This paper analyzes the process of land property concentration in the major frontier region of the Brazilian Eastern Amazon. Since the late 1960s, the Brazilian Amazon has experienced large development projects that have led to rapid population growth and deforestation. In the 1980s, many spontaneous settlements were established by the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), and land redistribution became one of the central issues of Brazilian development. However, the population growth stalled in the 1990s, and farm turnover and associated land property concentration started to be observed. Although property rights were indicated as major institutions for effective land redistribution in previous literature, the differences in property rights and the influence were not explained in relation to the property concentration. In order to determine how the property rights institutions promote the process of land property concentration, survey data were collected during the period of July-September, 2000 through a small farmers' organization in a frontier settlement called Grotão dos Caboclos in the southeastern part of Pará State, in the Brazilian Eastern Amazon. The results showed that although cattle ranching was the dominant land use in the study area, settlers without definitive land titles (posseiros) tended to move to forestlands to conduct slash-and-burn agriculture. Proprietors (settlers with definitive land titles) who were fully committed to cattle ranching accumulated capital by buying out the posseiros' cleared land. The study suggests that it is essential to provide definitive land titles and technical support to posseiros so that they can have more incentives to utilize their cleared pastureland.

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We examined the history of the relationship between the introduction of integrated pest management (IPM) into Indonesia and the pest occurrence forecasting system provided to Indonesia by the Japanese Government. Although the Indonesian IPM program was formally launched in 1969, it was only in 1986 that the Indonesian Government began to apply the program nationwide, with the support of organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank. In 1980, with the technical assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Japanese Government introduced a pest occurrence forecasting system into Indonesia. This technical assistance was provided to control outbreaks of the brown planthopper, which occurred from 1974 to 1977 in Indonesia. Japan also provided pesticides with a negligible effect on natural enemies, as part of the aid program for increased food production known as 2KR. TOBIN (1996, Food Policy 21: 211-228), supported by the United States Agency for International Development, criticized this assistance in which Japan condoned mass application of pesticides. Nevertheless, the pest occurrence forecasting system still plays an important role in plant protection in Indonesia. The current Indonesian IPM approach aims at minimal use of pesticides, while relying on the pest occurrence forecasting system. The forecasting system has made an important contribution to the success of IPM in Indonesia.

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The morphological characteristics of fruits, changes in fruit sugar contents, and sugar composition in three sapodilla cultivars grown in Vietnam were investigated at different maturation stages and after storage. The fruit weight, flesh weight and flesh percentage were the largest in‘Ta’, followed by‘Xiem’and‘Day’. The fruits of‘Xiem’and‘Day’were oval, and those of‘Ta’were round. The tasting quality was the highest in‘Xiem’, followed by‘Day’and‘Ta’. The total soluble solid (TSS) content, which was determined by the addition of 5% Polyethylene glycol (PEG) to remove tannins, and the total sugar content increased throughout the fruit maturation. The TSS and total sugar contents were the highest in‘Xiem’, followed by‘Day’ and‘Ta’at the yellow and dark yellow stages. There were no differences in the changes in the fructose and glucose contents during the maturation of fruits among the three cultivars, whereas the content of sucrose changed remarkably and was high in‘Xiem’and‘Day’compared with‘Ta’. The cultivar differences in the total sugar content of the fruits depended on the content of sucrose. An analysis of the sugar contents during storage using the‘Xiem’fruits at the light yellow and yellow stages showed that the sugar contents changed differently. However, ‘Xiem’could be harvested when its second skin was light yellow (turning stage) .

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Bradyrhizobium spp. could largely provide nitrogen required for soybean growth via their symbiosis. The amount of N conferred is determined by the genotypes of host plant and Bradyrhizobium spp. as well as environmental factors. The field experiment was undertaken to study the effectiveness of Bradyrhizobium spp. on some improved soybean varieties on the upland Alfisol in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia. The inoculation treatments and soybean varieties were combined factorially and arranged in a split plot design. Each factorial treatment was replicated 3 times. The parameters measured were the number and weight of nodules, plant height, plant dry matter weight, and seed yield per ha. Field inoculation with commercial rhizobial inocula increased plant height and nodule numbers of soybean at 3 weeks after planting (WAP), and the inoculation effect was the same among soybean cultivars tested. The soybean genotypes used in our field study did not affect the nodulation by indigenous and inoculated rhizobia at 3 and 6 WAR Nodule formation by indigenous and inoculated rhizobia is not dependent on plant genotypes. Thus all plant genotypes used in the present study are compatible with indigenous and inoculated rhizobia in nodule formation. Plant vegetative growth, measured as plant height and plant dry matter weight, was promoted through inoculation. Seed yield was significantly affected by the soybean genotypes only. Since the productivity of inoculated soybean was similar to that of un-inoculated one, it is indicated that the upland Alfisol soil tested contains indigenous rhizobia which are as effective as the commercial rhizobial inocula.

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Mentha aquatica was transformed by infection with Agrobacterium rhizogenes IFO 14554 containing the pBI121 plasmid or the pTH-LC plasmid. pTH-LC is a pBI121-derivative plasmid harboring a limonene synthase gene from spearmint (Mentha spicata) . From all the agroinfected plants, hairy roots were generated. One plant was regenerated from hairy roots induced by Agrobacterium harboring pBI121 and two plants were regenerated from hairy roots induced by Agrobacterium harboring pTH-LC. Based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis and β -glucuronidase (GUS) assay, the presence and expression of the GUS gene were detected for the former plant, unlike for the latter plants. Basd on Southern hybridization and PCR analysis, rol genes were detected in all the three regenerants. The essential oils from the regenerants were analyzed by gas chromatography. Compared to the parent plant, Mentha aquatica, the essential oils from the plant that harbored only the rol genes contained menthone and menthol in addition to linalool and linalyl acetate. These findings suggested that the rol genes had some effects on the changes in the essential oil composition of Mentha aquatica.

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Amorphophallus muelleri Blume plants are cultivated in timber forests in East Java. To obtain information about cultivation practices and the economic contribution of A. muelleri to farmers, interviews with farmers and managers of timber plantations were carried out in July, 2002. Farmers plant bulbils only once when they start to cultivate A. muelleri. Thereafter, bulbils dispersed from plants grow out naturally every year. Harvest begins three years after planting. Corms are harvested after the plants enter dormancy. Corm size depends on the age, 220 g (1 year-old corms) to 3700 g (more than 3 year-old corms), and can be estimated based on the petiole diameter, plant vigor, and the number of bulbils per plant. In order to harvest large corms, farmers push wooden sticks into the soil beside plants with thick petioles. Cultivation of A. muelleri contributes to the improvement of the household economy, so that about 40 to 90% of the total income is derived from A. muelleri. A. muelleri plants do not require any specific management practices except for weeding and harvesting. Furthermore, the cultivation of A. muelleri helps prevent illegal logging and the occurrence of forest fire.

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The Union of Myanmar is located in the westernmost part of Southeast Asia between latitudes 9° 32′N and 28° 31′N, and longitudes 92°10′ E and 101°10′ E. Due to diversity, various ecotypes of rice landraces have evolved, such as floating rice, deep water rice, irrigated rice, rainfed lowland rice, and upland rice which are cultivated in various regions of Myanmar. A total of 1, 240 rice landraces collected throughout Myanmar were grown to examine the genetic diversity in heading time in 2000 at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (19°16′N) in Yezin, Myanmar. In the following year, 1, 391 rice landraces were sown twice a year on 12 March and 25 August to observe heading responses under different daylength conditions. Rice landraces were sown under longer day conditions in the former season starting in March, while grown under shorter day conditions in the latter season from August. The basic vegetative growth (BVG) was estimated based on the number of days to heading of the landraces sown on 25 August. The photoperiodic sensitivity (PS) was evaluated based on the differences in the number of days to heading between the March 12 and the August 25 sowings. A great diversity was observed in BVG as well as in PS. The PS of the Myanmar landraces was categorized into three groups in order to analyze regional variations in photosensitivity. The PS of group I was less than 59 days, that of group II which ranged from 60 to 109 days and that of group III which exceeded 110 days. The regional variations in PS showed distinctive clines. This differentiation in the PS of the landraces cultivated in different regions of Myanmar was considered to be significantly related with diversified cropping systems and environmental conditions.

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The contents of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg in the pith of sago palm trees differing in age (estimated years after sucker planting or emergence), growing in shallow peat soil (SPS) and mineral soil (MS) at Mukah, Sarawak, Malaysia, were determined to analyze the changes in macroelement contents with aging. The average content (g kg^-1) in the pith of trunk was in the order of K>Ca>N≥Mg>P, regardless of the soil types in which the trees grew and palm ages. The contents of all the elements except for P were higher in the younger palms and decreased until the trees were 8-10 years old (4-6 years after trunk formation) and hardly changed afterwards. P content in the pith was remarkably lower than that of other elements and minimal changes were observed with aging. The content gradient of each element except for K was observed from the basal (low content) to top part (high content) of the pith for the longitudinal distribution in the trunk, while the K content was almost the same content along the longitudinal direction in the trunk, regardless of the palm ages. The N and Mg contents were higher in the peripheral part than in the central part, while no appreciable differences were observed for P, in terms of content gradient of each macroelement along the radial direction in the pith. The Ca content was higher in the central part than in the peripheral part at the palm age of 4-6 years old, but the content tended to be higher in reverse after the palm age of 8 years old. The K contents were higher in the peripheral part than in the central part, as in the case of the N and Mg contents at the palm age of 4-6 years old, but thereafter, the highest content was observed in the central, middle and peripheral parts of the pith in the basal, central and top parts of the trunk, respectively. Accumulation of the macroelements in the pith which was in the order of K>Ca>N>Mg>P, followed a S-shaped pattern as well as the increase of pith dry weight, regardless of the soil types, although the amount of K accumulated was higher in the sago palms growing in MS than in those growing in SPS at the same palm age. Based on the results obtained, the K content and accumulation among the macroelements in the pith of sago palm were not only highest, but also the distribution pattern of the content differed from that of other elements, and it was suggested that the relation between the K content and starch synthesis in the pith should be clarified.

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A comparative study was carried out to evaluate four imported (one from China and three from India) hybrid rice cultivars with a check high yielding variety (BRRI Dhan-29) (as control) at the farmer field-level in 33 locations of Bangladesh. Yield and yield contributing characters, physicochemical properties and cost-return benefits of hybrid rice were analyzed. The Chinese cultivar-Sonarbangla-1 performed best in terms of all the parameters considered. The other three Indian cultivars (Amarsiri-1, Aalok and Loknath) had lower performance than the check variety (control) . Sonarbangla-1 produced a 20% higher rice yield (7.55 t ha^-1) than the check variety (6.26 t ha^-1) . Yield advantage for the hybrid rice was mainly due to heavier grain weight (35%) and to increased values in the proportion of filled grains/panicle over the check variety (28%) . Shorter field duration was observed in Sonarbangla-1 than the check variety. About a 16% and 32% higher cost was incurred in Sonarbangla-1 than the check variety when calculated on a full-cost and cash-cost basis, respectively. However, gross return was 21% higher in Sonarbangla-1 than the check variety thus contributing to a 5% higher benefit-cost ratio. These results suggest that Sonarbangla-1 is a promising hybrid rice under Bangladesh context.

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