New prospects for Ethyl formate as a fumigant for the date industry

Date infestation of nitidulid beetles poses a serious contamination problem for which methyl bromide (MB) provided a solution. However, because of the phase out of MB, alternatives were investigated. Thermal disinfestation method has been successfully applied to some dry date varieties except to Deglet-Noor, Zahidi, and Ameri which are handled in crates of 200 kg to 400 kg. Therefore, thermal disinfestation was not successful because of delayed heating due to the resistance of the dates to hot airflow. The fumigant formulation VapormateTM was tested as alternative to MB for the disinfestation (proportion of insects found outside the feeding sites) and control of nitidulid beetles from artificial feeding sites at laboratory and for  dates in crates at semi-commercial conditions. VapormateTM contains 16.7% ethyl formate mixed with carbon dioxide. At laboratory conditions the effect of various dosages of VapormateTM was tested at 30oC and at fixed exposure time of 12 h. Exposure of infested artificial feeding sies by larvae of Carpophilus spp. to the concentration of 280 g m-3 of VapormateTM caused 69.3% disinfestation and 79.9% mortality, 350 g m-3 resulted in 72.7% disinfestation and 98.8% of mortality and the optimal results were obtained at 420 g m-3 that caused 69.6% disinfestations and 100% mortality. Commercial pilot-plant tests were carried out by applying 420 g m-3 VapormateTM for 12 h in a 9 m3 flexible liner made of laminate composed of polypropylene/aluminum/polyethylene to cover crates containing infested dates. Disinfestation was tested on naturally infested dates that resulted in an average 100% disinfestation and 95% mortality, while with the artificially infested dates, disinfestation was 97% and mortality 96%. In a second series of tests, a commercial rigid fumigation chamber of 95.6 m3 was used. After 12 h exposure, 100% mortality was recorded in all date samples. Following the promising results, VapormateTM was registered in Israel for use by the date industry as an alternative to MB. Keywords: Date, Nitidulid beetles, Ethyl formate, VapormateTM, Fumigation

Safflower (\u3ci\u3eCarthamus tintorius\u3c/i\u3e): A Promising Forage Crop for Semi-Arid Regions

The yield, quality, preservation and intake of safflower hay were determined in two successive years - 1998 and 1999. Field experiments carried out at the Bet Dagan experimental station on the coastal plain of Israel under rain-fed conditions. A spineless variety was tested under three sowing dates. Yield decreased and quality improved as the sowing date receded from November 12 to February 3. Respective yields, IVDMD and CP content were: 22 and 8 ton DM/ha, 48.9% and 65.5% , 10.0% and 14.6%. Safflower at 290, 410 and 770 g/kg DM was ensiled in 1.5-l anaerobic glass jars with or without Lactobacillus plantarum applied at 106 cfu/g. Good-quality silages were obtained at 290 and 410 g/kg DM. The pH of the inoculated silages was 3.9-4.0 as compared to 4.7 in the control silages; the former contained more lactic acid than the controls. All silages were stable upon aerobic exposure. Inoculation with Lactobacillus plantarum improved the ensiling fermentation, and these silages, too, were stable upon aerobic exposure. Feeding experiments with heifers were conducted with safflower hay. The intake and performance of heifers fed with 25 or 50% safflower hay (DM basis) did not differ from those animals fed a control diet (no safflower in diet)

Potential process 'hurdles' in the use of macroalgae as feedstock for biofuel production in the British Isles

This review examines the potential technical and energy balance hurdles in the production of seaweed biofuel, and particular for the MacroBioCrude processing pipeline for the sustainable manufacture of liquid hydrocarbon fuels from seaweed in the UK. The production of biofuel from seaweed is economically, energetically and technically challenging at scale. Any successful process appears to require both a method of preserving the seaweed for continuous feedstock availability and a method exploiting the entire biomass. Ensiling and gasification offer a potential solution to these two requirements. However there is need for more data particularly at a commercial scal