Napier grass performance under agroforestry systems of upland area on Tuntang watershed, Indonesia

The success of forage cultivation effort extremely depends on several factors, such as kinds of forage, climate, water, and soil fertility. A research on napier grass in agroforestry system conducted to find out soil fertility, growth, production, and quality of forage in agroforestry system in headwaters of Tuntang watershed. This research used factorial plan 2 x 2 which was repeated five times. The first factor was agroforestry system (AFS-1 and AFS-2) and the second factor was defoliation in wet and dry season. Parameter observed were height of plants, forage production, dry matter content, crude protein, and crude fibre. In addition, agroforestry soil samples comprised specific weight of soil, pH, and N total. Height of plant in AFS-1 was higher (85.1 cm) than AFS-2 system (71.5 cm). Season had an affect on plants growth which was shown by height of plant that was lower during dry season (66.8 cm) than during wet season (89.8 cm). AFS-1 system had a better forage yield than AFS-2. Dry matter of forage varied between agroforestry system and season. The lowest dry matter during wet season could be found in AFS-1. The highest protein content in AFS-1 could be found during wet season (11.27%), and the lowest protein content in AFS-2 was during dry season (6.0%). Crude fibre of napier grass in AFS-2 was higher than AFS-1. Crude fibre content during dry season was higher than during wet season. The napier grass in AFS-1 has a better growth, production, and quality than in AFS-2. The growth, forage yield, crude protein and fibre contents during wet season in the upland area of Tuntang watershed are better than during dry season. The best dry matter content is in AFS-2 during dry season and the highest crude protein content of napier grass lies in AFS-1 during wet season. Keywords : Agroforestry, napier grass, crude protein, crude fibe

Analysis of spectral response patterns of Kiwifruit orchards using satellite imagery to predict orchard characteristics of commercial value before harvest : : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Prod Tech in the School of Engineering and Advanced Technology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Several characteristics of kiwifruit determine its value to the kiwifruit marketing company, Zespri Ltd, and to the grower. The foremost of these is the dry matter content. Much effort is expended in predicting the final dry matter content of the fruit as early in the season as possible so that the optimal dry matter content can be achieved. Dry matter content is currently measured through a destructive 90-fruit protocol that may be repeated several times in a season on each maturity block. Remote sensing data available from modern satellites can provide four-colour (red, green, blue and near-infrared) data with resolution down to 1-2m, less than the size of one kiwifruit vine. Many indices can be created from these and correlated to the characteristics of plants with indifferent results. This thesis presents the development of an index wherein the four colours are used to create a three-dimensional unit colour vector that is largely independent of light level. This transform was used to allow the direct visualisation of data from a number of satellite images of the Te Puke kiwifruit growing area in New Zealand over five years, for which dry matter content values were available from the 90-fruit protocol. An attenuation model was chosen to correct the top-of-atmosphere light intensities recorded by the satellite cameras to those at ground level. The method of Hall et al., (1991) was found to reduce the variation of fiduciary pixels by the largest amount and was used. The visualisation revealed that there was an axis along which dry matter was ordered by magnitude. A regression line of best fit was applied to this data producing an R2 value of 0.51 with a standard mean-square error of 0.76. This is significantly lower than the average mean-square error of 1.05 for the 90-fruit protocol. Comparison of the predictive power of other indices, based on one image, showed a range of R2 values of 0.008 to 0.49. The method developed in this thesis produced an R2 of 0.70 for the same data

The Potential Use of Organically Grown Dye Plants in the Organic Textile Industry: Experiences and Results on Cultivation and Yields of Dyers Chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria L.), Dyers Knotweed (Polygonum tinctorium Ait.) and Weld (Reseda luteola L.)

The organic cultivation of dye plants for the certified natural textiles industry is an emerging and promising sector of organic farming. In 1999 a field trial was done with different provenances of Dyer’s Chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria L.), Dyer’s Knotweed Polygonum tinctorium Ait.), and Weld (Reseda luteola L.) on two organic farms in Lower Austria. Yields, dyestuff content, and quality parameters were analyzed. Dry matter yields of Weld ranged between 0.7 and 2.7 t ha-1, of Dyer’s Chamomile (flower heads) between 1.1 and 1.8 t ha-1. Significant differences were found between seed Weld provenances as well as between those of Dyer’s Chamomile. The total leaf dry matter of Dyer’s Knotweed (2 cuts) ranged at both sites on average 3.1 t ha-1. Seed provenances did not show differences. The total flavonoid content of Weld ranged between 1.53 and 4.00%, of Dyer’s Chamomile between 0.84 and 1.5%. The content of indican in Dyer’s Knotweed ranged between 0.50 and 1.45% of leaf dry matter, the calculated theoretical content of indigo ranged between 0.22 and 0.64% of leaf dry matter. The general use fastness properties differ according to species and provenance. Both high and low values were achieved. The data on the cultivation of dye plants in organic farming show promising results. Research should address improvement in yields and quality, development of dyestuff extracts, and optimization of dyeing methods. Research on dye plants needs a systemic look at the whole chain including producers, processors, trade, and consumers

Nitrogenous substances in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers produced under organic and conventional crop management

The contribution presents data on crude protein and protein, free amino acid and nitrate contents in potato tubers produced under different crop management – conventional and organic. Field trials were carried out with five potato cultivars on two sites of different altitude in 2005. Mean content of crude protein was significantly higher in tubers from organic crop management than in tubers from conventional system (10.92 and 9.76 % in dry matter, respectively). Similar result was observed in protein content (5.44 and 5.09 % in dry matter, respectively). Cultivar was the factor having the highest direct effect on crude protein as well as protein contents. Tubers from conventional crop management showed an increased tendency to accumulate nitrates

Remote sensing of fuel moisture content from ratios of narrow-band vegetation water and dry-matter indices

Fuel moisture content (FMC) is an important variable for predicting the occurrence and spread of wildfire. Because FMC is calculated from the ratio of canopy water content to dry-matter content, we hypothesized that FMC may be estimated by remote sensing with a ratio of a vegetation water index to a vegetation dry-matter index. Four vegetation water indices, six dry-matter indices, and the resulting water/dry-matter index ratios were calculated using simulated leaf reflectances from the PROSPECT model. Two water indices, the Normalized Difference Infrared Index (NDII) and the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), were more correlated with leaf water content than with FMC, and were not correlated with leaf dry-matter content. Two dry-matter indices, the Normalized Dry Matter Index (NDMI) and a recent index (unnamed) were correlated to leaf dry matter content, were inversely correlated with FMC, and were not correlated with water content. Ratios of these water indices and these dry-matter indices were highly and consistently correlated with FMC. Ratios of other water indices with other dry-matter indices were not consistently correlated with FMC. The ratio of NDII with NDMI was strongly related to FMC by a quadratic polynomial equation with an R2 of 0.947. Spectral reflectance data were acquired for single leaves and leaf stacks of Quercus alba, Acer rubrum, and Zea mays; the relationship between FMC and NDII/NDMI had an R2 of 0.853 and was almost identical to the equation from the PROSPECT model simulations. For the SAIL model simulations, the relationship between NDII/NDMI and FMC at the canopy scale had an R2 of 0.900, but the quadratic polynomial equation differed from the equations determined from the PROSPECT simulations and spectral reflectance data. NDMI requires narrow-band sensors to measure the effect of dry matter on reflectance at 1722 nm whereas NDII may be determined with many different sensors. Therefore, monitoring FMC with NDII/NDMI requires either a new sensor or a combination of two sensors, one with high temporal resolution for monitoring water content and one with high spectral resolution for estimating dry-matter content

Quality differences among garlic ecotypes

Garlic quality is comprised of bulb yield components and dry matter content Garlic has the highest dry matter content of all vegetable crops. Clove mass as a yield component, along with dry matter content, is the basis for determining garlic quality for food industry and seed production purposes alike. Predominant in our country’s garlic production are domestic ecotypes which give lower yields than cultivars resulting from breeding. In the present paper, we studied the divergence of garlic ecotypes by analyzing their dry matter content and clove size. The study lasted three years and involved 48 garlic ecotypes (18 autumn and 30 spring ones). Using hierarchical clustering, a very low variability of dry matter content was found in the autumn ecotypes. Differences in clove mass were very pronounced so four ecotype groups were formed that differed in the number of ecotypes as well as in the value of this trait. The spring garlic ecotypes were very heterogeneous in terms of bulb mass and dry matter content and were accordingly divided into six and five groups, respectively

Combining Ability Analysis of Dry Matter Content, Reducing Sugars and Yield of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Genotypes in Uganda

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in Uganda is a major food and cash crop mainly grown in the highland regions by small-scale farmers. The increasing importance of potato as a processed product requires new varieties possessing quality processing attributes with acceptable yield. The objectives of this study were to estimate the combining ability effects for dry matter content, reducing sugars, and yield related traits in potato. Nineteen F1 families generated from eight parents using a half diallel mating design were evaluated for dry matter content, reducing sugars, average weight per tuber and total tuber yield at Kachwekano research station. Additive genetic effects were predominant for dry matter content while non-additive effects for the other traits. The GCA/SCA ratios were 0.58, 0.28, 0.17 and 0.44 for dry matter content, reducing sugars, average weight per tuber and total tuber yield respectively. Broad sense heritability estimates were 50.6% for dry matter content, 77.8% for reducing sugars, 90.3% for average weight per tuber and 29.5% for total tuber yield. Parents NAROPOT 3 and 395096.2 had desirable GCA effects for both dry matter content and reducing sugars. Families of nkrk19.17 x Rutuku had desirable SCA effects for dry matter content while Rutuku x 393077.54 and nkrk19.17 x 392657.8 had desirable SCA effects for reducing sugars. Additive genetic effects for dry matter content imply that, genetic gains can be achieved through different selection methods and trait transferred to the respective progenies. The selected parents and families will be subjected to further clonal evaluation and selection

Morphological Characteristics, Productivity and Quality of Three Napier Grass (Pennisetum Purpureum Schum) Cultivars Harvested at Different Age

The research was conducted to determine the morphological characteristics, productivity andquality of Napier grass cultivars Taiwan, King and Mott harvested at 8 and 13 after planting. Effect ofcultivar and harvest arranged in a nested design (3x2). The variables were observed consisting ofmorphological characteristics, dry matter production and forage quality. The results showed that themorphological characteristics, leaf stem ratio, fiber content, crude protein content and in vitro dry matterdigestibility of Napier grass Taiwan and King cultivar were not different, but both morphologicalcharacteristics, fiber content was higher (P <0.05) compared to Mott cultivar, whereas leaf stem ratio,crude protein content and in vitro dry matter digestibility Mott cultivar was higher (P <0.05) comparedto Taiwan and King cultivars. In general, an increase in plant height and fiber content at the age of 13weeks, whereas crude protein content and in vitro dry matter digestibility decreased. It was concludedthat the highest dry matter production found in Taiwan and the King cultivars, whereas highest qualityfound in Mott cultivar. Dry matter production was highest harvested at 13 weeks, whereas the highestquality harvested at 8 weeks after planting for all cultivars tested

Determination of chemical properties in ‘calçot’ (Allium cepa L.) by near infrared spectroscopy and multivariate calibration

‘Calçots’, the immature floral stems of second-year onion resprouts, are an economically important traditional crop in Catalonia (Spain). Classical approaches to evaluating the chemical properties of ‘calçots’ are time consuming and expensive; near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) may be faster and cheaper. We used NIRS to develop partial least square (PLS) models to predict dry matter, soluble solid content, titratable acidity, and ash content in cooked ‘calçots’. To guarantee the robustness of the models, calibration samples were grown and analyzed in a first season (2014–15) and validation samples in a second season (2015–16). NIRS on puree spectra estimated dry matter and soluble solid content with excellent accuracy (R2pred¿=¿0.953, 0.985 and RPD¿=¿4.571, 8.068, respectively). However, good estimation of titratable acidity and ash content required using ground dried puree spectra (R2pred¿=¿0.852, 0.820 and RPD¿=¿2.590, 1.987, respectively). NIRS can be a helpful tool for ‘calçots’ breeding and quality control.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft