Agricultural Science Commons^™

Life Cycle Assessment Of The Cultivation Of Lettuce In A Hydroponic System Using The Nutrient Film Technique, Raquel Jordan

All Theses

Hydroponic systems are an emerging method of soilless crop cultivation typically done inside a greenhouse where nutrients are delivered dissolved in water rather than being supplied from the soil. Potential benefits of hydroponic systems include reduced irrigation requirements, higher crop yield per area, and the ability to grow crops year-round in nontraditional areas such as urban settings, cold climates, and sites with contaminated soil. However, hydroponic systems tend to have high energy requirements for lighting and climate control, which can yield significant environmental impacts. To explore the environmental impacts of cultivating lettuce in a nutrient film technique (NFT) hydroponic system, …

Field Pea: Crop Management And Production, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Grains and other field crops factsheets

The field pea agronomic package available to growers is one offering simplicity and reliability. Producing high yielding field pea crops is now limited more by seasonality and rainfall rather than technology and genetics. With new varieties and agronomy package field pea is a profitable break crop option.

Large Scale Deletion And Rebalancing Within The K1c Kafirin Family In Sorghum, Tyler W. Ferris

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sorghum bicolor (L.) Monech (sorghum) is cultivated as food for humans and livestock and is valued for its low input requirements. However, sorghum grain protein is deficient in the essential amino acid lysine and has poor protein digestibility because of the abundance of proline-rich kafirins that constitute >70% of proteins that form low-digestibility protein bodies. To reduce kafirin expression in the endosperm, and elicit wholesale proteome rebalancing to increase non-kafirin proteins, a single-guide RNA (sgRNA) Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/Cas9) construct was previously used to target members of the highly-repetitive alpha-kafirin family, k1C in RTx430 sorghum. The …

Plant Nutrient Interactions In High-Yielding Soybean Environments, Victoria Inklman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Plant nutrient demands and limitations are usually studied individually by nutrient. Here, we investigated how nitrogen (N) limitation in high-yielding soybean environments affects the uptake, removal, and residual of other plant macro- and micronutrients. The objective of this study was to quantify the uptake, removal, and residual levels of soybean macro- and micronutrients under N-limited conditions and to identify nutrient priorities for high-yielding soybean systems. Aboveground plant samples at physiological maturity were collected in 19 high-yielding soybean fields with N limitation across the state of Nebraska. Reference plots with ample N supply were included within each field to compare macro- …

Crop, Soil Nutrient, And Soil Health Responses Within Integrated Crop And Livestock Systems, Alyssa K. Hall

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We evaluated the influences of grazing livestock on crop production, soil nutrients, and soil health indicators of integrated crop livestock systems using three experiments during a seven-yr. period. Objectives were to (1) determine livestock grazing and cropping system effects on crop yield and soil properties across six yr. in corn-soybean (C-S) and wheat-corn-soybean (W-C-S) systems with and without periodic composted manure application, (2) explore seasonal variation in soil nutrient patterns over two yr., and (3) measure residual responses for corn grain yield plus soil health indicators in yr. seven following a six-yr. study. In experiment 1, neither livestock grazing ( …

Application Of Artificial Neural Network Algorithms For Irrigation Scheduling, Lisa Umutoni

All Dissertations

Neural networks have been extensively used in predicting soil water tension for improved irrigation scheduling and management. However, their lack of interpretability constrains their efficacy in grasping the nuanced patterns prevalent in soil water tension time series data. The first goal of this research was to develop interpretable deep neural network models for soil water tension prediction across multiple soil depths (0.15m, 0.3m, 0.46m and 0.6m) and prediction horizons (1h, 6h, and 12h). The Neural Hierarchical Interpolation for Time Series (N-HiTS) and Neural Basis Expansion Analysis Time Series (N-BEATS) models were used in this research. Historical soil water tension data …

Authentication And Message Integrity Verification For Emerging Wireless Networks, Ebuka Philip Oguchi

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation presents a comprehensive body of research on authentication and message integrity verification for emerging wireless networks, focusing on secret-free and physical layer security techniques across diverse, challenging, and unconventional environments.

It comprises four first-author contributions that span underground wireless systems, over-the-air (OTA) channels, vehicular communications, and nanoscale molecular networks.

The first contribution, Soil-Assisted Trust Establishment for Underground Wireless Networks (STUN), introduces a physical-layer trust bootstrapping protocol that achieves authentication and message integrity without pre-shared secrets. Leveraging underground-to-air propagation laws and trusted relay nodes, STUN resists active signal injection attacks and demonstrates security comparable to the unbalanced oil and …

Impact Of Adoption Of Fall Armyworm And Stemborer Pest Control Practices On Maize Yields In Rwanda: A Multinomial Endogenous Switching Regression Approach, Vincent Gadamba Misango, Jonathan Makau Nzuma, Patrick Irungu, Menale Kassie

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The use of push-pull technologies (PPT) as an alternative control method for fall armyworms and stemborer pests amongst maize farmers has recently received considerable global attention. However, the impact of adoption of PPT on the maize productivity remains largely unexplored. This study used a multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) to evaluate the impact of adoption of PPT on smallholder maize farmer's yields in Rwanda. The MESR model was estimated on a sample of 398 households operating 967 maize plots selected using a stratified random sampling technique. Overall, 25, 20, and 14 percent of the households used traditional methods, PPT and …

The Effect Of Cellulolytic Enzyme Preparations As In Vitro Improvement For Forage Digestibility, G Bertin, Ph Hellings

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The systematic study of commercial preparations of fungal cellulases has been undertaken with the aim of determining the principal components and the contribution of each to the digestion of the plant cell wall. These enzymes, normally have three fold role-silage preservative by hydrolysing the cellulosic wall of plant material, cellulases make available fermentable sugars to the lactic bacteria. -Improvement of digestibility we can increase gain by 1 % of the dry matter in forage. - Improvement of intake if the animal digests more quickly his gut will empty more rapidly thus making it available sooner for a new intake of …

Effect Of Cellulase Preparation On Fermentation Of Silage, E No, Y Harasawa, A Ataku, N Narasaki, T Sueyoshi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The effects of cellulase preparation (Meicelase) on silage fermentation were studied using the first cutting alfalfa and timothy. In one-liter laboratory silos with Meicelase of 0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0:8% of the fresh grasses, the fermentative quality was examined throughout a 30 day ensilage period. The amount of the lactic acid in the silage with the Meicelase was considerably greater than the control silage with no additive. In addition, the pH of that silage was low and the content of water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) was high. However, the differences in the amount of Meicelase applied had no effects in the …

Effects Of Sample Drying Method On Estimates Of Nutritive Value Value, S Uchida, H Hayashi, T Horigome

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The influence of different drying methods for the sample used for analysis on the estimates of the nutritive value of silage was investigated. The silages and hay were made from the same grass and fed to three wethers to determine digestibilities. The samples for analytical use of silages and hay fed, and feces excreted, were prepared by three drying techniques of freeze drying (F), oven drying at 60 C (L) and oven drying at 100 C (H) and then each dried sample was ground in a Wiley mill to pass a 0.5 mm screen. The residual moisture in prepared samples …

Effect Of Lactic Acid Bacteria On Silage Fermentation, Ph Hellings, G Bertin, M Vanbelle

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Inoculants were tested to determine their suitability for use as silage aids. Studies carried out in laboratory indicated (1) that the minimum inoculum should be at least 105 viable organisms per gram of fresh fodder and (2) of all bacterial strains tested, only the Lactobacillus and, specifically, L. casei improved storage characteristics. But the efficiency of an inoculant was subordinated to the fermentable sugars content of the crops. In this respect, alfalfa and second cut grass had the lowest potential for ensilage. Energy was supplied as a mixture of milled barley and amylolytic complex. The influence of a 1: 1: …

Ensilage Of Alfalfa Press-Cake. A Kinetic Model For Ph, Acidity And Nitrogen Evolution, G Amdrich, L Lencioni, R Florentini, G Anelli

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A kinetic model to describe the time evolution of pH, acidity, metabolizable nitrogen and k1 • B, ( a function related to the bacteria concentration) during ensilage of alfalfa press-cake is suggested. The basic hypotheses of the model are given together with the related differential and integral equations. The kinetic model has been tested using experimental data obtained from two samples of alfalfa press-cake respectively ensiled with and without acid addition. The correlation coefficients obtained indicate the reliability of the suggested model.

Ensilage Of Alfalfa Press-Cake, G Anelli, G Andrich, M Contini, L Lencioni

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Istituto Industrie Agrarie of the University of Pisa has developed a wet green crop fractionation process which involves the ensilage of the press-cake. This note reports some experimental results on the alfalfa press-cake ensiled with or without addition of acid. The evolution of silages was evaluated through organoleptic and chemical parameters. The good behaviour· during the ensilage shows that alfalfa press-cake is suitable to be ensiled even without previous acidification.

Coagulation Of Sheep Milk Added With Alfalfa Juice And Protein Concentrate, L Lencioni, R Florentini, A M. Pisanelli, C Galoppini

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This note reports some experimental results on the preparation of food-grade products obtained by enzyme coagulation of sheep milk added with alfalfa juice, decolourized whole protein concentrate and cytoplasmic protein concentrate. Working conditions are reported together with the yields, chemical composition and organoleptic properties of the coagula. Products obtained from milk supplemented with low alfalfa juice (��5% dry basis) or protein concentrates (;;;;:10% dry basis) show a good acceptability. The ripening greatly reduces grass flavour and taste.

Effect Of Remaining Brown Juice In Wet Protein Curd On The Quality Of Leaf Protein After Drying, Y S. Cho, J K. Kim, T Horigome, S Uchifa

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The influence of remaining brown juice ( deproteinised juice) in wet protein curd on the quality of resulting leaf protein was examined. Freshly cut Italian ryegrass and red clover were fractionated into protein curd, brown juice and pressed cake. Various leaf proteins were prepared by drying the protein curds retaining different amounts of brown juice at 65°C followed by acetone-washing, and by immediate acetone-washing of the protein curd. Casein-brown juice mixtures at the ratio of 1 :3 and 1: 6 were also prepared. The crude protein content of the dry matter in brown juice was very low, 9. 9% for …

The Nutritive Value Of Mixtures Of White Leaf Protein And Other Food Proteins, R Carlsson, P Hanczakowski

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The nutritive value of white leaf proteins were studied, as food supplements. The protein was obtained by heat­fractionation ( Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) or by de-pigmentation (Medicago sativa L. ). The leaf protein was substituting 50% of the protein in a diet, where the remaining 50% came from wheat gluten, soya bean meal, bone-meat meal, fish meal, skim milk or whey. The nutritive value was estimated by the Thomas-Mitchell nitrogen balance method. The proximate chemical composition of the food protein products, and their amino acid composition were analysed. In every mixture but the one with gluten the biological value was higher …

Effect Of Contamination By Aspergillus Flavus On The Nutritive Value Of Leaf Protein Concentrate Of Leucaena Leucocphala During Storage, H T. Ostrowski-Meissner, I Komang, W Supratman, I Barchia, S Cacang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Leaf protein concentrate extracted from tree legume Leucaena leucocephala cultivar Cunningham (LLP) was stored under humid tropical conditions (24-28°C and 84-92% rh) in the form of wet cake during a 10 day period. Samples of LLP were taken every second day for chemical analyses and protein quality assays. The effect of storage on dried LLP was also assessed against two control proteins: peanut meal (PNM) and fish meal (FM), either free of aflatoxins or infected by the aflatoxigenic fungus Aspergi_llus flavus to the level 280 mcg aflatoxin B1 equivalent/kg. Storage of wet LLP under such conditions resulted in infestation by …

Physiological Activity Of Alfalfa Lpc And Brown Juice, A Sagasaki, T Kawakami, M Naito, H Yamada, Y Kuroyanagi, K Suzumura, R Kayama

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

With the purpose of searching physiological active component(s) contained in alfalfa leaf, green leaf protein concentrate (LPC) and brown juice were tested against the effects on the inutagenicity of mutagen and hyperlipemia. LPC and brown juice were found to inactivate the mutagenicity of 2•aminoanthracene by the Ames test, and the capacity was more powerful in LPC than in brown juice. Further feeding of alfalfa LPC or its brown juice added diet to hamster reduced the total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in serum.

Influence Of The Age Of Chicken On The Metabolizable Energy Value Of Alfalfa Leaf Protein Concentrate, S Terapuntuwat, I Tasaki

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Influence of the age of chicken on the nitrogen corrected metabolizable energy (MEn) value of alfalfa leaf protein concentrate (LPC) was investigated. Chickens of various ages were fed diets containing certain amounts of the LPC, and droppings were collected quantitatively. The MEn of the diets was determined as the difference between consumed energy and excreted energy which was corrected with retained energy as body protein. Then the MEn value of the LPC was calculated using the values of the LPC containing diets and that of cornstarch which was obtained from data for a LPC-free diet. As a result, the MEn …

High Value Productions From Lucerne: A New Zealand Perspective, R M. Mcdonald, P E. Donnelly, R A. Mills, S R. Vaughan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Research at Ruakura has aimed at improving the economics of lucerne protein extraction, by extracting more of the protein (up to 85%) and by searching for ways to get maximum value for each of the components in the lucerne. Presently most lucerne protein concentrate is sold on the basis of its protein and xanthophyll contents, which are valued by poultry growers. Other components, including carotene, chlorophyll and vitamin E, are not valued in poultry feed and consequently could be extracted and sold separately. Carotene and vitamin E have recently been associated with cancer prevention. The paper also discusses the value …

Effect Of Drying Methods On The Nutritive Value Of Leaf Protein Concentrates Coagulated By Acidification, Heat Or Anaerobic Fermentation, M Ohshima

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

SUMMARY To determine the effect of heat-treatments on the nutritive value of leaf protein concentrate(LPC), several LPCs prepared by different procedures were fed to rats. The nutritive value of ladino clover LPC separated centrifugally from acidified juice and freeze-dried was compared with that of LPC prepared from the same acidified juice by heating to 70°C with an electric heater before the centrifugation and oven-dried at 70°C. The heat-treatments reduced not only the apparent digestibility of crude protein by 5%, but also the nutritionally available lysine content of LPC. Response of rats to lysine supplementation in addition to methionine was observed …

Effect Of Anaerobic Fermentation Of Plant Juice On The Yield And The Nutritive Value Of Leaf Protein Concentration, M Ohshima, H Ueda

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Effect of treatments of plant juice on the yield and nutritive value of leaf protein concentrate (LPC) was studied with special reference to anaerobic fermentation using lucerne and Italian rye grass as the materials. Lucerne juice was .subdivided into three portions. The two portions were heated to 70°C immediately or after being adjusted to pH 8 with NaOH. The other portion was anaerobically fermented for 7 days. One half of ryegrass juice was heated to 70°C after being adjusted to pH 4 with HCI and the other half was submitted to the fermentation. After the treatments, each juice was centrifuged …

Alkali Treatment Of Rice Whole Crop Silage, T Tobino, N Mikami, A Yamazaki, R Kobayashi, K Furugouri

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Application of Na OH for rice whole crop at the time of ensiling increased digestibility, intake and body weight gain of Holstein steers. As rice whole crop silage is inclined to cause secondary fermentation, when the moisture content is not sufficient, water addition to the filling material is necessary. The suitable application level of NaOH is 3 to 4% of silage dry matter and it can be applied successfully using 20 to 30% solution. The rate of notreacted Na in the NaOH applied silages was 20 to 40% and it changed wholly to the form of Na2CO3 -Na. The greater …

The Effect Of The Harvest Time, Height And Length Of Cutting On The Quality And Nutrient Yield Of Japanese Millet Silage, T Nakui, N Yahara, S Takai

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The experiments were made to determine the appropriate harvest time, height and length of cutting of Japanese millet for silage. Harvesting the millet at the end of the late dough stage was found to be the most favorable for silage, and the fermenting quality of the silage was improved by higher cutting and keeping the length of the cutting short ( < 10 mm). Dry weight yield of the plant (x) well correlated with TDN yield (Y) of the silage (r = 0.91, Y = 0.511x - 64.7). A negative correlation was obtained between the rate of temperature rise during the second fermentation process of silage broken the seal and the content of butyric acid in the silage. The second fermentation was suppressed when the butyric acid content in the total acid of the silage was more than 3 % .

Effect Of Stage Growth And Chopping Length On Ensiling Characteristics, Digestibility And Palatability Of Guinea-'A', S Panditharatne, J P. Fontenot, V G. Allen, M.C N. Jayasuriya

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ensiling of forages is a common practice in temperate areas, but is not used extensively in tropical countries. Preservation of excess forage during rainy seasons would provide a more even distribution of feed during the year. Experiments were conducted to investigate fermentation characteristics, and digestibility and palatability of Guinea-'A' (Panicum maximum, ecotype A) silage by sheep. Guinea-'A' grass was harvested after 2- and 3-week growth periods, and ensiled chopped or unchopped in 210 liter metal drums, double lined with polyethylene. Cutting grass at 2 weeks decreased pH and increased lactic acid of silage, compared to cutting at 3 weeks. Chopping …

Analysis Of The Factors Affecting On Disappearance Of Nitrate In Grass During Ensilage, T Masuko, T Otani, K Awaya

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

From 1979 to 1985, a series of experiments was carried out. In these experiments, Italian rye grass containing large amounts of nitrate was ensiled in laboratory silos with CaCO3, glucose and urea immediately after harvesting, and at three moisture levels adjusted by pre-wilting. In each experiment, the grasses were chopped to about 2 cm length and then packed in 1.5 liter glass bottles. The silos were kept at 28°C in the incubator and opened 50-80 days after ensiling. The nitrate content and crude protein content of original grass were-high and WSC content of that was low. In thirty grass silages …

A Technique To Study The Relative Merits Of Different Silage Additves, A D. Drysdale, D A. Parker

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Expansion in the use of silage additives in the more difficult silage-making areas of Europe has created the need for a simple laboratory method to assess the relative values of the wide range of products now offered. A technique is described which can be used to study potential new additives and to monitor existing products. Using direct-cut lucerne(Medicago sativa) ensiled quickly it is possible to produce a high pH, poorly fermented, untreated silage and against this the relative effects of different additive treatments can be assessed. In an example discussed, lucerne of 14% dry matter (DM) and buffering capacity 44m-equiv …

Control Of Silage Fermentation By Inoculation With Lactobacillus Casei, K Ataku, H Nakamura, N Narasaji, M Kikuchi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The D( -) isomer of lactic acid is largely produced by silage fermentation. Accordingly, this study focused on Lactobacillus casei (LC) in which produces L( +) lactic acid. The influences of the inoculation of LC and Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) on the quality of silage and on the isomer ratio of the lactic acid were examined with and without 2% glucose addition at two ensilage temperature (20°C and 30°C). Orchardgrass and alfalfa were ensiled in laboratory silos, capacity one-liter. When either LP and LC was added, a large quantity of lactic acid was produced, the pH dropped sharply, and the quality …

Losses During Ensiling Due To Gas Exchange, H Honig, E Zimmer

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Gas exchange leading to air infusion into the silo during the storage period is one of the main reasons for poor silage quality and additional losses. To make these losses better predictable, and to show ways to ensiling technology to avoid them, the parameters influencing the gas exchange in silage stacks have to be defined and quantified. The motive powers for this gas exchange are "breathing" in gastight systems, and CO2 flow off in "open" systems. Recent experiments using 6 m3 pilot silos to evaluate and quantify these losses, especially those due to CO2 flow off, show the following results: …