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Crop Years (crop + year)
Selected AbstractsReducing runoff by managing crop location at the catchment level, considering agronomic constraints at farm levelLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2006A. Joannon Abstract Runoff and erosion cause frequent damage through muddy floods in the loess belt of Northern Europe. One possibility for reducing damage is to lower runoff on agricultural land by spatially alternating different crops at the catchment level. But crop location results from decisions taken at the farm level. This study aimed to assess the existing leeway to modify crop location in the farms of a catchment, in order to reduce runoff at the catchment's outlet. The case study was the Bourville catchment (1086,ha), cultivated by 28 farmers and located in Pays de Caux, France. First, crop location rules in the 14 main farms of the catchment were analysed on the basis of surveys carried out with farmers, distinguishing spatial constraints from temporal ones. These rules made it possible to simulate crop location on each farm territory for the 2001,2002 crop year. Each field of the catchment was classified depending on whether one or several crops could be sown, taking into account both field history and farmer decision rules. Then two extreme scenarios of crop location in the Bourville catchment were built. Runoff simulation at the outlet with the STREAM model showed that runoff could be reduced while sticking to current farmer decision rules in terms of crop location. Depending on rainfall event characteristics, runoff reduction varied between 13·5,per,cent and 4·5,per,cent. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Managing precipitation use in sustainable dryland agroecosystemsANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2004GARY A PETERSON Summary In the Great Plains of North America potential evaporation exceeds precipitation during most months of the year. About 75% of the annual precipitation is received from April through September, and is accompanied by high temperatures and low relative humidity. Dryland agriculture in the Great Plains has depended on wheat production in a wheat-fallow agroecosystem (one crop year followed by a fallow year). Historically this system has used mechanical weed control practices during the fallow period, which leaves essentially no crop residue cover for protection against soil erosion and greatly accelerates soil organic carbon oxidation. This paper reviews the progress made in precipitation management in the North American Great Plains and synthesises data from an existing long-term experiment to demonstrate the management principles involved. The long-term experiment was established in 1985 to identify dryland crop and soil management systems that would maximize precipitation use efficiency (maximization of biomass production per unit of precipitation received), improve soil productivity, and increase economic return to the farmers in the West Central portion of the Great Plains. Embedded within the primary objective are sub-objectives that focus on reducing the amount of summer fallow time and reversing the soil degradation that has occurred in the wheat-fallow cropping system. The experiment consists of four variables: 1) Climate regime; 2) Soils; 3) Management systems; and 4) Time. The climate variable is based on three levels of potential evapotranspiration (ET), which are represented by three sites in eastern Colorado. All sites have annual long-term precipitation averages of approximately 400,450 mm, but vary in growing season open pan evaporation from 1600 mm in the north to 1975 mm in the south. The soil variable is represented by a catenary sequence of soils at each site. Management systems, the third variable, differ in the amount of summer fallow time and emphasize increased crop diversity. All systems are managed with no-till techniques. The fourth variable is time, and the results presented in this paper are for the first 12 yr (3 cycles of the 4-yr system). Comparing yields of cropping systems that differ in cycle length and systems that contain fallow periods, when no crop is produced, is done with a technique called "annualisation". Yields are "annualised" by summing yields for all crops in the system and dividing by the total number of years in the system cycle. For example in a wheat-fallow system the wheat yield is divided by two because it takes 2 yr to produce one crop. Cropping system intensification increased annualised grain and crop residue yields by 75 to 100% compared to wheat-fallow. Net return to farmers increased by 25% to 45% compared to wheat-fallow. Intensified cropping systems increased soil organic C content by 875 and 1400 kg ha,1, respectively, after 12 yr compared to the wheat-fallow system. All cropping system effects were independent of climate and soil gradients, meaning that the potential for C sequestration exists in all combinations of climates and soils. Soil C gains were directly correlated to the amount of crop residue C returned to the soil. Improved macroaggregation was also associated with increases in the C content of the aggregates. Soil bulk density was reduced by 0.01g cm,3 for each 1000 kg ha,1 of residue addition over the 12-yr period, and each 1000 kg ha,1 of residue addition increased effective porosity by 0.3%. No-till practices have made it possible to increase cropping intensification beyond the traditional wheat-fallow system and in turn water-use efficiency has increased by 30% in West Central Great Plains agroecosystems. Cropping intensification has also provided positive feedbacks to soil productivity via the increased amounts of crop residue being returned to the soil. [source] Logistical Strategies and Risks in Canadian Grain MarketingCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2000William W. Wilson Logistics management in grain marketing has become very important with the maturity of the industry. This is particularly critical in the Canadian grain marketing system, which has experienced disruptions for various reasons over many years. These problems have been the topic of numerous industry evaluations, have resulted in a complaint about service obligations during the 1996,97 crop year, and were addressed by the Estey Commission. A detailed model of the Canadian grain logistics system is developed in this paper to evaluate factors that cause disruptions, as well as the effect of several important logistics and marketing strategies on system performance. The results illustrate that there is sufficient randomness throughout the various functions of the system that it is expected that demurrage at the west coast would periodically be an important cost. The frequency of service disruptions and demurrage are affected by several factors, including the distribution of tough and damp grains, mis-graded grain and the level of exportable supplies. Several strategic variables affect system performance. These include the aggressiveness in selling relative to capacity and the level of beginning port stocks. La gestion de la logistique dans le commerce des céréales a acquis une grande importance maintenant que ce secteur a atteint la maturité. C'est particulièrement important dans le système canadien de mise en marché des céréales lequel, pour diverses raisons, a essuyé bien des perturbations ces dernières années. Les problèmes en cause ont fait l'objet de nombreuses évaluations du secteur. Ils ont même abouti au dépôt d'une plainte sur les obligations de service dans la campagne agricole 1996,1997 et ont étéétudiés par la Commission Estey. Dans la présente communication nous avons construit un modèle détaillé du système canadien de logistique du marché des céréales ainsi que de l'effet de plusieurs stratégies importantes de logistique et de commercialisation sur la performance du systeme. Les résultats obtenus montrent qu'il y a suffisamment d'aléatoire dans les diverses fonctions du systeme pour conclure que les frais de séjour à quai sur la côte ouest seraient périodiquement un important poste de dépense. La fréquence des perturbations des services et les coûts a quai sont associés à plusieurs facteurs dont la livraison de grain gourd et humide, de grain mal classé et le niveau des disponibilités exportables. Plusieurs variables stratégiques influent sur le fonctionnement du système, notamment l'agressivité manifestée dans la vente par rapport aux stocks disponibles et le niveau des stocks disponibles dans les ports au début de la campagne d'exportation. [source] Commercial Runner peanut cultivars in the USA: Fatty acid compositionEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF LIPID SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2010Eui-Cheol Shin Abstract Though peanuts are classified as a high-fat food, they possess good proportions of fatty acids deemed as heart healthy. The fatty acid compositions of Runner peanuts were determined for commercially grown cultivars over two recent crop years. GC-FID analyses revealed that the fatty acid levels for Runner peanuts were significantly (p,<0.05) different among the normal, mid-, and high-oleic peanuts investigated. Oleic acid-to-linoleic acid (O/L) ratios were found to be 1.93,±,0.30, 5.25,±,1.12, and 16.9,±,5.20 for normal, mid-, and high-oleic peanut lipids, respectively. Tamrun OL01 possessed a fatty acid profile characteristic of a mid-oleic cultivar. From the sample set (n,=,151), mean %,weights for oleic acid and linoleic acid were 52.09,±,2.84 and 27.38,±,2.60 in normal, 69.33,±,3.18 and 13.66,±,2.35 in mid-oleic, and 78.45,±,2.05 and 5.11,±,1.67 in high-oleic peanuts, respectively. Cluster analysis segregated cultivars based on fatty acids into normal, mid-, and high-oleic groups. Factorial analysis revealed that cultivar effects were significant (p,<0.01) for all fatty acids, except for lignoceric acid. Cultivar effects were also highly significant (p,<0.001) for O/L, IV, unsaturated/saturated fatty acid (U/S) ratio, and %,saturation. Significant crop year effects were shown for palmitic, oleic, arachidic, gondoic, and lignoceric acids, as well as U/S ratio and %,saturation. Healthy unsaturated fats accounted for ,80% in all crop years and cultivars. [source] GLUTEN QUALITY PREDICTION AND CORRELATION STUDIES IN SPRING WHEATSJOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY, Issue 4 2007IMRAN PASHA ABSTRACT Gluten, "cohesive, viscoelastic, proteinaceous material prepared as a by-product of the starch isolation from wheat flour" and the storage and dough-forming protein of wheat flour, is the key to the unique ability of wheat to suit the production of leavened products. Wet gluten was only affected by wheat varieties, while dry gluten was affected by wheat varieties, crop years and their interaction. The wet and dry gluten ranged 8.0,43.13% and 2.58,14.55%, respectively, and were positively correlated with Zeleny value, sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation value and falling number. The gluten content was higher in Pavon, SA 42 and Faisalabad 85, while Zeleny value was higher in GA 02 and C 518, resulting in better gluten quality. Zeleny value was negatively correlated with crude protein content (r = ,0.1857*). The lowest amount of wet and dry gluten was detected in Triticale and durum wheats as compared to common wheats. Zeleny value and sedimentation value may be used as indicators of gluten content and quality while working on wheats. The information thus collected will be valuable for cereal chemists and wheat breeders for improvements in their future breeding programs. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This research work will be a breakthrough and helpful for wheat breeders, growers, millers and bakers for their intended uses as every consumer demand specific wheat quality characteristics for their end products. [source] BAKING PERFORMANCE OF 1BL/1RS SOFT RED WINTER WHEATSJOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY, Issue 2 2001WILLIAM E. BARBEAU ABSTRACT Baking performance of nine 1BL/1RS soft red winter wheat (SRWW) lines and six non-1BL/1RS lines was assessed during two crop years, 1995,96 and 1996,97, and at two locations, Blacksburg and Warsaw, Virginia. The 1BL/1RS flours produced cookies with significantly smaller diameters than non-1BL/1RS flours (p , 0.0026) across both growing years and locations. There was a highly significant negative correlation (r =,0.709) between cookie spread and alkaline water retention capacity (AWRC) of SRWW flours. Overall, there was no significant difference (p = 0.2552) in biscuit volume of 1BL/1RS and non-1BL/1RS flours. There were no significant differences in cake volumes of 1BL/1RS and non-1BL/1RS flours when data from both years and locations were combined, p = 0.0710; or when Blacksburg and Warsaw locations were considered separately, p = 0.2009 and 0.1882, respectively. Finally, there were no significant differences in the texture of cakes made from 1BL/1RS and non-1BL/1RS flours regardless of growing year or location. These results suggest that the 1BL/1RS translocation significantly reduces the cookie spread of SRWW flours but has no significant impact on biscuit or cake quality. [source] Genetic and chemical assessment of Arbequina olive cultivar grown in Córdoba province, ArgentinaJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 3 2009Mariela M Torres Abstract BACKGROUND: Thirty-eight accessions of olive (Olea europaea L.) originating from Córdoba province (Argentina) and preliminarily identified as belonging to the Arbequina variety were genotyped using AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) DNA markers. Also, the oil chemical composition was studied during three consecutive crop years. The objectives of the work were (a) to investigate genetic intra-cultivar diversity and (b) to evaluate the oil chemical composition and compare it with that of Arbequina oil produced in Spain. RESULTS: The 19 primer combinations employed to perform the AFLP analysis produced 98 polymorphic bands. A reduced genetic heterogeneity was obtained, confirming that (a) the selected accessions belong to the Arbequina variety and (b) the traditional vegetative propagation practice has caused low genetic erosion in this variety cultivated in Córdoba. The main features that characterise the Argentinian Arbequina oils studied are the lower content of oleic acid and higher levels of phenolics and high-molecular-weight volatile compounds compared with those found in Spanish Arbequina oils. CONCLUSION: In spite of the small proportion of intra-cultivar variability, the Arbequina variety grown in Argentina produces oils with different chemical traits from those obtained in the original Spanish growing region. These differences can be attributed mainly to the particular environmental conditions of the olive-growing areas in these countries. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Temporal patterns of genetic variation across a 9-year-old aerial seed bank of the shrub Banksia hookeriana (Proteaceae)MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 13 2005LUKE G. BARRETT Abstract The pattern of accumulation of genetic variation over time in seed banks is poorly understood. We examined the genetic structure of the aerial seed bank of Banksia hookeriana within a single 15-year-old population in fire-prone southwestern Australia, and compared genetic variation between adults and each year of a 9-year-old seed bank using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). B. hookeriana is well suited to the study of seed bank dynamics due to the canopy storage of its seeds, and because each annual crop can be identified. A total of 304 seeds from nine crop years and five maternal plants were genotyped, along with 113 plants from the adult population. Genetic variation, as assessed by the proportion of polymorphic markers (Pp) and Shannon's index (I), increased slightly within the seed bank over time, while gene diversity (Hj), did not change. Pp, I, and Hj all indicated that genetic variation within the seed bank quickly approached the maximal level detected. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that less than 4% of variation could be accounted for by variation among seeds produced in different years, whereas there was greater differentiation among maternal plants (12.7%), and among individual seeds produced by different maternal plants (83.4%). With increasing population age, offspring generated each year were slightly more outbred, as indicated by an increase in the mean number of nonmaternal markers per offspring. There were no significant differences for Hj or I between adults and the seed bank. Viability of seeds decreased with age, such that the viability of 9-year-old seeds was half that of 2-year-old seeds. These results suggest that variable fire frequencies have only limited potential to influence the amount of genetic variation stored within the seed bank of B. hookeriana. [source] Updating the estimation of the supply of storageTHE JOURNAL OF FUTURES MARKETS, Issue 7 2006Carl R. Zulauf An updated supply of storage is estimated to reflect recent developments in the literature. This study adds a measure of price variability, specifically implied volatility. It also adds a measure of the call-option value to sell stocks before the end of the storage period, specifically a measure developed by Heaney (2002). The model is estimated for U.S. soybean stocks carried between crop years. A quadratic relationship is found between stocks to use ratio and implied volatility. A statistically significant, inverse, linear relationship is found between the storage-cost,adjusted spread and the estimated call-option value. This finding is consistent with the much debated idea that convenience yield is a return to storage that can offset losses from storage when intertemporal price spreads are negative. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 26:657,676, 2006 [source] Correlation between Moisture and Water Activity of Honeys Harvested in Different YearsJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 5 2004M.M. Cavia ABSTRACT: For the 1st time, a relationship has been investigated between moisture percentage (M) and water activity (aW) in honeys from 2 different harvesting years and 2 different climatic areas. Moisture was determined by measuring refractive index at 20°C, according to official methods. At the same time, aW of the same samples was assessed at exactly 20°C. Influence on the relationship of the crop's year, aging, and induced fine granulation was evaluated. The results show that, independent of all factors studied, an excellent and statistically significant linear correlation between both parameters [aW = 0.3114 + (0.0170 × M)] was found in all samples with a regression coefficient of 0.8809. The measurement of aW of honey is interesting but time-consuming. This study concludes that this parameter can be easily calculated from the moisture percentage, thus avoiding the use of expensive and slow equipment for aW measurement. [source] | ||||||||||||||||