Agronomical techniques to improve technological and sanitary quality

In spite of variable grain protein contents, baking quality of organic wheat was found to be acceptable to good. Mycotoxin (DON) infestation was generally low on tested grain samples. Choice of wheat cultivar was the most efficient way to obtain higher grain quality. Fertilization with readily available nitrogen and, to a lower extent, association with legumes and green manures with mixtures containing fodder legumes also improved grain quality. Reduced tillage affected soil quality and wheat yield but had little effects on grain quality

Technological quality of organic wheat in Europe

The demand for high quality organic bread wheat is increasing. The quality level of organic wheat harvested in EU is mainly dependant on variety, environmental conditions and agronomic practices. In some countries, protein content and composition, influencing technological value, are equivalent to those produced under conventional practices. Beside agronomical techniques, technological processes can help to maintain a good quality. Pre-treatments before milling such as debranning were found to be efficient in reducing DON contamination. The project highlighted the necessity to redefine the methods to assess the quality of organic wheat

Techniques to improve technological and sanitary quality

Agronomical ways for better quality and safety Choice of cultivar is an efficient way to obtain higher grain quality. Intercropping legumes (grain or forage) improves weed competition and N availability for wheat crop or succeeding crop. Green manure can be an effective alternative to farmyard manure. Fertilization with readily available nitrogen improves yield and quality when water is available. Reduced tillage affects soil fertility and wheat yield but has little effects on grain quality. Technological ways for better quality and safety Milling process strongly influences flour characteristics. Stone milling improves nutritive value; characteristics remain very stable independent of the milling yield. Flour characteristics from roller milling appear very susceptible to the milling yield. Increasing the milling yield in the aim of enriching nutritional quality has a detrimental effect either on safety (DON) or on bread-making quality (bread volume)

Maintaining grain yield of Th. intermedium across stand age through constant spike fertility and spike density: Understanding its response to various agronomic managements

peer reviewedThinopyrum intermedium subsp. intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey is a perennial grass proposed as a dual-use crop for both forage and grain. Being in the nascent stage of domestication, its grain yield potential is still low compared to annual counterparts. The understanding of Th. intermedium development and the resulting grain yield in field is limited along with its response to agronomic management. To identify the interrelations between development traits and their influence on grain yield, various crop measurements were evaluated during four growing seasons in field grown Th. intermedium conducted under various autumn defoliation operations and nitrogen (N) fertilizations. Under sufficient N treatments (i.e., 100 kg N ha−1), grain yield remained constant over the four years of the experiment with a mean of 1 t ha−1 resulting from a constant spike fertility and a spike density level above 400 spikes m−2. However, significant mortality and inhibition of reproductive growth of tillers can occur when number of tillers is too high and/or resources too scarce (e.g., unfertilized plots or water deficiencies). In addition, excessive aboveground production at the beginning of the reproductive phase can be detrimental to the final grain yield through the negative influence of tiller density and aboveground biomass (DM) on the yield per spike. The highest aboveground production was observed during the second year with 1415 tillers m−2 at the beginning of the reproductive phase and 16 t of DM ha−1 at grain harvest. Although grain yield response to N fertilization was positively associated to spike density, excessive aboveground biomass could be enhanced by N fertilization. The fertilization of 50 kg ha−1 in autumn combined with a fertilization of 50 kg ha−1 in early-spring could sustain tiller fertility without hampering grain production. In autumn, plant regrowth was low with the highest value of 1.3 t of DM ha−1 observed in the first year. Autumn defoliation could be used to maintain the yield per spike in case of excessive biomass production by the reduction of the DM and the final tiller density coupled with the increase of the grain weight the next year. Finally, shredding post-harvest crop residues at ground level to promote light penetration at the bases of plants may have a positive influence on the tiller fertility. Therefore, under fertile soil conditions (i.e., deep soils and sufficient N fertilization) combined with an optimal stand establishment (i.e., from 500 to 1000 tillers m−2 at the beginning of the growing season) we demonstrated that grain yield potential can be maintained as the crop ages. In the future, breeding should raise resource allocation to the grain by increasing yield per spike and avoid overproduction of new tillers through tillering or rhizome propagation without compromising the vigor of regrowth and its environmental performance

Wheat yield and quality as influenced by reduced tillage in organic farming

Organic farmers are interested in soil conservation by reduced tillage, techniques well known in conventional agriculture to protect soil quality and limit labor time and energy costs. However, organic farming and reduced tillage can modify weeds, soil structure, and thus soil nitrogen (N) mineralization which strongly influences wheat yield and quality. The main objectives of this study were to analyze how reduced tillage applied to organic wheat influenced (1) grain yield, protein concentration, and weed infestation; (2) deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination on grain; (3) technological quality parameters such as dry gluten, zeleny index, falling number, and gluten index; (4) protein composition (F1, F2, F3, F4, and F5 fractions, and UPP, gliadin/glutenin ratio); and (5) baking test. For this purpose, we analyzed five site-years of data from winter wheat crops where mouldboard ploughing and reduced tillage were compared in three experimental trials (two in France and one in Switzerland). Main results concern wheat yields: the effect of reduced tillage on wheat yield was influenced by several factors such as weed competition. No significant increase in mycotoxin content (DON) due to reduced tillage was detected. Contamination with DON was always below the European threshold for human consumption. The technological quality parameters were less affected by the tillage treatments than grain yield: protein content, gluten index, zeleny index, and falling number showed on average no significant difference between treatments although the protein composition was slightly different. The main results of this study are that the effect of reduced tillage on grain yield depends very much on soil type, weather conditions, and time after conversion, whereas there is only minor impact on wheat quality. This is in contrast to the hypothesis that reduced tillage under organic farming will cause problems in baking quality

Promoting Colorectal Cancer Screening Discussion: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Provider recommendation is a predictor of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Purpose To compare the effects of two clinic-based interventions on patient–provider discussions about CRC screening. Design Two-group RCT with data collected at baseline and 1 week post-intervention. Setting/participants African-American patients that were non-adherent to CRC screening recommendations (n=693) with a primary care visit between 2008 and 2010 in one of 11 urban primary care clinics. Intervention Participants received either a computer-delivered tailored CRC screening intervention or a nontailored informational brochure about CRC screening immediately prior to their primary care visit. Main outcome measures Between-group differences in odds of having had a CRC screening discussion about a colon test, with and without adjusting for demographic, clinic, health literacy, health belief, and social support variables, were examined as predictors of a CRC screening discussion using logistic regression. Intervention effects on CRC screening test order by PCPs were examined using logistic regression. Analyses were conducted in 2011 and 2012. Results Compared to the brochure group, greater proportions of those in the computer-delivered tailored intervention group reported having had a discussion with their provider about CRC screening (63% vs 48%, OR=1.81, p<0.001). Predictors of a discussion about CRC screening included computer group participation, younger age, reason for visit, being unmarried, colonoscopy self-efficacy, and family member/friend recommendation (all p-values <0.05). Conclusions The computer-delivered tailored intervention was more effective than a nontailored brochure at stimulating patient–provider discussions about CRC screening. Those who received the computer-delivered intervention also were more likely to have a CRC screening test (fecal occult blood test or colonoscopy) ordered by their PCP

Changing the soil surface management in vineyards: immediate and delayed effects on the growth and yield of grapevine

In a changing context, farmers adapt their cropping systems and, in this respect, the response time of the soil-crop system (changes in the soil resources and in the grapevine vegetative or reproductive development) has to be considered to maintain its agronomic performances. This is particularly true for perennial crops such as grapevine. This paper aims to analyse the short- and long-term effects of changes in soil surface management on grapevine performances. Avineyard in which bare soil inter-rows had been compared with a tall fescue intercrop since 2002 had each of these treatments split into two in 2007, with half of the intercrop being ploughed in and half of the bare soil being sown with fescue, resulting in four treatments whose effects were studied in 2008–2009. Grapevine growth, yield formation and grape quality were assessed. After intercrop destruction, grapevine vegetative growth was enhanced by the mineralization of organic matter from the first year, whereas after intercrop introduction, the competition for soil resources affected growth only in the second year. The grape yield depended on the number of bunches, elaborated the year before. One year after the change in soil surface management, the ranking of yield was as follows: permanent intercrop < intercrop destroyed < intercrop introduced < bare soil. The second year, this ranking altered (still in relation to the number of bunches) to: intercrop introduced < permanent intercrop < bare soil=intercrop destroyed. This study shows that the response times of the processes of grapevine vegetative growth and yield formation to a change in the cropping system vary from one to two years, and therefore, have to be considered carefully to manage the cropping system well

Performances of two crop models in various conditions: the importance of underlying assumptions

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