Horticulture Commons^™

The Effects Of Shade On Growth, Development And Yield Of A Primocane Fruiting Blackberry, ‘Prime-Ark 45’ To Extend The Market Season, Olivia C. Caillouet

Horticulture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the effects of shade on ‘Prime-Ark 45’ blackberries (Rubus spp.) in greenhouse (GH) and field (FD) experiments aimed at improving fruit production in the southern United States Ozark Plateau region. Primocane blackberry production in the southern United States is limited in acreage of production as well as low yields by high temperatures during the bloom and early fruiting period, resulting in poor fruit set and poor fruit quality. Shade may have the potential to delay bloom and flowering to a more favorable season or by reducing temperatures that cause a poor fruit set and quality. Both …

A Study Of Short-Season Winter Cover Crops For Organic High Tunnel Production Systems, Luke Riley Freeman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This two-year study investigated short-season winter cover crops to improve soil quality and growth of subsequent vegetable crops in an organic high tunnel production system. Five winter cover crop treatments including a nontreated control, Austrian winter peas (Pisum arvense), bell beans (Vicia faba), mustard (Brassica juncea cv. Kodiak), and Daikon radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) were grown in a high tunnel in a randomized complete block design from mid-November to mid-March, mowed and incorporated into the soil, and followed by a succession of vegetable crops including tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum, cv. ‘Plum Dandy’) and broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica, cv. ‘Bay …

Mechanism Of Resistance, Gene Flow, And Integrated Management Of Ragweeds (Ambrosia) In Nebraska, Zahoor Ahmad Ganie

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

Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) and giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida L.) are native annual broadleaf weeds in the United States found in diverse agroecosystems, roadsides, and wastelands. They are economically important weed species in the Midwest and sources of pollen allergies. Confirmation of glyphosate-resistant (GR) common and giant ragweed in Nebraska justified the need to determine the mechanism of resistance, dispersal of resistance genes via pollen, and to develop an integrated management program. The objectives of this research were to: 1) determine the mechanism of glyphosate resistance in a common ragweed biotype from Nebraska; 2) evaluate the effect …

Arkansas Soybean Performance Tests 2016, R. D. Bond, J. A. Still, D. G. Dombek

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Soybean variety and strain performance tests are conducted each year in Arkansas by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Arkansas Crop Variety Improvement Program. The tests provide information to companies developing varieties and/or marketing seed within the State, and aid the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in formulating variety recommendations for soybean producers.

Effect Of Smooth Bromegrass Management On Grazing Cattle Dung Decomposition, Co2 Flux, And Soil Nutrient Movement, Bradley D. Schick

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

Rapid nutrient cycling improves forage quality and livestock production in pastures. Interseeding legumes may be a strategy to enhance N cycling, but effects of dung excreted from cattle grazing pastures with legumes on dung decomposition rates and soil N cycling have not been studied. Our objective was to evaluate how dung excreted from cattle grazing legume-interseeded, N-fertilized, and unfertilized smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) pastures affects dung chemical composition, dry matter decomposition, CO­₂ flux, and N availability in soil. Freshly deposited dung from yearling steers grazing legume-interseeded, N-fertilized, and unfertilized pastures was collected and placed as pats in …

Evaluation Of A Cool-Season Grass-White Clover Mixture For Low-Nitrogen Input Lawns, Gabriel Adam Macke

Open Access Theses

Turfgrass lawns require supplemental nitrogen (N) to maintain green color and seasonal shoot density. Improper lawn fertilization with excess N or phosphorus has the potential to contaminate both surface and groundwater. Thus, to reduce the reliance on supplemental N fertilization, alternative strategies or novel turf systems like grass-legume mixtures need explored. White clover ( Trifolium repens L.) is a stoloniferous legume that biologically fixes N from the atmosphere and adds N into the soil via mineralization. The objective of this field study was to evaluate the persistence and feasibility of a cool-season grass-clover lawn mixture. A lawn grass mixture with …

Forest Industry Byproducts Improve Soil Quality And Increase Pepper Growth In Three Soils Infested With Phythophthora Blight, Xiaojun Zhao

Open Access Theses

Phytophthora blight is a serious threat to the Midwest vegetable industry, because the oomycete pathogen responsible for this disease, Phytophthora capsici, has a wide host range, can spread quickly in fields, and produces resilient oospores that can survive in soil for years. Phytophthora capsici has become resistant to commonly used fungicides and resistant crop varieties are rare. Amending soil with complex organic substrates has potential to improve soil quality and suppress soil-borne pathogens including P. capsici. Indiana has a significant forest industry with many residual products that could be used as locally available amendments to meet this goal. …

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

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 …

Quantitative Trait Loci (Qtl) For Salt Tolerance In Soybean And Physiological Response To Salt Stress During Early Growth Stage, Cindy Massiel Lopez Ramirez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soybean is a major cash crop used as a source of high–quality protein and oil. Salt stress is one of the main abiotic stresses causing significant yield losses in soybean, which is considered a moderately salt–sensitive crop. Breeding selection is a promising strategy to improve salt tolerance as soybean germplasm display wide variation in response to salinity stress. However, the physiological and genetic mechanisms for salt tolerance are not quite clear. The discovery of novel QTL/genes associated with salt tolerance facilitates the development of tolerant cultivars through marker-assisted selection (MAS). The objectives of this study were: 1) identify/confirm QTL associated …

Selection Of Drought-Tolerant Soybean Lines Using A Field Screening Method And Identification Of Qtls For Slow Wilting And Nitrogen Fixation Associated With Drought-Tolerance, Mirta Beatriz Dalzotto

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drought causes significant yield reductions in soybean. The development of drought-tolerant cultivars is an effective alternative to overcome this abiotic stress. Slow wilting, prolonged nitrogen fixation, and minimal yield reduction under water stress play an important role in evaluating breeding materials. Despite advances in knowledge about plant responses to drought conditions, there is little information on effective methodologies for phenotype screening in the field, and some QTLs have been identified for drought tolerance. Field screenings under drought and irrigated conditions are necessary to detect drought tolerant lines. In addition, QTLs and molecular makers associated with drought tolerance traits will greatly …

Soil And Plant Property Differences Among High-Yield Soybean Areas In Arkansas, Taylor Cass Adams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Continued achievement of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yields greater than 6719 kg ha-1 (100 bu ac-1) will depend on decreasing the yield gap, which is contingent on gathering more information regarding the soil physical, chemical, and microbiological environment and the main plant factors contributing to high-yield soybean. Therefore, understanding the main factor differences between high- and average-yield areas may provide insight for making management decisions to increase yields. The objectives of this study were i) to evaluate the effects of region and soil depth on soil property differences between high- and average-soybean-yielding areas, ii) to determine which soil properties …

Eku’S Red Barn Garden And Orchard – A Hands-On Learning Laboratory For Horticulture Students, Mary Mckinney

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The Red Barn Garden and Orchard (RBGO) is a five-acre fruit and vegetable garden on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. RBGO began as a venue for students to apply classroom knowledge gained in the fruit and vegetable courses taught as part of the horticulture program. During the start-up year a kitchen garden, gourd tunnel and one acre of tomatoes, pumpkins, beans, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, onions, corn, and several cole crops were established. By the end of the second year an additional two acres were planted including a small fruit orchard consisting of apples, pears, peaches, plums, …

Nebline, November/December 2016

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: Look Who’s Hatching — Preschoolers Explore Egg-Laying Animals

Food & Health

Farm & Acreage

Pests & Wildlife

Horticulture

Early Childhood

4-H & Youth

Extension Calendar

and other extension news and events

Arkansas Corn And Grain Sorghum Peformance Tests 2016, R. D. Bond, J. A. Still, D. G. Dombek

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Corn and grain sorghum performance tests are conducted each year in Arkansas by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. The tests provide information to companies marketing seed within the state, and aid the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in formulating recommendations for producers.

Modeling Long-Term Corn Yield Response To Nitrogen Rate And Crop Rotation, Laila A. Puntel, John E. Sawyer, Daniel W. Barker, Ranae Dietzel, Hanna Poffenbarger, Michael J. Castellano, Kenneth J. Moore, Peter J. Thorburn, Sotirios V. Archontoulis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Improved prediction of optimal N fertilizer rates for corn (Zea mays L.) can reduce N losses and increase profits. We tested the ability of the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) to simulate corn and soybean (Glycine max L.) yields, the economic optimum N rate (EONR) using a 16-year field-experiment dataset from central Iowa, USA that included two crop sequences (continuous corn and soybean-corn) and five N fertilizer rates (0, 67, 134, 201, and 268 kg N ha^-1) applied to corn. Our objectives were to: (a) quantify model prediction accuracy before and after calibration, and report calibration steps; (b) …

Apple Tree Responses To Deficit Irrigation Combined With Periodic Applications Of Particle Film Or Abscisic Acid, Khalid M. Al-Absi, Douglas D. Archbold

Horticulture Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to determine if the application of two antitranspirant compounds would moderate water deficit stress effects on physiological responses of “Granny Smith”, “Royal Gala” and “Golden Delicious” apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) trees on MM106 rootstock that occur during deficit irrigation. Uniform trees were grown in pots under water supply regimes of 30%, 60%, and 80% depletion of available water (DAW) before irrigation to runoff and received applications of kaolin particle film (PF) or abscisic acid (ABA) at 0, 30 and 60 days. At 120 days, genotype and deficit irrigation affected nearly all leaf traits, …

Characterization And Development Mechanism Of Apios Americana Tuber Starch, Hanyu Yangchen, Vikas Belamkar, Steven B. Cannon, Jay-Lin Jane

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Apios americana is a wild legume-bearing plant with edible tubers. Domestication of Apios is in progress because of the superior nutritional value and health benefits of the tuber. Objectives of this study were to: (1) characterize physicochemical properties of the Apios tuber starch; and (2) understand differences in starch structures and properties between the mother (seed) and child (progeny) tubers and the mechanism of starch development. Granules of the Apios tuber starch displayed ellipsoidal, rod, or kidney shape with diameter ranges of 1–30 m. The mother tuber starches displayed greater percentage crystallinity, larger gelatinization enthalpy-changes, longer branch-chain lengths of amylopectin, …

Combined Effects Of Fertilizer, Irrigation, And Paclobutrazol On Yield And Fruit Quality Of Mango, Babul C. Sarker, Mohammad A. Rahim, Douglas D. Archbold

Horticulture Faculty Publications

Combinations of fertilizer rates, foliar N sprays, irrigation practices, and paclobutrazol were studied to determine how much they could alter and/or improve mango (Mangifera indica L.) growth, flowering, and yield. Two treatment combinations derived from several years of prior studies of individual practices were compared: one combination was comprised of the best (BT) individual practices from the prior studies and included three applications of fertilizer, a 4% KNO₃ spray application before flowering, paclobutrazol at 7.5 g/L, and weekly irrigation, and the other combination was comprised of the next best (NB) individual practices including two applications of the same …

Genomics-Assisted Characterization Of A Breeding Collection Of Apios Americana, An Edible Tuberous Legume, Vikas Belamkar, Andrew Farmer, Nathan T. Weeks, Scott R. Kalberer, William J. Blackmon, Steven B. Cannon

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

For species with potential as new crops, rapid improvement may be facilitated by new genomic methods. Apios (Apios americana Medik.), once a staple food source of Native American Indians, produces protein-rich tubers, tolerates a wide range of soils, and symbiotically fixes nitrogen. We report the first high-quality de novo transcriptome assembly, an expression atlas, and a set of 58,154 SNP and 39,609 gene expression markers (GEMs) for characterization of a breeding collection. Both SNPs and GEMs identify six genotypic clusters in the collection. Transcripts mapped to the Phaseolus vulgaris genome–another phaseoloid legume with the same chromosome number–provide provisional genetic …