Measuring diet in primary school children aged 8-11 years: validation of the Child and Diet Evaluation Tool (CADET) with an emphasis on fruit and vegetable intake.

Background/Objectives:The Child And Diet Evaluation Tool (CADET) is a 24-h food diary that measures the nutrition intake of children aged 3-7 years, with a focus on fruit and vegetable consumption. Until now CADET has not been used to measure nutrient intake of children aged 8-11 years. To ensure that newly assigned portion sizes for this older age group were valid, participants were asked to complete the CADET diary (the school and home food diary) concurrently with a 1-day weighed record. Subjects/Methods:A total of 67 children with a mean age of 9.3 years (s.d.: ± 1.4, 51% girls) participated in the study. Total fruit and vegetable intake in grams and other nutrients were extracted to compare the mean intakes from the CADET diary and Weighed record using t-tests and Pearson's r correlations. Bland-Altman analysis was also conducted to assess the agreement between the two methods. Results: Correlations comparing the CADET diary to the weighed record were high for fruit, vegetables and combined fruit and vegetables (r=0.7). The results from the Bland-Altman plots revealed a mean difference of 54 g (95% confidence interval: -88, 152) for combined fruit and vegetables intake. CADET is the only tool recommended by the National Obesity Observatory that has been validated in a UK population and provides nutrient level data on children's diets. Conclusions:The results from this study conclude that CADET can provide high-quality nutrient data suitable for evaluating intervention studies now for children aged 3-11 years with a focus on fruit and vegetable intake

Environmental and economic modelling of organic, stockless, horticultural crop rotations

Selected results from the ongoing “EU-Rotate_N” research project are presented. This EU 5th-framework project is developing a model-based decision support system to optimise nitrogen use in horticultural crop rotations across Europe. This paper introduces the economic and the fertility-building crops sub-models, and shows data from model validation and first model runs on an organic farm in central England. Preliminary results show that the model has the potential to be a powerful support tool for farmers and advisors, making decisions on rotational plan-ning. The economic, agronomic and environmental consequences of different rotational designs can be projected and assessed in detail

The effect of nitrogen, fungicide, time and method of harvest on seed quality in super sweetcorn (Zea mays L.) cv. Illini gold : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in Plant Science (Seed Technology) at Massey University

Super sweetcorn (Zea mays L.) poses problems for seed production, because the high seed sugar levels delay seed drying, which means harvest delays and the encouragement of pathogen invasion. These factors reduce seed quality, particularly germination and vigour. In a field experiment at Massey University in the 1994/95 season, the effects of fungicide application, nitrogen fertiliser application rate and time and method of harvest on seed quality and particularly seed vigour of super sweetcorn cv. Illini Gold were investigated. The experiment used a randomised split-split plot design with four replicates of each treatment. Individual plot size was 3.25m x 4.75m. Seeds were hand sown on 25 November 1995 at a spacing of 75cm between rows and 25cm between seeds within the row. Treatments were nitrogen (0, 100, 200 kg N/ha as urea) applied in three split side dressing ( 15 days after sowing, 50 days after emergence and 30 days after silking) and a fungicide (Sportak 45 EC, 0 and 37 g a.i./ha) applied at tasselling, again during early cob development, and again at seed physiological maturity. Each treatment was split into six sub-plots for hand and machine (stationary thresher) harvest at 35%, 25% and 15% seed moisture content (SMC). At each harvest, 30 cobs were picked per sub plot and 15 were then hand shelled, while 15 were fed into an Almaco STB stationary thresher running at a speed of 396 rpm. Threshed seeds were then ambient air dried to 12% SMC. Fungicide application failed to control Fusarium spp., and these fungi were recovered from 73-88% of the seeds depending on treatment. Because of this fungal infection, the highest germination recorded was 68% (for hand harvesting at 35%SMC), while the lowest was 48% (for machine harvest at 15% SMC). Abnormal seedlings resulting from Fusarium induced lesions averaged 25%, and from 10-15% of seeds were dead. Fusarium infection level increased and seed quality decreased as harvest was delayed from 35% SMC to 15% SMC. Seed quality (germination and vigour) was greater for hand harvested seeds then machine harvested seeds, as machine harvesting cracked seeds and lead to physical and physiological damage which nearly doubled the percentage of dead seeds. Seed quality did not differ for harvests at 25 and 35% SMC. Nitrogen application increased the seed nitrogen content and thousand seed weight significantly, but had no effect on the seed vigour parameters recorded, including conductivity and seedling growth. Accelerated ageing vigour test results were confounded by the presence of Fusarium fungi, but whether these pathogens affected conductivity results could not be determined. Because of the effects of the Fusarium fungi, the hypothesis that the increasing availability of nitrogen would improve cell membrane integrity and therefore increase seed vigour could not be assessed. Effective control strategies for Fusarium spp. must be implemented before this hypothesis can be fairly tested in the future

Pesticide Use on Fruit and Vegetable Crops in Ohio 1990

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10-year interdisciplinary monitoring of organic stocklass, vegetable rotations at Warwick-HRI, Kirton, South Lincolnshire, UK

Interdisciplinary monitoring of an organic stockless farming system has been carried out over ten years on a fertile silty clay loam in the main vegetable production area of the UK. The results draw together economic outcomes with agronomy, soil science and agro-ecology. Organic management has been used at the Kirton research site since conversion of a 3.2 ha unit in 1997. There is great variability in crop yields and marketing results but overall a successful ongoing vegetable production system has been established. Soil fertility, weeds, pests and diseases have been managed successfully without imports of animal manures or green waste compost. Production costs are well controlled and marketable yields are good. However, because the site is a research farm, the actual marketing of produce was sometimes weak and caused a low farm net margin. The site contributes valuable information to the European network of long-term fi eld experiments in organic farming for this particular farming system

Organic Vegetable Storage in Wales – Opportunities and Constraints

There is a growing interest in buying local produce, but there is insufficient produce available in Wales to meet this demand. One problem is lack of storage. Much organic vegetable produce in Wales is lost by poor storage. ADAS has undertaken this study on behalf of Organic Centre Wales under the Farming Connect Scheme, to assess opportunities for improving storage and increasing the available quantity of Welsh vegetables. The number of organic vegetable producers in Wales in 2006 was estimated to be 118 (Horticultural Network, 2006). The main crops stored in Wales are potatoes, carrots, squash, onions, cabbage and celeriac. Many factors may contribute directly or indirectly to suitability for storage, these include length of life in store and quality of the crops in store. Costs of storage are perceived to be high but investment in storage facilities can increase turnover and maximise marketable potential. The majority of growers in Wales use field storage due to its simplicity, but there are disadvantages to field storage. Alternatives to field storage include indoor and outdoor clamps and cold storage. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. Recommendations • A joint effort by the whole organic fruit and vegetable industry is required to increase the amount of organic produce produced within Wales. • Processing and Marketing grants for improvement of storage for SME and or cooperatives are required to increase the amount of local produce produced and sold in Wales. • Research is needed into the economic feasibility and issues involved with setting up and running storage facilities using alternative energy • The practicalities and costs of using biodegradables needs to be investigated • Best storage practices should be establishe

Exploring salient dimensions in a free sorting task: A cross-country study within the elderly population

Free sorting tasks have been widely applied on different age segments to study the categorization of foods. However the method has received little attention in the investigation of older adults’ perception. Given the importance of understanding elderly perceptions in order to develop acceptable products, the main objective of this study was to investigate the factors that were able to affect the categorization of samples within different age segments of the healthy elderly consumers. Furthermore, in order to support the obtained configurations, the applicability of a free sorting task within different age segments of elderly population was investigated. The role of familiarity was considered to better understand the process of food categorization. A free sorting and a liking task were applied on French and Italian elderly to study perception and preference of familiar (peas) and less familiar (sweetcorn) vegetables. Similarities between the categorization maps, the preference maps and the sensory maps from vegetable samples were assessed through the RV coefficient and map visual inspection. Familiarity with the product was the main factor affecting the categorization among elderly. Categorization maps from a familiar vegetable were found to be suitable to obtain information on sensory and hedonic dimensions, while maps obtained from a less familiar vegetable mainly depicted sensory variability. The free sorting task was found to be a suitable method to use with healthy older adults, that allowed the detection of differences in the categorization of stimuli even among the more aged representatives of the elderly population

Growing Sweetcorn in Alaska's Cool Environments

Sweet corn can be grown in Alaska's cool environments by employing clear polyethylene mulch to raise soil temperatures. Rows should be run north and south, spaced about 5 feet apart for 4-foot wide mulch. Weeds can be controlled under clear polyethylene mulch by spraying with atrazine after seeding and before mulching