Agriculture Commons^™

Cotton Gets Nanotech And Biotech, Jan Suszkiw, Brian Condon

Agricultural Research Magazine

Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service’s Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research Unit (CCUR) in New Orleans, Louisiana, have a long history of research successes leading to advances in the use, manufacturing, and quality of cotton fiber.

For example, groundbreaking studies led by chemist Ruth Benerito at the Cotton Chemical Reactions Laboratory (CCUR’s predecessor), starting in the 1950s, gave rise to easy-care, permanent-press clothing and other consumer-friendly improvements that helped cotton better compete with synthetic fibers, like polyester and nylon.

New challenges and consumer demands have since emerged, but the ARS lab’s tradition of excellence and innovation in research continues.

High-Tech Tactic May Newly Expose Stealthy Salmonella, Marcia Wood, Bosoon Park

Agricultural Research Magazine

At laboratories of the future, even the smallest quantity of Salmonella bacteria may be easily detected with a technology known as “SERS,” short for “surface-enhanced Raman scattering.”

Agricultural engineer Bosoon Park, in the Agricultural Research Service’s Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit in Athens, Georgia, is leading exploratory studies of this analytical technique’s potential for quick, easy, and reliable detection of Salmonella and other foodborne pathogens.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Salmonella causes more than 1 million cases of illness in this country every year.

Long-Standing Erosion Calculator, Don Comis, Robert Sowers

Agricultural Research Magazine

Seth Dabney is busy tweaking a soon-to-be-unveiled update of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, Version 2 (RUSLE2), which moves the original equation ever further from its origins in the age of slide rules to the era of computing. Dabney is research leader of the Watershed Physical Processes Research Unit, at the Agricultural Research Service’s National Sedimentation Laboratory in Oxford, Mississippi.

RUSLE2 has retained the integrity of the original Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE)—in greatly expanded form—and integrated an updated database with a computer model that reflects both the latest in computer technology and scientific discoveries about erosion processes. It …

Digital Detectives Deciper Ingredients, Rosalie Marion Bliss, James M. Harnly, Pei Chen

Agricultural Research Magazine

Television shows featuring crime scene investigators have been keeping viewers intrigued for years. But the Agricultural Research Service’s intriguing “food composition investigators” are just as innovative at deciphering truth from fiction relating to ingredients of plant-based foods and dietary supplements. The researchers are at the ARS Food Composition and Methods Development Laboratory, which is headed by research leader James Harnly. The laboratory is part of the Beltsville [Maryland] Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC).

They’re using new equipment and a metabolomics approach to discover compounds and to accurately identify ingredients in foods and supplements. They are also looking at chemical composition …

Protein Biomarkers: Identify Disease-Carrying Aphids, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

Aphids can transmit viruses that cause crop diseases and reduce the quality and quantity of fresh foods. Spraying insecticides can control aphids and reduce the spread of viruses, but spraying is expensive and can harm the environment. Additionally, not all aphids transmit viruses. So a key question for growers is knowing when and what to spray to control viral diseases.

Agricultural Research Service scientists Michelle Cilia and Stewart Gray, in the Biological Integrated Pest Management Unit at the Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health in Ithaca, New York, have found a way to distinguish aphids that spread viruses …

Metagenomics Offers Insight Into Poultry Diseases, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

Less than 10 years ago, the world marveled at the completion of the human genome project, which involved traditional technology to identify all the genes in a single organism—the human. Today, a more powerful technology is being used to detect thousands of organisms in an entire community.

Unlike traditional gene sequencing, the new molecular technique—metagenomics— eliminates the need to cultivate and isolate individual microbial species. Scientists can apply genomic analysis to mixed communities of microbes instead of to just one organism.

For example, researchers examining viral enteric (intestinal) diseases in poultry can take intestinal samples from different poultry flocks. The …

A New Approach Tomolecular Plant Breeding, Dennis O’Brien, Jean-Luc Jannink

Agricultural Research Magazine

An ARS scientist in Ithaca, New York, is using a new statistical approach to help speed the development of improved varieties of crops.

Plant breeders constantly strive to breed new varieties that yield more, resist emerging pests and pathogens, tolerate heat and drought, and grow in marginal soils and environments. Increasingly, molecular tools are used to speed those efforts. By identifying genes associated with desirable traits, scientists don’t have to wait for timeconsuming field observations.

“To grow wheat and evaluate it for traits in the field takes 5 to 9 years. Using genomic data, we can do it in about …

A Bit Of Gold And Nanotechnology, Sandra Avant, William C. Wilson

Agricultural Research Magazine

All that glitters is not gold, but it is in the case of nanotechnology that’s being used to develop detection tools for viruses that affect animals and people. Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service’s Center for Grain and Animal Health Research (CGAHR) in Manhattan, Kansas, and the University of Wyoming are using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with gold nanoparticles to design tests that rapidly identify the virus that causes West Nile fever.

The West Nile virus is spread by infected mosquitoesand can cause headaches, fever, and body aches. In some cases, it causes a more serious and sometimes fatal neuroinvasive …

What's In Your Blood? The Ongoing Hunt For Metabolites, Marcia Wood, John W. Newman

Agricultural Research Magazine

At any given time, blood circulating through your body carries thousands of small molecules known as “metabolites.” Medical and nutrition researchers are eager to discover more about these compounds—amino acids, sugars, fats, and more—that are formed in and by our bodies.

Metabolites are of interest because the presence and concentrations of some of them can provide meaningful profiles, sometimes referred to as “metabolic signatures” or “fingerprints.”

In the future, for instance, yourmetabolic fingerprint—detected in a small sample of blood taken for your annual physical examination—might prove to be a reliable indicator of your health and a predictor of certain diseases. …

Locations Featured In This Magazine Issue April 2012

Agricultural Research Magazine

Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

Davis, California

Stillwater, Oklahoma

Center for Grain and Animal Health Research

Southern Regional Research Center

Oxford, Mississippi

West Lafayette, Indiana

Athens, Georgia

U.S. Vegetable Laboratory

Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health

Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center

2011 Oregon Vineyard Report, United States National Agricultural Statistics Service, Oregon Field Office, Chris Mertz, Andrew Cochran, Ann Clemon

Oregon Wine Board Documents

This statewide survey report on vineyards in Oregon, produced separately from the report on Oregon wineries, covers bearing and nonbearing acres, size of vineyard operation, variety and county, size distribution, prices, and yields. The report also contains some comparisons of data for 2010 and 2011. According to this report, wine grape production rose 33% in 2011.

Use Of Cti Grinders For Sorghum Flour Production And Utilization: Final Report, Vilma Ruth Calderón De Zacatares, Lily Marisol López, Kris Emillee Duville, Carla Elizabeth Bermúdez

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

The use of sorghum for human consumption to add value to the crop and increase its profitability, especially for small and medium producers, has contributed to food security and nutrition in El Salvador. CENTA is promoting the cultivation of sorghum as an alternative to food production in rural and urban areas. Since 2010 when wheat prices lower again, sorghum was no more an alternative to replace wheat in certain types of food, but is being used in more stable markets, as people allergic to gluten, people with diabetes and to correct nutritional deficiencies such as iron deficiency anemia because of …

Growing South Dakota (Spring 2012), College Of Agriculture &. Biological Sciences

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

[Page] 2 Powerful Potential: Growing Global Population Spurs Need for Agbioscience
[Page] 4 Spring College News
[Page] 6 Enhanced Education: Students Complement Coursework With Extra-Curricular Opportunities
[Page] 8 Gaining Global Perspective: SDSU Delegation Visits Argentina
[Page] 9 Creative Collaboration: Students, Landowners & Industry Professionals Pair Up for a Positive Experience
[Page] 10 Wondrous Wheat: New Research Agreement & Wheat Varieties Announced
[Page] 12 Here and There
[Page] 14 New Era Underway: SDSU Extension Re-Energizes Programs, Delivery [Page] 16 iGrow Continues to Grow
[Page] 18 Focused on the Future: Field Specialists Strive to Serve Changing Landowner Needs
[Page] 19 Connecting with …

Managing The Family And The Market: A Case Study Of Subsistence Farmers’ Local Economic Activities, Erika Roos

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent research project is a case study of subsistence farmers’ agricultural and economic activities in Betafo, a district in the Vakinankaratra region of Madagascar. The project focuses on the various manners in which individual farming families engage in local market activity, and the impact of such activities on their socioeconomic livelihoods. Through a three-week ethnographic study involving in-depth interviews, participant observation, and site visits, the researcher gathered primary data from subsistence farmers in multiple villages of Betafo, as well as district officials and representatives of community organization.

The results of the research indicate that commercial agriculture and subsistence agriculture …

How Does Climate Change Affect Agricultural Stability In Southeast Unguja? An Assessment Of The Threats To Agriculture And Food Security From Rising Temperature And Changes In Predictability And Intensity Of Rainy Seasons., Eloise Reid

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The relationship between climate change, agriculture, and food security on the island of Unguja was studied. Informal interviews were carried out in the south-eastern coastal communities of Bwejuu, Paje, and Jambiani in order to gain perspective and awareness of local knowledge concerning changes in climate and it's affects on crop production. Formal interviews were conducted in Stone Town with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Environment, the Sustainable Management of Land and the Environment office, private climate change experts and environmental consultants, and local NGO's to gain insight on what aspects of climate change are most detrimental in the …

Effect Of Greenhouse Temperature On Tomato Yield And Ripening, Mark E. Kraemer, Christopher D. Mullins, Carl E. Niedziela

Virginia Journal of Science

High fuel costs have encouraged producers of greenhouse tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in the mid-Atlantic region to reduce air temperatures during the day. However, effects on fruit ripening and yield are not known, especially under the low light conditions found in off-season production. This 2-yr study compared fruit ripening and yield of tomato under two temperature regimes during the fall season. Two sets of 18 tomato plants, three rows of six, were grown in soilless culture under either a warm or cool temperature regime. Temperatures were similar during night hours but allowed to rise to at least 21- …

Confronting Agrarian Crisis And Deconstructing Farmer Debt: The Story Of Sulthanpur Village, Andhra Pradesh, Erica Dejong

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In a climate of globalized politics and neoliberal economics, it can be difficult to isolate the impacts of agricultural and economic policy on the lives of the rural poor in India. Hidden behind a veil of economic growth, pro urban, and pro industry governments, the stories of small and marginal farmers have been overlooked in the name of different development priorities. This study endeavors to put the agrarian poor back into the scholarship spotlight by deconstructing livelihood crises and farmer debt in Sulthanpur Village, Andhra Pradesh. This effort is important because although Andhra Pradesh has the highest rate of farmer …

Agricultural Research Magazine April 2012

Agricultural Research Magazine

Tuning In to Technology

Benefits of Biotech,
Computational Tech,
and Nanotech

Department Of Economics Publication List 2011, Penny Stover

Economics Pamphlet Series (1985-2016)

This compilation lists published works authored by Department of Economics faculty members and other staff working on projects funded through the Department of Economics. Publications resulting from their research and academic activities are indexed by author at the end of the pamphlet for easy access by the public. The articles were published between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.

The Effect Of Climate Change On Mongolian Herding Communities: Investigating The Current Prevalence Of Ecomigration And Community Perceptions Of And Responses To Migration In The Countryside, Rachael Diniega

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The livelihoods of Mongolian herders depend on rangeland conditions, which are being threatened by land degradation and climate change. These changes may cause some Mongolian herders to move to a different land. Thus, the prevalence of ecomigration today and the perceptions and responses of herding communities to migrants were examined to understand ways government could form adaptation policy to climate change in the future. Interviews were conducted with both migrant and host herders as well as government officials in Mungunmorit, Tov and Delgerkhan, Khentii, including the state reserve Herlen Bayan-Olaang. A survey was used to evaluate the prevalence of ecomigration …