Agriculture Commons^™

Costs And Benefits Of Integrating Poultry Into Cover Crop - Vegetable Rotations, Viktor Halmos

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Integrated livestock systems were once common leading up to the 20th century where livestock generated manure that was then used to fertilizer crop production in a closed- or semi-closed system. However, with the industrialization of agriculture in the mid to late 20th century, specialization drove simplified systems that segregated livestock from cropping systems. This segregation led to nutrient surpluses occurring in livestock operations, and nutrient demands in cropping systems creating a plethora of environmental issues. With the increased awareness of environmental issues, a renewed interest in integration has driven producers and researchers to experiment with integration again. For research, the …

Computed Tomography Image Analysis: Modeling Skeletal Injuries In Thoroughbred Racehorses, Grace Louise Camp

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Musculoskeletal injuries account for the majority of career-ending health concerns in Thoroughbred racehorses. A small but very serious subset of these can be life-threatening and usually involve fractures of the bones in the lower limb that occur during high-speed exercise or racing competitions. Understanding the etiopathogenesis of lower forelimb bone fractures leading to catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries (CMI) is the highest safety and welfare priority in horse racing. This thesis conducted two studies utilizing computed tomography (CT) images of Thoroughbred lower limbs. The first examined bone lesion annotations in 134 horses (268 forelimbs) across 105 anatomical sites to assess the concordance …

Economics Of Maple Syrup Production In Kentucky, Bobby Thapa

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Maple syrup production is traditionally associated with New England regions in the United States, but there is growing interest in expanding it to other regions with suitable environmental conditions, including Kentucky. This study presents an in-depth analysis of the potential production and economic impacts of maple syrup in Kentucky using a multi-method approach. First, the study applies a stochastic production model to assess the effects of climatic and tree variables on maple syrup yield. The results reveal that several variables, including the number of maple trees, taps, temperatures, tapping season length, and time, significantly affect maple syrup yield. Second, input-output …

Surveillance For Ticks And Tick-Borne Pathogens In Kentucky, Anna Rosalee Pasternak

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Tick-borne diseases are an emerging threat to human and animal health. In Kentucky, tick-borne disease surveillance has identified rising incidences of spotted fever rickettsiosis, ehrlichiosis, and Lyme disease. Since these diseases occur through the bites of infected ticks, effective prevention efforts are reliant upon knowing where the risk of exposure to tick bites exists. Historical data on tick distribution in Kentucky is variable, with very little reported on a statewide scale, leaving vector control workers, public health personnel, physicians, veterinarians, and others to rely on outdated, intermittent, or out-of-state information. In my dissertation, I surveyed ticks and select tick-borne pathogens …

Landscape Influences And Preventive Management For Drosophila Suzukii In Small Fruit Crops, Ryan William Kuesel

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Small fruit production has been greatly challenged by the repeated invasion of non-native arthropod pests, impacting economic feasibility, and increasing the need for insecticides. Spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura)) is the most recent invasive pest of small fruits. It causes damage by ovipositing beneath the skin of ripening fruits. Its wide-spread distribution and development of resistance to insecticides has resulted in the need for improved alternative management strategies for small fruit growers.

My surveys of D. suzukii at thirteen blackberry (Rubus fruticosus L.) and raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) fields found that while D. suzukii was present …

Ecological Risk Assessment Of Transgenic Conditional Lethality Systems For Genetic Biocontrol Strategies, Fernan Rodrigo Perez-Galvez

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Genetic strategies of insect pest control are receiving increased interest due to recent advances in genetic engineering. By introducing alleles that make males functionally sterile, genetically modified (GM) insects can be used in area-wide pest management programs similar to the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). Genetic control strategies carry several potential benefits, including improved efficacy and specificity, lower operation costs, and reduced dependence on chemical insecticides, but their use is still controversial despite extensive technical documentation indicating their innocuity to humans and the environment. This hesitation is likely due to the novel nature of the approach.

While the first field applications …

Location Of The Fibronectin Binding Domain On The Fibronectin Attachment Protein Of Mycobacterium Avium Subsp. Paratuberculosis, Chrissy Rose Hattery

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) is an acid-fast bacillus that causes a fatal granulomatous ileocolitis called Johne’s Disease that affects primarily ruminants. The impact of MAP infection in the US dairy industry is particularly severe, with up to 70.4% of the herds being infected and annual losses as high as $1.5 billion. MAP is capable of persisting for months in the livestock environment and surviving the pasteurization process. While several vaccines are available, none can prevent infection and treatment with antimycobacterial chemotherapy does not result in a cure. Management and control of MAP infection requires characterization of host-pathogen interaction at the …

Preliminary Studies On The Effect Of Nanoparticle Seed Treatments On Seed Quality Attributes And Yield In Chickpea, Sushma Mudlupura Kumar, Shiv Yadav, Sangita Yadav, Ravish Choudhary, Sandeep Lal, Chellapilla Bharadwaj, Zakir Hussain, Priya Ranjan Kumar

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Nanotechnology is a novel and emerging approach that can be utilized in the agriculture sector for biotic and abiotic stress management, disease detection, and nutrient absorption. Various metal oxide nanoparticles such as zinc, titanium, silicon oxides were found to have a positive effect on seed quality attributes in various crops. Therefore, a study was carried out on chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) with the objective to study the effect of nanoparticles on seed quality attributes including germination, seedling growth, vigour and yield. The seeds were dressed and infused with each of nano and bulk forms of zinc oxide, titanium oxide, …

Experimental Design Of Open-Field Temperature And Precipitation Manipulation System To Simulate Summer Extreme Climate Events For Plants And Soils, Gwang Jung Kim, Heejae Jo, Hyeonji Kim, Min Seok Cho, Nam-Jin Noh, Hanna Chang, Hyung-Sub Kim, Yowhan Son

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Extreme climate events are expected to occur very frequently and intensively with climate change, and such extreme events can induce irreversible damage to plants and soils, as well as ecosystems. Accordingly, there is a need to understand the effects of extreme climate events on ecosystems. Here, we designed a temperature and precipitation manipulation system to simulate extreme climate events of heat, drought, and heavy rainfall. We constructed three soil surface temperature manipulation levels (control, 3 °C, and 6 °C increases) and three precipitation manipulation levels (control, drought, and heavy rainfall) with six replicates, and operated these from day of year …

Phytochemical Potential And Associated Health Benefits Of Cucurbita Flower, Arya Gargi, Jyoti Singh, Prasad Rasane, Sawinder Kaur, Jaspreet Kaur, Chandra Mohan Mehta, Yogesh Gat, Ravish Choudhary

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Edible flowers are currently gaining popularity as the majority of the edible flower species have a nutritional profile that meets several dietary demands and the consumption of flowers as part of customary cuisine or alternative alchemy is reported in various cultures around the world. Pumpkin flowers are primarily consumed in some Asian and North American countries like India, China, Bangladesh, and Mexico, respectively. The pumpkin plant has served medicinally worldwide by treating wounds, cardiovascular disease, several types of cancers, gastrointestinal diseases, anemia, urinary tract infections and intestinal parasites, however, its flowers among the same line have also been therapeutically used …

Actinidia Deliciosa: A High-Resolution Mass Spectrometric Approach For The Comprehensive Characterization Of Bioactive Compounds, Mayya Razgonova, Alexsander Boyko, Yulia Zinchenko, Nadezhda Tikhonova, Andrey Sabitov, Alexander Mikhailovich Zakharenko, Kirill Golokhvast

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C.F. Liang & A.R& Ferguson, 1984 contains a large number of target analytes, which are biologically active compounds. HPLC-ion trap-MS/MS (tandem mass spectrometry) was used to identify target analytes in extracts of A. deliciosa (varieties Abbot, Alison, Bruno, Hayward, Monti), originating from the Adler's Branch of N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources. Separately, the pulp of the kiwi fruit and its peel were analyzed for the composition of biologically active substances. The richest in the composition of active substances was indicators of the cultivar Monti. The results of initial studies revealed the presence of …

Production And Oenological Potential Of Riesling Variety Clones 49, 1091 And 1089, Tatjana Jovanovic-Cvetkovic, Rada Grbic, Borut Bosancic, Miljan Cvetkovic

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Clonal selection in viticulture is based on genetic variability with the aim of creating superior plants (clones) that enable more economical production. The Riesling variety, with a long tradition of cultivation, has been the subject of extensive clonal selection and clones 49, 1089 and 1091 were created in France. During the two-year period (2016-2017), the productivity and oenological potential of Riesling clones 49, 1089 and 1091 in the agroclimatic conditions of Bosnia and Herzegovina were conducted. Significant differences between clones were found in the yield per vine (1.34-1.87 kg), ten skins weight (2.17-2.46 g) and mass of ten berries seeds …

Study On The Effect Of Planting Pattern Adjustment On The Growth Of Kiwifruit Inter-Root Microorganisms And Fruit Quality, Haibo Wu, Lianchun Wang, Linan Kang, Chao Liu, Mingwei Li

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

As the area planted with kiwifruit continues to expand, monoculture continuous cropping is gradually becoming the main mode of its production. However, current kiwifruit soils suffer from nutrient deficiencies and increased toxicity of their own, which are harmful to their yield and quality. The study proposes a kiwifruit-maize intercrop as a starting point for adjusting the cropping pattern. It was then analysed in terms of basic soil physicochemical properties, sucrose enzyme activity, microbial species, and quantity, respectively, and compared with the kiwifruit intercropping method to verify its effect on inter-root microorganisms and fruit quality. The experimental outcomes demonstrated that the …

Estimating The Genetic Parameters Of Yield-Related 1 Traits Under Different Nitrogen Conditions In Maize, Semra Palali Delen, Gen Xu, Jenifer Velazquez-Perfecto, Jinliang Yang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Understanding the genetic basis responding to nitrogen (N) fertilization in crop production is a long-standing research topic in plant breeding and genetics. Albeit years of continuous efforts, the genetic architecture parameters, such as heritability, polygenicity, and mode of selection, underlying the N responses in maize remain largely unclear. In this study, about n = 230 maize inbred lines were phenotyped under high N (HN) and low N (LN) conditions for two consecutive years to obtain six yield-related traits. Heritability analyses suggested that traits highly responsive to N treatments were less heritable. Using publicly available SNP genotypes, the genome-wide association study …

Zonal Application Of Plant Growth Regulator In Cotton To Reduce Variability And Increase Yield In A Highly Variable Field, Carlos M.P. Vaz, Júlio C. Franchini, Eduardo A. Speranza, Ricardo Y. Inamasu, Lúcio A. De C. Jorge, Ladislau M. Rabello, Ivani De O.N. Lopes, Sérgio Das Chagas, Jefferson L.R. De Souza, Márcio De Souza, Amandio Pires, James Schepers

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Variable-rate application has great potential to reduce variability and increase yield by spatially optimizing agricultural inputs. In cotton, plant growth regulators (PGRs) control excessive growth and provide suitable plant height for harvest operations. This study evaluates the effect of variable-rate PGR application compared to constant-rate application to reduce yield spatial variability and increase yield. The variable-rate approach was carried out in 2020 based on zonal applications defined by clustering analysis using soil electrical conductivity, vegetation indexes, and yield maps. Application doses and timings were determined by integrating plant height measurements for the whole field in 2019 and by zone in …

Teaching Agroecology: Preparing Students For Navigating Uncharted Territory, Charles A. Francis, Steve Gliessman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Agroecologists understand that farming and food systems are more complex than the aggregation of their components. This realization drives our choices of learning strategies and activities that will prepare students for complexity and uncertainty. Our quest for a just, sustainable, and nutritious food system adequate to equitably serve everyone on the planet today and into the future is an enormous challenge. An undertaking of this magnitude will be met only with major adjustments informed by thoughtful teaching and practicing problem solving skills through a new educational lens. The principles of agroecology help us focus this lens on the wicked problems …

Interaction Of Quizalofop-P-Ethyl With 2,4-D Choline And/Or Glufosinate For Control Of Volunteer Corn In Corn Resistant To Aryloxyphenoxypropionates, Mandeep Singh, Vipan Kumar, Stevan Z. Knezevic, Suat Irmak, John L. Lindquist, Santosh Pitla, Amit J. Jhala

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Corn resistant to aryloxyphenoxypropionates (FOPs) (Enlist™ corn) enables the use of quizalofop-p-ethyl (QPE) as a selective postemergence (POST) herbicide for control of glufosinate/glyphosate-resistant corn volunteers. Growers usually mix QPE with 2,4-D choline and/or glufosinate to achieve broad-spectrum weed control in Enlist™ corn. The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate the efficacy of QPE applied alone or mixed with 2,4-D choline and/or glufosinate for control of glufosinate/glyphosate-resistant corn volunteers in Enlist™ corn and (2) determine the impact of application time (V3 or V6 growth stage of volunteer corn) of QPE-based treatments on volunteer corn control as well as Enlist™ …

Assessment Of The Spatiotemporal Changes In The Extreme Precipitation Climate Indices Over The Chungcheong Region Of South Korea During 1973–2020, Hyungon Cho, Bashir Adelodun, Hyo-Jeong Kim, Gwangseob Kim

Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre

This study analyzed the changes and trends in twelve extreme precipitation-based climate indices obtained using daily data from 10 synoptic stations in the Chungcheong region of South Korea during the 1973–2020 period. The climate indices were used to assess the trends in the extreme precipitation characteristics of duration, frequency, and intensity using the innovative trend analysis (ITA) method. The results of the ITA were further compared with two other non-parametric test methods such as Mann–Kendall (MK) and Spearman’s rho (SR). The results showed that most stations exhibited significant increasing trends in all the investigated climate indices at a 95% confidence …

Effects Of Fungicide Programs And Lower Leaf Removal On Wrapper Leaf Production In Connecticut Broadleaf Cigar Wrapper Tobacco, Caleb Haygan Perkins

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

In recent years, there has been increased demand for natural leaf cigar wrappers. Kentucky and Tennessee have been of recent interest as a new area for Connecticut Broadleaf production. Initial production experiences have shown that late-season frogeye leaf spot caused by the pathogen Cercospora nicotianae Ellis & Everh. may result in ‘green spot’ in cured leaf and cause a significant problem for producers of Connecticut Broadleaf cigar wrapper tobacco. Field trials were established in 2021 at Princeton, KY and 2022 in Mayfield, KY and Springfield, TN to evaluate effects of fungicide programs and lower leaf removal on wrapper production and …

Species-Specific Microsymbiont Discrimination Mediated By A Medicago Receptor Kinase, Xiaocheng Yu

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Legumes form a mutualistic partnership with nitrogen-fixing bacteria to meet their nitrogen requirements. This collaboration leads to the development of root nodules, offering an ideal environment for the bacteria to convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. A salient aspect of this symbiotic relationship is host range specificity, such that nodulation capacity and nitrogen fixation efficiency differ significantly between different host-bacterial combinations. Understanding the genetic basis of this specificity could pave the way for strategies to overcome the host range barrier. Sinorhizobium meliloti and Sinorhizobium medicae are two closely related species that display differential symbiotic behaviors with legume plants of the Medicago …