Komposisi botani dan produksi biomasa hijauan di Kecamatan Gunung Toar, Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi Riau

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui jenis hijauan yang tumbuh di Kecamatan Gunung Toar, Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi. Penelitian diawali dengan survey (observasi lapang dan penentuan lokasi) kemudian pengambilan sampel hijauan pada 5 Desa yaitu desa Kampung Baru, Pisang Berebus, Petapahan, Pulau Mungkur, Gunung. Masing-masing Desa diambil 5 lokasi, setiap lokasi diambil 5 titik. Penelitian dilanjutkan dengan identifikasi jenis hijauan dan perhitungan produksi hijauan. Alat yang digunakan untuk pengambilan sampel hijauan terdiri dari kuadran 0,5 x 0,5 m2, gunting rumput, sabit, kantong plastik ukuran 10 dan ukuran 2 kg, karung, tali plastik, dan alat tulis. Perhitungan hijauan dengan persentase total hijauan, perhitungan produksi hijauan dilakukan dengan rata rata tiap desa. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat 10 jenis hijauan, yang terdiri atas rumput, legum dan gulma. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini adalah hijauan yang paling dominan tumbuh di Kecamatan Gunung Toar adalah dari jenis rumput/gramineae 42,53%, Rumput Bede (Brachiaria decumbens) 13,94% dan leguminosae 21,45%. Produksi biomas hijauan tertinggi di Desa Patabahan 73,44 ton/ha/th.

Amendment of organic compost proprieties through composting-vermicomposting integration

The aim of the current study is to evaluate the effects of integrating composting-vermicomposting to improve the organic compost as from the physicochemical analyses and by their application on Brachiaria decumbens growth. Experiments carried out in composting unit used 30:1 ratio of nitrogen-rich organic waste (raw vegetables, fruits and cooked food) and carbon (dry grass) in 2 pile configurations (with, or without passive aeration). After 60 days, product was subjected to vermicomposting for 45 days. Composts were analyzed to check their quality (temperature, pH, moisture, organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus levels), as well as compared to each other as biofertilizers (10% (w/v)) for B. decumbens growth. Data have suggested that the vermicomposting process improved the compost pile by increasing its nitrogen (1.26% to 1.95%), phosphorus (0.64% to 1.2%) and organic carbon contents (17.1% to 18.9%). B. decumbens growth showed no significant differences between those treatments, which indicates that organic fraction should be increased (>10%) to release their nutrients to plant.

Population dynamics of the pasture leafhopper complex (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) in brachiaria and mombasa grass

Pasture leafhoppers are considered highly important pests in forage grasses in Brazil due to their widespread occurrence. This insect is one of the most relevant pests in pasture degradation. In order for the control of spittlebugs to be efficient, it is important to know the population behavior of the species of this insect, identify the period of greatest occurrence, as well as the climatic and environmental conditions that favor the development of the pest. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the population dynamics of spittlebugs, at a quantitative level, in Brachiaria decumbens and Panicum maximum pastures, associating the results with meteorological data from the municipality of Conceição do Araguaia, Southeast Pará. To study the population dynamics of spittlebugs, samples were taken every two weeks, in two types of pastures aged between 5 and 7 years, kept under rotational grazing, with a stocking of 1.5 animal units. The method of monitoring nymphs and adults of leafhoppers was adopted, through walking within the observation area. The level of infestation of spittlebugs in both forage species was evaluated and all results were submitted to analysis of variance by the F test. It was found that the species B. decumbens had a greater number of adults and nymphs when compared to the forage species P. maximum. The population dynamics of spittlebugs occur gradually according to climatic conditions, and the period with not-so-high temperatures (22 ºC to 34 ºC) and good rainfall provide an infestation of this insect pest in the pasture.

Natural colonization of vegetation under twenty years restoration of ex-cement mining

Biodiversity loss can be drastically aggravated by mining activities. Opened pit mining removes all material, including vegetation, above the ore deposit. Cement industries always implement opened mining as they process all rocks into cement. Restoration is known as the best human interference to drive the damaged ecosystem to recover. This study aimed to observe vegetation that was naturally grown under Pinus sp after 20 years of planting on ex-cement mining. The study was conducted in Sukabumi District, in three sites that were distributed in Cicantayan (2 sites) Sub District and Cibadak Sub District. Each location disses ivided into three points to conduct analysis vegetation in transects, for trees 2 units (10 x 10 m), shrubs 4 units (5 x 5 m), and grasses 5 units (1x1 m). The study resulted after 20 years of planting with Pinus (3 x 3 m) the sites recorded have been inhabited by 13 new species. They are 4 woody trees species, 4 species of shrubs, and 5 species of under-story (grasses). Tree stratum new inhabitants are Ficus spp, Macaranga gigantea, Schima wallichii, and Hibiscus tilliaceus, with the important value index (IVI) 57.83%; 53.67%; 33.17 %, 26.5%; respectively. Shrub’s stratum is inhabited by Mimosa invisa (IVI 76.66%); Eupatorium odoratum (IVI 76.66 %); Melastoma malabathricum (IVI 73.83%); and Clibadium suninamensis (IVI 72.837%). Whereas grasses stratum inhabited by Imperrata cyllindrica (IVI 98.77%); Brachiaria decumbens (IVI 98.60%); Themedia gigantea (IVI 43.11%); Setaria spp (IVI 31.83%), Cymbophogon citratus (IVI 27.69%). Shortly, restoration has encouraged natural colonization even acid mine drainage on the body waters remains occurred.

Effects of Bypass Fat on Buffalo Carcass Characteristics, Meat Nutrient Contents and Profitability

The deposition and distribution of buffalo body fats play a vital role in the quality of the buffalo carcass and are of great commercial value, since the carcass quality influences the profitability and consumer acceptability of ruminant meat. The current study examined the effect a mixture of 4% bypass fat and 26% concentrate supplementations in buffalo basal diet had on both the carcass characteristics and the proximate and fatty acid composition in longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL), supraspinatus (SS) and semitendinosus (ST) muscles of Murrah cross and swamp buffaloes. In addition, profit and loss analyses were performed to determine the profitability. This study employed a completely randomized 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with two diets, two breeds and four replicates per treatment. A total of sixteen buffaloes (eight buffaloes per breed, bodyweight 98.64 ± 1.93 kg) were randomly assigned into two dietary groups. The first group was given Diet A, which consisted of 70% Brachiaria decumbens + 30% concentrate, whereas the second group was given Diet B, which consisted of 70% Brachiaria decumbens + 26% concentrate + 4% bypass fat. The buffaloes were fed for 730 days before slaughter. The results showed that supplemented bypass fat significantly (p < 0.05) increased the pre-slaughter weight, hot and cold carcass weights, meat:fat ratio, pH at 24 h, moisture and crude protein of LTL, ST and SS, the ether extract of LTL and ST and the meat fatty acid of C16:0, C16:1, C18:1, PUFA n-6/n-3 and total MUFA. The carcass yield and carcass fat percentages, the ash content in ST, the EE in the SS muscle and the meat fatty acid of C18:3, total PUFA n-3, UFA/SFA and PUFA/SFA were significantly (p < 0.05) decreased. Furthermore, Murrah cross showed a significantly (p < 0.05) higher pre-slaughter weight, hot and cold carcass weights, carcass bone percentage and total fatty acid, but a lower (p < 0.05) meat:bone ratio, ash of LTL and CP of LTL and ST when compared to swamp buffaloes. No significant changes were found in the proximate composition of different types of muscle, but the ST muscle revealed significantly high C14:0, C16:0 and C18:1, and the SS muscle had high C18:2 and total fatty acid (p < 0.05). Supplementing using bypass fat increased the cost of buffalo feeding but resulted in a higher revenue and net profit. In conclusion, the concentrate and bypass fat supplementations in the buffalo diet could alter the nutrient compositions of buffalo meat without a detrimental effect on carcass characteristics, leading to a higher profit.

Seed-Transmitted Bacteria and Fungi Dominate Juvenile Plant Microbiomes

Plant microbiomes play an important role in agricultural productivity, but there is still much to learn about their provenance, diversity, and organization. In order to study the role of vertical transmission in establishing the bacterial and fungal populations of juvenile plants, we used high-throughput sequencing to survey the microbiomes of seeds, spermospheres, rhizospheres, roots, and shoots of the monocot crops maize (B73), rice (Nipponbare), switchgrass (Alamo), Brachiaria decumbens, wheat, sugarcane, barley, and sorghum; the dicot crops tomato (Heinz 1706), coffee (Geisha), common bean (G19833), cassava, soybean, pea, and sunflower; and the model plants Arabidopsis thaliana (Columbia-0) and Brachypodium distachyon (Bd21). Unsterilized seeds were planted in either sterile sand or farm soil inside hermetically sealed jars, and after as much as 60 days of growth, DNA was extracted to allow for amplicon sequence-based profiling of the bacterial and fungal populations that developed. Seeds of most plants were dominated by Proteobacteria and Ascomycetes, with all containing operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to Pantoea and Enterobacter. All spermospheres also contained DNA belonging to Pseudomonas, Bacillus, and Fusarium. Despite having only seeds as a source of inoculum, all plants grown on sterile sand in sealed jars nevertheless developed rhizospheres, endospheres, and phyllospheres dominated by shared Proteobacteria and diverse fungi. Compared to sterile sand-grown seedlings, growth on soil added new microbial diversity to the plant, especially to rhizospheres; however, all 63 seed-transmitted bacterial OTUs were still present, and the most abundant bacteria (Pantoea, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, and Massilia) were the same dominant seed-transmitted microbes observed in sterile sand-grown plants. While most plant mycobiome diversity was observed to come from soil, judging by read abundance, the dominant fungi (Fusarium and Alternaria) were also vertically transmitted. Seed-transmitted fungi and bacteria appear to make up the majority of juvenile crop plant microbial populations by abundance, and based on occupancy, there seems to be a pan-angiosperm seed-transmitted core bacterial microbiome. Further study of these seed-transmitted microbes will be important to understand their role in plant growth and health, as well as their fate during the plant life cycle and may lead to innovations for agricultural inoculant development.