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The Role Of African Leafy Vegetables In Food Security, Marcia M. Croft
The Role Of African Leafy Vegetables In Food Security, Marcia M. Croft
Open Access Dissertations
African leafy vegetables (ALVs) are a diverse set of crops grown across sub-Saharan Africa. They have been a staple of traditional diets and contain many critical micronutrients but their importance has been largely ignored by researchers and policymakers at the expense of imported crops. Availability, accessibility, and utilization of ALVs are limited by factors across the supply chain. This research investigated seed systems, drought tolerance, hydroponic production, market barriers, consumer preference, and the impact of gender as related to ALVs. We found that ALVs play an important role in food security and that critical differences exist between formal and informal …
Managing Bacterial Wilt, Caused By Erwinia Tracheiphila, On Muskmelon With Early Control Of Striped Cucumber Beetle ( Acalymma Vittatum (F)), And Through Varietal Selection, Ahmad Shah Mohammadi
Managing Bacterial Wilt, Caused By Erwinia Tracheiphila, On Muskmelon With Early Control Of Striped Cucumber Beetle ( Acalymma Vittatum (F)), And Through Varietal Selection, Ahmad Shah Mohammadi
Open Access Dissertations
Muskmelon (Cucumis melo L), is an important vegetable crop in the United States. It is grown throughout the US, and Indiana ranked 4th in production after California, Arizona and Georgia with 12.4 thousand metric tons and market value of $7.6 million in 2015. Bacterial wilt of cucurbits, which is caused by Erwinia tracheiphila (E. F. Smith), and vectored by striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittatum (F)), is one of the most serious diseases of muskmelon that influences muskmelon quality and yield. Many cultivars of muskmelon are grown around the United States, especially in the Midwest. Muskmelon cultivars differ in …
The Relationship Between Protein And Phosphorus Digestion And Retention In Growing Pigs And Broiler Chickens, Pengcheng Xue
The Relationship Between Protein And Phosphorus Digestion And Retention In Growing Pigs And Broiler Chickens, Pengcheng Xue
Open Access Dissertations
Xue, Pengcheng. Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2016. The Relationship between Protein and Phosphorus Digestion and Retention in Growing Pigs and Broiler Chickens. Major Professor: Dr. Layi Adeola. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between protein and P digestion and retention in growing pigs and broiler chickens. The methodology of determining the digestibility of AA and P and the effect of dietary N and P on the digestion and retention of these two nutrients were investigated.
An experiment was conducted in growing pigs to investigate the additivity of AID or SID of CP and AA in mixed …
Design And Plan Of A Modified Hydroponic Shipping Container For Research, John A. Houtman
Design And Plan Of A Modified Hydroponic Shipping Container For Research, John A. Houtman
Open Access Theses
As the world’s population continues to increase, food production will need to increase in order to meet the predicted rise in food demand. However, with increased pressure on cropland available from environmental effects and urbanization, new innovative methods of crop production need to be researched in order to increase agricultural production with limited land. This research focuses on the design of a single form of urban agriculture that is considered Zfarming and has the potential to produce quality urban agricultural produce through ground-based measures. This project produced detailed step-by-step analysis of the design process, develop variability within the modified hydroponic …
Residual Effects Of Nitrogen Fertilization On Soil Nitrogen Pools And Corn Growth, Meghan E. Moser
Residual Effects Of Nitrogen Fertilization On Soil Nitrogen Pools And Corn Growth, Meghan E. Moser
Open Access Theses
Given the dynamic nature of soil nitrogen (N), inorganic N fertilization to corn (Zea mays L.) has potential to alter N pool balance by creating an accumulation or depletion of soil N. Current corn N recommendations in the common corn-soybean rotation of Indiana strive to find the best N rate that maximizes producer profit. Increasing our understanding of soil N will inform producers if they should adjust fertilizer rates for corn to influence maintenance of organic N and Carbon. Our objective was to determine residual N effects from fertilized corn in a corn-soybean rotation by measuring (1) soil N …
The Biology And Management Of Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus Palmeri S. Wats) In Indiana, Douglas J. Spaunhorst
The Biology And Management Of Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus Palmeri S. Wats) In Indiana, Douglas J. Spaunhorst
Open Access Dissertations
Palmer amaranth is a pernicious summer annual weed that has evolved resistance to six herbicide sites of action in the U.S. and threatens agriculture production. In 2011, Palmer amaranth was identified in flood plains in two southern Indiana counties (Posey and Vanderburgh). Determining if Palmer amaranth can survive and reproduce in northern Indiana may provide insight if this weed will be problematic for northern row crop producers. The objectives of our research were to identify fields containing Palmer amaranth and determine the distribution of herbicide resistance traits in Indiana; determine the influence of tillage frequency and tillage intervals on Palmer …
Evaluating The Two-Stage Ditch As A New Best Management Practice, Andi Hodaj
Evaluating The Two-Stage Ditch As A New Best Management Practice, Andi Hodaj
Open Access Dissertations
A two-stage ditch involves modifications of a traditional drainage ditch to resemble more the features of a natural stream. The idea is to create or simulate extended benches on both sides of the ditch that would develop naturally over a period of time in a stream because of geomorphological processes. Previous research in Indiana and Ohio has shown that two-stage ditches offer the potential to reduce sediment load and extend the interaction time between water and vegetation on the benches allowing larger uptake of nutrients from the vegetation on the extended benches, and increasing the denitrification rates in the bench …
Learning From Data: Plant Breeding Applications Of Machine Learning, Alencar Xavier
Learning From Data: Plant Breeding Applications Of Machine Learning, Alencar Xavier
Open Access Dissertations
Increasingly, new sources of data are being incorporated into plant breeding pipelines. Enormous amounts of data from field phenomics and genotyping technologies places data mining and analysis into a completely different level that is challenging from practical and theoretical standpoints. Intelligent decision-making relies on our capability of extracting from data useful information that may help us to achieve our goals more efficiently. Many plant breeders, agronomists and geneticists perform analyses without knowing relevant underlying assumptions, strengths or pitfalls of the employed methods. The study endeavors to assess statistical learning properties and plant breeding applications of supervised and unsupervised machine learning …
Farmers' Use Of Mobile Phone Technology For Agricultural Information Services In Lilongwe District, Malawi, Benjamin F. Chisama
Farmers' Use Of Mobile Phone Technology For Agricultural Information Services In Lilongwe District, Malawi, Benjamin F. Chisama
Open Access Theses
Mobile phone technology can be a useful tool to provide farmers with relevant and reliable agricultural information for critical farming decisions in developing countries such as Malawi. An increasing number of rural farmers have been faced with information asymmetry challenges due to some pitfalls in the extension systems. In addition, knowledge gaps on farmers’ use of mobile phone technology; their awareness and use of MAIS; and their preferred topics to be delivered using mobile platforms were identified. However, little was known on how farmers were using existing MAIS. This study’s aim was to explore the potential of providing mobile agricultural …
High School Students' Motivations And Views Of Agriculture And Agricultural Careers Upon Completion Of A Pre-College Program, Andrea K. Scherer
High School Students' Motivations And Views Of Agriculture And Agricultural Careers Upon Completion Of A Pre-College Program, Andrea K. Scherer
Open Access Theses
Pre-college summer residential experiences hosted by a College of Agriculture have the potential to expose high school students to new career opportunities and fields of study that they may not have considered, and may influence agricultural literacy, perceptions of agriculture, and interest in agriculture. Engaging these students is important for meeting the demand for more students graduating with agriculture degrees prepared to solve 21st century challenges. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the outcomes of two separate pre-college experiences, the Molecular Agriculture Summer Institute (MASI) and the Purdue Agribusiness Science Academy (PASA), and participating high school …
Nutrient Runoff And Leachate After Land-Application Of Digestate In A Laboratory Study Using Rainfall Simulations, Min Xiao
Open Access Theses
There has been an increasing number of anaerobic digesters on livestock farms in the United States during the past two decades. Anaerobic digestion of manure allows production of renewable energy and generation of stabilized and nutrient-rich digestate that can be used as organic fertilizer. However, the majority of the existed studies using liquid digestate as fertilizer only focused on the effectiveness for crop yield, nutrient content and microorganism in soil. There is insufficient understanding in the environmental impact of digestate land-application. This laboratory study used six treatments including four different liquid digestate treatments, a chemical fertilizer treatment, and an unfertilized …
Evaluation Of Negative Energy And Mineral Balance In Periparturient Holstein-Friesian Cattle, Ameer Ahmed Abdelhameed
Evaluation Of Negative Energy And Mineral Balance In Periparturient Holstein-Friesian Cattle, Ameer Ahmed Abdelhameed
Open Access Dissertations
Most cows experience a state of negative energy and mineral balance during the periparturient period. This imbalance is a major problem in the dairy industry and it is more frequently seen in multiparous cattle due to their high milk production. A large amount of fat and protein is mobilized in order to address the energy deficit during the periparturient period. The ability to accurately monitor energetics and electrolytes status using accurate, rapid, and low cost point-of-care instruments will assist in optimizing animal health and productivity.
This dissertation contains three studies that evaluated point-of-care instruments for measuring blood and plasma glucose, …
Crop Modeling For Assessing And Mitigating The Impacts Of Extreme Climatic Events On The Us Agriculture System, Zhenong Jin
Crop Modeling For Assessing And Mitigating The Impacts Of Extreme Climatic Events On The Us Agriculture System, Zhenong Jin
Open Access Dissertations
The US agriculture system is the world’s largest producer of maize and soybean, and typically supplies more than one-third of their global trading. Nearly 90% of the US maize and soybean production is rainfed, thus is susceptible to climate change stressors such as heat waves and droughts. Process-based crop and cropping system models are important tools for climate change impact assessments and risk management. As data- science is becoming a new frontier for agriculture growth, the incoming decade calls for operational platforms that use hyper-local growth monitoring, high-resolution real-time weather and satellite data assimilation and cropping system modeling to help …
Tolerance As A Novel Mechanism Of Hessian Fly Control On Wheat, Kirsten E. Roe
Tolerance As A Novel Mechanism Of Hessian Fly Control On Wheat, Kirsten E. Roe
Open Access Theses
The effects of Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor Say) infestation on the putative tolerant wheat line Pioneer ®brand variety 25R78 were investigated at the seedling stage. Measurements, including leaf and tiller number, leaf growth rate, and total leaf lengths were recorded for two time intervals, 16 and 32 days post infestation (dpi). At 16 dpi, total leaf length changes and leaf growth rates were significantly lower for infested tolerant plants versus uninfested plants. No permanent growth effects occurred in the 32-day set. There were no significant differences in change in leaf length and leaf growth rate in infested tolerant plants …
Hydrologic And Water Quality Impacts From Perennial Crop Production On Marginal Lands, Qingyu Feng
Hydrologic And Water Quality Impacts From Perennial Crop Production On Marginal Lands, Qingyu Feng
Open Access Dissertations
Marginal lands are proposed as a viable option for producing biofeedstocks as these lands are not heavily engaged in agricultural production or may not be suitable for intensive row-crop food/feed production. However, meeting biofeedstock production goals will require large amount of marginal lands and the unintended consequences of producing biofeedstocks on marginal lands are not fully clear. The overall goal of this study was to evaluate the productivity of biofeedstocks on marginal lands and the potential impacts on hydrologic and water quality processes from the land use conversion.
This study was conducted in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). First, …
Quality And Safety Attributes Of Sun-Dried Raisins From Afghanistan, Stacy A. Mccoy
Quality And Safety Attributes Of Sun-Dried Raisins From Afghanistan, Stacy A. Mccoy
Open Access Theses
Raisins are an important export commodity for Afghanistan, however, Afghan packers are challenged to export to markets seeking high quality products due to limited knowledge regarding their quality and safety. To evaluate this, Afghan raisin samples from pre-, semi-, and post-processed raisins were obtained from a raisin packer in Kabul, Afghanistan. The raisins were analyzed and compared to U.S. standards for processed raisins. The samples tested did not meet U.S. import standards for embedded sand, but the process used to clean the raisins is suitable to maintain food safety standards.
Previous Afghan raisin shipments have been rejected from the U.S. …
Evolution Of Food Quality Demand In The Food Service Industry In China: The Case Of Duck, Rachel Alison Carnegie
Evolution Of Food Quality Demand In The Food Service Industry In China: The Case Of Duck, Rachel Alison Carnegie
Open Access Theses
Booming economic growth and rising consumer incomes have impacted food preferences and purchasing behavior in China. At the same time, several internationally publicized food safety incidents, particularly in the animal husbandry sector, have heightened awareness of and concern for food safety and quality in meat and dairy. Rising quality demand and safety concerns have been studied at length in the food retail sector, but also appear to be important in the food service industry. This research uses data from a survey of duck restaurant managers and consumers in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Guangzhou to determine preferences and willingness to pay …
Shrinkage Prediction During Pasta Dehydration, Gina Michelle Bressani
Shrinkage Prediction During Pasta Dehydration, Gina Michelle Bressani
Open Access Theses
Shrinkage models from different fields of study were reviewed. Pasta was used as a model to further develop the hypothesis of predicting shrinkage in terms of the rate of relaxation and the rate of moisture loss. An extended literature review of pasta properties, such as isotherms, diffusivity, glass transition, rheological properties, and shrinkage was conducted. Isotherm and glass transition models were developed from the literature data acquired. Creep was tested with a 25 mm-diameter flat plate at 20 to 40°C at varying moisture content. Viscoelastic properties for the Burgers model for creep were determined, where higher moisture content samples resulted …
The Role Of Soil Microorganisms In The Resistance Of Giant Ragweed, Horseweed, And Common Lambsquarters To Glyphosate, Jessica Renee Schafer-Bugg
The Role Of Soil Microorganisms In The Resistance Of Giant Ragweed, Horseweed, And Common Lambsquarters To Glyphosate, Jessica Renee Schafer-Bugg
Open Access Dissertations
Continuous glyphosate use has contributed to an increasing number of problematic glyphosate-resistant (GR) weeds. The mechanism of resistance in many GR weeds is poorly understood, in part, due to a poor understanding of how exactly glyphosate kills a plant. In previous research, the efficacy of glyphosate was demonstrated to be strongly influenced by root invading soil-borne microorganisms. However, this interaction among plants, glyphosate, and soil microorganisms has only been studied in a number of crop plants, but not in weed species. This is surprising since the soil biotic environment has a strong impact on the activity of this important herbicide. …
Genes With Physiological Roles In Callipyge Muscle Hypertrophy, Hui Yu
Genes With Physiological Roles In Callipyge Muscle Hypertrophy, Hui Yu
Open Access Dissertations
Callipyge sheep is an excellent model to study genes regulation in muscle growth since the up-regulation of DLK1 and/or RTL1 results in extreme postnatal muscle hypertrophy in loin and hindquarters. DLK1 and/or RTL1 are the primary inducers of muscle hypertrophy due to the inheritance model for the callipyge phenotype. The overall aim of this dissertation is to study the physiological pathways responding to the up-regulation of DLK1 and / or RTL1 in the hypertrophied muscles. Microarray analysis of gene expression identified 375 genes that were differentially expressed in callipyge semimembranosus. Twenty-five transcripts were further verified by quantitative PCR in two …
Functional Characterization Of Metallothioneins In Arabidopsis And Barley, Nimnara Yookongkaew
Functional Characterization Of Metallothioneins In Arabidopsis And Barley, Nimnara Yookongkaew
Open Access Dissertations
Metalothioneins (MTs) are metal binding proteins that can bind metals such as Cu, Zn, and Cd but the functions of MTs in plants are largely unknown. To understand the function of MTs in Arabidopsis, T-DNA insertion mutants lacking 4 MT genes including MT1a, MT2a, MT2b and MT3 were developed. The quadruple mutant (mt1a/mt2a/mt2b/mt3) showed no visible phenotype under standard growth conditions. However, it accumulated higher Cu in leaves compared to wild type but lower Cu in seeds. Further analysis showed that triple mutants lacking both MT1a and MT2b, which are highly expressed in vascular tissues, had similar …
Fate Of 17Α-Estradiol, 17Β-Estradiol, And Estrone In Agricultural Soils And Sediments, Michael L. Mashtare Jr
Fate Of 17Α-Estradiol, 17Β-Estradiol, And Estrone In Agricultural Soils And Sediments, Michael L. Mashtare Jr
Open Access Dissertations
The shift to concentrated animal production facilities and increasing rural-urban migration has increased the localized land application of nearly 1 billion tons of manure and biosolids annually. Although these applications provide nutrients and contribute to soil tilth, they also serve as a source for an estimated 49 tons of the natural manure-borne estrogens, 17α-estradiol (17α-E2), 17β-estradiol (17β-E2), and estrone (E1). While these estrogens are critical to endocrine systems, the low concentrations observed in the environment can disrupt endocrine function in non-target organisms, e.g., altering secondary sex characteristics which can lead to changes in wildlife communities.
Research presented here focuses on …