Suppression of Phytophthora infestans in Potatoes by Foliar Application of Food Nutrients and Compost Tea

Abstract: The efficacy of compost tea (CT), food nutrients (FD), and manzate (MZ) applied foliarly against late blight (Phytophthora infestans) of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) 'Green Mountain' and 'Russet Burbank' was evaluated in greenhouse trials conducted in New Brunswick, Canada. Percent of late blight incidence and severity were assessed four weeks after treatment and inoculation. Relative to the untreated control treatments, MZ reduced late blight severity by 92% and 99%; CT reduced severity by 29% and 27%; and FD reduced severity by 22 and 35% in 'Green Mountain' and 'Russet Burbank', respectively. In a separate study on the cultivar 'Shepody' comprising of 13 different treatments including combinations of compost tea and food nutrients, treatment with a combination of compost tea and seaweed extract resulted in 36% reduction in late blight severity relative to the inoculated control treatment. The combinations of CT + whey, CT + potassium bicarbonate, CT + Neptune's, and CT + organic gem reduced disease severity by 21, 10, 10, and 5%, respectively, relative to the inoculated control treatment. The results of this study shed the light on the potentially positive effect of combinations of compost tea and food nutrients as an alternative, relatively cheap, and environmentally safe tool for late blight control in potatoes. Such new tools are essential for fungicide resistance management

Real-time data collection to improve energy efficiency: A case study of food manufacturer

The rising price and demand for energy are significant issues for the food sector, which consumes a substantial amount of energy throughout the supply chain. Hence, improving energy efficiency has become an essential priority for the food sector. However, most food businesses have limited awareness of the recent technological advancements in real-time energy monitoring. Thus, the concept of “Internet of Things” (IoT) has been investigated to increase the visibility, transparency, and awareness of various energy usage levels. This paper presents a case study of a beverage factory where the implementation of an IoT-enabled sensing technology based on the embodied product energy (EPE) model helped to reduce the energy consumption. This arrangement made provision for the collection of real-time energy data within a food production system to support informed and energy-aware operational decisions, which lead to optimized energy consumption and significant savings of approximately 163,000 kWh in the year 2017. Practical applications Given the importance of energy efficiency and Internet of Things (IoT), especially in the food manufacturing industry, this research reports a baseline application at a beverage company in India. The results allowed the company to use energy more efficiently to have an advantage over its competitors and better market positioning. More data could be incorporated into the energy management system with the use of IoT. The availability and accuracy of such valuable data would help managers to make better energy-efficient decisions

Sub-inertial characteristics of the surface flow field over the shelf of the central Mid-Atlantic Bight

Observations of surface velocity data from August 2002 to February 2004 were collected by a series of four long-range high-frequency (HF) radars along the coast of New Jersey. The shelf observations of the central Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) were compared to historical observations of surface flow characteristics in the area. The time-averaged spatial mean velocity of 4 cm/s in the down-shelf along-shelf direction and 3 cm/s in the offshore across-shelf direction compared very well to historical surface measurements in the study region. However, as the spatial resolution of the data set revealed, this simple measure masked significant spatial variations in the overall and seasonal mean flow structures. Three regions-the south bank of the Hudson Shelf Valley, the southern New Jersey inner shelf (LEO-15) region, and the region offshore of the Delaware Baymouth (southwest corner) - had mean flows that favor offshore transport of surface water. In terms of temporal variability, maps of the principle axes showed that the across-shelf (minor) axis contribution was not in significant in the surface layer ranging from 0.3 to 0.9 of along-shelf (major) axis and that there were seasonal differences in orientation and ellipticity. Analysis of the spatial changes in the temporal and spatial correlation scales over the shelf showed that shelf position, in addition to site separation, contributed to the differences in these properties. Furthermore, observations over the Hudson Shelf Valley region suggested that this was a region of transition in which the orientation of along- and across-shelf components begin to change. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Mammals from New Brunswick

p. 99-106 ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

Elongation, rooting and acclimatization of micropropagated shoots from mature material of hybrid larch

Factors were defined for elongation, rooting and acclimatization of micropropagated shoots of Larix x eurolepis Henry initiated from short shoot buds of plagiotropic stecklings serially propagated for 9 years from an 8-year-old tree. Initiation and multiplication were on Schenk and Hildebrandt (SH) medium supplemented with 5 μM 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 1 μM indole-butyric acid (IBA). Stem elongation was obtained in 36% of the shoots on SH medium containing 0.5 μM BA and 63% of the remaining non-elongated shoots initiated stem elongation after transfer on SH medium devoid of growth regulators. Rooting involved 2 steps: root induction on Campbell and Durzan mineral salts and Murashige and Skoog organic elements, both half-strength (CD-MS/2), supplemented with 1 μM of both naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and IBA, and root elongation following transfer to CD-MS/2 medium devoid of growth regulators. Repeating this 2-step sequence yielded up to 67% rooted shoots. Acclimatization of plantlets ranged from 83% to 100%. Over 300 plants were transferred to the greenhouse; some showed plagiotropic growth