nirs footprint of bio fertilizers from hay litter bags

The biofertilization of cropsusing microbial biota in the soil (MBS) is a modern practice that is used to sustain fertility. MBS agents can promote the yield and health of crops, by luxuriating in the shoot as well as in the root systems. Farmers devoted to systematic MBS fertilization are creating a "Symbiotic" (S) form of agriculture, which offers a greater advantage of resilience than Conventional (C) or organic farming. Since MBS is involved in organic matter degradation, hay-litter-bag probes can be used to reflect a global functionality of the active soil, in the short-medium term. It is here shown that the NIRS hay-litter-bag technique, intended not as mass decay but as a quality evolution of the hay probes, can be modelled as a valid footprint of S vs. C soils. A patented MBS was used in eight experiments in which litter-bags from an S treated thesis were compared with equivalent litter-bags from a non-inoculated C thesis. The chemical signature of the S vs. C in the litter-bag composition was a percentage decrease of sugars and fibres. A smart NIRS device was used to discriminate the origin of the S vs. C litter-bags and a sensitivity of 71% (P<0.0001) was obtained. External validations on 37 S farms showed that three NIRS models discriminated the true positive S spectra, with a sensitivity of 90% as single and 98% as compound probabilities The NIRS radiation of the hay-litter-bags confirmed the results of the S vs. C agriculture soil footprint. Moreover, the SCIO-NIR devices also made it possible to connect the S farms in a smart network

Appraisal of ingestion and digestibility in growing rabbits using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) of feeds and faeces

The aim of this work was to examine whether faecal profiling using NIRS could be profitable for promote the Best Available Techniques (BAT) in the rational feeding of rabbits. A set of 51 feed samples, taken from 12 experimental diets, and of 66 dried grouped faeces samples, belonging to four nutrition experiments, with 130 ad libitum registered feed intakes (CV=25%), were submitted to a UV-Vis-NIRS scan (350-2500 nm) in order to calibrate the chemical composition and nutritional parameters, the ingestion aptitude and digestibility. A chemometric system has made it possible to contemporary use the spectrum of the input diet concatenated together with the spectra of the related output pool of the dried faeces. The daily measured feed intake, in absolute or in relative terms as ingestion per unit of metabolic weight, obtained a good resolution for the spectra of the feeds (R2 cv=0.80 and 0.75, respectively), for the faeces (0.81 and 0.80) and for the joint evaluation of the concatenated spectra (0.87 and 0.81). The intake was positively correlated to the mineral, insoluble ash, protein, gross energy, crude fiber and acid detergent fiber (ADF) content in the feeds, and negatively correlated to the N-free extract, lignocellulose and all the digestibility coefficients, except crude fiber. Very significant improvements, on average equal to 0.20 R2 points, were also provided to the digestibility coefficients when using the concatenated method; in decreasing order: neutral detergent fiber (R2 cv=0.00, 0.18 and 0.50 for the feeds, faeces and concatenated, respectively), ADF (0.00, 0.45 and 0.62), ether extract (0.53, 0.52 and 0.86), crude protein (0.53; 0.53 and 0.75), and gross energy (0.61; 0.74 and 0.83). The results corroborate previous knowledge and show the possibility of using NIRS faecal profiling in rabbit nutrition, which together with the NIRS of the feeds, could contribute to nitrogen monitoring

Rabbit Feces as Feed for Ruminants and as an Energy Source

There are prospects for using novel feeds from various sources to provide ruminants with alternative sources of protein and energy such as by-products, and animal wastes. Rabbit feces are a concentrated source of fiber and could have commercial potential both as input biomass in anaerobic processes for biogas production, as well as a fibrous source for ruminal degradation. The aims of this work were to assess the potential as ruminant feeding and as biogas production of rabbit feces, in comparison with 12 crops. The chemical composition and the potential and experimental in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) and neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDFD) of 148 feces samples were determined by using chemical methods, Daisy system digestibility and/or NIRS predictions. The average biomethane potential (BMP) was 286 ± 10 lCH4/kg SV with −4% vs. the crops average. Milk forage unit (milk FU), IVTD and NDFD of feces were 0.54 ± 0.06 milk FU/kg DM, 74% ± 3% and 50% ± 5%, respectively, with comparisons of −19%, −11% and −24% vs. the crops average. Reconstruction of the potential values based on the chemical constituents but using the crop partial least square model well agreed with the NIRS calibrations and cross-validation. In a global NIRS calibration of the feces and crops the relative predicted deviation for IVTD, NDFD and milk FU were 3.1, 2.9 and 2.6, respectively, and only 1.5 for BMP. Running the Daisy system for rabbit feces in rumen fluid gave some inconsistencies, weakened the functional relationships, and appeared not to be correlated with the potential values of IVTD and NDFD. Nevertheless, the energetic potential of feces appears to be similar to some conventional crops at different degrees of maturity. Thus we conclude that rabbit feces has potential value as a ruminant feed and for biogas production

Organic and Symbiotic Fertilization of Tomato Plants Monitored By Litterbag-nirs and Foliar-nirs Rapid Spectroscopic Methods

Rapid analyses methods for the assessment of soil microbiota are lacking. In a commercial farm tomato plants were subjected to different fertilization strategies: 1. mineral Control (C); 2. Organic amendment (O); 3. Organic amendment + Micosat F © biofertilizer (OM). A first rapid method (Litterbag-NIRS) concerned hay litterbags coupled with a smart SCiOTM device. A second method (Foliar-NIRS) used the same device on the leaves. The plants showed positive responses to the amendment and biofertilization in the yield: C 60.5.1 t ha-1vs. 70.8 in O (+17%) and 74.2 in OM (+23% from C and + 5% (P 0.08) from O). The use of Litterbag-NIRS fingerprinting, completed with litterbags phenotyping and elaborated with a multivariate support vector machine classifier provided a similar knowledge to that obtained from microbial and chemical analyses of the soil. The reason for this response is that the analyses were embedded in the Litterbag-NIRS at medium-high precision. A polydromic function was hypothesized in order to disentangle the activities of different soil microbial populations from each other. The organic amendment delayed the functionality of the rapid r-strategist microbial populations, but at the same time activated slow k-strategists to intake the walls of the hay inside the litterbags. In this sense, the Litterbag-NIRS test can provide an effective "swamp" of the microbial fertility of the soil. Briefly, the Litterbag-NIRS coupled with Foliar-NIRS accounted for 95% of the average yield results, and both are therefore recommended for a rational assessment of microbial soil fertility

NIRS of body and tissues in growing rabbits fed diets with different fat sources and supplemented with Curcuma longa

[EN] A portable Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) instrument was applied to 40 growing rabbits to determine body and tissue differences induced by experimental factors. The rabbits were examined at 2 live sites, in 7 warm carcass tissues and in longissimus dorsi muscle samples prepared in ethanol. For this purpose, the method was applied in a bi-factorial experiment concerning the dietary oil source (O) (maize vs. palm oil) and Curcuma longa (C) supplementation (0 and 3 g/kg, respectively). Significant chemical differences emerged for palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids in the longissimus dorsi muscle due to the O factor and for linolenic acid due to the C factor. The NIRS spectra and chemical analyses were elaborated by the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method, and the rsquares in cross-validation (R2cv) were retained as measure of the unoriented differentiation between the levels of the planned factor for each landmark and fatty acid (FA) profile. Multivariate PLS analysis of the FA muscular fat showed that the O factor induced strong differentiation (R2cv: 0.96), while less influence (0.33) was observed for the C factor. The model based on the NIRS radiation of the landmarks clearly shows the O factor effects, not only in the perirenal (0.90) and scapular (0.85) fats, but also in the belly (0.76), liver (0.73) and hind legs (0.72). Whereas the C effects were only expressed in the live animals (ears: 0.66 and abdominal wall: 0.58) and in post-mortem (liver: 0.60). It was concluded that a preliminary NIRS scan of the carcass and of live rabbits can point out the presence of intrinsic experimental effects concerning the lipid metabolism of polyunsaturated FA of the n-6 series (O factor) and n-3 series (C factor).Peiretti, PG.; Meineri, G.; Masoero, G. (2013). NIRS of body and tissues in growing rabbits fed diets with different fat sources and supplemented with Curcuma longa. World Rabbit Science. 21(2):85-90. doi:10.4995/wrs.2013.1148.SWORD859021

NIRS discrimination of broiler rabbits fed with increasing levels of false flax (Camelina sativa L.) seeds in relationship to the fatty acid profiles

Three groups of ten young rabbits each received an enriched diet with false flax (Camelina sativa L.) seeds at 0% (C), 10% (M), and 15% (H), respectively. At the end of the experimental period, which lasted 50 days, all the rabbits were slaughtered. The longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle and perirenal fat samples were collected at 24 h post mortem from each carcass and analysed with a GC method for the fatty acid (FA) profiles and their indexes. Spectroscopy was conducted using a Model LSP LabSpec-Pro portable UV-Vis.NIR spectrophotometer (350-2500nm). The perirenal fat was directly examined. The samples derived from thawed LD muscles (2 cm ø x 2 cm long.) were previously fixed in 95% ethanol, stored for 3 days and finally scanned after 2 and 24 hours air exposition of the tissues. Discrimination of individuals between couple of groups, fitted 1 or 2 dummy values, was performed by a Modified Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis by the WinISI II software (Infrasoft International, Port Matilda, PA, USA) allowing one passage for the removal of the outliers. The cross-validated 1-VR (Variance Ratio) coefficient was retained for comparative purposes.................

efficacy of commercial symbiotic bio fertilizer consortium for mitigating the olive quick decline syndrome oqds

The inoculation of soil with a bio-fertilizer (BF), with arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi, characterizes a Symbiotic (S) agriculture mode, aimed at promoting the yield and health of crops through modifications in the rhizosphere as well as in the plant phenotype. The main objective of this study was to reduce the incidence of Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS, involving Xylella fastidiosasubsp.pauca) that afflicts the olive groves in Apulia (Italy). Non-inoculated control (C) plants were compared with Symbiotic (S) plants inoculated with 20 kg ha-1 of Micosat F ®, through a 15 cm deep scarification, in the groves of seven farms covering an area of 27 ha. In addition to a visual observation of 484 plants, to obtain a gradation of the disease severity, some objective rapid type methods were utilized to survey the plants and soil , namely leaf pH, NIR tomoscopy of the leaves, hay-litter-bag probes coupled with NIR spectroscopy and the prediction of soil induced respiration. The fingerprinting of the S and C types of leaves and litter-bags was ascertained by means of the use of a random forest algorithm in the classification matrices. The results on the symptoms appeared variable: they were significantly mitigated in two groves out of six, but they were aggravated in one. All the rapid measurements became essentials in a "holistic" model which was able to explain over 95% of the average mitigation / null / aggravation response to BF inoculation. The holistic model gathers differential and compositional analyses of the leaf (pH, crude protein, water) and of the soil (respiration), but depends mainly on the fingerprinting of the C and S leaves and litter-bags. Two keys were identified for a successful inoculation: a high degree of variability of the soil conditions permitting hospitality for the BF with enhancement of the microbial activity in the S soil (lowering the fingerprint of the control litter-bags) and homogeneity of the leaves (with increases in the fingerprint of the S leaves treated with BF). In short, the inoculation of diseased plants with one BF consortium is far from being the ultimate remedy to mitigate OQDS in all situations. Further studies are needed, at a field level, to clarify the soil hosting capacity and to define the mycorrhizal and / or endophytic * plant * pathogen interactions, even using rapid methods

Effect of diet chestnut tannin supplementation on meat quality, fatty acid profile and lipid stability in broiler rabbits

This study investigated the effect of chestnut tannins on meat quality in broiler rabbits. 72 commercial hybrid rabbits (mean body weight 740 g, 32 days old) were fed for 49 days with three diets containing 0%, 0.5% and 1.0% of a commercial chestnut wood extract (ENC®, Sil- vachimica srl), respectively. Eight rabbits per group were slaughtered at 12 weeks of age and at 24h post-mortem pH and colour were measured on the carcass. Moreover, both sides of m. longis- simus thoracis (LT) were dissected. Left side was used for cooking losses whereas the other side was used for the determination of fatty acid profile and lipid oxidation. Data were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA. No differences were found in pH, colour and cooking losses, as well as the fatty acid profile of LT muscle and its relative health indexes. Concerning the antioxidant effect, the ENC shows a positive and significant effect at the inclusion level of 0.5%. In conclusion, the ENC has not undesirable side effects on the meat quality of rabbits, although further studies will be necessary to find the optimal diet inclusion level of ENC to elicit a stronger antioxidant effect in the rabbit meat