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) in 1994 identified food security as a priority policy objective. As a result, the government reprioritized public spending to focus on the food security conditions of the historically disadvantaged people. In terms of definition, the concept of food security has many interpretations. For instance, at the 1974 World Food Summit, it was defined by the United Nations (1975) as “the availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices.” This definition has been refined and re-refined over the years in an attempt to come up with a more common and comprehensive one that

encompasses all aspects of food security. For the purposes of this paper, the definition used was postulated by FAO (2002). It regards food security at individual, household, national, regional and global levels as being achieved when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. This definition was partly constructed from the earlier works of Campbell (1991) who insists that the acquisition of “sufficient food” in defining food security should be through socially accepted means such as purchasing without having to beg, rely on charity or steal. If anyone does not have access to such socially accepted norms with which to acquire the right quantity and quality of food at the right times, then, they are thus, considered as food insecure. In short, all these definitions encompass just three main aspects which Latham (1997) documented as food availability, food access and food adequacy. The aspect of food availability means that the food required has to be available at the right time and in right quantities and quality. Therefore, food availability, though crucial in ensuring food security, does not guarantee it as this food

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should also be adequate both in quantity and quality. One of the most vital objectives of being food secure is to lead a healthy life. With this in mind, Latham (1997) holds the view that not only should food be available in correct quantities and quality when needed but its supply should be consistent in order to sustain a healthy life in terms of ensuring proper growth, resistance or recovery from disease, pregnancy, lactation and or physical work. This means that the means used to acquire this food should be always available so that the required quality and quantities of food can be accessed at any given time, from anywhere. The Department of Agriculture (2002) acknowledges the importance of these three aforementioned aspects of food security but stresses that these should exist within a certain food production system in order to achieve food security effectively and efficiently. This food system should have the capacity to produce, store, distribute and if necessary, import sufficient food to meet the basic food needs of the people. It should also be robust enough to reduce vulnerability to market fluctuations and political pressures, together with minimal seasonal, cyclical and other variations in access to food.

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Anyone whose income is below a certain level or threshold is regarded as poor. The Copenhagen Declaration of 1995 regards absolute poverty as a characteristic that defines most poor countries (SPII, 2007). Its existence in a community can be identified through the severe deprivation of basic human needs such as food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, education and information. Thus, it goes beyond lack of income to buy the minimum required food basket. From the social point of view, the United Nations (UN) (2009) says it manifests itself through hunger and malnutrition, ill-health, limited or lack of access to education and other basic services, increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments; and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by a lack of participation in decisionmaking and in civil, social and cultural life.

According to the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII) (2007), poverty is a greatly contested concept as defining and measuring what is unacceptable in a society means a lot about the way we as humans would like things to be. In defining poverty though, consensus has been around including issues such as having access to a far wider range of resources than those necessary to ensure mere survival. These different resources are needed in order to promote social solidity and comprehensiveness which are inherent in the right to human dignity. Unlike food security which is limited only to having the right type of food in correct quality and quantities, poverty encompasses other important basic human needs such as safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. Shinns and Lyne (2004) regard these goods and services as essential to human well-being. To define the concept of poverty formally, Frye (2005) suggests this be done in two ways, namely, in absolute and relative terms.

Relative poverty: A more formal definition of poverty should embrace more than just financial issues. Townsend (1979) elaborates and states that it should also emphasize the individuals’ involvement and participation in the societies they live in. With this in mind, Townsend (1979) formally defines relative poverty as a situation that exists when individuals, families and groups in the population “lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary or at least widely encouraged or approved, in the societies to which they belong. Their resources are so seriously below those commanded by the average individual or family that they are, in effect, excluded from the ordinary living patterns, customs and activities”. Put in a different way, relative poverty attempts to understand inequality in terms of distributions of resources in a society (Frye, 2005). Unlike absolute poverty that measures the number of households that are unable to afford certain basic goods and services, this concept seeks to measure the extent to which financial resources of these households fall below an average income threshold for the economy. Thus, one’s poverty status is measured against other people within the same society hence; the concept argues that an individual is poor when he/she is very much worse off than other people in their society.

Absolute poverty: To understand poverty in absolute terms, Frye (2005) proposes that reference be made to a “certain quantitative measure” which is used to distinguish the poor from the non-poor. Thus, the ability to purchase the minimal quantity of basic goods and services required for human survival should be used to distinguish the poverty status of different individuals in absolute terms (Frye, 2005). The fact that the concept is defined by measuring individuals’ purchasing power means that income is a strong factor to be considered when ranking the absolute poverty status of people.

Chronic poverty: This type of poverty encompasses both relative and absolute poverty. Instead of focusing on what actually results in poverty, chronic poverty is about the duration of that period of deprivation. Aliber (2001) describes it as a situation whereby people continue to live under circumstances of deprivation for a very long period of time, without any means with which to support themselves. Thus, under chronic poverty, the most important thing to consider is the duration of this state of “lack” more than what actually caused it. Mathole (2005) agrees with Aliber (2001) in that the household or

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individual’s inability to sustain themselves through difficult times due to factors like lack of opportunities shows the existence of chronic poverty.

A REVIEW OF THE POVERTY SITUATION IN SOUTH AFRICA According to the World Bank (2001), the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region has about 250 million people living in dire poverty. This translates to around 45% of the region’s total population. Moikowa (2004) writes that the continent of Africa has the highest number of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), with 32 of the world’s 48 least developed countries found in the continent. The majority of the poor in these LDCs live on less than $2 a day and another handful on less than $1 a day (World Bank, 2002). As a consequence, eight out of every 100 infants do not live to see their fifth birthday. Furthermore, nine of every 100 boys and 14 of every 100 girls who reach school age do not attend school (World Bank, 2002). South Africa’s poverty situation is not different in any way. Whatever type of poverty is studied, the fact remains that despite South Africa’s abundance of resources, the skewed distribution of these resources has meant that the majority of the citizens are still deprived of their fair share of them. For this reason, it is not surprising that the poverty levels in SA have continued to rise even as the country continues to develop. As May (2000) puts it, the experience of South Africans is either that of outright poverty or of continued vulnerability to becoming poor. At the present moment, there are so many South Africans in need of basic resources such as food, proper shelter and sanitation, clean water and health care facilities etc. The greatest wealth of the nation remains in the hands of the minority. Even with the attainment of democracy, racial segregation is still not a thing of the past. Literature from Mathole (2005) also points out that the most disadvantaged racial group in South Africa seems to be the black community, with 61% of its population classified as poor. This is followed by the coloureds (38%), Asians (5%) and Whites only contribute 1% towards the nation’s poor population. Due to such a skewed distribution of the nation’s wealth, Mathole (2005) thus, considers SA as a country with two countries, one being a Third World and the other is a First World. The most common notion is that the prevailing socioeconomic situation in the country is a direct result of the past, the fruit of a historical harvest (Voster, 1991). Be that as it may, Mathole (2005) insists that the legacy of apartheid should not be taken to imply that the citizens of the country are nothing but just prisoners of their past. Instead, they have a vision that they should work towards accomplishing but without forgetting their past. Democracy has paved way for the previously

disadvantaged to be recognized in their respective communities and live better lives than before. Even though development policies have not accomplished a complete reversal of the legacy of apartheid, the SA government has tried to make “a better life for all” by making everyone equal and with equal resources regardless of skin colour. What should be noted though, is that poverty is not only based on race but other social characteristics such as gender. Oettle et al. (1998) provides evidence that the most affected households are those headed by females, especially, in the deepest corners of rural areas. It is true that male-headed households also carry the burden of poverty but womenheaded ones suffer it the most for various reasons. This means that development initiatives and policies should also be implemented with women in mind to have a greater impact particularly in the rural areas whose most households are female-headed.

Symptoms of poverty in the South African context In SA, poverty manifests itself in a number of ways. The first of these are the low income levels that poor people have. Other symptoms include the poor housing facilities, high infant mortality rates, high unemployment rates and poor health facilities etc.

Low income levels Leibbrandt et al. (2010) maintain that poverty levels in SA have remained very high despite increases in the real income levels of people within different races in the country. Blacks have also benefited from these increases even though the increases have not been enough to get them out of poverty. To understand how income is distributed amongst different households in each of South Africa’s Provinces, Statistics SA (2006) carried out a General Household Survey (GHS) in 2005. The results showed the existence of big provincial variations, with the more urbanized provinces having relatively low proportions of their populations living below the ultra poverty line. The poorest provinces were found to be those with large rural populations and little access to employment opportunities. Limpopo exhibits the most poverty-stricken profiles, followed by the Eastern Cape (Statistics SA, 2006). The Western Cape Province has the highest number of households with formally employed heads in spite of having nearly one in every five children (18%) living in very poor households in terms of earned income. In the year 2002 alone, Woolard (2002) claims that eight of the 42 million people in the country were surviving on less than one US dollar (US$1) per day. During the same period, another 18 million people survived on US$2 per day. This is consistent with the

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Table 1. Number of adult and child beneficiaries of social grants from 2004 July, 2006.

Grant type Old age pension War veterans grant Disability grant Grant in aid Child support grant Foster child grant Care dependency grant Total

Number of adult recipients 2 162,990 2,624 1 356,937 28,441 ------3 550,992

Number of child recipients --------7 410,760 351,702 92,853 7 855,315

Department of Social Development (2006).

World Bank’s (2002) estimates of the extent of poverty in LDCs. Even though millions of people in SA are still poor twelve years into the new millennium, the government’s social security system should be applauded for its huge contribution towards ameliorating poverty. This system offers grants to those that are too old, too young, too disabled or busy caring for disabled dependants to work for an income. The grants are in the form of cash transfers to a substantial percentage of the population and they are meant to help the beneficiaries with poverty alleviation. As such, the grants have become a major non-employment source of income and livelihood for most poor South Africans. According to the Department of Social Development (2006), South Africa’s social security system benefits at least 25% of the entire country’s population each month (Table 1). It is therefore not surprising that the budget for the social security system provided for grant allocations of R57,7 billion in 2006/2007, R62,6 billion in 2007/2008 and R68,3 billion in 2008/2009 (Department of Social Development, 2006). Reports on the Intergovernmental Fiscal Review by the National Treasury (2005) further highlight that 88.5% of social development spending went to social assistance grants in 2004/2005. By the end of July 2006, the social grant beneficiaries were presented (Table 1). Table 1 show that children were the biggest beneficiaries of this grant system between 2004 and July 2006. However, other grant categories such as the old age pension, though not meant for children, are also used to assist the children by their recipients (Department of Social Development, 2006). Through these grants, the government is trying to get its people out of deeper poverty. Even though this has been achieved to a certain extent, it should be realized that these grants do not help all the poor. According to the Department of Social Development (2006), the reason behind this, is that only individuals with certain characteristics qualify. Thus, the system excludes those that are physically well but too poor and unable to get employment. Furthermore, the limited size of the government’s coffers means that the amount given to each beneficiary, especially for the child support grant, is too small to contribute much towards a

better life. Nevertheless, the social grants have become the greatest source of income for the majority of rural households in SA. Their role has surpassed that of smallholder agriculture by far. This is according to the findings by Fraser et al. (2003), Monde et al. (2005) and Van Averbeke and Hebinck (2007). White and Killick (2001) blame this behaviour of turning away from agriculture and towards social grants for income on the poor natural resources and high transaction costs in remote areas where physical infrastructure and services are inadequate. Consequently, these factors lead to low agricultural production which in turn promotes poverty in these rural areas. The majority of rural dwellers therefore tend to rely on social grants for their income and cultivate small pieces of land just to produce enough only for domestic consumption.

Low levels of health A nation’s health levels can be used to assess its poverty status. Health indicators that can be used to assess poverty are (i) Infant mortality rate and (ii) life expectancy.

High infant mortality rates The prevailing low levels of health in most rural areas are another symptom of poverty. With the vast amount of resources in SA, one would expect the nation’s health system to be first class but the reality is a nightmare to most citizens. The scars of the poor health system, especially, the rural areas can be seen through analyzing the Infant Mortality Rates (IMR) and the Under-five Mortality Rate (U5MR). Nannan and Hall (2010) define IMR as the probability of babies dying within their first year of life while U5MR is an overall measure of child mortality that usually encompasses the probability of dying during infancy, between ages 1 to 4 years and th overall before the 5 birthday. These two measures of infant mortality are estimated per 1000 live births during

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Table 2. IMR and U5MR for all SA provinces between 1988 and 1997 (N/1000).

Province Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng Kwa-Zulu Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape Western Cape National average

Infant mortality rate – 19881997 (N/1000) 61 53 36 52 37 47 42 42 30 45

Under-five mortality – 19881997 (N/1000) 81 72 45 75 52 64 56 56 39 59

Department of Health (1998).

the same year. Nannan and Hall (2010) recognized that both IMR and U5MR are the most widely used indicators of health status and socio-economic development because they reflect not only the child mortality levels but also the health status of the broader population. For this reason, the Department of Health (1998) used these two approaches to review the health levels for each of the nine provinces of SA between 1988 and 1997 as shown in Table 2. The highest IMR (61) and U5MR (81) were observed in the Eastern Cape Province during the period studied. This was followed by the Free State with IMR and U5MR of 53 and 72 per every 1000 births respectively (Table 2). The lowest mortality rates in the country were in the Western Cape Province. While WHO’s “Health for All” has a target of a maximum of 50 deaths per 1000 births, South Africa’s IMR’s average stood at 45 deaths for every thousand children born whereas the death rate for kids below the age of five was 59. However, in spite of this result, this figure hides the variations between population groups according to socio-economic status or region (Bradshaw et al., 2003). In fact, as stated by Bradshow et al. (2003), this study does not give any details pertaining to the causes of mortality. Despite an estimated decrease in the SA’s IMR to 22.45 deaths/1000 population, the rate still remains very high especially, when compared with other developed countries like Japan whose IMR is 2.79 deaths/1000 live births. Although, HIV/AIDS is blamed for the death of at least 40% of children under the age of five in SA, the role of poverty should be acknowledged too. Murray and Lopez (1996) rated the top twenty specific causes of death in South African children under the age of five years in 2000. Poverty-related causes included in this list were low birth weight (11.2%), diarrheal diseases (10.2%), protein-energy malnutrition (4.3%) and neonatal infections (2.8%). Using these findings by Murray and Lopez (1996), Bradshow et al. (2003) concludes that apart from the HIV/AIDS pandemic, most of the other

causes of death of infants are associated with poor socioeconomic conditions such as the lack of access to clean water and basic sanitation, a problem prevalent in the Eastern Cape.

Low life expectancy Life expectancy is an average estimate of the number of years citizens of a certain country are expected to live, taking all their socio-economic conditions into consideration. The number of years lived by people in different countries tends to differ. In 2009, the CIA World Fact book ranked South Africa as number 208 in the entire world in terms of the average life expectancy of its citizens that are expected to live an average of 48 years and 10 months. Women live longer than their male counterparts by 12 months. This was lower than the estimated global average of 66.57 years at birth (64.52 years for males and 68.76 years for females) for 2009 (CIA World Fact book, 2009). It was also very low especially when compared to the life expectancy of other developed nations like Japan, Canada, Singapore, France, Sweden, just to mention but a few, whose life expectancy remains at least at an average of 80 years. South Africa is not the only country with a life expectancy below 50 years. Findings from the CIA World Fact book (2009) show that other African countries that are worse than SA include Swaziland, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, the Central African Republic, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. HIV/AIDS has been labeled as the greatest threat to high life expectancy levels in all these SSA countries. Of South Africa's nine provinces, those with the highest HIV prevalence rates also had the lowest life expectancy - Free State and Mpumalanga, both at 47 years followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 43 years. The leading causes of death were tuberculosis (TB), influenza and pneumonia, all common opportunistic infections

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associated with HIV/AIDS.

Poor standards of housing The housing crisis in South Africa has reached extreme levels with Statistics SA (2004) estimating that there were 1.376 million people living as squatters in 2004. One might say this is extreme but Hemson and O’Donovon (2005) are convinced that the worst is yet to come. One might say this is extreme but Hemson and O’Donovon (2005) argued that the worst is yet to come. These predictions by Hemson and O’Donovon (2005) have proven not to be so unrealistic after all as the number of slum buildings increased between 2004 and 2008 from 1.376 to 2.4 million. The city of Cape Town is one of the most affected areas in terms of housing problems as indicated by its 144 informal settlements. The Cape Times Newspaper (2007) has evidence that the majority of the inhabitants of these informal settlements in the city are the young, unemployed and poor. Indications are that this situation keeps getting worse by the day, with the housing backlog expected to reach 460 000 by 2020 (Cape Times Newspaper, 2007). According to May et al. (1995) and WHO (1997), most of these informal settlements are not only over-populated but have neither hygienic sanitation nor safe drinking water. WHO (1997) further states that such dwellings are also deficient in electricity, ventilation, food preparation and storage. Inadequate access to these resources brings rise to a range of health risks including diarrheal and respiratory diseases. Woolard (2002) reveals that by year 1999, the population in SA without clean drinking water and adequate sanitation was 47 and 38% respectively.

High illiteracy rates The level of education amongst a nation’s citizens is one way of determining that particular country’s poverty status. In SA, Aitchison and Harley (2004) observed during the 2001 census that 18% of people aged between 20 years and older had no formal education at all. During the same period, 16% had only gone as far as primary education (grade one to six). In real terms, this translates to 4 567 497 and 4 083 752 people with no education at all and those with only primary education, respectively (Aitchison and Harley, 2004). This tells that at least a third of the nation’s population could be regarded as illiterate, with Limpopo and Western Cape being the provinces with the highest and lowest levels of adult illiteracy, respectively.

High unemployment rates Barker (1999) defines an unemployed person as an ablebodied person who is without work, is available to work

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and therefore is seeking work. Factors such as lack of proper education and skills, low labour absorption rates by industries and change of seasons (seasonal unemployment) can be pointed as causes of high unemployment rates in most developing countries. However, this view goes against that of Harris and Todaro (1970) and Harris and Sabot (1982) who had earlier on argued that unemployment in most developing countries is voluntary. If this is the case, then its cure can be downgraded as a policy concern (Kingdon and Knight, 2001). To challenge Harris and Todaro (1970) and Harris and Sabot’s (1982) stance on ‘voluntary unemployment’, Clark and Oswald (1994) assessed the factors behind unemployment by analyzing the utility levels of the jobless. Their findings were that unemployed persons in various countries have much lower levels of happiness or wellbeing than those in work. Consequently, the conclusion drawn is that unemployment is involuntary. This suggests that the greatest levels of poverty are mostly amongst the unemployed in South Africa. Snower and De La Dehesa (1997) thus remain convinced that large-scale unemployment in South Africa is responsible for poverty and inequality as it erodes human capital and also creates social and economic tensions. For the period of 1998, Kingdon and Knight (2001) documented that South Africa’s unemployment rate was officially measured at 39%. By year 2009, the rate had dropped to 24.9% due to economic growth which later resulted in an increase in employment opportunities particularly in the formal sector. Major contributing industries were private households which comprised mainly of domestic workers (137 000 jobs) and the personal services (132 000 jobs). However, the recent global economic slump has made it difficult for industries to increase their labour absorption rate. As a result, there is still a great need for the unemployment problem to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Perhaps, this could be the entry point that the government, agricultural economists and other stakeholders can utilize to push for smallholder agricultural development to create employment and alleviate rural poverty. Furthermore, taking the agriculture route can also ease the pressure created in urban centres by the influx of rural migrants in search of formal employment as their source of livelihood.

ROLE OF AGRICULTURE IN ADDRESSING POVERTY AND FOOD INSECURITY South Africa is self-sufficient in food production (Machete, 2004; McLachlan and Kuzwayo, 1997). However, this self-sufficiency is only at national and not household level as shown by statistics from the National Treasury (2003) and confirmed by Terreblanche (2002). These two sources maintain that about 14 million people in the country are vulnerable to food insecurity whilst another 43% of households suffer from poverty. The impact of this problem is the major characteristic of people living in

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rural areas, particularly, in the former homelands. Baiphethi and Jacobs (2009) and FAO (2004) provid evidence that not only do the former homelands have the majority (65%) of South Africa’s poor but also 78% of those likely to be chronically poor dwell in such corners of the nation. With such high numbers of the poor staying in the rural areas, development economists have debated a lot on how to tackle this problem but without any consensus being reached. Eicher (1994) regards both middle and smallholder agriculture as a positive force in ‘getting agriculture moving’. The same sentiment is shared by the likes of Lopez (2002) and Machete (2004) who also advocate for the use of agriculture as the main tool with which to tackle rural poverty. Mwaniki (2005) also argues that the key lies in increasing the agricultural profitability of smallholder farmers and creating rural offfarm employment opportunities. The inclusion of off-farm employment in addressing poverty is based on the notion that food insecurity in Africa is directly correlated with poverty hence it is necessary to not only alleviate poverty but also create wealth for the target population (Mwaniki, 2005). However, not every development economist is happy with this approach of using agriculture as the main avenue out of poverty. Nonetheless, the importance of smallholder agriculture in developing countries has been acknowledged globally. Machete (2004) writes that in an attempt to find how best to use smallholder agriculture to drive rural development, two schools of thought have emerged. The first school of thought based its argument on the statistics published by the National Treasury (2003) that the majority of South African citizens, just like in many other developing countries, are poor and dwell in the rural areas. For this reason, this school of thought is of the opinion that since most of these rural poor are already involved in agricultural production or agriculture-related activities, investing in agriculture is the most effective way to reduce poverty. Thus, primary focus and investment should be directed towards developing the smallholder agricultural sector than anything else. To lobby for the support of this approach to rural development, advocates of this school used Kenya’s example, as cited in Lele and Agarwal (1989) where smallholder farmers with farms of less than two hectares increased their share of national agricultural production from four percent (4%) in 1965 to 49% in 1985 after getting proper government support. In Zimbabwe, smallholder farmers tripled their maize production between 1980 and 1987 due to the launch of a government programme to boost maize and cotton production and development of hybrid maize varieties. According to Eicher (1994), these farmers in Zimbabwe also managed to increase their share of the national marketable maize surplus from ten percent (10%) in 1980 to 40% in 1987, an improvement that made them to be referred to as “Africa’s green revolution success story”. Whilst assistance is vital to developing the sector, aid should be geared towards the sustainability of the

agricultural systems. In order to achieve this, farmers should be trained on commercialization of their farm produce in order to maximize profits. In this way, the agricultural sector will become attractive to the unemployed. Once smallholder farmers become commercial, they tend to become more labour-productive there by creating enhanced chances of getting better financial returns for their efforts. However, even though Fan and Connie (2005) support this notion, they believed that in order to increase labour productivity, and therefore farmer’s income, there should be either an increase in the land productivity or an improvement in the land to labour ratio. Dyer (1997) and Havnevik and Skarstein (1997) further uphold the view that this inverse relationship between farm size and labour productivity is only in the short term as further increases in farm size in the long run against a small labour force renders smallholders less efficient. As a result, for smallholders to become commercial and efficient in their operations, there should be a balance between the land resources available vis-àvis the quantity of labour available to work on that particular land. Failure to strike this balance will result in the over- or under-employment of resources which in turn shows inefficiency. Other indirect benefits of this initiative of commercializing smallholders include a reduction in ruralurban migration, while the rate of unemployment reduces drastically. Apart from the employment advantages expected to emanate from improving the sector, Delgado (1998) holds the view that smallholder agriculture is simply too important to human welfare and political stability in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). For this reason, it should neither be ignored nor treated as just another small adjusting sector of a market economy. The second school of thought on rural development focuses on the provision of social services and other nonagricultural activities (Mwaniki, 2005; Orr and Orr, 2002; Ellis, 1998, 1999). The school believes that it is important for the rural folks to have gardens and farms especially, for purposes of household food production but non-farm enterprises should also be established to help in income generation (Machete, 2004; Mwaniki, 2005). Some of the non-farm income sources include old-age pensions, remittances, wages and family businesses. Other nonfarm enterprises identified by Mahajan and Gupta (2011) include trading, agro-processing, manufacturing, crafting and construction. According to DFID (2002), some of these rural non-farm sectors are crucial in economic growth, rural development and poverty alleviation in that they act as growth engines in their own right by supplying urban, rather than rural, demand. In other words, instead of competing with urban enterprises, they actually complement them and thrive on increased urban connectivity. The DFID (2002) further accepts that having such secondary sectors in the rural communities could also provide cheap and effective goods and services thereby adding value to farm commodities. A good

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example of value addition comes in the form of agroprocessing which gives more value to agricultural output whose prices have always been regarded as very low when compared to those of products from other sectors such as the manufacturing sector (FAO, 2004). In other words, the second school recognizes and acknowledges the importance of smallholder agriculture in fighting poverty but goes further to advocate for the supporting of other sectors that could run parallel and complement the agricultural sector. According to Haggblade et al. (1989), the growth of the small farms also stimulates the growth of business activities created through forward and backward linkages which in turn generates economic growth through production and consumption linkages. Van Zyl et al. (1996) share the same view as Haggblade et al. (1989) that the demand for production inputs from other sectors could be stimulated if there are gains in output resulting from investments in any given sector of the economy. If this happens, then it creates what is known as backward linkages. Backward linkages also exist if the farming households use the income they obtain from selling their produce to purchase more farming inputs (investment) or even spend it on other items that have nothing to do with agriculture at all (expenditure), such as television sets, private cars and furniture etc (Estudillo and Otsuka, 1999). By doing so, they support the manufacturing sector through their agricultural income. Dorosh and Haggblade (1993) highlight that the initial output gains also raise incomes and consequently, spur consumer demand for other goods and services (forward linkages). This means that there are some non-farm sectors that rely on agricultural produce for their survival (Estudillo and Otsuka, 1999). Thus, the agricultural sector, smallholder sector included, provides other sectors with raw materials and a market. The two schools of thought seem to be both centered on agriculture. The first school is clear on its support for using the smallholder sector as the vehicle with which to drive rural South Africans out of poverty. As for the second school, one could actually conclude that even though it advocates for alternative income sources that are non-agricultural, it is also partly dependent on the success of the smallholder agricultural sector for the backward and forward linkages. Therefore, regardless of which school of thought one opts to support, the fact remains that agriculture will always have a critical role to play in poverty alleviation and rural development be it directly or indirectly. As part of interrogating the different ways through which agriculture could be used to ameliorate rural poverty, one topic that has been greatly debated amongst development and agricultural economists is the inverse relationship between farm size and efficiency. The big question this debate has been trying to answer is whether smaller farms are more efficient than commercial ones. If they are, then, perhaps agricultural investment should

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focus towards smallholders at the expense of their largescale counterparts because of the former’s efficient use of limited resources. General findings from the likes of Byerlee and De Janvry (2009) and Ngqangweni et al. (2001) suggest that smallholders can produce efficiently even when they are subjected to opportunity cost scenarios similar to their better-resourced commercial counterparts. This is usually the case with smallholder farmers that have turned commercial in their operation by producing for marketing purposes and not entirely home consumption. The Guardian (2012) attributes such efficiency to the fact that the opportunity costs for their land and labour are relatively low thereby making smallholders competitive food producers. In addition to producing enough food, smallholders also represent an emerging market opportunity for local and international agribusiness alike. All this suggests that smallholder agriculture could be as much of a solution to household food security as it is to providing efficient use of scarce resources. In a country like SA where land for large-scale farming is very scarce, small-scale farmers can play a vital role in providing food for the nation without demanding too much of this scarce resource. This is because they are very efficient in terms of production per hectare due to their small farm sizes (Carter, 1994; Berry and Cline, 1979; Bharadwaj, 1974). Vietnam is a good example where smallholder agriculture has enhanced the food security situation since 1979. According to Pinda (2008), the country of Vietnam was a very food-deficit country and relied heavily on imports. However, through the development of its smallholder sector, the nation has since become a major food exporter and it is now the second largest rice exporter in the world. Furthermore, by 2007 the poverty rate had dropped to below 15%, compared to 58% in 1979 (Pinda, 2008). However, the SA case is different. Baiphethi and Jacobs (2009) estimate that in South Africa, at least four million people engage in smallholder agriculture. Over the past few years, the main reason for farming has emerged as the need to supplement food rather than use farming as the main source of food in rural areas (Baiphethi and Jacobs, 2009). This conclusion is consistent with the situation in the Eastern Cape Province where Monde (2003) reports agriculture’s contribution towards household income to be very unpretentious. According to Aliber (2005), on the average, smallholder agriculture contributes 15% of the total household income in SA, but for the poorest quintile the contribution is estimated at 35%. All together, the high number of people trapped in the poverty circle in the rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has created an urgent need to find ways to improve smallholder agriculture in order to improve food security at household level. As a solution, Peacock (2004) recommends more investment in the smallholder agricultural sector. However, he also recognizes that

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whilst paying much attention to liberalizing markets and creating macro-economic stability in order to stimulate demand for and prices of agricultural products has dominated the past few years, such policies are necessary but not sufficient. As such, Peacock (2004) further proposes the introduction of farmer-led initiatives as another solution. With these initiatives having been introduced, African governments need to increase their financial contributions to help the resource-poor farmers cultivate their land. In the opinion of Peacock (2004), governments also need to cooperate with NGOs to encourage farmer-led initiatives, work with African other governments to make the case for investment in smallholder agriculture and to lobby for farmers to be involved in the policy-making process. However, if this is to work, there should be a clear policy framework laid down to guide the stakeholders on the proper ways to assist the smallholder sector. This policy framework should be specific to the agriculture sector and allow for a harmonious working relationship between the farmers and both the public and private sectors. Andriessi et al. (2007) uphold the view that any form of intervention in the sector should focus on at least one or more of the following; (1) increasing agricultural productivity, (2) enhancing access to resources and services, (3) getting competitive markets and (4) creating support institutions for smallholder farmers, particularly those based in the rural areas. In achieving increased yields, effort must be made to ensure that such improvements are sustainable and not at the expense of other natural resources. Therefore, Andriessi et al. (2007) are in favour of intensive research and development (R and D) programmes with the results being used as a starting point to inform the intended intervention policies. In consequence, as much as interventions are needed, they should be based on R and D findings and not the personal ambitions or desires of the interveners. In carrying out these R and D programmes, Andriessi et al. (2007) have suggested that priority should be given to integrated soil management practices, rain-water harvesting, high quality seeds, post-harvest management, mechanization, processing and value-chain management. Since all these requires level of expertise rarely possessed by the rural smallholder farmers, capacity building is very important to make sure that they are introduced to the farmers in a way that will be understandable (Andriessi et al., 2007).

SYNOPSIS The paper has highlighted a number of critical issues pertaining to poverty and food security in SA and other developing countries. It reviewed the different definitions of the term food security as proposed by different individuals or organizations. A critical discussion of the food security and poverty levels in SA was made,

including the symptoms of the latter. However, the most sensible conclusion that one can draw based on the discussion made above is that poverty (or food insecurity) is a phenomenon that is going to be around for years to come, especially, with the ever-increasing global population coupled with land degradation, deforestation and global warming. Whilst efforts are being made by various governments or organizations to respond to the UN’s MDG of halving poverty by year 2014, it is going to take a lot more than what is currently being done. At the same time, it is widely agreed that if proper interventions are put in place, smallholder farmers can contribute to a vibrant rural sector, where locally-produced products and services meet growing local demand. This, in turn, can spur sustainable off-farm employment growth in services, agro-processing and small-scale manufacturing. Nonetheless, there is still a long way to go if food insecurity is to be tackled using smallholder agricultural approach. The type of intervention needed in the smallholder sector is not easy to isolate due to the existence of various factors that affect the sector such as the skills levels, illiteracy and financial institutions etc. As such, formulating the “best” piece of intervention that will allow the smallholder sector to deliver what large businesses require, and in turn to encourage businesses to adapt their models to be inclusive and supportive of small-scale agricultural producers will take a while and also a number of different attempts. With poverty having so many faces, enabling the rural population to produce their own food is a good strategy but on its own, it is not enough to completely eradicate this problem. As such, the SA government has already embarked on a number of other poverty alleviation strategies such as cash transfers, provision of health care, education, housing, and basic services (water, electricity, sanitation). Regarding agriculture, it has also tried to stimulate the performance of the sector by introducing a few programmes like the Massive Food Programme in the Eastern Cape, the revitalization of irrigation schemes, supporting of farmer cooperatives, Farmer Support Programmes (FSPs), etc. In conclusion, one might ask how then can improving the agricultural sector help ameliorate the different faces of poverty and also meet the different MDGs set by the UN. The answer is in the revitalization of the smallholder agricultural sector to improve the lives of the rural poor thereby relieving some pressure from the government when it comes to issues such as the extent of social grants, high unemployment and poverty levels and malnutrition problems etc. The fact that most of the food insecurity and poverty problems are experienced mostly in the rural areas of SA where the majority of the country’s population is found means that agriculture, especially smallholder agriculture can be the correct remedy for these problems. This is because the sector promotes food security and enhances rural livelihoods at household level first where improvements are needed.

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Once the household needs have been met, then the agricultural sector’s effects can trickle down to the rest of the country. One could therefore could by saying that the arguments raised by the two schools of thought regarding dealing with poverty are very valid. Policy developers, developments economists, the government and all other role-players should find roles that suit their resources and abilities within the two schools. This is to say that as others concentrate on boosting the productivity of the smallholder farmers, others could perhaps focus on how to stimulate the forward and backward linkages so that there is synergy between the sector and other critical sectors. Focus will be on agriculture together with all the complementing sectors to achieve fast and overall success. REFERENCES Aliber M (2001). Chronic poverty and development number 1: Study of the incidence and nature of chronic poverty and development policy in South Africa: An overview. University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa. Aliber M (2005). Synthesis and conclusions, in: Aliber M, De Swart C, Du Toit A, Mbhele, T & Mthethwa, T (eds.). Trends and policy challenges in the rural economy: four provincial case studies. Employment and Economic Policy Research Programme research monograph. Cape Town: Human Sciences Research Council. Aitchison J, Harley A (2004). South African Illiteracy Statistics and the case of the marginally growing number of literacy and ABET learners. Centre for adult education. University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Kwa-Zulu Natal. Andriessi W, Giller K, Jiggins J, Loffler H, Oosterveer P, Woodhill J (2007). The role of Agriculture in achieving MDG1. A review of the leading reports. Wageningen International, Wageningen, The Netherlands p.88. Bradshaw D, Bourne D, Nannan N (2003). What are the leading causes of death among South African children? Medical Research Council Policy Brief. Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa. Baiphethi MN, Jacobs PT (2009). The contribution of subsistence farming to food security in South Africa. Agrekon: 48(4):459-582. Barker F (1999). South African Labour Market: Critical Issues of Renaissance. J.L Van Schaik Publishers, Pretoria, South Africa. Berry RA, Cline WR (1979). Agrarian structure and productivity in developing countries. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Bharadwaj K (1974). Production Conditions in Indian Agriculture, Cambridge University Press, London. Bradshaw D, Bourne D, Nannan N (2003). What are the leading causes of death among South African children? Medical Research Council Policy Brief. Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South African. Byerlee D, DE Janvry A (2009). Smallholders Unite. Online: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/64661/derek-byerlee-and-alainde-janvry-joan-vanwassenhove-and-donna-b/smallholders-unite. Accessed: 14/05/2012. Campbell CC (1991). Food Insecurity: A Nutritional Outcome or a Predictor Variable? Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Carter MR (1994). Sequencing capital and land market reforms for broadly based growth. Paper No. 379, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison Cape Times Newspaper (2007). Cape Town housing crisis reaches new heights.Online:http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124 &art_id=vn20070314025018493C827158. Accessed: 28/07/1. CIA WORLD FACTBOOK (2009). List of countries by life expectancy. Online:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectan cy. Accessed: 15/11/2011. Clark AE, Oswald A (1994). Unhappiness and Unemployment. Econ. J. 104 (424): 648-659.

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Delgado CL (1998). Sources of Growth in Smallholder Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: The role of vertical integration of smallholders with processors and marketers of high value-added items. Paper presented at the Inter-Conference Symposium of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, Badplaas, South Africa. Department of Agriculture (2002). The integrated Food Security Strategy for South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa Department of Health (1998). South African Demographic and Health Survey. Department of Health, Pretoria. Department of Social Development (2006). SOCPEN database. Department of Social Development: Pretoria. DFID (2002). Non-Farm Income in Rural Areas: Policy Planning and Implementation. Keysheets No. 14. Department for International Development (DFID). Online: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/docs/3173.pdf. Accessed: 16/05/2012. Dorosh P, Haggblade S (1993). Agriculture-led growth: food grains versus export crops in Madagascar. Agricul. Econ. 9(2):165-180. Dyer G (1997). Class, State and Agricultural Productivity in Egypt: A Study of the Inverse Relationship between Farm Size and Land Productivity, Frank Cass Publishers, London. Eicher CK (1994). African Agricultural Development Strategies. In: Stewart F, Lall S and Wangwe, S (eds.). Alternative Development Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: The Macmillan Press. Ellis F (1998). Household strategies and rural livelihoods diversification. J. Dev. Stud. 35(1):1-38. Ellis F (1999). Livelihood diversification and sustainable rural livelihoods; IN: D. Carney (Ed.), Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, What Contribution can We Make? DFID. London. Estudillo JP, Otsuka K (1999). Green revolution, human capital and offfarm employment: changing sources of income among farm households in central Luzon, 1966-1994. Econ. Dev. Cult. Change 47(3):497-523. Fan S, Connie C (2005). Is small beautiful? Farm size, productivity and poverty in Asian agriculture. Agric. Econ. 32(1):135-146. FAO (2002). The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2001. Rome FAO (2004). Socio-economic analysis and policy implications of the roles of agriculture in developing countries. Summary Report, Roles of Agriculture Project, FAO, Rome, Italy. Fraser G, Monde N, Van Averbeke W (2003). Food security in South Africa: a case study of rural livelihoods in the Eastern Cape, in: Nieuwoudt L & Groenewald J (eds.). The challenge of change: agriculture, land and the South African economy. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press. Frye I (2005). Constructing and adopting an official poverty line for South Africa: Some issues for consideration: A discussion document. National Labour and Economic Development Institute, South Africa Guardian (2012). Backing smallholder farmers today could avert food crises tomorrow. Online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/globaldevelopment/poverty-matters/2010/oct/14/smallholder-farmersagribusiness-investment. Accessed: 14/05/2012. Haggblade S, Peter H, Brown J (1989). Farm-nonfarm linkages in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. World Dev. 17(8):1173-1201. Harris J, Todaro M (1970). Migration, unemployment and development: A two-sector analysis. Am. Econ. Rev.60(1):126-142. Haris J, Sabot R (1982). Urban unemployment in LDCs: Towards a more general search model, in R. Sabot (ed), Migration and the labour market in developing countries. West view Press, Boulder. Havnevik JK, Skarstein R (1997). “Land Tenure, State-Peasant Relations and Productivity in Tanzanian Agriculture” in Amit Bhaduri and Rune Skarstein (ed.), Economic Development and Agricultural Productivity (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) pp. 183-212. Hemson D, O’donovan M (2005). Putting numbers to the scorecard: Presidential targets and the state of delivery: In S. Bhulungu, J. Daniel, R. Southall, J. Lutchman (eds.), State of the Nation: South Africa 2005–2006 (Human Sciences Research Council) pp. 11–45. Kingdon GG, Knight J (2001). Unemployment in South Africa: the nature of the beast. Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford, Oxford. Latham M (1997). Human Nutrition in the developing world. FAO. ROME Leibbrandt M, Woolard I, Finn A, Argent J (2010). Trends in South

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African Income Distribution and Poverty since the Fall of Apartheid. OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers. University of Cape Town, South Africa p. 101. Lele U, Agarwal M (1989). Smallholder and Large Scale Agriculture in Africa: Are There Trade Offs Between Growth and Equity? MADIA Project. Washington, DC: World Bank. Lopez R (2002). Agricultural Growth and Poverty Reduction. Socioeconomic Analysis and Policy Implications of the Roles of Agriculture in Developing Countries. Roles of Agriculture Project, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy. Machete C (2004). Agriculture and poverty in South Africa: can agriculture reduce poverty? Paper presented at the Overcoming Underdevelopment Conference held in Pretoria. Mahajan V, Gupta RK (2011). Non-Farm Opportunities for Smallholder Agriculture. Paper presented at the IFAD Conference on New Directions for Smallholder Agriculture, 24-25 January, 2011. Mathole EMK (2005). The Christian witness in the context of poverty, with special reference to the South African charismatic evangelicals. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria. May J (2000). Poverty and inequality in South Africa: Meeting the challenge. David Phillips publishers, Cape Town, South Africa. May J, Carter M, Posel D (1995). The composition and persistence of poverty in rural South Africa, an entitlements approach to poverty. Land and Agriculture Policy Centre Policy Paper No. 14. Johannesburg, South Africa. Mclachlan M, Kuzwayo P (1997). Bold Choices: Making the South African Nutrition Strategy Work, Development Paper 128, Development Bank of Southern Africa. Monde N (2003). Household food security in rural areas of central Eastern Cape: The case of Guquka in Victoria East and Koloni in Middledrift Districts. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of Fort Hare, South Africa. Monde N, Chiduza C, Brutsch MO, Mnkeni PNS, Mtshali S, Dladla R, Modi AT, Mthembu BE, van der stoep I, Stevens J (2005). Best management practices for smallholder farming on two irrigation schemes and surrounding areas in the Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulunatal through participatory adaptive research: A Situation Analysis Report on the Zanyokwe and Tugela Ferry Irrigation Schemes. WRC Project NrK5/1477. Deliverable number 2. Murray CJ, Lopez AD (1996). The Global Burden of Disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020. Vol. 1, Global Burden of Disease and Injury series. Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. Mwaniki A (2005). Achieving Food Security in Africa - Challenges and Issues. Cornell University. USA Nannan N, Hall K (2010). HIV and Health - Child mortality (IMR & U5MR). Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town. National Treasury (2003). Intergovernmental fiscal review. National Treasury, Pretoria. National Treasury (2005). Intergovernmental fiscal Review. National Treasury, Pretoria. Ngqangweni SS, Kirsten JF, Delgado CL (2001). How efficient are African smallholders? A case study in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Agrekon 40(1):58-65. Oettle N, Fakir S, Wentzel W, Giddings S, Whiteside M (1998). Encouraging sustainable smallholder agriculture in South Africa. Environment and Development Consultancy Ltd, Wales. Orr A, Orr S (2002). Agriculture and Micro Enterprise in Malawi's Rural South. London: ODI, AgREN Network Paper p. 119.

Peacock, C (2004). Smallholder agriculture: Africa’s pathway out of poverty. Online: http://uk.oneworld.net/article/view/83870/1/3485. Accessed: 29/06/12. Pinda MP (2008). Keynote address by Honourable Mizengo P. Pinda (MP), Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, at the Eleventh Sokoine Memorial Lecture, Sokoine University of Agriculture. Online: http://www.suanet.ac.tz/alumni/pdf/pinda.pdf. Accessed: 15/05/11. Shinns LH, Lyne MC (2004). Possible Causes of Poverty within a Group of Land Reform Beneficiaries in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal: Analysis and Policy Recommendations. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Snower DJ, De La Dehesa G (1997). Unemployment policy: Government options for the labour market. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Statistics SA (2004). Statistics in Brief. Statistics South Africa, Pretoria. Statistics SA (2006). General Household Survey 2005. Pretoria, Cape Town: Statistics South Africa. Analysis by Debbie Budlender, Centre for Actuarial Research, UCT. Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII) (1997). The Measurement of Poverty in South Africa Project: Key issues. Richmond, Johannesburg. Terreblanche S (2002). A History of Inequality in SA. University of Natal Press & K M M Publishing, Pietermaritzburg. Townsend P (1979). Poverty in the United Kingdom: A Survey of Household Resources and Standards of Living, Penguin: London. United Nations (1975). Report of the World Food Conference, Rome 516 November 1974. New York. United Nations (2009). Rethinking Poverty: Report on the World Social Situation. United Nations, New York. Van Averbeke W, Hebinck P (2007). Contemporary livelihoods. In Hebinck and Lent (Eds.) ‘livelihoods and landscapes: the people of Guquka and Koloni and their resources’. Brill publishers, Netherlands. Van Zyl J, Kirsten J, Binswanger HP (1996). Agricultural land reform in South Africa. Oxford University Press, Cape Town. Voster WS (1991). Building a new nation. UNISA, Pretoria. White H, Killick T (2001). African poverty at the millennium, causes, complexities and challenges. Strategic Partnership with Africa. World Bank, Washington D.C. USA. Woolard I (2002). An overview of poverty and inequality in South Africa. Working Paper prepared for DFID (SA), RSA. World Health Organisation (1997). Improving Environmental Health Conditions in Low-income Settlements – A Community Based Approach to Identifying Needs and Priorities, World Health Organization and United Nations Environment Programme. Geneva. World Bank (2001). Poverty trends and voices of the poor. The World Bank, Washington DC. World Bank (2002). Children and Poverty. Online: http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/pb/pbchildren.htm. Accessed: 29/06/12.

African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 7(28), pp. 4021-4028, 24 July, 2012 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR DOI: 10.5897/AJAR12.1098 ISSN 1991-637X ©2012 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Consumers’ awareness of food labeling: A case study of United Arab Emirates Aydin Basarir* and Sherin Sherif Department of Agribusiness, Faculty of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University, P. O. Box 17555, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates. Accepted 3 July, 2012

The main objective of this study is to examine consumers’ awareness for food labeling in United Arab Emirates (UAE), along with identification of the socioeconomic characteristics and attitudes which make consumers aware of the subject. The UAE is an economy with a peculiar nature; more than 80% of its residents are expatriates from all over the world. A total of 500 respondents from all over the UAE were randomly selected and surveyed through face-to-face interviews. The deterministic statistics and frequency tables of data were prepared and analyzed. An ordered probit model was utilized to see the effect of social characteristics and attributes on the consumers’ awareness for food labeling. According to the results, 89.6% of respondents indicated that they read information provided on food labels. Among the attributes written on the labels, the three most important that were read by respondents more frequently were expiration date, list of ingredients, and the country of origin. The results of ordered probit model shows that the probability of reading food labels more frequently increases with older, more educated, and those who have more children under age of 18. Key words: Consumer‟s awareness, food labeling, ordered probit model, imported food, healthy diet.

INTRODUCTION Food labeling is a major instrument enabling consumers to have information about the kind of food they purchase and make nutritionally appropriate choices. Having a supportive marketing environment that provides content of food items can be considered as a principle in promoting the health of consumers. Providing food content information on packets can be thought of as an important element for consumer protection. “Consumers have as much right to know the nutrient content of the foods they choose to purchase as they do to know its country of origin and that it is safe to eat” (Cowburn and Stockley, 2005). “Labeling includes any written, printed or graphic matter that is present on the label, accompanies the food, or is displayed near the food, including that for the purpose of promoting its sale or disposal” (Joint, 2007). To assist international trade and global

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +971 3 713 3382. Fax: +971 3 713 3181.

consumers, international guidelines, in the form of the Codex General Standard for the labeling of pre-packaged foods is developed and revised as needed. The most recent guidance has been revised in 2007and requires all member countries (over 170) to follow. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); besides UAE, there are five other countries that include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Standards Organization (GSO) is responsible for developing food and other standards in the GCC. This organization is continuously updating food standards in all member countries. The existing standards have been harmonized in the past few years within the guidelines of the Codex Alimentarius, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and other international organizations. The GSO member countries have been revising the shelf life and labeling of food items which were updated in 2007 from the earlier standards issued in the nineties. As the food safety issue has become an important topic all around the world, it is a major concern in the GCC region as well. The issue is

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more critical since many food products are imported from all around the world. As a result of food threats that have occurred in the region within the past decade, the concern about the ability of GCC governments to guarantee the safety and quality of food imports became an important topic (Al-Kandari and Jukes, 2009). The researchers are not aware of other research studies done in GCC region or other neighboring countries related to the issue in question. Many countries in the world are developing mandatory or voluntary programs to assure food safety by using traceability in food value chain “Traceability is defined as the ability to follow the movement of a food through specified stage(s) of processing, production, and distribution” (Souza-Monteiro and Caswell, 2004). In order to facilitate communication regarding existing direct or indirect risk to consumer‟s health from food or food contact material, a rapid alert system for food (GRASF) has been developed in Saudi Arabia for all GCC countries. In addition to GRASF, food and non-food standards in the GCC and Yemen is developed by GSO. The Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) is working with GSO to either develop or adopt the standard necessary in food production processing and handling. The establishment and enforcement of food safety regulation is under the responsibility of UAE Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW). The MOEW is working with the National Food Safety Committee (NFSC) and Veterinary Committee (VC) to deal with food, meat, and poultry related matters (Taha, 2012). The majority of GCC countries have low foodsufficiency rates for the main food commodities. As a result of arid climate and shortage of arable land, the UAE relies on importing most of the basic food items. According to the UAE National Bureau Statistics (2012), the contribution of agriculture, livestock, and fishing to the GDP of the country is less than 1% (0.8%) and only 1% of land is available for agricultural production. Even where land is available for agriculture, the country faces severe irrigation water shortages. As a result of that, achieving food security depends mostly on food imports which have been steadily rising in recent years. The steady increase in food imports is mainly because of high income and population growth rate. UAE is importing food items mainly from Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, China, India (mainly rice), United States, Egypt (mainly rice and fruits), Brazil (mainly beef and poultry), and New Zealand (mainly beef and lamb). The countries have mandatory food labeling regulations. The imported food products are regularly inspected at the time of entry to UAE, at production stage, and at the retailing places. Both imported and locally produced food items are required to have the same food safety regulations and labeling requirements (Taha, 2012). In UAE, the self-sufficiency ratio for cereal is none, compared to fruits (68.75%) and vegetables (54.23%). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization

(FAO), there is some food production in the UAE, but most of the food is imported. The total value of agricultural imports of UAE was $4.825 billion (AED17.746 billion). The largest consumption of food groups is vegetables, cereals and fruits (562, 390, and 372 g/person/day, respectively) (FAO, 2011). A reliable and uniform food production in the exporting countries will ensure quality and safety of food in UAE and avoid any food security concerns. The major food imports of UAE are milled paddy rice, sugar, food prepared, oil of palm, pistachios, wheat, tea, chicken meat, dry-whole cow milk, and chocolate products. UAE is the second largest rice importer in the world ($327.80 million = AED 1205.65 million) after Saudi Arabia; and the fifth largest refined- sugar importer of the world ($222.20 million = AED 816.59 million). Wheat is a major UAE imported commodity due to its multiple uses and ranks ninth in total UAE food imports (FAO, 2011). In the UAE, such as the case in most developing economies, increasing consumer awareness of nutritional issues constitutes an urging need on behalf of the Emirati Government to avail accurate and standardized nutrition labeling. It is obvious that nutrition sells today to consumers, from marketing standpoint, making nutrition an integral part of product development and promotion. Consumer feedback is a powerful mechanism for manufacturers in developing new food products that provide the health and nutrition characteristics sought by the public. Food marketers, in general, oppose any labeling proposals that may threaten their control of food packages. Food labels are thought to be the source of information that Emirati people rely on when assessing any information regarding the safety or quality of the food they eat. GSO is still working on the issue of putting standards for packed food labels to make sure that customers get all detailed information about the goods they buy. Accordingly, the main objective of this study is to examine the consumer‟s awareness for food labeling in the UAE and to identify the socioeconomic characteristics and attitudes which make the respondent aware of the subject. The study utilized a cross-section survey to achieve its objective. The study should be considered a good source of information for both food-policy makers and marketers to value the kind of information that the UAE consumer seeks. Global studies on the use of food labels reveal that consumers want comprehensive nutrition information on food labels (Caswell and Mojduszka, 1996; Cowburn and Stockley, 2005; Drichoutis et al., 2009; Kiesel and Villas-Boas, 2007; Loureiro et al., 2006; Wills et al., 2009). As consumers‟ awareness for dietary preferences increases, consumers want more information to be provided on the labels. As indicated by Caswell and Padberg (1992), food labels play important roles in the food marketing via their impact on product design, advertising, consumer confidence in food quality, and consumer education on diet and health. As a result of

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previous research on the relationship between diet and health, consumer‟s interest in the nutritional content of specific foods has increased. That is why the future of food information services is important. With the growing attention to Escherichia coli outbreaks and mad cow disease, consumers are increasingly questioning the food they eat. In response, many in the food industry are beginning to provide both transparent and convenient information regarding food's history. Many small scale farms recognized this needed service and have created blogs that explained general farming principles, provided photos of the land, animals, and equipment, and portrayed the daily lives of farmers and their families (Kline, 2007). The literature on food labeling can be thought of in two categories. In the first category, researchers searched the consumer‟s awareness and preferences for food labeling. As for the second category, the respondents‟ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for labeled food is analyzed. As indicated before, because of some possible diseases resulting from it, a significant number of researches were conducted on the labeling of meat. Consumer preferences for labeling of fresh or frozen meat in retail stores were analyzed by different researchers (Lusk and Fox, 2002; Piedra et al., 1995; Schupp et al., 1998). Lusk and Fox (2002) estimated the value of policies that would mandate labeling of beef from cattle produced with growth hormones or fed genetically-modified corn. At no cost, 85% of respondents desired mandatory labeling of beef produced with growth hormones and 64% of respondents preferred mandatory labeling of beef fed genetically-modified corn. Piedra et al. (1995) found out that the rural respondents of Louisiana, USA, placed more emphasis on nutritional labeling than did urban respondents. While there was a voluntary nutrition labeling of packaged domestic fresh meats in retail stores, there was mandatory country-of-origin labeling law of fresh meat at both the state and national levels in the USA. Availability and use of these labels in Louisiana retail stores were examined by Schupp et al. (1998). One-half of the responding households perceived that these nutrition labels were in use in stores, and when available, they were used by most respondents. In another study, Schupp and Gillespie (2001) surveyed beef handling firms in Louisiana, USA, by phone. The sample included processors, retailers and restaurants. The researchers tried to identify whether the handlers were supporting the mandatory country-of-origin labeling or not. There was a considerable interest in country-of-origin labeling of fresh or frozen beef amongst the handlers. Ibrahim et al. (2010) also examined the factors that influence university students‟ willing to purchase transgenic meat. Results showed that respondents who said they read labels when shopping were more likely to purchase transgenic meat. Results suggested that respondents who trust scientists to tell them the truth about transgenic meat were more

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likely to purchase transgenic meat. Respondents who identified themselves as sophomores, however, were less likely to consume transgenic meat. Some other studies have been conducted to analyze consumer‟s awareness and preferences for imported aquaculture products (Joseph et al., 2009; Wozniak, 2010). Wozniak (2010) questioned the issue of country of origin labeling (COOL) and salmon consumption. Using a nonlinear Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model, the demand for 3 salmon products was estimated: precooked, uncooked fresh, and uncooked frozen. COOL had no significant impact on consumer demand for the three products. Joseph et al. (2009) developed a conceptual model of heterogeneous consumers that examines the consequences of partial Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) implementation on welfare and diversion. Numerical simulation results showed that diversion is possible in the partial MCOOL scenario and the higher the perceived quality of domestic fish the greater the diversion of low-quality imports to the nonlabeled market. Real consumer surplus was greatest under total MCOOL implementation when quality differences between domestic and foreign fish are perceived to be great. As for WTP studies, the researchers tried to find consumers‟ awareness of the labeling and if consumers want to pay extra over the original price. Prathiraja and Ariyawardana (2003) conducted a study with a view of identifying the market for nutritional labeling and the factors that influence the consumer‟s willingness-to-pay for nutritional labeling in Sri Lanka. A significantly greater proportion of individuals in the age category of 36 to 50 years, individuals with tertiary education, individuals with special dietary status, and households with less than four members were willing to pay more for the nutritional labels. Tonsor and Shupp (2009) evaluated consumer‟s perceptions of what “sustainably produced” food labels imply and estimated the corresponding demand for products carrying these labels. Results suggested that the typical U.S. consumer is not willing to pay a positive premium for beef, toma-toes, or apple products labeled as “sustainably produced.” Demand is particularly sensitive to inferences consumers make regarding what a “sustainably produced” food label implies. Jones et al. (2010) also examined consumer WTP for clone-free meat labels. Data were collected at the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition (Ag Expo) in Moultrie, Georgia, using a consumer self-administered survey instrument. Survey results showed that the majority (59.45%) of the respondents said they were willing to pay for clone-free labels. Bid amount, gender, and education were the factors that influenced WTP for clone-free labels. In addition, Nurse et al. (2010) examined the potential psychological predictors of stated WTP for different sustainable food attributes. Specifically, consumer‟s attitudes and level of perceived consumers‟ effectiveness (PCE) were measured to identify and define potential

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factors that aid in predicting consumers‟ WTP for products labeled locally grown, organically grown, or fair trade. The research concluded that there was a significant relationship between PCE and the marginal attribute values of local, organic, and fair trade produces. In sum, the reviewed articles stressed on the importance of consumer awareness and the demand for food labeling from both marketing and policy perspectives and in both the developed and the developing world. Several research models have been suggested and implemented with some apparent preference to the logit model. Unfortunately, the above issue was not handled in the UAE from either marketing or policy perspectives. This fact in itself justifies the importance of the study in hand, since it could give insight and lead related future research. The results of the study could also aid foodpolicy makers in the country to make more accurate decisions regarding food-importation policies. It could also identify to marketers what consumers perceive as the most important when to it comes to food labeling.

frequency of reading food labels. The responses for each statement were taken as the dependent variable in the ordered probit model. Following Long (1997), the ordered probit model (OPM) can be explained as follows: Before deriving the OPM, a measurement model should be calculated. The measurement model includes a latent variable which can be called to +

. The variable ranges from -

and mapped over an observed value

measurement equation, the variable incomplete information about

. According to the

is believed to provide

.

if

for

(1)

Where the ‟s are called the thresholds or cut-points. The observed is related to

according to the measurement model. The simple

explanation of analysis is as follows:

(2) MATERIALS AND METHODS The United Arab Emirates is a constitutional federation of seven emirates; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. According to 2011 estimated statistics, the UAE per capita income and population were $39,623 and 8.26 million, respectively. The UAE nationals accounted for 11.48% or about 948,000 of the population. The majority of population (88.52%) is expatriates from all over the world. The majority of the UAE nationals as well as expatriates reside in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah (Mundi, 2012). That is why the three emirates were taken as representative of both nationals and expatriates sample selection of this study. As for sample, the purpose of the paper was to investigate consumers‟ awareness about food labeling in the UAE. Despite the fact that 88.52% of UAE‟s population is foreigners; the sample was a little biased towards nationals since most of the affluent foreigners in the UAE come from the Western world. Those Westerns are known to be significantly aware of the importance of food labeling, as indicated in available studies on the issue. The researchers are not aware of any studies on food labeling in the UAE from the nationals perspective. That is why the sample was biased to include nationals as the major domain of consumers in the sample. The respondents were randomly selected and interviewed. A total of 500 questionnaires were conducted via face to face interviews. The number of questionnaires allotted for each Emirate was determined according to its population. The survey included attitudinal questions and elicited economic and demographic information of the respondents. The survey further included questions to identify consumers‟ awareness and demand for labeling of food items in UAE. The data collectors were trained first, pilot tests were conducted, and then the survey was applied. In this research, respondents were asked to respond to the statement “A variety of information is provided on food labels. How often do you read food labels?” The response categories were never, rarely, sometimes, and often. In this study, it was aimed to analyze the factors affecting the respondents‟ attitudes of reading the labels. That is why even if the respondents claimed that they do not read the labels, they would still be within the focus of interest in the study, and consequently they were asked to complete the

As done with binary regression models, maximum likelihood estimation can be used to regress

on x. In OPM, the error term

( ) is distributed normally with mean 0 and variance 1. The pdf for ordered probit model is: (3) And the cdf is: (4)

The probability of any observed outcome

given x can be

calculated by using equation 5. In this equation,

or

is

constrained to 0 to identify the model. (5) The probability of observing whatever value of

was actually

observed for the ith observation is:

(6)

survey. It is assumed that the alternative answers ( ) is related to a continuous, latent variable

that indicated a

respondent‟s

If the observations are independent, the likelihood equation is:

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Table 1. The frequency of reading food labels.

A variety of information is provided on food labels. How often do you read food labels? Never Rarely Sometimes Often

Frequency

Percentage

52 119 221 108

10.4 23.8 44.2 21.6

Table 2. The kind of information that the respondent are looking for on food labels.

Attributes The list of ingredients The short phrases on the label like “low-fat” or “light” The nutrition panel include the amount of calories, protein, etc. The chemical and pesticide information The biotechnology information The expiration dates The country of origin (made in………….) The food storage and handling instruction The organic seal/certification

(7) Combining Equations 5, 6 and 7, (8)

indicates multiplying over all cases where

is observed to

equal . Taking logs, the log likelihood is: (9) Equation 9 can be maximized to estimate the

s and

s.

Using these equations, the descriptive statistics of variables used in analysis in this study were provided. Using ordered probit model, the effects of independent variables on the frequency of reading food label were analyzed. The marginal effects of each independent variable were also given. And according to the results of the study, some suggestions were lined up.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION As indicated in Table 1, of the 500 respondents only 10.4% never read food labels. Most of the respondents are reading the labels; that is why the producers/ processors should prepare the labels as clear as possible. As shown in Table 2, the respondents are mostly looking to the expiration date of the products on the labels. This is a basic indicator of people‟s awareness of negative circumstances which might occur as a result

Always 40.0 33.4 31.8 26.2 23.8 49.4 35.6 24.2 24.0

Sometimes 34.2 40.2 31.4 35.6 32.8 27.4 35.2 33.6 31.6

Rarely 17.8 19.8 27.4 24.2 27.2 16.2 21.8 25.6 22.0

Never 8.0 6.6 9.4 14.0 16.2 7.0 7.4 16.6 22.4

of consuming outdated products. Supplying fresh products will enhance the success of any food producer. The second important information that the respondents look for is the list of ingredients contained in the food. Since the peoples‟ concern of dietary and food in tank is increasing, this was an expected result. In contrast, the less concern seems to be “the food storage and handling instruction” and “the biotechnology information.” Generally, customers are loyal to certain brands and retail stores and they are aware of and trust the way products have been stored and handled. That may explain why they do not concern themselves that much with this issue. As for the biotechnology information, it is hard to understand most of it. Sometimes only experts of the subject can understand the information. Probably the customer‟s loyalty and trust of the producers decrease their concern about the issue. The respondent‟s food labeling choices are shown in Table 3. Of the 500 respondents, 21.8% do not know or refused food labeling. Only 7.4% of the respondents indicated that there was no need for food labeling in UAE. The majority were willing to see labels on the food they have been consuming.

The empirical model As previously indicated in the methodology section, ordered probit model was implemented. The independent and explanatory variables used in the models are shown in Table 4. Since the frequency of reading food labels

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Table 3. The respondent‟s food labeling choices.

Which of the following best describes your attitude regarding the food labeling requirements of the UAE government? Do not know / refused No need for food labeling in the UAE Only biotechnology information should be noted All food products should be labeled

Frequency

Percentage

109 37 74 279

21.8 7.4 14.8 55.9

Table 4. Deterministic statistics of data used in ordered probit model analysis.

Variable LREAD: The frequency of reading food labels (0: never, 1: rarely, 2: sometimes and 3: often) GENDER: The gender of respondent (1: male and 0: female) AGE: The age of respondents ( 1: ≤17, 2: 18-24, 3: 25-35, 4: 36-45, 5: 46-55, 6: 56-64, and 7: ≥65 MSTATUS: Marital status of respondent (1: married, 0: otherwise)

Mean Std. Dev. 1.77 0.90 0.61 0.49 2.99 1.24 0.42 0.49

Min. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Max. 3.00 1.00 7.00 1.00 4.00

EDUCAT: Education level of respondent (0: no education, 1: less than high school, 2: high school graduate, 3: college graduate, and 4: post graduate)

2.65

0.84

0.00

NATIONAL: The nationality of respondent (1: Emirati and 0: otherwise) HHSIZE: the household size of respondent (in numbers) CHILDR: The number of children aged 18 or younger lives at respondent‟s home (in numbers)

0.68 6.76 2.37

0.47 4.87 1.76

0.00 1.00 0.00 15.00 0.00 5.00

INCOME: The respondents monthly household net income in dirham (1: less than 2000, 2: 20003999, 3: 4000-5999, 4: 6000-7999, 5: 8000-9999, 6: 10000-11999, 7: 12000-13999, 8: 1400015999, 9: 16000-17999, 10: 18000-19999, 11: 20000-21999, 12: 22000-23999, 13: 24000-25999, 14: 26000-27999, and 15: 28000 and more)

8.49

4.90

1.00 15.00

(LREAD) had a rank structure, the ordered probit model was the most appropriate model to use. The dependent variable of the model was LREAD and the ranked alternative answers were never, rarely, sometimes, and often. The result of the model is given in Table 5. According to the results, education level (EDUCAT) and the number of children aged 18 or younger living at respondent‟s home (CHILDR) both have positive influence on LREAD, which was expected. On the other hand, the emirate (NATIONAL) and those who have larger household (HHSIZE) both do not have influence on LREAD. The main reason is that the emirate and those respondents who have larger household size generally have maid and workers who take care of all kinds of shopping. Meanwhile, there was no prior information about the difference between nationals and non-nationals living in the UAE regarding food shopping habits. It was an implicit goal of the paper to identify the difference between national and non-nationals in term of reading food labels. The results of regression analysis indicated that expatriates were reading food labels more frequently than the UAE nationals. Since older people are more careful about their diet, the influence of age (AGE) on LREAD was expected but it is not significant. Even

though it is not significant, females seem to be reading the food labels more than males, which are again expected as they go more often than males for food shopping. The probabilities and marginal effects of LREAD model are given in Table 6. According to the results, the predicted probability of reading food labels is 98.8%. Based on the marginal effects, female respondents are reading the food labels more frequently than the males. In addition, older people read labels more frequently, but married respondents read less. Educated respondents read labels more frequently but those who have higher income read less frequently. Emirati respondents and those who have larger household read labels less frequently, on the other hand, those who have more children under the age of 18 read labels more frequently.

Conclusion Results indicated that the majority of respondents read the information provided on food labels. In addition to that, more than half of them would like to see labeled food items on stores‟ shelves. Among the attributes written on the labels, the three most important that were checked by respondents were expiration date, list of

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Table 5. Maximum likelihood estimates of ordered probit model (LREAD).

Variable Constant GENDER AGE MSTATUS EDUCAT NATIONAL HHSIZE CHILDR INCOME

Coefficient 1.366 -0.092 0.006 -0.026 0.126 -0.273 -0.033 0.067 -0.012

t-statistic (asymptotic) 5.543*** -.912 .119 -.235 2.127** -2.195** -2.676*** 2.045** -1.119

Log likelihood function:-621.297; Chi squared: 26.325. *: significant at 0.10 level; **: significant at 0.05 level; ***: significant at 0.01 level.

Table 6. Predicted probabilities and marginal effects from the estimated ordered probit model (LREAD).

Data Predicted probabilities Marginal effects *GENDER AGE *MSTATUS EDUCAT *NATIONAL HHSIZE CHILDR INCOME

Y=0 Never 0.002

Y=1 Rarely 0.004

Y=2 Sometimes 0.988

Y=3 Often 0.006

0.0157 -0.0010 0.0045 -0.0217 0.0444 0.0056 -0.0115 0.0021

0.0178 -0.0011 0.0050 -0.0242 0.0531 0.0063 -0.0128 0.0024

-0.0068 0.0004 -0.0020 0.0097 -0.0158 -0.0025 0.0052 -0.0010

-0.0267 0.0016 -0.0075 0.0362 -0.0817 -0.0094 0.0192 -0.0036

ingredients and the country of origin. The biotechnology information, food storage and handling instructions, and the organic certification were read rarely by the respondents. Furthermore, the older, more educated, and those who have more children under age of 18 read food labels more frequently. On the other hand, most of the respondents want the food items to be labeled mandatorily in UAE. The identification of how UAE consumers perceive food labeling, whether there are legislation and laws or not, should be of importance to the government and to the people in charge of the food labeling process. This is because labeling food, no matter how accurate it is, will have no significance or value to the consumers if they do not believe in its importance (for example, they buy food from the shelves regardless of whether food is labeled or not). In addition, there is a lot of money spent on legalizing food labels. Probably, it would be helpful to policy makers to devote money to educating the consumers about the importance of labeling food more than just caring for passing laws and legislation and to have them in effect. In other words, the national UAE

consumers are probably just looking for the basic information written on the food labels. And to most of them, food labels simply mean information about the country of origin, ingredients and expiration dates. That is why identifying UAE consumers‟ awareness about the food labeling issue was of importance in this study to highlight what Emirati consumers perceive the most. One of the suggestions to policy makers would be to provide education and awareness programs for UAE nationals to read the entire information written on the label. This is because food labeling is not confined to the basic information UAE consumers look at. It is much more than that. It includes information on the existence of hazardous materials, genetically modified ingredients which their hazard is not yet known, having carcinogenic materials, and so on. Policy makers, on the other hand, can benefit from the study results by making laws and legislation regarding the establishment of food labeling in the country. Standardization of the way that labeling should be made has to be set by the government and then food producers/processors should be educated about its importance and implementation. This is

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important as the trend now is uprising regarding issues related to food safety, nutrition and quality. And for a country that imports more than 95% of its food needs, a revision of food importing policies should be made with more emphasis on labeling. The hazardous impacts of new technologies adopted in food production/processing are increasing, so is the awareness of consumers worldwide and in the UAE.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The investigators would like to express their sincere appreciation to the Research Affairs at the United Arab Emirates University for the financial support of the project under fund grant # 01-03-6-11/08, which this paper has been prepared from. REFERENCES Al-Kandari D, Jukes DJ (2009). A situation analysis of the food control systems in Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Food Control 20(12):1112-1118. doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2009.02.012. Caswell JA, Mojduszka EM (1996). Using informational labeling to influence the market for quality in food products. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 78(5):1248-1253. Caswell JA, Padberg DI (1992). Toward a more comprehensive theory of food labels. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 74(2):460-468. Cowburn G, Stockley L (2005). Consumer understanding and use of nutrition labelling: a systematic review. Public Health Nutr. 8(01):2128. Drichoutis AC, Lazaridis P, Nayga (Jr) RM (2009). On Consumers' valuation of Nutrition Information. Bull. Econ. Res. 61(3):223-247. FAO (2011). Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization, www.fao.org. Ibrahim M, Brewer A, Johnson F, Whitehead J (2010). Student Response to Transgenic Meat: An analysis of a Fort Valley State University Survey. Paper Prepared for Presentation at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, February 6‐9. Joint FAOWHOCAC (2007). Food labelling: Food & Agriculture Org. www.fao.org. Jones G, Jennings S, Ibrahim M, Whitehead J (2010). Will Consumers Pay a Premium for Clone-free labeled Meat products? Evidence from the 2009 Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition. Paper Prepared for Presentation at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, February 6‐9.

Kiesel K, Villas-Boas SB (2007). Got organic milk? Consumer valuations of milk labels after the implementation of the USDA organic seal. J. Agric. Food Ind. Org. 5(1):4. Kline J (2007). The Future of Food Information Services: UCB iSchool Report 2007-007. Long JS (1997). Regression models for categorical and limited dependent variables: Sage Publications, Inc. Loureiro ML, Gracia A, Nayga RM (2006). Do consumers value nutritional labels? Eur. Rev. Agric. Econ. 33(2):249. Lusk JL, Fox JA (2002). Consumer demand for mandatory labeling of beef from cattle administered growth hormones or fed genetically modified corn. J. Agric. Appl. Econ. 34(1):27-38. Mundi I (2012). United Arab Emirates Demographics Profile. http://www.indexmundi.com. Nurse G, Onozaka Y, Thilmany MD (2010). Understanding the connections between consumer motivations and buying behavior: The case of the local food system movement. Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, February 6-9. Piedra MA, Schupp A, Montgomery D (1995). Household perceptions of the nutritional labeling of meats. J. Food Distrib. Res. 26:54-60. Prathiraja P, Ariyawardana A (2003). Impact of nutritional labeling on consumer buying behavior. Sri Lankan J. Agric. Econ. 5(1):35-46. Schupp A, Gillespie J, Reed D (1998). Consumer awareness and use of nutrition labels on packaged fresh meats: a pilot study. J. Food Distrib. Res. 29:24-30. Schupp A, Gillespie J (2001). Handler Reactions to Potential Compulsory Country-of-Origin Labeling of Fresh or Frozen Beef. J. Agric. Appl. Econ. 33:161-172. Souza-Monteiro DM, Caswell JA (2004). The economics of implementing traceability in beef supply chains: Trends in major producing and trading countries University of Massachusetts, Amherst Working Paper No. 2004-06. Taha M (2012). Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards Narrative: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report No: UAE-2011-006. Tonsor G, Shupp R (2009). Valuations of „Sustainably Produced‟Labels on Beef, Tomato, and Apple Products. Agric. Resour. Econ. Rev. 38(3):371. Wills JM, Schmidt DB, Pillo‐Blocka F, Cairns G (2009). Exploring global consumer attitudes toward nutrition information on food labels. Nutr. Rev. 67:S102-S106. Wozniak S (2010). Has Country of Origin Labeling Influenced Salmon Consumption? Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, February 6-9.

African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 7(28), pp. 4029-4037, 24 July, 2012 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR DOI: 10.5897/AJAR12.057 ISSN 1991-637X ©2012 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Social capital between farmers of Iran Seyed Abolhasan Sadati1*, Alireza Ansari Ardali2 and Fatemeh Abbasi3 1

Young Researchers Club, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Karaj, Iran. Expert of rural corporation organization of Chahar Mahal Bakhtiari Province, Iran. 3 Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran. 2

Accepted 4 May, 2012

Social capital can potentially be used for wrong reasons such as criminal activities, self interests and the creation of unequal communities. In this regard, the issue of developing communities raises concern because social capital has not sufficiently been researched and documented in rural areas of the developing world. The purpose of this study was the assessment of social capital between rural farmers in Behbahan County in Iran and identified effective factors on it. For access to this purpose, 20 variables that measured social capital by questionnaire were used. 205 farmers were selected by systematic sampling between 7314 Behbahan farmers. This sample was selected from 38 villages by random sampling method from 150 villages of the county. Results of this study showed that majority of the farmers have a low level of social capital. According to the result, there are positive correlation between farmers’ literacy, family cost, off-farm income, extension participatory, human capital, financial capital, physical capital and social capital between farmers. Also there are negative significant relationships between social capital indicators with variables such as; farmer’s age, family size, experience in agricultural activities and agrarian land. Regression results showed that the six variables as human capital, participatory extension, agrarian land, off- farm income, family cost, and physical capital entered into the equation model and these variables explained 56.7% of the variance of the social capital indicator among the farmers. Key words: Social capital, farmers, indicator, normality test, Behbahan County, Iran. INTRODUCTION Social capital embedded in participatory groups within rural communities has been central to equitable and sustainable solutions to local development problems (Pretty and Ward, 2001). The sinister character of social capital can be understood because it can potentially be used for wrong reasons such as criminal activities, self interests and the creation of unequal communities. In this regard, the issue of developing communities raises concern because social capital has not sufficiently been researched and documented in rural areas of the developing world. There has been a rapid growth in interest in the term “social capital” in recent years (Carney, 1998; Flora, 1998; Grootaert, 1998; Ostrom,

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 00989163734495.

1998; Pretty, 1998; Scoones, 1998; Uphoff, 1998). The term captures the idea that social bonds and social norms are an important part of the basis for sustainable livelihoods. Although, authors generally agree that it does exist in societies, the construct has been criticized as being difficult to define (Fukuyama, 2002), being difficult to measure (Bridger and Luloff, 2001), and as having a „dark side‟ (Fine, 1999). Despite this popularity, there is a lack of consensual and established definition of social capital (Grootaert and van Bastelaer, 2002). The notion of social capital is complex and multi-dimensional and defies a simple definition. It has been described as an attempt to reflect the intangibles, or non-economic aspects of society that promotes economic growth or positive development (Bryden and Hart, 2004). According to Fukuyama (1999), social capital has been defined in many ways by many different scholars, but these definitions are often manifestations of social capital

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rather than actual social capital; social capital it is largely based on trust within groups. It can be understood as a set of shared informal values or norms which enables cooperation. Social capital is "the shared knowledge, understandings, norms, rules, and expectations about patterns of interactions that groups of individuals bring to a recurrent activity" (Ostrom, 2000). Trust, is perhaps the most important component of social capital. If one's confidence in an enforcement agency falters, one does not trust people to fulfill their agreements and agreements are not entered into (Dasgupta, 2000). Social capital refers to the trust and shared norms of behavior that arise within informal social networks and generate externalities for the members of a group (Durlauf and Fafchamps, 2004). It influences the resources that an individual can mobilize through his or her social network (Woolcock and Narayan, 2000) and the propensity of community members to engage in collective action (Ostrom and Ahn, 2002). It is considered as an umbrella term that covers a variety of aspects of social organization, analogous to human and financial capital (Coleman, 1990). While some authors conceived social capital as an indivisible public good which the members of a group can enjoy (Coleman, 1988; Fukuyama, 1995; Putnam, 1993), others have considered it to be more of an individual asset which parties embedded in stable networks of relationships can use to gain access to other resources or capitals (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1990; Lin, 2001). Social capital has traditionally been operationalised through social network analysis (Lin et al., 2001; Paldam, 2001). This methodology highlights the relational nature of the social structure and implies that the explanation of social phenomena lies in the relationships among the units of analysis (people, groups and institutions, etc), rather than in the characteristics of those entities taken separately. Social capital involves a social structure exemplified by social interaction between the promotion of social cohesion amongst members of a group or community (Grootaert et al., 2004; Lloyd-Odger, 2005). Such connectedness arises from social relationships between two or more people that are characterized by mutual trust, reciprocity and collective resolution of problems that people may have in common (Putnam and Feldstein, 2003; Stone, 2003). The central thesis of the social capital literature is that features of social organization, such as networks of interaction, norms, and trust have resource potential to individuals and groups. Social capital has been linked to a variety of outcomes, such as success in job seeking behavior (Green et al., 1995), entrepreneurism (Portes and Sensenbrenner, 1993) and successful community action or development (Woolcock, 1998; Flora et al., 1997). It is defined as those features of social structures, such as levels of interpersonal trust and norms of reciprocity and mutual aid, which act as resources for

individuals and facilitate collective action (Coleman, 1990; Putnam, 1993a) and is characterized by levels of trust, civic engagement and norms of reciprocity (Putnam, 1993a; Lochner et al., 1999). Putnam presented that two of the key theoretical ingredients of social capital are general community trust and generalized reciprocity (Putnam, 1993b). Social capital serves to capture how people interact with each other, and how these social interactions in turn yield benefits for the individuals and collectively (Claridge, 2007; SCIG, 2000). Putnam (1993a, b, 2000) and other researchers looking at social capital at the community level, basically argued that people who know and trust one another are more likely to be able to work together to find solutions to problems that are mutually acceptable to everyone. Putnam (1996) himself seems to regard social capital as the same thing as civic engagement and at other times, he sees social capital as the cause of civic engagement, thus, confusing dependent and independent variables (Milner, 2002). Lowndes and Wilson (2001) argued that dense networks of civic engagement produce a capacity for trust, reciprocity and co-operation which in turn leads to a healthy economy and a healthy democracy. Anderson and Bell (2003) argued that social capital encourages the view that everything in social life of significance can be reduced to the rational and economic. It is possible that governmental action might not only lead to a decline in social capital, but also to its increase (Lowndes and Wilson, 2001; Akkerman et al., 2004; Levi, 1996). Social capital relies on social inclusion; it cannot develop if people are unwilling or unable to participate. Indeed, Anderson and Bell (2003) noted that social exclusion may as well be a product of high social capital. At local territorial level, planning and design factors affect levels of social capital with the presence of economic (shops, work), social and leisure facilities in the neighborhood setting providing opportunities for the informal contact and sociability associated with a developed social capital (Henning and Lieberg, 1996; Temkin and Rohe, 1998). Decentralized government structures offering opportunities for community and citizen input to decision-making (Maloney et al., 2000; Docherty et al., 2001), local leadership and capable state agency in communities (Krishna, 2001) are institutional factors conductive to mobilizing social capital in territorial communities and their capacity for policy influence linking social capital. Some argued that government can do relatively little to „grow‟ social capital in a community because it is the result of deep-rooted cultural and historic factors (Putnam et al., 1993), while others considered that governments can intervene to shape the social capital (Aldridge and Halpern, 2002; NESF, 2003). Krishna and Uphoff (1999) in their study showed that demographic characteristics and household attributes, such as education, wealth, and social status are not systematically associated with the level of social capital within households. In contrast, several community

Sadati et al.

attributes reflecting participation and experience in dealing with community problems positively affected the social capital index. Recent scholarship has explored relationships between individuals‟ socio-economic characteristics, social capital and group membership (Godoy et al., 2007; Thorpe et al. 2005). The key socioeconomic predictors include; level of educational attainment, age, social class position, economic (employment) status, marital status, home tenure and residential mobility (Hall, 1999; Putnam, 2000; Balanda and Wilde, 2003; Healy, 2004). Social capital is affected by income inequality; and several research results suggest that social capital and income inequality are negatively associated (Kawachi et al., 1996). Offe and Fuchs (2002) found that income, education, age, family size and gender had a direct relationship with social capital. According to Ghasemi et al. (2006), research on age, gender, education, activity, income and family size are the most influencing factors in social capital. Godoy et al. (2007) found only limited associations between individual characteristics and proxies for social capital (gift giving and participation in communal labor groups) amongst isolated rural communities. Instead, culture, kinship links and community norms emerged as key determinants of individual levels of social capital. Although, poverty, lack of labor and social status are highlighted as individual characteristics liable to preclude group membership, culture and history are integral to understanding local group formation, persistence and outcomes (Mosse 2006; Porter and Lyon 2006; Thorpe et al., 2005). The case study by Fafchamps and Minten (1999) suggests that cognitive social capital can increase incomes of agricultural traders and their families. The authors argued that social capital embodied in networks of trust has characteristics similar to other factors of production, such as physical capital and labor. Like these inputs, social capital is accumulated over time and improves economic performance. A range of new research showed that communities endowed with a rich stock of social networks and civic associations are in a stronger position to resolve disputes, share useful information, set up informal insurance mechanisms, implement successful development projects, and confront poverty and vulnerability (Isham et al., 2002). Putnam (1995) argued that a certain amount of wealth is needed to create social capital. Social capital is affected by many socio-economic factors, such as income inequality; and several research results suggested that social capital and income inequality are negatively associated (Kawachi et al., 1996). Studies in China showed that the social capital is declining in current rapid economic transitional period in China (Tao, 2003). Studies in China showed that the social capital is declining in current rapid economic transitional period in China (Kawachi and Berkman, 2000). Rowley (1999) in his study of social capital in sub-Saharan Africa, found a loose relationship between connectedness and wealth,

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but causality was unclear: “did well connected people become rich or rich people able to afford to be wellconnected.” There may be cases, however, where a group might benefit from isolation, because it can avoid costly external demands. Clearly, not all forms of social capital are good for everyone. A society may be well organized, have strong institutions, have embedded reciprocal mechanisms, but be based not on trust but on fear and power, such as feudal, hierarchical, racist and unjust societies (Knight, 1992). MATERIALS AND METHODS The instruments for data collection were questionnaire that consisted of two sections. Section one had 20 statements for assessment of social capital. Sixth point Likert scale ranged from 1= never to 6 = strongly agree. In order to test the amount of social capital of farmers in this research, according to (Kaasa 2009) research , 6 dimensions were used: (1) general trust that measured by 4 variables (2) institutional trust that measured by 5 variables (3) norms of helping that measured by 3 variables (4) norms of active social participation that measured by 3 variables (5) rural participation that measured by 3 variables and (6) tendency to rural livelihood that measured by 2 variables. Social capital measuring variables were ranked and presented in Table 2. The highest possible value for the social capital in this scale was 120 and the lowest 20. Section two of questionnaire contained demographic information, asking farmers' age, years of experience, level of education, literacy, and agrarian land etc. Questionnaire reliability was estimated by calculating Cronbach's alpha, which was 0.84. Area of study Behbahan County with extent of 3516 km2 was located in between longitude of 50° and 13 min and 50° and 16 min at East and in latitude of between 34° and 30 min and 30° and 37 min in the North. This county is placed in semi-arid region in East Southern of Khuzestan province of Iran and height of it from sea surface was 300 m (Figure 1). Annual rainfall average of county was 354 ml; the minimum temperature was -2.8°C while the maximum temperature is 50.2°C (Anon, 2009). Number of exploitable units of county is 7314 units that 82% of them have a space under 10 ha (Anon, 2006). Behbahan consists of five district and 150 villages. 205 farmers were selected by systematic sampling method and were selected from 38 villages by random sampling method between 150 villages.

RESULTS The mean of the respondents‟ ages was about 44 years. Majority (56.7%, n =118) of respondent were 30 to 54 years old. All of the respondents in the study were males. The years of experience of respondents ranged from 3 to 50 and the mean of their experience was 22 years. The educational level of majorities (30%) of farmers was primary while the average number of family size of farmers was five people. The average size of farm to each farmer was equal to 5.5 ha, average of irrigated land was 4.1, and 1.5 ha of their lands were dry lands. Majority of farmers have low and very low knowledge about sustainable agriculture (52.4%) and 53.8 of farmers

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Table 1. Classification of farmers according to amount social capital indicator.

Variable Very low Low Moderate High Total

Frequency 30 79 57 39 205

have low and very low level use of methods of sustainable agriculture. According to the result of assessment of farmers‟ job satisfaction, 50.5% of farmers have low and very low level of this factor. Result showed that 7.2% of farmers in this study were members of the rural Islamic Council and 68.4% of them were members of the rural production cooperatives. Social capital indicator was made with combined of 20 variables that presented in Table 2. Result showed that mean of this indicator was 87.35. Minimum and maximum of this indicator were 33 and 132. According to this indicator, farmers were classified in groups as indicated in Table 1. In order to classify farmers according to social capital indicator, the Interval of Standard Deviation from Mean (ISDM) index was used. The result showed that majority of farmers had a low level of this indicator (Table 1).

Percent 14.6 38.5 27.8 19.1 100

Cumulative percent 14.9 53.1 80.9 100.0

According to Result of Shapiro-Wilk statistic that showed in Table 3, do not reject the null hypothesis of normality (p 0.05) and ranged from 0.98 ± 0.14 (Pelates quadrilineatus) to 1.03 ± 0.17 (N. thalassinus). Key words: Length-weight relationship, marine fish, condition factor, Persian Gulf. INTRODUCTION Length-weight relationships are very important in fisheries management for comparison of growth studies (Garcia et al., 1998; Haimovici and Velasco, 2000; Moutopoulos and Stergiou, 2002; Hossain et al., 2006). Data on length-weight is applied to estimate the weight of an individual of given length or total weight from lengthfrequency distribution (Forese, 1998; Koutrakis and Tsikliras, 2003). Also, data of length-weight and age can give knowledge on the stock composition, length at maturity, lifetime, mortality, growth, and production (Beyer, 1987; Bolger and Connoly, 1989; Fifioye and Oluajo, 2006). The condition factor also expresses the physical and environmental conditions of fish (Le Cren, 1951). It is used for comparing the condition, fatness, or well-being of fish (Tesch, 1968). In this study, length-weight relationships and relative condition factor (Krel) of Netuma thalassinus (Ruppel, 1837), Parastromateus niger (Bloch, 1795), Sillago sihama (Forsskal, 1775), Pelates quadrilineatus (Bloch,

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

1790), and Nematolosa nasus (Bloch, 1795) are presented (this species are abundant in the Persian Gulf) (Figure 2). Results of this study for most species (except N. nasus) are reported for the first time from the Persian Gulf waters (Froese and Pauly, 2011). MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area The Persian Gulf is a subtropical sea which is separated from the Gulf of Oman by the Strait of Hormuz (Figure 1). The surface area of the Persian Gulf is approximately 2.39 × 105 km2, and the average depth and volume of the Gulf is 36 m and 8.63 × 103 km3, respectively (Reynolds, 1993). The study area included Bushehr coastal waters which extends from 50° 6' to 52° 58' E and 27° 14' to 30° 16' N, and covers the fishing grounds of shrimp. Trawling was carried out between depths of 7 to 30 m during June to August 2011 (shrimp fishing season).

Data collection Sampling was conducted by R/V SHANAK (Outrigger bottom trawler equipped with two bottom trawl nets with 40 and 50 mm mesh size (stretched mesh) in the cod-end and body net,

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Figure 1. Map of Persian Gulf showing the study area and 44 sampling sites.

Figure 2. Mean relative condition factor (± SD) of 5 fish species in Bushehr coastal waters (Northern Persian Gulf) during June to August, 2011.

Daliri et al.

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Table 1. The Length characteristics and parameters of the length-weight relationships of five marine fish species in Bushehr coastal waters (Northern Persian Gulf).

Family/Species Ariidae/N. thalassinus Carangidae/P. niger Sillaginidae/S. sihama Teraponidae/P. quadrilineatus Clupeidae/N. nasus

Length

N

FL FL TL TL FL

67 73 123 98 207

Length characteristic Min. Max. Mean ± SD 18.0 64.0 37.48 ± 7.83 13.5 43.0 25.95 ± 7.20 15.0 23.5 17.86 ± 2.24 14.0 29.5 19.17 ± 4.01 12.5 21.5 17.24 ± 2.20

a 0.0175 0.0342 0.0176 0.0208 0.0218

Parameter of the relationship b 95% CL(b) 3.0156 2.9356 - 3.0956 2.9477 2.7677 - 3.1277 2.7300 2.4300 - 3.0300 2.6165 2.5255 - 2.7065 2.5267 2.4807 - 2.5728

r2 0.92 0.93 0.85 0.96 0.95

N: number of individuals, FL: fork length, TL: total length, Min. and Max.: minimum and maximum length (cm), SD: standard deviation.

respectively). Sub-samples were collected after each haul and data on length (total length or fork length, cm) and body weight (g) were recorded for each species. The length and weight of fishes were measured to the nearest value (0.1 mm or g) using measuring board and a digital scale, respectively.

standard error of the slope (b). These t‐tests allowed the classification of length‐weight relationships in isometric (b = 3), negative allometric (b < 3) and positive allometric (b > 3). For each individual, relative condition factor (Krel) was computed by this equation:

Data analysis

 

For each species, the parameters a and b of the lengthweight relationship was obtained using the linear regression based on logarithmic transformation of the formula (Zar, 1984): W= a Lb where W is the body weight (g) and L is the total length or fork length (cm). The 95% confidence limits (CL) of parameters b were calculated. To compare b value obtained in the linear regression with isometric value (Sokal and Rohlf, 1987) ttest was also used: 95% CL = b ± t 0.05, n-2 .Sb where N is the number of specimens.

 





where ts is the t-test value, b is the slope and Sb the

 

where W is the whole body wet weight (g), L is the total length or fork length (cm) and a and b are the parameters of length-weight relationship (Le Cren, 1951). ANOVA test was used for comparison of relative condition factor (Krel) between caught species.

RESULTS A total of 568 specimens were measured. The length characteristics and parameters of the length-weight relationships of the selected species are shown in Table 1. All regressions are highly significant (P < 0.01) and the r2 values range from 0.85 (S. sihama) to 0.96 (P. quadrilineatus). The mean value of b for all species was 2.7673. The 95% confidence limits (CL) values of exponent b for all the species were mostly sets within the range of 2.5 to 3.5. Therefore, these

parameters can be securely utilized in the pointed out length range (Froese, 1998). The growth was isometric for N. thalassinus and P. niger (b = 3, P > 0.05). S. sihama, P. quadrilineatus and N. nasus showed negative allometric (b < 3, P < 0.05). Relative condition factor (Krel) did not differ significantly between species (P > 0.05) and ranged from 0.98 ± 0.14 (for P. quadrilineatus) to 1.03 ± 0.17 (for N. thalassinus) (Figure 2).

DISCUSSION This study can be of help to fishery managers of the Persian Gulf, because of the lack of documentation about length-weight relationship of the selected species in the Iranian waters of the Persian Gulf. Isometric growth (b = 3, P > 0.05) in N. thalassinus and P. niger indicated that the small specimens have the same form and condition as large specimens. Negative allometric growth (b < 3, P < 0.05) in S. sihama, P. quadrilineatus and N. nasus also indicated that large specimens changed their body shape to become more elongated or small specimens were in better nutritional condition at the time of sampling

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Table 2. The parameters a and b of the length-weight relationship of selected species in the Fish base.

Species

Length type TL

Length 13.0 - 87.0

Sex Unsexed Unsexed

P. niger

Indonesia; Pulau sea, South Kalimantan (Hadisubroto and Subani, 1994) Bangladesh; Bay of Bangal (Mustafa, 1999) India; Godavary estuary (Rao, 1972) Indonesia; Western region (Pauly et al., 1996)

TL FL TL TL

32.0 - 56.0 5.0 - 38.0

Unsexed Unsexed Unsexed Unsexed

0.0625 0.0211 0.0100 0.0073

2.642 3.012 3.062 3.319

S. sihama

India; Palicat lake (Krishnamurthy and Kaliyamurthy, 1978) India; Palicat lake (Krishnamurthy and Kaliyamurthy, 1978) New Caledonia; lagoon (Letourneur et al., 1998)

TL TL FL

4.0 - 10.0 10.1 - 33.0 3.5 - 29.0

Unsexed Unsexed Unsexed

0.0069 0.0041 0.0059

3.028 3.089 3.130

P. quadrilineatus N. nasus

Turkey; Eastern Meditternian (Taskavak and Bilecenoglu, 2001) China Main; Daya Bay, Guangdong (Xu et al., 1994)

TL SL

7.9 - 12.1 7.0 - 16.0

Unsexed Unsexed

0.0134 0.0108

2.958 3.105

N. thalassinus

Location Kuwait (Bawazeer, 1987) Indonesia; Western region (Pauly et al., 1996)

a 0.0088 0.0097

b 3.022 3.040

SL: Standard length, TL: total length.

(Froese, 2006). In this study, efficient sampling was conducted to include the widest possible range of lengths, which were generally obtained with large samples and non-selective fishing gear. Difference in fish lengths shows that the fish population ranged from small specimens to adult. The comparison of the b values obtained in this study and some previously reported results in other location of the world mostly indicate variation in the b values (Table 2). This variation can be affected by sex, gonad maturity, health, season, habitat, nutrition, environmental conditions (such as temperature and salinity), area, degree of stomach fullness, differences in the length range of the caught specimen, and fishing gear (Tesch, 1971; Froese, 2006), although, they are not considered in the present study. Conclusively, it is suggested that further study should be conducted on the composition of LWRs

of both sexes of the caught species. Also, relationship between data of physico-chemical parameter of water (Hydrology data) and the parameters of LWRs should be estimated. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was supported by Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and Iran Shrimp Research Centre (ISRC). The authors thank the crew of R/V SHANAK. REFERENCES Beyer JE (1987). On length-weight relationship. Part 1. Correspondingthe mean weight of a given length class. Fishbytes. 5(1):11–13. Bolger T, Connoly PL (1989). The selection of suitable indices for the measurement and analysis of fish condition. J. Fish Biol. 34:171–182.

Fifioye OO, Oluajo OA (2006). Length-weight relationships of five fish species in Epelagoon, Nigeria. Afr. J. Biotechnol. 4(7):749-751. Froese R (1998). Length-weight relationships for 18 lessstudied fish species. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 14:117-118. Froese R (2006). Cube law, condition factor and LengthWeight relationships: history, meta-analysis and recommendations. Appl. Ichthyol. 22:241-253. Froese R, Pauly D (2011). FishBase. World Wide Web Electronic Publication. Available at http://www.fishbase.org. (accessed on 10 November 2011). Garcia CB, Buarte JO, Sandoval N, Von Schiller D, Mello NP (1989). Length-weight Relationships of Demersal Fishes from the Gulf of Salamanca, Colombia Fishbyte 21:30–32. Hadisubroto I, Subani W (1994). The catch and biological aspect of black pomfret (Formio niger) in Kotabaru, south Kalimantan. J. Mar. Fish. Res. (85):95-102. (In Indonesian with English abstract). Haimovici M, Velasco G (2000). Length-weight relationship of marine fishes from southern Brazil. The ICLARM Q. 23(1):14-16. Hossain MY, Ahmed ZF, LeundaIslam PM, Islam AKMR, Jasmine S, Oscoz J, Miranda R, Ohtomi J (2006). Lengthweight and length-length relationships of some small indigenous fish species from the Mathabhanga River,

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southwestern Bangladesh. Appl. Ichthyol. 22:301-303. Koutrakis ET, Tsikliras AC (2003). Length-weight relationships of fishes from three northern Aegean estuarine systems (Greece). Appl. Ichthyol. 19:258260. Krishnamurthy KN, Kaliyamurthy M (1978). Studies on the age and growth of sandwhiting Sillago sihama (Forsskâl) from Pulicat Lake with observations on its biology and fishery. Indian J. Fish. 25(1&2):84-97. Le Cren ED (1951). The length–weight relationship and seasonal cycle in gonad weight and condition in the perch (Perca fluviatilis). J. Anim. Ecol. 20:201–219. Letourneur Y, Kulbicki M, Labrosse P (1998). Length-weight relationships of fish from coral reefs and lagoons of New Caledonia, southwestern Pacific Ocean: an update. Naga ICLARM Q. 21(4):3946. Moutopoulos DK, Stergiou KI (2002). Length-weight and length-length relationships of fish species from Aegean Sea (Greece). Appl. Ichthyol. 18:200-203. Mustafa MG (1999). Population dynamics of penaeid shrimps and demersal fin fishes from trawl fishery in the Bay of Bengal and implication for the management. PhD thesis. University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. p. 223. Pauly D, Cabanban A, Torres FSB (1996). Fishery biology of 40 trawlcaught teleosts of western Indonesia. In D. Pauly and P. Martosubroto (eds.) Baseline studies of biodiversity: the fish resource of western Indonesia. ICLARM Stud. Rev. 23:135-216.

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Rao LH (1972). Observations on the biology of Parastromateus niger (Bloch) and Pampus chinensis (Euphrasen) from the Godavari estuary. J. Inland Fish. Soc. 4:207-209. Reynolds RM (1993). Physical oceanography of the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman: results from the Mitchell Expedition. Mar. Poll. Bul. 27:35-60. Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1987). Introduction to biostatistics, 2nd edn. Freeman Publication, New York. pp. 363. Taskavak E, Bilecenoglu M (2001). Length-weight relationships for 18 Lessepsian (Red Sea) immigrant fish species from the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K. 81(5):895896. Tesch FW (1968). Age and growth. In: Methods for assessment of fish production in fresh waters. Ricker WE (Ed.). Blackwell Scientific Publications. Oxford. pp. 93–123. Tesch FW (1971). Age and growth. In: Ricker WE ed., Methods for Assessment of Fish Production in Freshwaters, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. pp. 98-100. Xu G, Zheng W, Huang G (1994). Atlas of the fishes and their biology in Daya Bay. Anhui Scientific and Technical Publishers, P.R.O.C. pp. 311. Zar JH (1984). Biostatistical analysis. Prentice Hall, New Jersey. pp. 718.

African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 7(28), pp. 4066-4074, 24 July, 2012 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR DOI: 10.5897/AJAR12.1197 ISSN 1991-637X ©2012 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Management of post-harvest Pectobacterium soft rot of cabbage (Brassica oleracea var capitata L.) by biocides and packing material K. A. Bhat1*, N. A. Bhat1, F. A. Mohiddin1, S. A. Mir2 and M. R. Mir3 1

Division of Plant Pathology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar-191 121 Srinagar J and K, India. 2 Regional Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture Wadure, Sopore Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, India. 3 Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-202002, India. Accepted 12 June, 2012

Bioassay studies of several biocides against Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. carotovorum revealed that ciprofloxacin proved highly inhibitive to bacterial growth by producing highest inhibition zone (21 mm) at a concentration of 200 µg mL-1 followed by penicillin, tetracycline, and oxytetracycline. Other test chemicals viz., amoxicillin, striplin, azithromycine, mercuric chloride, bleaching powder, sodium hypochlorite and copper-oxychloride, produced a moderate to low inhibition zone. Studies on use of effective antibiotics for post-harvest management of soft rot revealed ciprofloxacin as the most effective by giving a disease control of 84.78, 97.78 and 80.43% when used as pre, simultaneous, and post inoculation sprays respectively, on cabbage heads. Other three antibiotics viz., penicillin, tetracycline and oxytetracycline also gave good control of the disease. Factorial experiment aiming to study the combined effect of biocides and packing materials (polythene bags, net bags, gunny bag, and cardboard boxes) reveals that cabbage heads treated with ciprofloxacin and packed in net bags showed the lowest rot intensity of 4.5%, with lowest weight loss due to maceration after six days of storage, whereas cabbage heads packed in poly bags without any biocide treatment showed the highest rot intensity of 77.78% with the highest weight loss during the same course of time. These tested compounds and packing materials demonstrate the potential for management of post-harvest soft rot caused by P. carotovorum ssp. carotovorum especially for regions lacking cold store facility during post-harvest and transit period. Key words: Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. Carotovorum, cabbage soft rot, post-harvest chemical control, packing material.

INTRODUCTION Post-harvest bacterial soft rot causes greater total loss of product than any other bacterial disease (Agrios, 2007). Although accurate estimates of the losses are not available, these may amount annually to a total of $ 50 to 6 100 x 10 on a world wide basis (Michel and Kelman,

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +919906803583.

1980). In cabbage (Brassica oleracea var capitata L.) and related crops, infected heads fail to throw flowering shoots followed by stump rot resulting in heavy losses in seed production. Vegetables coming from the field may already be infected even though they do not show visible symptoms at harvest. This latent infection may cause severe post-harvest damage because of high temperature and humidity. Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. carotovorum (formerly Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora) has been found to be the most common

Bhat et al.

bacterial pathogen associated with the soft rot disease (Larka, 2004). This bacterium enters plant tissues primarily through wounds, often created by insect feeding or bruising at harvest or during post harvest handling. The conditions for the development of the disease become favorable with increase in temperature during the summer. The disease proliferates rapidly and within no time, results in rapid tissue breakdown and thus causes heavy damage especially in countries lacking cold storage and with poor transportation and handling system (Higashio and Yamada, 2004). There are no effective chemical controls for P. carotovorum and other bacteria causing soft rot (James et al., 2009). Hot water treatment is recognized as a simple and easy technique to control pathogen infection and insect infestation and has already been put to practical use in many foreign countries (GonzalezAguliar, 1999; Miura, 2001). However, in a study conducted by Higashio and Yamada (2004), no suppressive effect by dipping cabbage heads in hot water having temperature of 50°C was obtained. Energy costs associated with the process may also be prohibitory (Mills et al., 2006). Chlorination using sodium or calcium hypochlorite has been recommended (Galati et al., 2005). However, chlorine quickly loses effectiveness when soil, leaves or diseased tissue are present in the water; moreover, disinfectant activity of a chlorine solution increases at lower pH as greater the amount of hypochlorus acid becomes available for disinfection. However, vegetables and fruits are damaged by low pH chlorine solutions, moreover, chlorination acts as a preventive measure only and if there is already infection and decay or injury in the field, it does not help to limit spread of soft rot in storage (Anonymous, 1990). Although experiments investigating the effect of alum, silica gel and lime as post-harvest treatments to control soft rot in cabbage have shown decrease in the amount of infection (Napitupulu and Lubis, 1987, Sihombing, 1986), certain studies also reveal that salts are effective against various bacterial and fungal post-harvest infections in apples and potatoes (McGuire and Kelman, 1986; Conway et al., 1991). Other studies have shown that though many compounds of calcium proved effective, yet some of them showed a tendency to promote soft rot and the effect of calcium compounds application was due to the interception of bacteria at wounds rather than any physical function of calcium (Higashio and Yamada, 2004). Compounds like sodium metabisulphate, propyl paraben, alum, potassium sorbate, calcium propionate and copper sulphate pentahydrate showed that they inhibited E. carotovora ssp. atroseptica and E. carotovora ssp. carotovora (Mills et al., 2006) but an effective and promising control of the disease is still a challenge. Apart from chemical treatments, the effect of type of packing material on development of bacterial soft rot of vegetables in general has not received great attention.

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An efficient packing material which considerably suppresses post harvest soft rot will be even more helpful in regions lacking cold store facility during post harvest and transit for a period until the produce reaches the consumer. The present study aims to work out the in vitro effect of various antibiotics along with other bactericides on the soft rot causing bacteria P. carotovorum ssp. carotovorum to test in vitro the effective ones as preventive and curative treatments against cabbage soft rot. Moreover, the effect of commonly used packing materials coupled with biocide treatments against soft rot disease in artificially infected cabbage heads with optimum epiphytotic conditions under storage was tested. Such a study was considered imperative in regions where the disease becomes highly destructive during the summer months. MATERIALS AND METHODS Studies were conducted in plant pathology laboratory of S.K. University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir. All the compounds used were obtained from the authorized suppliers approved by the university purchase committee. The strain of the pathogen used in the study was isolated from diseased tissue of cabbage tissue bearing soft rot lesions obtained from local wholesale and retail markets. The leaves were washed with sterile distilled water and several small diseased bits were excised from the leading edge. These bits were surface sterilized in 1:1000 mercuric chloride solution followed by a series of washings with sterile distilled water. These surface sterilized bits were macerated in sterile distilled water under aseptic conditions and kept undisturbed for two hours. A loopful from this suspension was streaked on at least 2 to 3 nutrient agar plates. The plates were incubated at 30±1°C for 48 h and observations on colony development were made. The isolated pathogen was characterized on the basis of pathogenicity on cabbage, morphological and biochemical characters. The identity of causal pathogen was also ascertained with the help of phytobacteriology division of Department of plant Pathology, Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi. In vitro evaluation of chemicals against soft rot bacterium The standard paper disc method of Thornberry (1950) was followed in this study. Nutrient agar was prepared and sterilized in usual manner in 250 ml flasks. The flasks were allowed to cool down up to 45°C and 1 ml of 48 h old bacterial broth culture was added aseptically to them and shaked properly. The medium thus seeded with the pathogen was immediately poured in 10 cm Petri dishes and allowed to solidify. Filter paper discs, 7 mm in diameter, were soaked aseptically for 5 min in aqueous solution of different chemicals viz., ciprofloxacin, penicillin, tetracycline, oxy tetracycline, amoxicillin, striplin (streptomycin + tetracycline, 90:10), azithromycine, mercuric chloride, bleaching powder, sodium hypo chloride, and copper-oxy chloride, each used at three different concentrations. For each treatment, three Petri plates were used. In the centre of each Petri dish, one impregnated paper disc was placed. In case of control, paper discs soaked in sterile distilled water were used. The Petri plates were incubated for 72 h at 30°C. The efficacy of the various chemicals was assessed by measuring the zone of inhibition surrounding the filter paper disc after the

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incubation period.

were recorded on incidence and severity of soft rot after every 24 h for a period of 7 days and percent loss in weight due to the disease was calculated.

Laboratory evaluation of chemicals against soft rot on cabbage heads. Statistical analysis Four biocides that proved effective against the pathogen during in vitro studies were selected for this experiment. The chemicals at a concentration of 200 µg mL-1 were applied at different times in three different experiments viz., 12 h prior to the inoculation of the pathogen, simultaneously with inoculation of the pathogen, and 12 h after inoculation of the pathogen. Freshly cut pre-weighed cabbage heads were surface sterilizes by dipping in a 0.1% of sodium hypochlorite for 30 s followed by serial washings with sterile water and then air dried under the hood of laminar air flow. Inoculum was generated from 48 h old culture of P. carotovorum ssp. carotovorum grown in nutrient broth and the heads were thoroughly sprayed with the uniform cell suspension of the pathogen having a cell count of 2x109 cfu/ml. In case of prior inoculation with pathogen, chemicals were sprayed 12 h after inoculation of pathogen. In case of simultaneous inoculation of pathogen and biocide, heads were inoculated with pathogen followed by pricking and immediately sprayed with test biocides. In the third case, at 12 h after with the biocides, the heads were sprayed with uniform suspension of the pathogen at the concentration afore reported. Cabbage heads in each case after inoculation with pathogen were followed by pin pricking with entomological pins mounted on a wooden stick. Cabbage heads inoculated with sterile distilled water followed by pin pricking served as control. Five cabbage heads constituted one replication and 3 replications were used for each treatment. The heads were put in sterile plastic bags, sealed and stored at 30±1°C. Observations were recorded as soft rot incidence, severity and percent loss in weight due to the disease after 72 h of inoculation of pathogen. Incidence was calculated as percentage of heads showing symptoms and severity was calculated by the formula: {Sum of the score / (total heads observed x highest rating)} x 100. Disease severity was rated on 0 to 5 scale (0 = no maceration of the tissue, 1 = 1 to 20%, 2 = 21 to 40%, 3 = 41 to 60%, 4 = 61 to 80% and 5 = 81 to 100% of tissue maceration). Percent soft rot control was calculated using the formula: {(C-T)/C} x 100, where C= soft rot severity in control and T= soft rot severity in treatment. To calculate percent loss in weight due to disease, cabbage heads were weighed before incubation and again after removing decayed tissue after incubation. The final weight was subtracted from initial mass to give total amount of decayed tissue or loss in weight. Loss in weight due to drying was deduced with the help of un-inoculated controls. Evaluation of chemicals and packaging material in combination for post harvest management of soft rot disease of cabbage An experiment was carried out using pre-weighed surface sterilized cabbage heads to study the effect of the combined use of different packing materials (viz., polythene bags, net bags, gunny bag, and cardboard boxes) and in ciprofloxacin (200 ppm), alum (15% aluminium potassium sulphate) and lime. In case of ciprofloxacin and alum treatments, the chemicals were sprayed on the heads followed by spraying with the uniform suspension of the pathogen having a cell count of 2x109 cfu/ml and pricking, while in case of lime treatment, the stalks of the heads were cut smoothly and were pressed on the powdered lime towards the butt end, followed by the spray of the pathogen suspension. All the treated heads were packed in the respective packing and stored at 30±1°C. In each case, cabbage heads without the inoculation of the pathogen were maintained to assess the weight loss due to storage. Observations

Experiments were carried in completely randomized design (CRD). Data collected was subjected to analysis of variance technique (ANOVA) and the least significant difference (LSD/C.D) at 5 % level of significance was calculated using statistical software STATISTICA-AG (Stat Soft USA) licensed to Faculty of Agriculture SKUAST-K, Wadura Campus Sopore, Kashmir, India.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total of eleven antibiotics and other biocides were tested in vitro for their ability to inhibit the growth of causal bacterium. All of the eleven chemicals tested against P. carotovorum ssp. carotovorum viz., ciprofloxacin, penicillin, tetracycline, oxytetracycline, amoxicillin, stripling [streptomycin + tetracycline (90:10)], azithromycine, mercuric chloride, bleaching powder, sodium hypochlorite and copper oxychloride inhibited to varying extent the bacterial growth at all the three tested concentrations to varying extent and were considered effective. Ciprofloxacin proved significantly better than all other chemicals tested followed by penicillin. Others which followed in decreasing order of superiority were tetracycline, oxytetracycline and amoxicillin, respectively, followed by mercuric chloride, bleaching powder, azithromycine and striplin. Sodium hypochlorite and copper oxyxhloride gave only poor inhibition of the bacterium. No zone of inhibition was formed in case of control (Figure 1). The study on effect of antibiotic treatment at a concentration of 200 µg ml-1 12 h before inoculation of pathogen on cabbage heads (Figure 2) reveals that all the antibiotics tested for the control of post harvest soft rot disease in cabbage were effective over untreated control in reducing incidence, severity as well as per cent weight loss due to the disease (Table 1). Ciprofloxacin proved to be the most effective in reducing disease incidence followed by penicillin and tetracycline. Highest soft rot control of 84.78% was recorded in case of ciprofloxacin, followed by penicillin (78.26%), tetracycline (73.91%) and a comparatively lower control was recorded in case of oxytetracycline (67.38%) (Figure 2). The weight loss due to maceration of host tissue also showed a similar trend (Table 1). Effect of antibiotic treatment at the time of inoculation with the pathogen on cabbage heads (Figure 3; Table 1) shows that all the treatments proved significantly superior over the control. Ciprofloxacin at 200 ppm was again most effective, giving least disease incidence (6.67) intensity (1.33) and percent weight loss of, and 0.51% followed by oxytetracycline, penicillin and tetracycline which did not differ significantly from each other but differed significantly from control. Ciprofloxacin controlled

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25 20 C-1

15

C-2

10

C-3

5

Control

Copper-Oxy chloride

Sodium Hypo chloride

Bleaching Powder

Mercuric chloride

Azithromycine

Streptomycin + Tetracycline

Amoxicillin

Oxy tetracycline

Tetracycline

Penicillin

0 Ciproflaxacin

Diameter of zone of inhibition (mm)

Bhat et al.

Chemical C-1, C-2 and C-3 from Ciprofloxacin to mercuric chloride represents concentrations of 100, 150, and 200 ppm; 400, 500 and 600 ppm for bleaching pow dw e and Sodium hypochloride and 1000, 1500, 2000 for Copper oxychloride

Figure 1. Effect of various chemicals on growth of P. caratovorum ssp. caratovorum.

Figure 2. Effect of antibiotic treatment 12 h before inoculation of pathogen on cabbage heads stored at 30°C. Concentration of chemicals = 200 µg mL-1.

Table 1. Effect of antibiotic treatment on per cent weight loss due to maceration caused by soft rot of cabbage.

Time of application Antibiotic Ciprofloxacin Penicillin Tetracycline Oxy tetracycline No treatment Mean

Before 12 h pathogen

Simultaneously with pathogen

After 12 h of pathogen

Mean

2.55 (1.87)* 3.45 (2.09) 4.08 (2.25) 5.07(2.46) 29.42 (5.51) 8.91 (2.84)

0.51 (1.22) 2.19 (1.78) 2.58 (1.89) 1.47 (1.55) 29.42 (5.51) 7.23 (2.39)

2.85 (1.94) 4.29 (2.29) 4.05 (2.24) 4.35 (2.30) 29.42 (5.51) 8.99 (2.86)

1.97 (1.68) 3.31 (2.05) 3.57 (2.12) 3.63 (2.11) 29.42 (5.51) 8.38 (2.69)

C.D (p0.05), while the year effect was significant. Though, cultivar effect was not significant. It is quite interesting to note that the cultivar (IT 86F-2014-1) with

Nwofia

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Table 2. Mean pod yield (t/ha) of nine vegetable cowpea cultivars grown on an ultisol in 2001 to 2004.

Cultivar IT92KD-263-4-1 Akidi-ani IT 83S-899 IT97K-147-3 IT93K915 IT86F-2062-5 IT81D-1228-14 IT86F-2014-1 Akidi-enu Mean

2001 5.71 4.67 5.92 12.82 6.93 9.65 7.13 8.27 8.07 7.69

Pod yield (t/ha) 2002 2003 4.06 4.89 4.03 2.27 10.42 1.88 10.97 4.1 12.51 5.1 7.32 4.64 6.87 4.16 9.63 4.34 9.36 4.48 8.35 3.98 S.E 0.82 0.55 1.65

Cultivars Year Cultivars x year

2004 5.15 7.01 8.72 8.05 13.74 14.80 19.11 10.91 10.17 10.85

Mean 4.95 4.50 6.74 8.98 9.57 9.10 9.32 8.29 8.02

P-values 0.0001 0.0001 0.0016

Table 3. Mean number of pods/m2 of nine vegetable cowpea cultivars grown on an ultisol in 2001 to 2004.

Cultivar IT92KD-263-4-1 Akidi-ani IT 83S-899 IT97K-147-3 IT93K915 IT86F-2062-5 IT81D-1228-14 IT86F-2014-1 Akidi-enu Mean

2001 89.67 158.00 113.00 182.67 94.33 155.33 132.67 266.67 226.00 157.59

Number of pods/m2 2002 2003 56.00 4.89 157.33 2.27 115.00 1.88 144.00 4.1 122.00 5.1 73.67 4.64 62.67 4.16 147.33 4.34 121.67 4.48 90.89 3.98

Cultivars Year Cultivars x year

the highest number of pods/m2 also had the highest number of pods/plant (Table 4). Pod length and width Pod length and width differed significantly among the cultivars and there was also a significant year effect for the traits (P < 0.01). The longest pods were recorded in IT 92KD-263-4-1, IT 83S-899, IT 86F-2062-5, IT 81D1228-14 and IT 93K-915 while the shortest pods were

S.E 13.87 9.55 27.75

2004 69.00 218.67 155.33 138.00 193.00 319.00 309.67 354.67 300.00 228.63

Mean 70.17 150.58 103.83 145.33 121.42 167.82 142.92 261.17 213.42

P-values 0.0001 0.0001 0.004

recorded in IT 86F-2014-1 (Table 5). The widest pods were observed in IT 92KD-263-4-1 while the narrowest pods were observed in Akidi-ani (Table 6). The significant cultivars × year interaction for the traits showed that the environment may have influenced it. Number of seeds/pod Number of seeds/pod differed significantly among the cultivars and there was a significant year effect (p