Agriculture

In recent years, fuzzy modeling technique has been successfully employed to model complex systems, where classical methods e.g. mathematical and model-free methods are inapplicabe due to the lack of sufficient information. Generally model free-methods such as neural networks are prefered when a significant amount of data exists as they provide more robust means to identify and reproduce the existing patterns in the available data. However, when limited amount of data exist but ambiguous or imprecise information are available, fuzzy reasoning provides a way to understand system behavior. Before Bouma (1989) introduced the term pedo-transfer functions (PTFs), described as translating data we have into what we need, some hydraulic properties’ PTFs had been developed in modeling water movement and solute transport in soil due to the increasing of computational speed and expanding of models’ complexity (Gupta and Larson, 1979). Many studies related to modeling various soil parameters using different types of PTFs has been conducted (Schaap et al., 1998; McBratney et al., 2002; Vos et al., 2005).

Bovine blood/rumen content mixture (BBRCM) is an abattoir by-product that provides a cheap source of livestock feed. It is a source of protein which is readily available at the slaughter house. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of broiler chicks fed bovine blood/ rumen content mixture (BBRCM) as partial replacement for soybean meal. Experimental diets T1 which served as the control contained 0% BBRCM, diets T2, T3 and T4 contained 20%, 40% and 60% BBRCM respectively. Sixty (60) five weeks old Anak 2000 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to the four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design (CRD). Each treatment was replicated three times with five birds per replicate. The experiment lasted for 35 days. Results showed that there were significant differences in the growth performance of the birds on the treatment groups in all the measurements recorded. Birds fed T4 diet had the highest weight gain and the best feed conversion ratio. There was a significant (p<0.05) increase in weight gain as the inclusion level increased. The feed intake of birds fed diet T1 was significantly (p<0.05) higher than those fed other treatment diets while T4 recorded the least. There were significant (p<0.05) differences on the feed conversion ratio of the birds fed diets T1, T2, T3 and T4. T1 had the poorest feed conversion ratio. Organ weights were not significantly affected (p>0.05). The result of the experiment showed that bovine blood/rumen content mixture can replace soybean meal in the diet at up to 60% level without any negative effect. Economics of production showed that bovine blood/rumen content mixture were profitable as regards to the cost of feed per kg weight gain and thus cost savings. Key note: BBRCM (Bovine Blood Rumen Content Mixture), carcass characteristics, economics of production.

This study was performed to evaluation of Water Stress and Organic matter simultaneously on some morphological characteristics of German chamomile under two mineral and biological N fertilizer treatments. Experiment done as RCBD Experimental design in split split design with 3 factors and 3 replications. First factor included organic fertilizer (application and no application), second factor was biologic nitrogen (application and no application) and third factor included drought stress (80%FC and 50%FC). At the end of study some properties were evaluated such as: Height, Stem diameter, Branch stem number, Flower number, Dry yield of flower and Essential oil%. Using organic matter led to increasing 22, 25, 28, 18, 4 and 9 percent of Height, Stem diameter, Branch stem number, Flower number, Dry yield of flower and Essential oil% respectively. Application of biologic fertilizer had significant on all characteristics, significant reductions were observed by application of drought stress, So Height, Stem diameter, Branch stem number, Flower number, Dry yield of flower and Essential oil% were decreased 22, 23, 35, 50, 60 and 4% in compare to control.

Six periods of English agriculture namely: prehistoric, historic, agricultural revolution, post agricultural revolution, green planet and post green planet were identified. Their previous and current land management practices were reviewed with reference to East Anglian Region (EAR), the food basket of the nation. The current land management practices at EAR with Writtle College Research and Teaching Farm as case study included: grassland on permanent pasture; one on 5 y ley to stocking, the other sown with red clover a y before stocking; the third treated with N fertilizer a y before stocking; the fourth on arable crop (barley); with pristine woodland as control. By aid of CENTURY 4.0 Model, simulation of soil carbon (C) storage was generated for the past, present and future (8050 yrs). The validity of the model was tested by fitting measured with simulated C. The closeness of data fit in deciduous woodland shows the accuracy of the prediction; while the variations in other sites show the effects of management. The assumed practices during different historical and future periods led to the following predictions and conclusions. All the current land management practices including woodland do not sequester enough C. Integrated approaches like agroforestry, silviculture are required. Nevertheless, given the current land management soil C sequestration will be moderate (0.02 ± 0.003 t ha-1 y-1) up to 2055 before impacts that will require other sustainable options will be noticed.

Field evaluation to measuring combine losses was conducted typically on seed corn field because of high economic importance of seed corn in Iran. Because seed corn is alive, harvesting operation should be done precisely with fewer losses. For this purpose data were collected and analyzed for different cylinder and ground speeds. Pre-harvest, gathering, and processing losses were measured. The results showed the total harvesting loss was 9.30% which combine loss was almost 8.56% with feeding rate of 2.48 kg ears per second. The highest losses occur in processing (threshing) (5.39%) because of elimination all cracked seeds (any crack in seeds decrease the seed generation power). The effect of travel speed was significant for gathering and threshing (quality) losses while cylinder speed had a significant effect on threshing (quality and quantity) losses. The lowest total combine loss (7.60%) was measured at 3 km h-1 ground speed with 400 rpm cylinder speed and the highest value (7.19%) belonged to 5 km h-1 ground speed with 600 rpm cylinder speed. Energy consumption during harvesting seed corn was calculated 1.8 GJ ha-1 which the diesel fuel input was the highest energy consumer with almost 1.2 GJ ha-1 that was 70% of total energy use.

Influence of Selenium (Se) concentration in the nutrient solution on yield, quality, and Se status of Brussels sprout plants (Brassica oleracea, varGemmifera) was evaluated.The Brussels sprout plants were treated with six concentration of Se asselenate sodium (Na2 SeO4., 0, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 mg L-1).Treatments were arranged in a completely randomize design with four replicates. The highest concentration of Se in the leaves, buds and stem was observed at the 32mg L-1 Se concentration. The total Se accumulation in percentage differed among different parts of plants. Total Se for the differ parts of plants ranged from 2.44 to 65.93% and old leaves accounted for the greatest proportion of total Se, followed by stem, young leaves, roots and buds in descending order. Increasing Se concentration increased Se allocation to the roots, while reduced the Se allocation to the buds. The size of buds increased by increasing Se concentration from 0 to 8 mg L-1. However it was reduced in 16 and 32mg L-1 Se concentration. It can be concluded that Se supplements (8mg L-1) improve yield, and Se concentration in the bud.

A Hanslope Soil health was investigated from context of enzyme activities namely: cellulose, phosphomonoesterase and urease to enhance the understanding of the following land management practices: grassland under permanent pasture on 5 y ley to stocking, another sown with red clover a y before stocking, the other fertilized with N-fertilizer a y to stocking; the last on barley; with pristine deciduous woodland as control. The highest cellulose activity was detected in deciduous woodland, 172.3 ± 106 µg glucose g-1 d-1 over the summer. Cellulase activity was positively dependent on soil microbial C (R2 = 0.64). Grassland under permanent pasture treated with N-fertilizer a y before stocking had the highest urease activity, 77 ± 57.8 µg NH4-N g-1 h-1 over winter in both buffered and non buffered measurement techniques. There was no significant differences in phosphomonoesterase activity between land management. Soil enzyme measurements is a major component of soil health. It defines biological productivity, promote environmental quality and maintains plant and animal health. Soil health is fundamental for agricultural sustainability. Amongst the soil biological properties, enzymes show extraordinary specificity in catalyzing biological reactions as revealed in this study. Regional information are solicited for global network.

Plants often experience both drought and salinity stress in arid environment. Various mathematical water uptake models exist for plants response to combined drought and salinity stress. The reduction functions are classified as additive, multiplicative and conceptual models. In this study six different macroscopic reduction functions, namely; Van Genuchten (additive and multiplicative), Dirksen et al., Van Dam et al, Skaggs et al and Homaee were evaluated. The experiment was carried out on Ghods variety of wheat crop in a factorial split plot design with 3 replicates in the Research Field of university Birjand. The treatments consisted of four levels of irrigation (50, 75, 100 and 120%of crop water requirement), and three water qualities (1.4, 4.5, 9.6 dS/m). The results of this study indicated that the additive model estimates relative yield less than actual amount. In other word, the effect of combined stresses on wheat yield was less compared to sum of the separate effects due to salinity and water stress. The effect of drought stress on reduction of yield was more than salinity stress. The results also revealed that reduction function of Skaggs et al and Homaee were better fitness to measured data than the other functions.

A field experiment was conducted at KVK, Srinagar during two consecutive Kharif seasons to study the “Effect of integrated nutrient management for Soybean (Glycine max L.) under temperate conditions”. The experiment was laid out with 18 treatment combinations viz., three levels of each of recommended doses of inorganic fertilizers (50, 75 and 100% RD) and organic manures (control, FYM 10 t ha-1 and Dalweed 10 t ha-1) and two levels of biofertilizers (control and dual inoculation with Rhizobium + PSB) in randomised complete block design with three replications. The results revealed that grain and straw yield increased significantly with increase in the recommended inorganic levels. Application of FYM @ 10 t ha-1 showed significantly superior results over other organic treatments. Dual inoculation with Rhizobium and PSB showed significantly superior results over no inoculation. Yield attributing characters viz. 100-seed weight and number of nodules showed significant increase with increasing levels of recommended inorganic fertilizers. Application of 75% recommended inorganic fertilizer level showed highest 100-seed weight over other levels. Among organics, FYM (10 t ha-1) was found superior over Dalweed (10 t ha-1) for yield attributes. Oil and lysine content was found superior with application of 75% recommended inorganic fertilizers over other levels, Protien content increased with increasing levels of recommended inorganic fertilizers. Among organics FYM (10 t ha-1) yielded significantly superior results for seed quality than dalweed (10 t ha-1).

Good agricultural practices (GAP) are Practices that address environmental, economic and social sustainability for on-farm processes and result in safe and quality food and non-food agricultural products. In simple language, GAP stands on four pillars (economic viability, environmental sustainability, social acceptability and food safety and quality). In recent years, the concept of GAP has evolved to address the concerns of different stakeholders about food production and security, food safety and quality, and the environmental sustainability of agriculture. These stakeholders include governments, food retailing industries, farmers and consumers who seek to meet specific objectives of food safety, food production, production efficiency, livelihood and environmental benefits. Adoption of a sustainable practice means that the farmer has accepted the idea as good and that he intends to include it in the ongoing program of land preparation, planting, and harvesting. In other words, adoption is the implementation and continued use of an agriculture practice. This is an important difference from trial or experimentation, because a farmer might try a sustainable practice and abandon that practice. Adoption of sustainable practices by farmers is the key to transforming agriculture into a long-term, sustainable system. How far sustainability can be achieved in a democracy depends greatly on farmers’ voluntary acceptance of sound land use practices. Individual decisions are shaped by the availability of technical information and the appropriate machinery, seeds, and other inputs necessary to implement sustainable agricultural practices. This paper reviews literature on the good agricultural practices that promote sustainable food security.