Relationship between Salt Concentration in the Irrigation Water and Leaf Area and Leaf Chlorophyll Content in Four Antiphylloxeric Rootstocks of Grapevine

The aim of this study is to determine the effects of irrigation with saline water on leaf area (LA) and leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) in four American antiphylloxeric rootstocks of grapevine (1103 P, 140 RU, SO4, and Kober 5BB). The study was conducted during two consecutive years 2015-2016, at the Experimental Base of the Agricultural University of Tirana. Cuttings of the four rootstocks were planted for rooting in 9.5 litres pots. Rootstock?s cuttings were irrigated using normal tap water during 132 days, and, after that, they were irrigated using six different NaCl concentrations solutions (control - normal tap water, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mg/l NaCl) for 45 days. Five pots (with 2 rooted cuttings each) for treatment for each rootstock were used. Observed results showed that with the increase of the salinity level on the irrigation water, the LA and the LCC were significantly decreased for all rootstocks, but the decreasing level was different. The highest levels of LA and LCC reductions were observed for SO4, followed by Kober 5BB, 140 Ru, and, the last, 1103 P. Results showed that there exists a negative correlation between the irrigation water salinity and LA and LCC (r = - 0.99514261 and r = - 0.983986129, respectively). 1103 P showed the lowest reduction of LA and LCC which means that 1103P was the rootstock most resistant to salinity on the irrigation water, while SO4 was the least resistant. Relationship between salinity, rootstock and LA and LCC was significant and statistically confirmed by ANOVA (p ? 0.05).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cost Analysis of Raising Replacement Dairy Heifers

on 18 and 15 milking and custom heifer operations respectfully. Average number of Holstein heifers was 108.57 and 78.46 for milking and custom heifer operations respectfully. A cost analysis spreadsheet was carried out with an Excel 2003 Microsoft file. The spreadsheet estimated the costs to raise a replacement heifer by specific age classes. The average total cost to raise a replacement heifer for this data set was lower for custom heifers operations compared to milking ones. The findings presented by this study emphasize the importance of understanding the economics of raising replacement dairy heifers on an individual operation basis. KEYWORDS: cost, heifer raising, operation, INTRODUCTION Raising replacement dairy heifers represent a major expense to dairy operations. Due to the nature of replacement heifer management, a dairy operation has to invest feed, labor and capital for 23 to 25 months and sometimes more without receiving any realized benefits

A plant trait-based response-and-effect framework to assess vineyard inter-row soil management

International audienceBiodiversity impacts ecosystem properties and the ecosystem services provided by those ecosystems. As a result, promoting plant diversity in agricultural systems has been a key issue in agriculture over recent years. In this context, weeds have an important role in maintaining field biodiversity, when it is balanced with their potential negative impact on crop production. Functional trait diversity, rather than the diversity of species per se, is a facet of biodiversity most directly related to species and community responses to management practices, with subsequent consequences for ecosystem services. Trait-based approaches, originally developed in the field of comparative ecology, allowed the description of weed species responses to management practices in annual crop systems. Here, we aimed to extend the trait-based approach to the spontaneous vegetation of vineyards. First, we propose a brief summary of current knowledge about weed communities in vineyards. Then we show how the relationships between management practices, weeds and grape vines can be translated into a response-effect framework: soil management practices (tillage, cover crops, spontaneous vegetation) can be considered as environmental filters that determine the composition and structure of vegetation, which, in turn, modify grapevine growth conditions in the vineyard. Finally, we tested this framework in a Mediterranean vineyard where, for 2 years, we characterized the responses of different components of weed communities (taxonomic and functional composition) in three inter-row management practices (tillage, cover crops and mowing spontaneous vegetation) and their effects on several grapevine processes (vine yield, vine leaf water potential and assimilable nitrogen in must)