Productivity Progress in Sugar Beet Production - With Special Emphasis on the Contribution of Breeding

Sugar beet production during the past 50 years has been characterised by remarkable progress in productivity. In this contribution the influence of the different production factors on productivity and value added growth is analysed by regarding input and output development as well as price changes, with special focus on the breeding progress. During this period there has been a shift in the importance of the different factors of production for productivity development. Until the 1980s sugar beet breeding mainly initiated remarkable yield and quality improvements as well as seed and especially labour savings. Since then, technical progress in plant protection, mechanisation and organization allowed considerable cost savings especially through labour savings and partly yield and quality growth. On the whole, the contribution of sugar beet breeding to value added growth during the last 30 years annually amounted to around 80 DM per hectare. During the last 20 years, based on beet price reductions, the seed related progress only amounted to around 20 DM per hectare, whereas cost savings and partly yield increases of 80 DM per hectare, based on chemical, mechanical and organizational technical progress, where considerably high. But, the remarkable benefit of various disease resistant varieties developed since the 1980s is not included here. As sugar beet cropping in large infested areas without the new resistant varieties would not be competitive any more, their benefit partly amounts to more than 2000 DM per hectare. With the technical optimisation of the production process for sugar beets being mostly completed now, further productivity progress is mostly expected from bio-technological progress.Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management,

International Competitiveness of Sugar Production

Sugar market is one of the most protected markets for agricultural products world wide. In almost every sugar producing country the sugar market is regulated in some way. With an increasing liberalization of agricultural trade in the "Millennium Round" of the WTO trade negotiations, the question of international competitiveness is of increasing importance. Based on empirical studies, in this article the competitiveness of sugar production in the most important sugar producing countries is analysed, including the whole production process from beet or cane production in the field to sugar processing in the factory. Special emphasis is focussed on the different location factors and their influence on competitiveness, so that finally, conclusions can be drawn on future development of the world sugar market and the single production locations. From the countries included in this study, at present only Brazil, Australia, Thailand and partly South Africa would be able to produce sugar under world market conditions. While Brazil and Australia profit from favourable natural, economical and political location factors, in Germany high opportunity costs as well as high environmental and social standards predominate the advantages of high efficiency in the sugar industry. In the United States partly disadvantageous climatic conditions together with high opportunity costs are responsible for the insufficient international competitiveness of sugar production. Low productivity in Thailand and South Africa is overbalanced by low wages as well as comparatively low environmental and social standards. Without standardised environmental and social regulations, a liberalization of the world market would force movements of sugar production from beet to cane areas with favourable natural, economical and political conditions.Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis,

Heilung des Familienstammbaums

Der anglikanische Psychiater Kenneth McAll gilt als Pionier für Gebet um „Heilung des Familienstammbaums“. In seiner 1982 veröffentlichten Publikation „Healing the Family Tree“ beschreibt er seine Erfahrung, dass Menschen nicht nur in die Knechtschaft des Bösen, sondern auch in Abhängigkeit von anderen lebenden, aber auch verstorbenen Personen geraten können. Diese Abhängigkeitsverhältnisse nennt der Psychiater „Bindung“ („bond“) bzw. „Possession Syndrome“: „living to living“, „dead to living“, „evil forces to living“. Solche Bindungen wären Ursache für verschiedene Erkrankungen an Körper, Geist und Seele. Zur Begründung der Wirksamkeit dieser krankmachenden Abhängigkeiten rekurriert McAll auf das Konzept des „kollektiven Unbewussten“ bei C. G. Jung sowie auf Aussagen des Alten Testament, die Segen und Fluch auf das Verhalten von Vorfahren zurückführen (Ex 20,5-6 u. a.). Er selbst entwirft ein Konzept von „earth-bound dead“, von Verstorbenen, die sich nicht von der Erde lösen können und Lebende um geistliche Hilfe angehen, indem sie bei ihnen Krankheiten und Störungen verursachen. Diesen postulierten Zusammenhang zwischen Lebenden und Verstorbenen bezeichnet McAll als „Generationenschuld“ („generational sin“). McAll entwickelt ein Heilungsprogramm mit dem Anspruch, diesen Zusammenhang aufzulösen, damit daraus entstandenen Leiden heilen können. Dieses Heilungsprogramm wurde u. a. im katholischen Raum rezipiert: John Hampsch, Robert DeGrandis und Jean Pliya greifen McAlls Gebet um Heilung des Familienstammbaums auf, nicht ohne einige Veränderungen und Anpassungen vorzunehmen. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die detaillierte Darstellung und kritische Reflexion der einzelnen Elemente des Heilungsdienstes von Kenneth McAll sowie der vorgebrachten theologischen Begründungen. Die Arbeit bietet einen exegetischen Befund der biblischen Grundlagen, Ausleuchtung des psychologischen Hintergrunds sowie eine Prüfung der Vereinbarkeit mit der katholischen Lehre. Untersuchungen zur Rezeption dieses Heilungsansatzes und Überlegungen, inwieweit McAlls Heilungsprogramm die katholische Praxis inspirieren könnte, schließen die Arbeit ab

Yield Potential of Cropping Systems without Chemical Synthetic Plant Protection Products in NOcsPS field trials in Germany

In endeavors to manage agricultural cropping systems without the application of chemical-synthetic plant protection products (CSPs), one of the greatest challenges is ensuring yield performance. The literature provides a wealth of data on organic farming yields and the gap between organic and conventional systems, but little knowledge on the yield performance of cropping systems that use mineral fertilizers but not CSPs. This paper presents the first results of field trials at two locations in Germany comparing cultivation systems that are free of chemical-synthetic plant protection, but use mineral fertilizers, with both conventional and organic cropping systems. These system trials are part of the joint research project "Agriculture 4.0 without chemical-synthetic plant protection (NOcsPS)". Initial results show that CSP-free cultivation systems generally achieve lower yields than conventional systems, but considerably higher yields than organic systems

Acute Metabolic Responses to Glucose and Fructose Supplementation in Healthy Individuals : A Double-Blind Randomized Crossover Placebo-Controlled Trial

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of glucose (Glu), fructose (Fru), glucose and fructose (GluFru) and sucralose on blood glucose response in healthy individuals. Fifteen healthy individuals (five females, age of 25.4 ± 2.5 years, BMI of 23.7 ± 1.7 kg/m2 with a body mass (BM) of 76.3 ± 12.3 kg) participated in this double-blind randomized crossover placebo-controlled trial. Participants received a mixture of 300 mL of water with 1 g/kg BM of Glu, 1 g/kg BM of Fru, 0.5 g/kg BM of GluFru (each), and 0.2 g sucralose as a placebo. Peak BG values Glu were reached after 40 ± 13 min (peak BG: 141 ± 20 mg/dL), for Fru after 36 ± 22 min (peak BG: 98 ± 7 mg/dL), for GluFru after 29 ± 8 min (BG 128 ± 18 mg/dL), and sucralose after 34 ± 27 min (peak BG: 83 ± 5 mg/dL). Significant differences regarding the time until peak BG were found only between Glu and GluFru supplementation (p = 0.02). Peak blood glucose levels were significantly lower following the ingestion of Fru compared to the supplementation of Glu and GluFru (p p = 0.23). All conditions led to a significantly higher peak BG value compared to sucralose (p p = 0.002), Fru and GluFru (both p p = 0.051). Insulin levels were significantly higher in all conditions at peak compared to sucralose (p < 0.0001). The findings of this study prove the feasibility of combined carbohydrate supplementations for many applications in diabetic or healthy exercise cohorts

Acute Changes in Heart Rate Variability to Glucose and Fructose Supplementation in Healthy Individuals : A Double-Blind Randomized Crossover Placebo-Controlled Trial

SIMPLE SUMMARY: In this study, we investigated the cardio-autonomic stress responses to the ingestion of liquid glucose, fructose, a combination thereof and a placebo in healthy individuals at rest. The cardio-autonomic response was more pronounced in all groups with carbohydrates compared to placebo indicating an increased cardio-autonomic stress response resulting in a reduced heart-rate variability. When investigating different levels of blood glucose, the findings showed a significant decline in heart-rate variability with increasing blood glucose levels. This was also seen with severely low levels of blood glucose. The speed of how quick blood glucose increased and decreased also impacted the cardio-autonomic response which further deteriorated heart-rate variability. These findings indicate that healthy human’s autonomic system responds quickly to changes in their blood glucose. ABSTRACT: Background: It is unknown how different types of carbohydrates alter the cardio-autonomic system in healthy individuals. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate how heart-rate variability changes to single dose ingestion of glucose, fructose, glucose and fructose, and an artificial sweetener (sucralose). Methods: In a double-blind randomized crossover placebo-controlled setting, 15 participants received all study-specific substances in liquid form. During each 2-h visit, venous blood glucose was measured in a 5-min interval while heart-rate variability was measured continuously via Holter-electrocardiograph. Results: Ingestion of different types of carbohydrates and sucralose showed significant differences for heart rate (p < 0.001), SDNN (p < 0.008), RMSSD (p < 0.001), pNN50 (p < 0.001) and blood pressure (p < 0.001). Different glucose levels significantly altered parameters of heart-rate variability and blood pressure (all p < 0.001), while the rate of change in blood glucose led to changes in heart rate variability, but not in heart rate (p = 0.25) or blood pressure (p = 0.99). Conclusions: Ingestion of different types of carbohydrates lead to reductions in heart-rate variability compared to a placebo. Blood glucose values above or below 70–90 mg/dL decreased heart rate variability while this was also seen for rapid glucose changes, yet not as pronounced. Healthy individuals should be conscious about carbohydrate intake while maintaining blood glucose levels between 70–90 mg/dL

Sampling procedures for throughfall monitoring: a simulation study

What is the most appropriate sampling scheme to estimate event-based average throughfall? A satisfactory answer to this seemingly simple question has yet to be found, a failure which we attribute to previous efforts' dependence on empirical studies. Here we try to answer this question by simulating stochastic throughfall fields based on parameters for statistical models of large monitoring data sets. We subsequently sampled these fields with different sampling designs and variable sample supports. We evaluated the performance of a particular sampling scheme with respect to the uncertainty of possible estimated means of throughfall volumes. Even for a relative error limit of 20%, an impractically large number of small, funnel-type collectors would be required to estimate mean throughfall, particularly for small events. While stratification of the target area is not superior to simple random sampling, cluster random sampling involves the risk of being less efficient. A larger sample support, e.g., the use of trough-type collectors, considerably reduces the necessary sample sizes and eliminates the sensitivity of the mean to outliers. Since the gain in time associated with the manual handling of troughs versus funnels depends on the local precipitation regime, the employment of automatically recording clusters of long troughs emerges as the most promising sampling scheme. Even so, a relative error of less than 5% appears out of reach for throughfall under heterogeneous canopies. We therefore suspect a considerable uncertainty of input parameters for interception models derived from measured throughfall, in particular, for those requiring data of small throughfall events