Agriculture Commons^™

Nebline, January/February 2023

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

2022 Extension Highlights

Thank You Volunteers! Valued at $711,217

From the Unit Leader: Global Connections

4-H Programs Engaged 32,332 Youth

Setting Sustainable, Healthy New Year’s Resolutions by Alyssa Havlovic

Recipe of the Month: Berry Good Pancakes by Aylssa Havlovic

Garden Guide: Thing to Do This Month

Extension’s 2023 Master Gardener Volunteer Training Begins Soon

Upcoming Green Industry Conferences

ProHort Lawn & Landscape Update

2023 Pesticide Applicator Trainings

Crop Production Clinics

Upcoming Ag Workshops

Minimizing the Impact of Winter Weather on Water & Wastewater Systems by Becky Schuerman

Bringing Motor Play Indoors for Young Children by Hayley Jackson

Tiny Bugs in …

Ua37/46 Charles Taylor Faculty/Staff Personal Papers, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Personal papers of Charles Taylor.

The Molecular Regulators, Pathways, And Environmental Impacts Of White Flowers, Sagheer Ahmad, Zaibun Nisa, Muhammad Zeeshan Munir, Muhammad Imran, Shaista Nosheen, Kai Zhao

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

White flowers are an important element of natural beauty, although they are thought of colorless. Anthocyanins are the major compounds responsible for a variety of pigments in flowers. White flowers surely lack pigmented anthocyanins and other compounds, but there are regulatory mechanisms that hinder the deposition of color pigments in white flowers. Moreover, there are also some compounds that deposit to instigate white appearance and the genetic regulators control the biosynthesis and deposition of such compounds. Experts have shown that fluctuation in the equilibrium of FLS and DFR genes determines the degree of accumulation of anthocyanins and flavonols in the …

A Concise Study On Essential Parameters For The Sustainability Of Lagoon Waters In Terms Of Scientific Literature, Shuraik Kader, Morufu Olalekan Raimi, Velibor Spalevic, Austin-Asomeji Iyingiala, Raheem Waliyat Bukola, Lizny Jaufer, Talib E. Butt

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Agriculture encompasses both plant growing (agronomy, horticulture, and forestry) and animal husbandry. Aquaculture is the aquatic embodiment of agriculture. Lagoons are the main sources of aquaculture in various countries around the world which especially yield shrimp, finfish, macrophytes, and mollusk. Agricultural effluents are highly affecting the lagoon water quality parameters in Sri Lanka since most of the agricultural farmlands in the country are on coastal landmasses. It leads to the increased risks of lagoon water contamination. Therefore, it is essential to identify the water quality parameters affected by anthropogenic agricultural activities and establish their threshold limits for ensuring the sustainability …

Genetic Diversity, Heritability, Correlation Coefficient, And Path Analysis Of Forage Yield Components In Iranian Phalaris Aquatica L. Genotypes, Reza Mohammadi, Alireza Pourmohammad, Mohammad Bagher Hassanpouraghdam, Serap Di̇ler

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Twenty-six selected genotypes of Phalaris aquatica L. from Iranian germplasm were evaluated to evaluate the genetic diversity of some agromorphological characteristics. Each selected genotype was cloned and planted as spaced single plants according to a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications in 2016 and 2017. Large and significant (p < 0.01) differences among genotypes were found for all traits. The estimates of broad sense heritability were low to high (h$^{2}$$_{b}$ = 0.16 - 0.75) for studied traits. High heritability estimates for dry matter yield (DMY) indicate a sufficient genetic variability for further improvement. There was the highest heritability rate and genetic advance for plant height and DMY. Selection for traits with high heritability and genetic advance can be successful. The dry matter yield cut 1 (DMY1) correlation with the number of days to flowering, number of days to pollination, plant height, and crown diameter cut 2 was positive and significant. In stepwise multiple linear regression, the plant height, number of stems per plant, and spike length explained more than 84% of the total variation of DMY1. The plant height was the most crucial component of DMY1. The path analysis showed that plant height positively affected DMY1 (0.83). The highest negative indirect effects on DMY1 were observed for plant height via the number of stems per plant (-0.238). Axes 1 and 2 of the principal coordinate analysis explained 40.94% and 18.48% of the variation, respectively, and, although not entirely separated, general groupings can be determined. In factor analysis, component 1 was positively associated with the traits dry matter yield cut 2 (DMY2) (0.855), dry matter yield (0.821), and plant height (0.755). Therefore, the first component can be called the biomass component. Finally, selection would be more effective in improving forage yield based on yield components. In conclusion, the results indicated appropriate genetic variability in the studied genotypes. However, the studied genotypes will deliver a valuable germplasm to employ in breeding programs for forage cultivar production. This progress is crucial in introducing these selected genotypes to develop a core collection of Phalaris aquatica germplasm in Iran.

Influence Of Cultivar And Fertilization Treatment On Bioactive Content Of Some Apple (Malus Domestica Borkh.) Cultivars, Dzevad Lavic, Mirjana Radovic, Jasmina Aliman, Nedim Badzak, Mirko Kulina, Alisa Hadziabulic, Gülçe İlhan, Crina Mureşan, Romi̇na Alina Marc

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The paper presents the chemical composition of the fruits of three apple cultivars (Jonagold Decosta, Red Idared and Gala Schnitzer Schniga) fertilized with three treatment: T$_{1}$ (control-without fertilization); T$_{2}$ (300 kg/ha NPK (6:18:36) + 150 kg/ha N (calcium ammonium nitrate-CAN)) and T3 (foliar nutrition-mixture organic-mineral fertilizer commercially named 'FitoFert Kristal' (0.6%) (10:40:10) + 'FitoFert Kristal' (0.6%) (20:20:20) + 'FoliFetril Ca' (0.5%) (N:Ca) in Bosnia and Herzegovina during two years (2020-2021). Significant differences of contents of soluble solids, total sugars, inverted sugars, sucrose, total phenolic content, content of flavonoids and antioxidant activity were found among cultivar/treatment combinations, cultivars, treatments and years. …

Combined Effects Of Biochar And Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria Pseudomonas Putida Tsau1 On Plant Growth, Nutrient Uptake Of Wheat, And Soil Enzyme Activities, Dilfuza Egamberdieva, Burak Alaylar, Jakhongir Alimov, Zafarjon Jabbarov, Sonoko Bellingrath Kimura

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Many studies indicate the favorable effect of biochar on soil quality and plant fitness. A few studies on the biochar interactions with rhizosphere bacteria and their impact on plant development and nutrient acquisition have been reported. In this study, pot experiments in a glasshouse were performed to figure out the interactive effect of plant beneficial bacteria Pseudomonas putida TSAU6 and biochar amendment on the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth, nutrient uptake, and soil biological activity. The results demonstrated that root and shoot dry biomass of wheat grown in soil mixed with biochar and combined with P. putida TSAU1 were …

Comparative Growth, Hydraulic Conductivity, And Sap Flow Responses Of Seedlings Of Two Pyrus Species To Drought Stress, Sheng Yang, Bin Xie, Liulin Li

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses limiting the advancement of the pear industry in the arid and semiarid regions of China. Currently, the production of pear seedlings mainly depends on the grafting propagation of rootstocks from Pyrus betulaefolia Bunge and Pyrus calleryana Decne. However, limited information is available on the drought stress potential of these rootstocks. Here, we conducted pot experiments with controlled watering conditions on both rootstocks' seedlings and compared their growth, plant hydraulic conductivity, and stem sap flow velocity. Both rootstocks' seedlings were challenged with three drought regimes i.e. light (LD), moderate (MD), and heavy (HD) …

Effect Of Row Spacing Under Maize-Soybean Relay Intercropping System On Yield, Competition, And Economic Returns, Muhammad Hayder Bin Khalid, Liang Cui, Ghulam Abbas, Muhammad Ali Raza, Adeel Anwar, Zaheer Ahmed, Abdul Waheed, Amjad Saeed, Waqas Ahmed, Muhammad Jawad Babar, Shakeel Ahmad, Rezwan Tariq, Muhammad Maroof Ajmal, Ali Ahsan Bajwa, Hülya Doğan

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Interrow spacing of intercrop species directly affects yield and competition indices such as land equivalent ratio of intercropping. The objectives of this research were to analyze (i) the maize and soybean yields under different spatial arrangements in maize-soybean relay strip intercropping (MSR) and (ii) the interspecies competition to provide a basis for optimization of rowspacing in MSR. The field trial was conducted in 2011 and 2012 at the Research Farm of the Sichuan Agricultural University in Ya'an to determine the impacts of various interrow planting distances on yield and competition indices in cereal (maize crop)-legume (soybean crop) relay strip intercropping. …

Segregation Of Apple Cultivars On The Basis Of Main Fruit Physical And Chemical Properties And Antioxidant Activity, Tomo Milosevic, Nebojsa Milosevic, Nemanja Miletic

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

This study aims to analyze the essential physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of 25 apple commercial cultivars grown in Serbia during 2019 and 2020 in order to segregate the apples with the best size, shape, and also nutritious and health promoting values. The results showed that 'Morens Jonagore' and 'Red Boscop' had similar and the highest fruit weight (FW) whereas 'Golden Delicious', 'Hired', 'Red Chief' , and 'Morens Jonagored' had the highest and similar fruit length (L). The lowest both these values were found in 'Akane'. 'Red Boscop' had the highest fruit diameter (D), whereas the lowest had 'Galaxy'. Twenty-two …

Integrated Vs. Specialized Farming Systems For Sustainable Food Production: Comparative Analysis Of Systems’ Technical Efficiency In Nebraska, Maroua Afi, Jay Parsons

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

Complementarities between crops and livestock production have the potential to increase input use efficiency and maintain a diversified livelihood. This paper uses non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the technical efficiency (TE) of integrated crop–livestock systems (ICLS) compared to specialized cropping and specialized livestock systems in the state of Nebraska, in the central United States. We classify each county of Nebraska into one of three systems according to their dominant agricultural production revenues. We use DEA to measure the TE of each county compared, first, to a group production frontier (in-system comparison) and second, to a metafrontier (cross-system comparison). …

Measuring And Preliminary Modeling Of Drift Interception By Plant Species, Jonnie B. Dunne, Shanique L. Grant, Jeffrey A. Golus, Jeffrey W. Perine, Stefan Wolf, Michael Winchell, T. Mark Ledson, Ian Whenham

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Currently, the concept of plant capture efficiency is not quantitatively considered in the evaluation of off-target drift for the purposes of pesticide risk assessment in the United States. For on-target pesticide applications, canopy capture efficiency is managed by optimizing formulations or tank-mixing with adjuvants to maximize retention of spray droplets. These efforts take into consideration the fact that plant species have diverse morphology and surface characteristics, and as such will retain varying levels of applied pesticides. This work aims to combine plant surface wettability potential, spray droplet characteristics, and plant morphology into describing the plant capture efficiency of drifted spray …

Woody Ornamental Disease Management Research Reports 2023, Fulya Baysal-Gurel

Extension Publications

No abstract provided.

Using Drones In Forestlands And Nurseries, Priya Saini, Jason P. De Koff

Extension Publications

No abstract provided.

Elephant Mosquitos, Toxorhynchites Rutlius, And Their Potential Use As A Biological Control, Aubree Morrison, Jason Oliver, Karla Addesso

Extension Publications

No abstract provided.

Measuring Mental Health Service Preferences Amongst Illinois Dairy Producers, Michael Barrowclough, Brianna Messman, Daniel Lannin, Maria Boerngen, Michelle Kibler

Faculty Publications - Agriculture

Objectives

To mitigate mental health concerns of farmers, research is needed to investigate strategies that encourage help-seeking behavior in this population. This study attempts to identify those help-seeking strategies. Six mental health service options were examined.

Methods

A survey, implementing a best-worst scaling choice experiment, was disseminated to members of the Illinois Milk Producers Association. Two methods of analysis were conducted. The first, a count-based method, employs a simple count-based approach to measure the relative preferences for the six mental health service options in question. The second is more complex and employs a latent-class logit regression model to measure individual …

Smallholder Views On Chinese Agricultural Investments In Mozambique And Tanzania In The Context Of Vggts, Rebecca Pointer, Emmanuel Sulle, Clemente Ntauazi

East Africa Institute

Based on a case study in each country, this study documents the views of Mozambican and Tanzanian smallholders regarding Chinese agricultural investments and the extent to which investors abide by their legitimate land tenure rights as defined by the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Forests and Fisheries in the Context of National Food Security (VGGTs). The VGGTs offer guidelines to government on how to protect the land tenure of rural communities when land is being acquired for large-scale land investments. The study also assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholders. Due to COVID-19, …

Application Of The Fine Sediment Biotic Index To Three Drain Tiled And Ditched Agricultural Systems In Southern Minnesota, Bailey Sanders

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Artificial drainage is a common agricultural management technique in the United States used to remove excess water from poorly drained soils. Approximately 22.48 million hectares of crop land are drain-tiled in the United States, providing long-term economic benefits to farmers. However, artificial drainage increases sediment transport in agricultural watersheds, which can degrade aquatic systems, destroy habitats, and limit biological diversity. Biotic indices based on benthic macroinvertebrates are commonly used to assess surface water quality, but recent studies show potential in developing sediment biotic indices using benthic macroinvertebrates to estimate fine sediment in streams. The objective of this study was to …

Evaluation Of Micro-Dwarf Tomato Cultivars For Controlled Environment Research, Noah Langenfeld, Bruce Bugbee

Dwarf Crops

Controlled environment research on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is often hindered by large plant size. Desired cultivar traits for research include a compact plant size, fast flowering time, and good fruit set. We grew eight micro-dwarf tomato cultivars to examine their suitability as model plants for research. The cultivar ‘Rejina Red’ had the highest harvest index and most ripe fruits among the red-fruited cultivars; ‘Jochalos’ had the highest harvest index and most ripe fruits among the yellow-fruited cultivars. ‘Microtina’ had a higher harvest index than ‘Rosy Finch’, but fruits were smaller, and growth was less determinate. ‘Monetka’ had a …

Enhancement Of Developmental Defects In The Boron-Deficient Maize Mutant Tassel-Less1 By Reduced Auxin Levels, Michaela S. Matthes, Norman B. Best, Janlo M. Robil, Paula Mcsteen

Biology Faculty Publications

Background

Plant responses to deficiencies of the micronutrient boron are diverse and go beyond the well-characterized function of boron in cell wall crosslinking. To explain these phenotypic discrepancies, hypotheses about interactions of boron with various phytohormones have been proposed, particularly auxin. While these hypotheses are intensely tested in the root meristem of the model species, Arabidopsis thaliana, studies in crop species and the shoot are limited.

Aims

To address potential boron–auxin interactions during the vegetative and reproductive development of the crop maize (Zea mays), we utilized the boron-deficient tassel-less1 (tls1) mutant and the auxin-deficient vanishing tassel2 (vt2) mutant. We investigated …