Sustainable nitrogen management for housed livestock, manure storage and manure processing

This chapter reviews sustainable nitrogen management for housed livestock, manure storage and manure processing. The chapter begins by discussing the various forms nitrogen can take, focusing specifically on ammonia, nitrous oxide and di-nitrogen. It then goes on to review livestock feeding and housing for dairy and beef cattle, pigs and poultry. The chapter also examines manure storage, treatment and processing by discussing the principles of emissions produced from these processes as well as mitigation measures that can be used. It also addresses the best practices and priority measures for livestock feeding, housing and manure storage, treatment and processing.

Response of Sweet Potato Storability with Different Pre-storage Treatments at Ambient Temperature

The storage of sweet potato tuberous roots in tropical countries is a major challenge to farmers and retailers due to unfavourable climatic conditions. In this study, the storage performance of sweet potato roots in an ambient condition was investigated over a 12-week duration. The three different pre-storage treatments used were ash, alkaline solution (1.5 mol dm-3) and Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata) extract – to evaluate their effects on weight loss, shrinkage, weevil damage and sprouting. The control comprised tubers with no pre-treatment. It was observed that weight loss increased linearly from the inception of storage while shrinkage became apparent only after two (2) weeks. The percentage shrinkage of the tuber pre-treated with Siam weed increased at decreasing rate from 8 WAP. Treatment of tuber with Siam weed extract provided significantly higher protection against weevil damage (p > 0.05). After this, sprouting was initiated. By the 12th week, the Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata) extract treatment yielded better results. The Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata) treatment also recorded the lowest weight loss of 28% and lowest shrinkage of 2.8%. It also sustained less weevil damage at 33.5% compared with the other treatments. Sprouting was higher in the tuber without pre-storage treatment. The alkaline solution and ash treatments had varied degree of performance for all the indicators. Keywords: Sweet potato storability, Ambient condition, Pre-storage treatment, Chromolaena odorata

Cut flowers and foliages

This book contains 8 chapters focusing on the breadth and depth of the cut flower and foliage industry, the production and postharvest handling of the most economically important cut flowers, specialty cut flowers, irrigation, fertilizer application, plant pests and diseases and their control and postharvest management, i.e. the harvesting, processing, storage, treatment and transport of these cut flowers.

Towards Innovative Governance of Nature Areas

How can the governance of nature areas foster the sustainability of ecosystems? This is discussed with regard to larger threats on ecosystems despite larger global nature areas that reach 19 million km2 of land along with larger costs per area unit. Moreover, monetization of nature with payments for ecosystem services is sometimes demanded for justification of the nature areas; however, this does not resolve the threats but faces scientific and ethical scrutiny. An alternative is the governance that incubates sustainable innovations in the nature areas for broad dissemination which generates interests in the sustainability of ecosystems. Opportunities are due to demands for ethical products, ecotourism and images of nature which generate USD 1100 billion in global markets. Sustainable innovations of using reed for insulation walls, furniture panels and upholstery in the EU can generate a few hundred million dollars in addition to present roof thatching, fodder and fuels if good functional qualities of the reed products are developed. Their functionalities can be supported by the inclusive economics, CO2 storage, treatment of water pollution, richer biodiversity, and other ethical qualities. The governance of nature areas can prevent the present deadlock but needs the development of technical and entrepreneurial capabilities.

Assessment of evaporative cooling system potential for short-term storage management of vegetables during transportation

A system based on direct evaporative cooling principle for short-term storage management of vegetables during transportation was designed, developed and assessed its performance. The evaporative cooling applies the principle of water evaporation to achieve temperature reduction and relative humidity increment. The system comprises evaporative cooler, power supply (battery, battery charger and power inverter), control panel, storage unit and real-time data monitoring (of temperature, T and relative humidity, RH). The evaporative cooler consists water reservoir, pump, cooling pad, extraction fan, connecting pipe and control panel. The system (that applies alternating current (AC)) can be powered by two-12 V serial truck batteries (direct current, DC) via power inverter. In this research, the effect of water type towards cooling process inside storage unit was studied too. The use of icy water as an evaporation media exhibited higher temperature reduction, T (6.11 ± 2.30 C) as compared to ambient water (4.06 ± 1.91 C). RH for both cases achieved 99 %. The quality of selected leafy vegetables (green amaranth, water spinach and choysum) for fresh market that underwent evaporative cooling storage treatment (T1) was assessed. Post four-hour storage, leafy vegetables stored under T1 exhibited the least weight loss as compared to ambient storage treatment (T2) and cold storage treatment (T3). However, post two-week storage, the vegetables quality that underwent T1 was comparable to T2, but slightly lower than T3. The system exhibited potential to maintain vegetables quality during the short-term storage in transportation.

Fate of Antioxidative Compounds within Bark during Storage: A Case of Norway Spruce Logs

Softwood bark is an important by-product of forest industry. Currently, bark is under-utilized and mainly directed for energy production, although it can be extracted with hot water to obtain compounds for value-added use. In Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) bark, condensed tannins and stilbene glycosides are among the compounds that comprise majority of the antioxidative extractives. For developing feasible production chain for softwood bark extractives, knowledge on raw material quality is critical. This study examined the fate of spruce bark tannins and stilbenes during storage treatment with two seasonal replications (i.e., during winter and summer). In the experiment, mature logs were harvested and stored outside. During six-month-storage periods, samples were periodically collected for chemical analysis from both inner and outer bark layers. Additionally, bark extractives were analyzed for antioxidative activities by FRAP, ORAC, and H2O2 scavenging assays. According to the results, stilbenes rapidly degraded during storage, whereas tannins were more stable: only 5–7% of the original stilbene amount and ca. 30–50% of the original amount of condensed tannins were found after 24-week-storage. Summer conditions led to the faster modification of bark chemistry than winter conditions. Changes in antioxidative activity were less pronounced than those of analyzed chemical compounds, indicating that the derivatives of the compounds contribute to the antioxidative activity. The results of the assays showed that, on average, ca. 27% of the original antioxidative capacity remained 24 weeks after the onset of the storage treatment, while a large variation (2–95% of the original capacity remaining) was found between assays, seasons, and bark layers. Inner bark preserved its activities longer than outer bark, and intact bark attached to timber is expected to maintain its activities longer than a debarked one. Thus, to ensure prolonged quality, no debarking before storage is suggested: outer bark protects the inner bark, and debarking enhances the degradation.

Determining the Effect of Postharvest Cold Storage Treatment on the Survival of Immature Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in Small Fruits

We evaluated the effect of postharvest cold storage temperature (0.0–2.2°C) and duration (3–5 d) on pupal emergence of single life stage populations of laboratory-generated Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) and mixed-age populations collected in the field from blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. For field-infested fruit, cold storage at any temperature and duration resulted in less pupal emergence compared with the control held at 20°C, but D. suzukii subjected to higher temperatures and shorter storage durations in caneberries had higher survival. When a single life stage of D. suzukii was exposed to cold storage, pupal emergence was significantly reduced across all fruit types held at 0°C and for most life stages and fruit types held at 1.5 and 2.2°C, dependent on the substrate. Freshly laid eggs exposed to cold storage produced the lowest pupal emergence. Our results suggest using cold storage treatment is an effective postharvest management strategy for small-fruit growers to use on-farm as part of an integrated program to manage D. suzukii infestation. An economic assessment was made to examine the profit implications of an investment in cold storage units to counter pest pressure. Results suggest that investment in a cold storage unit would breakeven in about 4 yr. On farms that already have cold storage installed, we estimated a $0.11/kg decrease in blueberry market price for holding fruit for 3 d. Together, this cost assessment will provide growers with the knowledge to make decisions based on infestation risk and the seasonal sale price of blueberries.

Effect of Storage on Physio-Chemical Properties of Peanut Yogurt

Peanuts may be consumed in a variety of processed forms like roasted, raw and processed etc. andrepresent as a multimillion dollar crop worldwide with many potential dietary benefits as it contains highprotein and health effective oils. Objective: The present investigation was planned to evaluate thephysio-chemical properties of peanut milk yogurt by the addition of different concentration of peanut milk(0 %, 10 %, 20 % and 30 %), skimmed milk liquid (60 %, 70 %, 80 %, and 90 %), skimmed milk powder (9 %)and sugar (1 %). Methods: The physio-chemical tests (pH, acidity, moisture, ash, fat, protein, syneresis,and viscosity) were examined after every 5 days of interval for a period of 15 days at 4 ºC. Results: Theresults of physio-chemical analysis revealed that pH, ash, fat, protein and viscosity decrease duringstorage period where as acidity, moisture and rate of syneresis increased during storage. Treatment T1(10 % peanut milk) was comparatively best for manufacturing of peanut milk yogurt followed by T2 (20 %peanut milk + 70 % skimmed milk liquid + 9 % skimmed milk powder + 1 % sugar) while peanut milk yogurtfrom (30 % peanut milk + 60 % skimmed milk liquid + 9 % skimmed milk powder + 1 % sugar) had the lowestdegree of firmness. Conclusions: It was noticed that correlation among fat, total solids and proteincontents in peanut milk affect the extent of serum separation and pH of yogurt. The storage hadsignificant effects on all physio-chemical parameters. Treatments had significant effect on all physiochemicalparameters.