Perceptions of Fisheries Professionals with Reference to Change in Minimum Qualification for Agricultural Research Services

A study is done with the objective of assessing perceptions of fisheries professionals with reference to revised notification of minimum qualification being Ph.D. for Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Information has been collected from 50 Masters and 50 Doctorate fisheries professionals/students of ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai, using an online Google form and adopting quantitative and qualitative methods. Non parametric Mann Whitney U test is used to check if there is any difference between perception of Masters and Doctorate students. Study reveals that before the notification becoming a ‘Scientist’ was the first career choice of fisheries professionals, followed by ‘Assistant Professor’ and ‘Officer in State Department of Fisheries’. However, after the notification, the first choice has changed to becoming ‘Assistant Professor’ followed by ‘Officer in State Department of Fisheries’ and then ‘Scientist’. Students also perceive advantages and disadvantages of this revised notification. Acceptance of the notification is relatively lower among Masters Students, with a statistically significant difference between the two student groups.

A Brief Look at Current Usda Work on Pests and Diseases

If a farmer has nematode problems or has too many weeds or fungal attacks a simple solution is to spread some mustard on them. Agricultural Research Service and university scientists are experimenting with mustards as an alternative to fighting crop pests chemically. The system biofumigates pests with stands of white mustard, brown mustard, and rapeseed.. Biofumigation refers to natural substances plants release while decomposing that make surrounding soils toxic to some weeds, nematodes, and fungi. The experiments, in Washington State, dovetail with increasing grower interest in mustard crops for pest control and as "green manure" meaning it can be disked into soil to improve tilth, organic matter, aeration, and water filtration. Despite such benefits, there is still much to learn about how mustards control pests and under what conditions they work best.

Challenges and Application of IngID, a Framework for Parsing and Systematic Reporting of Ingredients Used in Commercially Packaged Foods

Objectives The purpose is to describe the IngID's challenges and application of the development process. Methods Ingredient lists were mainly obtained from BFPD for top sellers of each food category. Manufacturer's and third-party websites were used if the ingredients from BFPD were not available. Ingredient lists were then compiled and parsed using a custom program in R, a software application. The program identified unmatched parentheses where numbers of open and closed parentheses were not matched. Another step involved in parsing ingredients from ingredient lists on the labels was manually developing replacement files for ingredient clarification. After parsing and assigning preferred descriptors (PDs), the PDs were then assigned Broader Term (BT) based on types or functions such as sweeteners, pertinent to specific research questions. Results Challenges during the process included missing parentheses and complicated ingredient lists especially in Frozen and Refrigerated Entrees and Snack bars categories. There were ∼710 ingredient lists in these 3 categories with unmatched parentheses. Assigning BTs could be difficult as one PD can be assigned different BTs; potato starch could be assigned as a starch, stabilizer, or thickener. An example of IngID's application was assigning BTs for types of sweeteners. There were 101 different sweeteners which were assigned to 4 different BTs: nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners, reduced-calorie sweeteners, and fruit-juice concentrates. Conclusions The IngID program is still evolving, especially with respect to automation of some of the pre-processing steps to save time and avoid human errors. Once fully developed, IngID will help identify and report commercial ingredients, and will be useful for developing artificial intelligence tools, research, and food ontology. Funding Sources Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

University of Florida Potato Variety Trials Spotlight: ‘Harley Blackwell’

‘Harley Blackwell’ is a potato variety that is commonly grown for the potato chip market. It was selected from the progeny of a cross between B0155-24 and B9935-8 and tested under the pedigree B0564-8. It was released and named jointly by the Agricultural Research Service, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Research Service of North Carolina, the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York, and the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station in 2000. Tuber production and quality results provided in this spotlight are summarized from various variety trials conducted at the UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural Extension Center between 1998 and 2019.This is a minor revision with an author addition, last updated 5/2017. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1298

Impact of the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service on plant pathology: 2015 – 2020

There is an increasing need to supply the world with more food as the population continues to grow. Research on mitigating the effects of plant diseases to improve crop yield and quality can help provide more food without increasing the land area devoted to farming. National Program 303 (NP 303) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service is dedicated to research across multiple fields in plant pathology. This review article highlights the research impact within NP 303 between 2015 and 2020, including case studies on wheat and citrus diseases and the National Plant Disease Recovery System, which provide specific examples of this impact.

23 Current progress in the Agricultural Research Service Beef Grand Challenge: A large-scale genetics by environment by management evaluation project

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Beef Grand Challenge is a cooperative, multidisciplinary effort evaluating differences in performance of genetic lines across production environments representative of different geographical regions. Weaned spring-born calves (n = 120 per location), representing natural service matings to Angus, Hereford, Simmental, Charolais, or indicus-composite (Beefmaster or Brangus) bulls from the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center Germplasm Evaluation program in south central Nebraska, are sent to wheat pasture (central Oklahoma) and winter range (eastern Montana), and weaned fall-born calves (n=40 per location) are sent to summer grazing on shortgrass prairie (northeastern Colorado) and southern mixed-grass rangeland (western Oklahoma). All cattle are fed a finishing ration representative of the region that approximately matches energy content across locations. Each calving season has a matching counterpart of calves that remain in Nebraska on a calf-fed drylot program (receiving ration followed by longer finishing ration). Breeds and sires are represented equally, to the extent possible, at each location. To detect differences in breed effects at each location and average over yearly variation, the study is being replicated for 4 years. Weights, stress measures, carcass composition (marbling, yield grade, quality grade, etc.), steak tenderness and steak fatty acid composition are collected from each location. Additionally, rumen metagenomic composition, metagenomic samples, preharvest food safety samples, and feed intake measures are collected at some locations. Grazing impacts and supplemental range feeding are also being evaluated. One year of sampling has been completed, with numeric differences observed for marbling and tenderness as well as growth performance among locations. Statistical differences will be evaluated when replicate years are collected. The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The Birth, Growth and Future of Systems Approach

The Beyond Compliance Global team held an interview by video link with Dr Eric Jang, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS), now retired. His lab was based in Hawaii, where he continues to reside. Eric was an early advocate and one of the originators of the concepts for Systems Approach.

Elimination of the Variance Between Individuals Is Necessary to Evaluate the Impact of Garlic on the Metabolic Profile of Human Urine

Objectives To determine the impact of garlic on the metabolic profile of urine. Methods On the first day 17 fasting subjects were fed a breakfast of bread and butter. Urines were collected before and 3 hours after the meal. On a second day, the same 17 fasting subjects were fed a meal of bread, butter, and garlic. Urines were again collected before and 3 hours after the meal. Samples were analyzed by metabolomics using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and data were subjected to analysis of variance-principal component analysis (ANOVA-PCA). Results 637 compounds were found in the urines and 277 were identified. PCA of urine profiles were dominated by variation between individual. Removal of individual variance by ANOVA allowed differentiation of fasting urines from bread and butter urines from bread, butter, and garlic urines. PCA loadings identified compounds that led to discrimination between treatments. Influence of the loading identified compounds were verified by examination of the LC-MS data for individual compounds. Three unique sulfur containing compounds were identified. Loadings showed, however, that a change in the metabolite profiles (ratios of compounds) and not the unique compounds) were most informative. Conclusions Removal of variance between individuals is essential to properly analyze the data. Changes in the patterns of compounds routinely observed in urine were the major result of the garlic meal. ANOVA-PCA is an excellent tool for isolating experimental factors. Funding Sources Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture and Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health.