Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia最新文献

The paper fits in the field of bioeconomy, which aims the reconciliation between environment and economy, approaching the issue of substitution, even partially, of the synthetic nitrogen with the one biologically fixed to the wheat crop. The study began 12 years ago in a farm from Southern Romania (Burnas Plain) with a surface of 1000 ha. In order to avoid monoculture, it has been proposed a crop rotation system with five crops (200 ha for each crop), as follows: rape – wheat – corn – sunflower – peas. The effects of avoiding monoculture have immediately appeared, especially in diminishing the diseases, pests and weeds percentage with about 38.4%. An essential part of the whole algorithm is represented by the crop nutrition, mainly by the nitrogen one for wheat, since it directly affects the yields quantity and quality. Thereby, a part of the nitrogen currently applied from bag (synthesis nitrogen) has been replaced with biological nitrogen, obtained from the input provided by using peas as preceding plant (130 kg N/ha, which means an average of 26 kg N/ha/year) and by the association made by wheat with the Azospirillum brasilense bacteria (90 kg N/ha, namely an average of 18 kg N/ha/year). The total amount of substituted nitrogen is 44 kg N/ha/year. Doing a ratio between the biological and the synthesis nitrogen, it will appear that 46.4% of the nitrogen required by the plants for the whole crop rotation system can be supplied at no cost and without causing damages to the environment. The entire study wants to demonstrate that the transition to the conservation agriculture is a necessary step on our way to the bioeconomic agriculture and that, in order to achieve this objective, using natural models is crucial.

TESLA (Transfering Energy Save Laid on Agroindustry) is a EU project pointing to the reduction of energy consumption and the improvement of energy efficiency in key agro-food sectors’ cooperatives, as those processing fruit and vegetables. After a general analysis of energy consumptions during the first phase of the project, the processes responsible for the higher energy consumptions in these fruit and vegetable industries, as cold storage, have been identified. In the second phase of the project, a few case studies aimed at proposing customized solutions for reducing energy wastage and for improving energy efficiency in specific selected cooperatives have been performed. In this manuscript we report preliminary results of a case study carried out in an Italian horticulture cooperative having several production lines for fresh (1^st range) and minimally processed (4^th range) fruit and vegetable products. In this cooperative, an in-depth energy audit has been performed, and additionally a process simulation software has been applied to model, evaluate and improve the operations in this processing centre and in the supply chain from the primary production sites. Such case study may be used as an example for similar cooperatives of the fruit and vegetables sector, thus contributing in making this sector more economically and energetically sustainable.

The evolution of the internal Romanian market for table grapes in recent years suggests that there are occasional problems with the supply, sometimes requiring imports, as well as a need for early maturing varieties, which can bring important benefits for both producers and consumers. This paper presents some data regarding a promising new variety of table grapes, Mihaela, obtained at the Pietroasa Research Station located in Buzău county, Romania, by crossing of Vitis vinifera varieties Cardinal and Coarnă neagră, the last being the maternal ancestor. Presented data includes ampelographic features, agrobiological and technological traits for the new Mihaela cultivar, as well as for its parent varieties. The results recorded thus far present Mihaela as a valuable early ripening variety which could be a good addition to the table grapes assortment of many producers.

The purpose of this study was to know the effect of crude extract durian seeds using on pineapple juice during storage and to know the appropriated concentration of crude extract of durian seed to product the pineapple juice with good properties and high preferrence. The research was done in two steps. The first step was extraction of processing crude extract water-solube polysaccharide of durian seed. The second step was application of crude extract water-solube polysaccharide of durian seed on pineapple juice. The experimental design used completely randomized design two factors of nested pattern (Nested Design). The first factor was concentration of crude extracts (0; 0.05; 0.10; 0.15 and 0.20%) and the second factor was storage time at room temperature (0, 1, 2 and 3 week). The best concentration of crude extract water soluble polysaccharides of durian seeds to product the pineapple juice was 0.10%. The pineapple juice had 0,10% by 54,67 mp of viscosity; 0,00 of ⁰Brix stability; pH 5.01; Hue value by 76.173 (Yellow Red); Chroma 19.80; and the sensory properties were preference of color, aroma, taste, stability, and overall were 3.56; 3.40; 3.56; 3.60; and 3.84 (like to very like) respectively.

Application of the organic substrates and use of bio-mulching materials are effective in retaining soil moisture content, reducing soil erosion, and suppressing weed growth and thereby improving the soil health. A field experiment was conducted during 2005-2007 in lateritic soil (with pH 5.2 and organic carbon 0.42%) under rain fed condition of Nayagram block, West Midnapur, West Bengal, India to develop a sustainable organic farming management practice along with the effective uses of mulches and its impact on the yield attributes and quality of leaf in mulberry. The objective was to assess the influence of mulch materials especially sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) and combined application of organics and biofertilizers (Azotobacter chroococcum) in regulating soil moisture and major nutrients to enhance the production and quality of mulberry leaves under water stress condition. Analysis of three crop data revealed that that the poultry manure in combination with biofertilizer and the reduced doses of inorganic fertilizers applied in mulch plots have a significant effect on growth, leaf yield and quality of mulberry plants. However, the effect of using recommended rate of inorganic fertilizers was the same as that of using 50% of the recommended rate of inorganic nitrogen and 60% of the recommended rate of phosphorus.

The objective of this study was to improve quality of taro leaves using pre-treated enzymes as prebiotic in animal feed. This study was assigned in T-test for dependent sample and consists of two in vitro experiments. First experiment consists of 2 treatments by different enzyme levels (0 and 1% w/v) with 3 replications. All treatment samples were measured for chemical compositions, reducing sugar content and oligosaccharides. The results showed that chemical compositions were significantly different among treatments (P<0.01) except crude protein and cellulose. Enzyme-treated taro leaves had lower fat content (2.96 vs. 4.31%) and hemicelluloses (14.55 vs. 15.18%) as compared to untreated taro leaves (P<0.01). Moreover, enzyme-treated taro leaves had higher reducing sugar content than untreated taro leaves (P<0.01). They were 29.78 and 6.23 mg/g, respectively. In addition, oligosaccharides analysis by thin layer chromatography (TLC) found that oligosaccharides in enzyme-treated and untreated taro leaves can digest product and releasing oligosaccharides. Second experiment was conducted to examine prebiotic properties. The results found that sugar product from taro leaves using pre-treated enzymes (Hemicell®) can increase growth of Lactobacillus plantarum (concentration of hydrolyzed products 400, 800, 1,200 and 1,600 μg/ml) but cannot inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli. In conclusion, it was suggested that enzyme-treated taro leaves can be used as prebiotic in animal feed.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the sustainability of potato farming systems on sloping land in Gowa Regency based on the assessment of sustainability index and their status. The assessment was done using Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) method with RAP-farm software. There are five dimension of potato farming system being analysed; ecological, economic, institutional, technological and social. Results of ordination technique of MDS methods showed that the potato farming sustainability index ranged from 39.6 to 62.8 in 100 scales. The value of ecological, economic, institutional and technological dimensions are including quite sustainable category, while social dimensions is including less sustainable category in potato farming systems. Leverage analysis of RAP-farm found that 19 attributes of 43 attributes being analysed gives sensitive effect on the sustainability index of potato farming systems on sloping land in Gowa Regency, South Sulawesi.

This study was carried out to determine the favorable conditions for preserving the quality of ‘Jiro’ persimmon during overseas transport and subsequent storage. Persimmon were packed using two types of packaging materials: plain cardboard boxes and cardboard boxes with modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) using 40-μm thick low density polyethylene (LDPE) film as an inner packaging material. These fruits were exported to Hong Kong via sea for 7 days using reefer containers at set temperatures of 2 °C and 15 °C. After delivery, the fruits were stored at 10 °C and room temperature for 6 days. The number of softened fruits in each test was counted on the day of delivery and on every second day during storage. The softening of fruit was judged directly by touch and fruits that had even slightly softened were regarded as softened fruits. Simultaneously a laboratory test was conducted under conditions mimicking the transport conditions to determine the effect of MAP on persimmon quality based on the evaluation of headspace O₂ and CO₂ concentration inside the package, fruit skin color, and ion leakage. The number of softened fruit was less at 2 °C than at 15 °C transportation temperatures on the day of delivery, but during shelf-life conditions at both 10 °C and room temperature, the number of softened fruit increased rapidly on the fruit that was transported at 2 °C. These results indicate that the selection of an appropriate transportation temperature, considering the chilling sensitivity of ‘Jiro’ persimmon fruits, is very important to increase the number of marketable fruits, thereby increasing its overseas trade value. Storage at room temperature after transportation prolonged the shelf-life of fruits better than those stored at 10 °C. Using MAP was more effective at preventing quality loss of persimmon not only on the delivery day but also on the day after delivery. ‘Wase-Jiro’, which is an early-ripening type, was more sensitive to chilling than ‘Futsu-Jiro’, which is a middle-ripening type. Moreover, it was found that high-grade persimmon is more suitable for export.

Sustainability has become one of the most important challenges for wineries over the last decade. From a marketing point of view sustainability can be considered as a way to differentiate wines to meet some market segment demands. Furthermore, this strategy can be also considered necessary to guarantee the future development of the wine sector. Given that some wineries have stated that production costs are higher for sustainable wines than for conventional wines, the goal of this paper is to analyze the premium price that consumers are willing to pay for a sustainable wine with respect to the price of a conventional wine with similar characteristics. Contingent valuation has been used to test the differences in the willingness to pay for sustainable wines among the main Spanish wine market segments. Results reveal that most Spanish consumers are willing to pay a higher price for sustainable wines, and that there are differences among the main market segments.

This experiment has an object to study the response of four potato cultivars to paclobutrazol and paranet shade application in medium plain. Land height is about 700 m about sea level and experimental design in use is Split-Split Plot Design. Three factors used as treatment in this experiment are paranet shade of without shade (0%), shade of 30%, and 50%, four cultivars potato (Granola, Atlantic, Spunta, dan Raja) and regulator, Paclobutrazol (0 ppm, 50 ppm, and 100 ppm). The result shows interaction between paranet shade, cultivar, and paclobutrazol are affecting to height of plants. Interaction between paranet shade and paclobutrazol is affecting to tuber amount. Cultivar Atlantic with 50% paranet shade without application paclobutrazol shows tallest plants that is 69,33 cm and the shortest is 33,83 cm at cultivar raja without paranet shade and application paclobutrazol 100 ppm. The results of this research proved that the growth of potato affects by cultivar, paranet shade, and paclobutrazol application. The best observed plant height of potato was Atlantic cultivar attempted with 50% density of shade without paclobutrazol application. Moreover, Atlantic cultivar showed higher Leaf Surface Area Index (LAI) and Net Assimilation Rate (NAR) value. Otherwise, the best yield was showed by Granola cultivar, so Granola can be counted as adaptable cultivar in medium plain.