Vermikompost Uygulamalarının San Andreas (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) Çilek Çeşidinin Bazı Verim ve Kalite Değerlerine Etkisi

In this study, in which the effects of different applications of vermicompost on the yield and quality of San Andreas strawberry variety were investigated 15, 30, 45, 60 g vermicompost was applied per plant. First flowering, first and last harvest dates, number of fruits per plant, yield per plant (g/plant), fruit weight (g), fruit flavor, macro and micro nutrient content, organic acid amounts were examined. The results showed that the differences between treatments in yield per plant were statistically significant. The highest total yield per plant was obtained from V45 and V30 applications with 972.8 g and 878.9 g respectively and the lowest yield was obtained from the control application with 384.2 g per plant. The largest fruits were obtained from the V60 (19.5 g) application. It was determined that nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, manganese, iron, zinc and boron concentrations in the leaves of strawberry plants fertilized with vermicompost were higher than the control. The highest values in organic acid values were determined in oxalic, propionic, malonic, lactic, fumaric and succinic acids in V60 application (5.62, 11.16, 49.00, 104.98 µg/100 g respectively). It seems that the application of vermicompost fertilizer in strawberry cultivation has a positive effect on yield and quality characteristics.

An assessment of the urban water footprint and blue water scarcity: A case study for Van (Turkey)

Today, most of the world’s population faces water scarcity, while global warming, urbanization, industrialization and population increases continue to increase the severity of the pressure on water resources. Management of water resources plays a key role in the sustainability of agricultural production. The water footprint (WF) is different in comparison to other water statistics because it takes direct and indirect water consumption into account, and helps in the management of water resources. Within this context, the WF of Van province, which is Turkey’s most easterly located arid region, was calculated from 2004 to 2019. The study area covers lake Van, which is Turkey's largest lake, and the Van basin with an area of 23.334 km2 and a population of 1.136.757 (2019). In the calculations, crop (WFcrop), livestock (WFlivestock), and domestic and industrial water footprints (WFdomestic+industrial) were evaluated separately, and blue and green water footprints (WFblue and WFgreen) were analyzed in detail. According to the results, the average WF of Van province was found to be 8.73 billion m3 year-1. Throughout the province, 87.6% of the WF is composed of WFcrop, 4.9% is WFlivestock and 7.5% is WFdomestic+industrial. Of the WFcrop, 62.5% depends on WFblue, i.e., freshwater. Most of the WFlivestock consisted of dairy cattle (49%) and sheep (38%). The average WFdomestic+industrial for 2004 to 2019 was 0.64 billion m3 year-1. The average per capita water footprint of Van province was found to be 889.9 m3 year-1 capita-1. In addition, the province is classified as severe water scarcity (257%). This study is one of the first province-based calculations of WF in Turkey and is the first study to bring a different aspect to published literature by including residual soil moisture from the winter months. As a result of this study, the WFblue of the WFcrop is above the worldwide average and should be reduced by changing the crop pattern or synchronizing the planting and harvest dates of the crops to a period that benefits from precipitation. In addition, this study is expected to contribute to new studies for calculating the provincial scale WF and will have positive effects on agricultural planning, water allocation and the sustainability of water resources.

Nutritive Value Variation of Paunch Manure as an Alternative Feed Ingredient

Ruminants, which have multi-compartmented stomachs, are adapted to digest cellulosic materials, which constitute the primary expense on ranches and dairies. Industrial byproducts can be repurposed for livestock diets to decrease these costs. Therefore, finding alternative feedstuffs may benefit the economics of livestock production. The goal of this project was to evaluate the variation in nutritive value of ruminal waste as a potential feedstuff. Twelve paunch samples were collected from individual cattle across multiple harvest dates at the Tarleton State University Meat Laboratory, Stephenville, TX. Samples were dried and assayed for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), sequential neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and acid detergent lignin (ADL), and physically-effective fiber (peNDF). Samples were subjected to batch-culture in vitro digestibility assays for the determination of digestibility coefficients. Mean NDF, ADF, ADL, CP and peNDF concentrations were 681, 399, 109, 150, and 387 g kg−1 DM, respectively. Contribution to variance from sample for NDF, ADF, ADL, CP, and peNDF were 75.3, 41.9, 33.0, 51.2, and 71.3%, respectively. In vitro true digestibility (IVTD) and in vitro NDF digestibility (IVNDFD) were recorded as 462 and 216 g kg−1 DM, respectively. Contribution to variation of sample for IVTD and IVNDFD were 31.0 and 30.7%, respectively. Results indicate that rumen waste harvested from abattoirs may be useful for sustainable livestock production, while reducing environmental threats posed by disposal, but the viability of the product is highly dependent on the source animal. For full viability of application in a sustainable system, a centralized receiving and compositing system may be useful for developing a consistent product.

Changes in secoiridoids content and chemical characteristics of cultivated and wild Algerian olive oil, in term of fruit maturation

Wild varieties in nature are known to be better adapted to climate change and more resistant to arid conditions common in some regions of the world. Oil samples of two cultivated varieties, Chemlal and Lemli, and one sylvestris variety were collected at four different harvesting periods in the semi-arid region of Bouira, Algeria. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the genetic and maturity factors on the quality indices (acidity, peroxides value, and the parameters K232, K270), fatty acids profile, phenolic composition, and antioxidant activity of monovarietal olive oils. The study showed that early harvest dates of the fruits produced oils richer in pigments and phenolic compounds, with high antioxidant activity registered in both wild and cultivated varieties. Moreover, all oil samples showed high values of secoiridoids exceeding 60–90% of total biophenols, with higher values found in oleaster oils, which are correlated with high resistance to oxidation attacks. UHPLC-DAD and UHPLC-HRMS analyses showed that the secoiridoids composition is dominated by a profile rich in several isomers of oleuropein and ligstroside aglycons, which in turn represent more than 60% of the total secoiridoids in olive and Oleaster oils. Furthermore, chemometric analysis on the data allowed a better appreciation of the sensitivity of the virgin olive oil composition to the changes in genetic and ripening factors. According to the principal component analysis, phenolic and fatty acid profiles were the most important components contributing to the discrimination between olive oil samples.

Effect of Different Harvest Dates on Yield and Quality of Wheat Cultivars Triticum Aestivum L

Afield experiment was conducted at the Research station of the college of Agriculture - University of Al-Muthanna, in the Northeast of Al-Muthanna Governorate (9 km from center of the city of Samawa), in the seasons (2018-2019) and (2019-2020), to study the effect of four harvest dates and four varieties of wheat on yield and quality characteristics, The experiment was applied according to split-plots design Using the R.C.B.D with three replications, The results of the analysis showed the Significant effect of harvest dates on all studied traits, as the date of the third harvest increased by giving the highest grain yield of 5.01 and 5.32 t h−1 for the two seasons respectively, while the fourth harvest date was superior by giving the highest percentage of dry gluten in the first season amounted to 11.66%. As for the effect of the cultivars, it was noticed that the Babel cultivar was superior in grain yield of 4.81 and 5.04 t ha−1, for the two seasons respectively, while the Bora cultivar gave the highest average weight of 1000 grains for the second season which amounted to 32.68 g, and the percentage of protein in the grains was 12.83% for the second season, and Ash was 1.90 and 1.85% for the two seasons sequentially, while the interaction of the fourth harvest date with Babel cultivar was superior by giving highest weight of 1000 grains in the first season amounted to 33.41 m, while the interaction of the first harvest date with Bora cultivar in the vital yield first season was 16.6 t h−1.

Effect of Sugar Beet Harvest Date on Its Technological Quality Parameters by Exploratory Analysis

Choice of the harvest date is one of the foundations of vintage quality and good-yield sugar in sugar beet. However, it is difficult to define the harvest date and more precisely the date of maturity of beet roots, in an exact and absolute way. Indeed, maturity is divided into several stages and degrees depending on environmental and climatic conditions such as temperature, precipitation, geographic area, and others. The present study evoked the effect of three harvest dates (at esteemed maturity, 7 days after maturity, and 15 days after maturity) on the technological quality parameters, namely, sucrose, nitrogen, potassium, and sodium, using the most popular chemometric method, principal component analysis (PCA). To do this, samples from the Tadla irrigated perimeter were used. The results of exploratory analyses by the application of PCA clearly showed the influence of harvest date, in an important way, on the three quality parameters, composition of sucrose, potassium, and sodium. But, for nitrogen composition, there were negligible variations between samples.

Assessment of Grain Harvest Moisture Content Using Machine Learning on Smartphone Images for Optimal Harvest Timing

Grain moisture content (GMC) is a key indicator of the appropriate harvest period of rice. Conventional testing is time-consuming and laborious, thus not to be implemented over vast areas and to enable the estimation of future changes for revealing optimal harvesting. Images of single panicles were shot with smartphones and corrected using a spectral–geometric correction board. In total, 86 panicle samples were obtained each time and then dried at 80 °C for 7 days to acquire the wet-basis GMC. In total, 517 valid samples were obtained, in which 80% was randomly used for training and 20% was used for testing to construct the image-based GMC assessment model. In total, 17 GMC surveys from a total of 201 samples were also performed from an area of 1 m2 representing on-site GMC, which enabled a multi-day GMC prediction. Eight color indices were selected using principal component analysis for building four machine learning models, including random forest, multilayer perceptron, support vector regression (SVR), and multivariate linear regression. The SVR model with a MAE of 1.23% was the most suitable for GMC of less than 40%. This study provides a real-time and cost-effective non-destructive GMC measurement using smartphones that enables on-farm prediction of harvest dates and facilitates the harvesting scheduling of agricultural machinery.

Seed Quality as Related to Harvest Time in Three Key Perennial Grasses Native to Puna Tussock Rangelands of Peru

Seed-based rehabilitation programs represent a primary foundation for rangeland recovery, which requires high-quality seed of key native species. The objective of this research was to determine the seed quality at different harvest times for three key perennial grasses native to puna tussock rangelands of Peru: Festuca dolichophylla, Festuca humilior, and Calamagrostis vicunarum. Seeds of each species were harvested at 21, 28, and 35 days after anthesis and evaluated by standard tests to determine the purity, size, viability, and germinability. On average, the seed purity of the studied species ranged between 23% and 44%, hundred-seed weight between 34 mg and 73 mg, seed viability between 24% and 60%, and the seed germination between 18% and 34% over the harvest dates. The highest seed quality was observed in C. vicunarum. Seed quality parameters of the studied species did not show a consistent variation over the harvest times. Overall, the species studied presented relatively low seed quality; therefore, when using it in rehabilitation programs for rangeland recovery, it is important to carry out a previous cleaning process (to reduce nonviable seeds and inert matter) and to use a sufficient quantity of seed for effective establishment of these key grasses.