It is often stated that organic rice has a higher content of healthy phytochemicals than ordinary rice, and the facts on this claim obtained experimentally are rare. Riceberry is a new rice variety in Thailand. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of organic practice and conventional practice on the content of chemical composition and bioactive compounds in Riceberry rice. The results showed that agricultural practices were not significantly different for grain yield in the first year, but they were different in the second year. Rice produced by organic practice had a higher content of iron, gamma-aminobutyric acid, total phenolic and anthocyanin (4.15, 1.67, 41.3 and 20.1 mg/100 g dry weight in the first year, and 4.06, 3.37, 89.7 and 14.7 mg/100 g dry weight in the second year) than that produced by conventional practice (2.25, 1.11, 38.8 and 6.89 mg/100 g dry in the first year, and 1.96, 2.77, 54.1 and 5.71 mg/100 g dry in the second year). Rice produced by organic practice also had lower sugar content (2.92 g/100 g dry weight in the first year, and 1.99 g/100 g dry weight in the second year) than that produced by conventional practice (3.46 g/100 g dry weight in the first year, and 2.81 g/100 g dry weight in the second year). Gamma oryzanol and antioxidant capacity were also lower in organic rice compared to conventional rice. This study indicated that organic Riceberry rice had a higher quality compared to non-organic rice.

The current study was to determine the effects of growth hormone-releasing peptide ([His1, Lys6]-GHRP) on growth performance and carcass traits in pigs, and to determine whether the results were comparable to those of recombinant porcine growth hormone (r-PGH) treatment. Thirty Landrace and Yorkshire pigs (40–45 kg) were randomly divided into three groups, each group consisted of two boars, five gilts and three barrows. Peptides were administered daily by intramuscular injection with the following schemes and dosages: Group A ([His1, Lys6]-GHRP, 200 μg/day in 0·5 ml saline), Group B (r-PGH, 3 mg/day in 0·6 ml saline), and Group C (sterilized physiological saline, 0·5 ml/day). [His1, Lys6]-GHRP caused significant improvements both in pig growth and carcass traits. The average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency of the [His1, Lys6]-GHRP treated group were higher than those of the control, but less than with the r-PGH treatment. The net increase in the ADG by [His1, Lys6]-GHRP was c. 14%, and was 23% by r-PGH (both P<0·01). The feed efficiency was improved 17% by [His1, Lys6]-GHRP (P<0·01) and 20% by r-PGH (P<0·01). On the other hand, the back-fat thickness in both [His1, Lys6]-GHRP and r-PGH treated groups (1·76±0·041 cm and 1·72±0·040 cm, respectively) was considerably less (P<0·05) than that of the control group (1·81±0·040 cm). In addition, the lean cuts percentage and the rib longissimus muscle area were comparable in the [His1, Lys6]-GHRP and r-PGH treatments (lean cuts percentage: 57±2·0% and 57±1·5%, respectively; rib longissimus muscle area: 32·8±0·91 cm2 and 32·9±1·10 cm2, respectively), and both were significantly (P<0·05) greater than those of the control group (lean cuts percentage: 53±1·5%; rib longissimus muscle area: 28·3±1·61 cm2). In conclusion, [His1, Lys6]-GHRP appeared to be a promising tool for controlling carcass fat in pigs.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of protein reduction, with or without the supplementation of limiting amino acids, on the performance and carcass characteristics of meat quails from 22 to 42 days of age in a thermoneutral environment. A total of 324 European quails were randomly allocated into nine diets. The diets were formulated based on the recommended requirement (control) and were differentiated according to crude protein (CP) reduction levels into moderate reduction (10%) and severe reduction (20%). The diets were supplemented or not with limiting amino acids. The diets with severe and moderate protein reduction meeting the methionine + cystine, lysine and threonine requirements led to weight gain equivalent to that of the control quails. The diet with a moderate reduction in CP, with or without meeting the methionine + cystine requirement or meeting the methionine + cystine and lysine requirement, led to the greatest carcass yield and a greater leg weight and were similar to the control treatment. It is observed that supplementation with the crystalline sources of the amino acids is able to improve the performance of the quails, in addition, the attendance of methionine + cystine requirement important factor when the CP levels are reduced. In our studies, diets with 17.5% CP and supplemented with methionine + cystine, lysine and threonine meet the requirements of quails, thus generating a limiting amino acid requirement, so they are recommended for meat quails from 22 to 42 days old housed in thermoneutral environment.

Field-average based recommendations have been a common practice for nitrogen (N) rate recommendations. The problem is that, even when the same amount of N fertilizer is applied at the recommended rate, yields differ from year to year, the result being poor use efficiency. Reduced fertilizer use efficiency can result in unnecessary costs to producers, especially with a likely price of US$ 1·10 per kilogram of N fertilizer anticipated within the next few years, largely due to rising oil and natural gas prices. It has been estimated that by the year 2025 the consumption of N fertilizer will increase by 60–90%, with two-thirds of this being applied in the developing world. In light of this, methods that increase N use efficiency and profitability of farms, while reducing environmental impact, are no longer simply commendable but required in developing countries. The present review assesses the temporal variability in winter wheat with respect to N nutrition and presents improved methods, including the calibration stamp (CS), N-rich strips (NRS) and ramped calibration strips (RCS) to overcome this variability. These methods can be used either as visual tools or along with NDVI handheld sensors for accuracy. Unlike the CS and NRS, the RCS method is designed to include more pre-plant N rates in strips to improve top-dress N estimation. Hypotheses as backgrounds to these methods have been developed and tested in the USA and Mexico. However, the simplicity of these technologies suggests that many farmers in both developed and developing countries can readily apply them.

Experiments were carried out to determine methane (CH4) consumption in different soil (vertisol) aggregates under elevated carbon dioxide (eCO2) and temperature. Soil aggregates of <0·25 mm diameter (microaggregates), 0·25–1 mm diameter (mesoaggregates) and 1–2 mm diameter (macroaggregates) were incubated under different CO2 (400, 800 and 1200 µm/m or ppm CO2) and temperature (25, 35 and 45 °C) conditions. Methane consumption was high in mesoaggregates and low in microaggregates under ambient CO2 and temperature (25 °C). However, eCO2 and temperature significantly inhibited CH4 consumption and decreased culturable microbial numbers. Methane consumption in mesoaggregates was inhibited by 21–66% at 800–1200 ppm of CO2. Principal component analysis designated soil aggregate size as the most important component of variation, followed by temperature and CO2. Ordination biplot indicated eCO2 and temperature impacted negatively on CH4 consumption and culturable methanotrophs. Results highlighted that mesoaggregates of 0·25–1·00 mm are hotspots for CH4 consumption and that rising atmospheric CO2 and temperature may inhibit CH4 consumption significantly in a tropical vertisol.

The aim of the current study was to estimate additive and dominance genetic variance components for days from calving to first service (DFS), a number of services to conception (NSC) and days open (DO). Data consisted of 25 518 fertility records from first parity dairy cows collected from 15 large Holstein herds of Iran. To estimate the variance components, two models, one including only additive genetic effects and another fitting both additive and dominance genetic effects together, were used. The additive and dominance relationship matrices were constructed using pedigree data. The estimated heritability for DFS, NSC and DO were 0.068, 0.035 and 0.067, respectively. The differences between estimated heritability using the additive genetic and additive-dominance genetic models were negligible regardless of the trait under study. The estimated dominance variance was larger than the estimated additive genetic variance. The ratio of dominance variance to phenotypic variance was 0.260, 0.231 and 0.196 for DFS, NSC and DO, respectively. Akaike's information criteria indicated that the model fitting both additive and dominance genetic effects is the best model for analysing DFS, NSC and DO. Spearman's rank correlations between the predicted breeding values (BV) from additive and additive-dominance models were high (0.99). Therefore, ranking of the animals based on predicted BVs was the same in both models. The results of the current study confirmed the importance of taking dominance variance into account in the genetic evaluation of dairy cows.

Plectranthus edulis is an ancient tuber crop, cultivated in Ethiopia, which produces stem tubers on stolons below the ground; however, agronomic and physiological information on this crop is scarce. Three field experiments were carried out at each of two locations (Awassa and Wondogenet, Ethiopia). Expt 1 dealt with the effects of breaking a seed tuber into different numbers of seed pieces before planting, Expt 2 assessed the effect of the weight of the seed tuber piece and Expt 3 investigated the effect of planting different numbers of seed pieces per planting hole. Cultivar Lofuwa was planted in Awassa, whereas cvar Chankua was planted in Wondogenet. Breaking seed tubers in Expt 1 resulted in more main stems/hill, more tubers and smaller individual tubers. In Wondogenet, the tuber yield also increased. Breaking did not affect the number of stolons/m2. Expt 2 indicated that when only one seed piece was planted per planting hole, smaller seed pieces gave fewer stems, fewer stolons and fewer tubers/m2, smaller tubers and lower tuber yields. Expt 3 showed that planting more seed pieces/planting hole gave more stems, more stolons and more tubers/m2, thus increasing tuber fresh yield/m2, whereas the mean tuber weight was not consistently affected. Across all experiments, the tuber yield increased when the number of main stems increased up to three main stems/m2. Higher tuber yields resulting from experimental treatments were either achieved by an effect on number of tubers alone or by combined effects on number of tubers and mean tuber weight, but not by an effect on mean tuber weight alone. The number of small tubers was high in all experiments. Breaking a seed tuber into two or three pieces before planting them in one planting hole consistently resulted in increased numbers of main stems and tuber yield.

The paper reports a study of the chemical composition of 25400 grass silages produced in England and Wales, of which 1040 were from the period 1961–63, 17900 (15480 clamped and 2420 baled) were from 1982–88 and 6460 (5640 clamped and 820 baled) were from 1992–93. A sample of each silage had been analysed for dry matter (DM), pH, crude protein (CP) and volatile N and in most cases for ash.

The baled silages were drier on average than the clamped silages, with a wider spread of DM contents. The clamped silages with the lowest pH on average were those with a DM content of c. 240 g/kg; clamped silages wetter than this were progressively higher in pH with reduction in DM content; clamped and baled silages drier than 240 g/kg were progressively higher in pH with increase in DM content, up to pH 5·9 in baled silages of 580 g DM/kg. At a given DM content pH was on average 0·6 units higher in baled than in clamped silages. The ash content of baled silages was similar to that of clamped silages. There was an increase in the mean CP content of clamped silages between 1961–63 and 1992–93 and a reduction in the proportion of CP which was volatile. The relationship between DM and volatile N as a proportion of total N was a curve rather than a straight line, with the steepest part of the curve at the lower end of the DM range. The wet silages harvested in 1961–63 were particularly high in volatile N. At a given DM content in the range 170–320 g/kg, volatile N was rather higher in baled than in clamped silages in both 1982–88 and 1992–93. Clamped silages with a DM content of at least 250 g/kg and baled silages with a DM content of at least 310 g/kg were typically well preserved in the sense of having <100 g volatile N/kg total N.

The effect of base composition biases on codon usage patterns was investigated in the goat species Capra hircus, using custom-designed computational tools available within the public domain. Nucleotide frequencies were nearly equal and a slight increase of adenine–thymine (AT) over guanine–cytosine (GC) was detected throughout the dataset. However, this increase showed no influence on the bases at the third codon position (N3). C3 and G3 were found more often than A/T3, suggesting that there was a small or almost no influence of the general base composition on the N3 base composition. To understand more and analyse in-depth influence and interactions between base compositions and codons, further relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) was investigated. Amino acid usage and the correlation between its usages were also investigated, using both basic sequence analysis and statistical analysis means (measures of correlation). These analyses were utilized to probe whether there were correlations between genes, genomic characteristics and their function. Genes with high GC and those with low GC were also investigated to see to what extent how a gene functions could influence its sequence structure and impose certain structural modifications. This investigation may shed light on many genomic features of Capra hircus genes and would be of significance for future biotechnology/research projects considering Capra for transgenic and advanced genomic initiatives.

A glasshouse experiment in 1997 at Wye College, University of London, investigated the uptake of 35S-SO4 at two growth stages. When labelled S was applied at growth stage 24 on 20 January only 14% of available sulphur was detected in the plant parts. There was a progressive increase in uptake into the newly emerged leaves. The leaves, which emerged after the application of the radiolabelled sulphur solution was complete, imported sulphur from other parts of the plant. At final harvest the ears had become a major new sink and had imported 68% of the labelled sulphur.

When labelled sulphur was applied on 7 March at growth stage 41–45, an average of 93% of available sulphur was taken up during the 3 days exposure period. The major portion was quickly translocated and recovered from the aerial parts. At final harvest 53% appeared in the grain. The experimental results demonstrated that sulphur reserves can be remobilized to developing sinks. It is suggested that sulphate ions can be retained as a reserve pool by the plant until they are required by actively developing sinks.

Tropical soils tend to harden during drying due to the generally low content of free-iron and organic carbon, combined with high fine sand and silt proportions. It was hypothesized that the change in soil physical condition induced by the addition of a leguminous mulch in cohesive tropical soil enriched with calcium may mitigate soil hardening through wetting and drying cycles by rain or irrigation, thereby improving the soil rootability. A leguminous mulch was added in different concentrations to a structurally fragile tropical soil enriched with calcium, which then had different irrigation intervals. The treatments were with or without mulch (10 t/ha), with or without added nitrogen (100 kg/ha at 2 intervals) and two irrigation intervals. In 2015 the irrigation intervals were either 4 or 8 days, and in 2016 they were either 6 or 9 days. Two years were used in the attempt to achieve greater differences, as for tested variables, between treatments. Maize planted in these soil treatments was measured for physiological performance, water use efficiency and yield. Mulch used on structurally fragile tropical soil enriched with calcium was found to delay increased penetration resistance from hardening by wet/dry cycles. In this context, an improved soil rootability led to an enlargement of the leaf area index, greater nitrogen uptake and increased CO2 assimilation. This had important physiological consequences due to the positive effect on increased dry matter production and maize yield. In addition, these results suggested that mulch, used with urea, can delay the water supply for 3 or 4 days due to improvements in soil rootability caused by calcium and organic matter interactions. This may be crucial to a region where small intervals without rain are increasingly common due to global climate change. Therefore, due to a greater water use efficiency, this strategy may be a profitable way to increase crop productivity in tropical conditions rather than increasing water and nutrient application alone.

The present paper examines the effect of the type of supplement given to grazing ewes in early lactation on the performance of ewes and lambs on temperate sown pastures. Lactating ewes grazed perennial ryegrass pastures at either low- or high-herbage masses, between days 8 and 96 of lactation. On the low-herbage mass treatments, ewes were either unsupplemented or received either an energy supplement (sugarbeet pulp) or a protein supplement (1:1 sugarbeet pulp:formaldehyde-treated soyabean meal) between days 8 and 50 of lactation. The provision of supplements or the higher herbage mass led to increases in live weight (LW) and body condition score of ewes during days 8–50 of lactation, while unsupplemented ewes on the low-herbage mass treatment lost LW and had lower body condition scores. After supplementation finished, previously supplemented ewes or those grazing the higher herbage mass lost LW and condition, while unsupplemented ewes grazing the low-herbage mass gained both LW and condition. Non-treatment factors such as ewe dentition score significantly affected ewe and lamb LW gains. Regression analyses indicated that lamb LW gains between days 8 and 50 of lactation were 40–60 g/d greater in lambs from supplemented ewes or ewes grazing the higher herbage mass cf. unsupplemented ewes. Overall, there was no difference in the response of ewes or lambs to the type of supplement. Milk yields were estimated in a subset of ewes (replicate 4). Ewes on the high-herbage mass treatment or those supplemented with protein had higher milk yields than those on the low-herbage mass treatment or those given the energy supplement. Supplemented ewes in this replicate had higher metabolizable energy intakes (MEIs). Measurements of digesta flow in a further subset of ewes indicated that both supplements resulted in greater ruminal and post-ruminal supplies of energy and protein than in the unsupplemented ewes at the lower herbage mass, but differences in ruminal and post-ruminal nutrient provision between the supplements were less than had been intended. It is suggested that this is the reason for there being no statistical difference in the performance of ewes and lambs in response to the type of supplement.

The active germplasm Bank of the Integrated Unit (Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Unversidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and the Experimental Station of INTA) at Balcarce, keeps both in vivo (live herd) and in vitro Criollo Cattle (samples of semen and embryos cryogenically), with the aim of preserving genetic variability for potential future use. Parameters based on probable origin of genes, on population size and on the estimation of components of (co)variances for birth and weaning weights were estimated to evaluate the genetic variability of the material contained in the Bank. The information available came from 667 individuals, of which 84 had unknown parents, and 142 half-founders (only one parent known), having a mean number of births per year of 24 calves from four different sires. AI was performed during the mating season almost every year. The evolution of effective number of founders (fe), effective number of ancestors (fa), effective number of founder genomes (Ng) and the ratio fe/fa over different periods from the creation of the Bank, were analysed. Annual increase of inbreeding coefficient (F) was 0·2% and the effective population size (Ne) was estimated as 23, 14 and 25 individuals for the periods defined by years 1978–82, 1983–87 and 1993–97, respectively. The ratio fe/fa was higher in the years where the ratio number of sires/number of dams was lower, indicating that the impact of the effective number of sires is more important than the effective number of females in generating genetic bottlenecks. When the reference population was taken for the period 1989–97, 16·45 out of the 85·63 founders of the population made contributions not explained by other ancestors, but if possible losses of genomes due to genetic drift are considered, the number of genomes still present was reduced to 9·09 indicating a possible narrow genetic bottleneck in the last period. The Ng/fe ratio was 0·11, 0·10 and 0·11 for the reference populations defined by years 1989–92, 1993–97 and 1989–97, respectively. The main objective in germplasm conservation programmes should be the maintenance of genetic variability. Thus, matings in the population under conservation should be designed in order to mate those animals that maximize the effective number of genome founders (Ng) to avoid losses due to genetic drift.

Damping off is the most common disease caused by edaphic fungi in Spanish crops, among which Rhizoctonia solani AG-4 stands out. In the present work, two possible methods of control were evaluated, incorporation of different doses of organic matter (OM; obtained from strawberry crops) and Pseudomonas fluorescens as a plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). The highest inhibition (43% less) against the pathogen was found in the assays that used 20 g of biofumigant/kg soil. Inoculation of the P. fluorescens strain (PGPR) did not protect against the pathogen. In addition, the microbial evolution during incubation with OM was studied. For this purpose, the bacterial and fungal catabolic profiles were determined (using Biolog Eco and FF plates, respectively) as well as bacterial counts of total aerobes, Pseudomonas sp. and aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC)-degrading populations, during OM incorporation. This agro-technique produced changes in microbial catabolic community profiles, increasing bacterial metabolic activity and minimizing metabolic diversity of micro-organisms under control with and without pathogen. As for microbial counts, aerobic and ACC-degrading populations decreased while Pseudomonas sp. population increased with OM treatments.

The OM amendment applied to control the damping off caused by R. solani is viable; it is more environmentally friendly and has a lower economic cost than chemical controls and, therefore, it could serve as a component in integrated-management programmes.

A field study to optimize the nitrogen (N) top-dressing mode of panicle fertilization and improve rice yields was conducted in mid-eastern China. Japonica cultivar Yunongjing-6 was grown and panicle N fertilizer was applied at the beginning of the inverted fourth leaf stage using three different modes: manual broadcast application (BA) on the soil surface as a control treatment, deep application during ditching at a depth of 15 cm (DD) and manual BA on the soil surface during deep ditching (BAD). The activity of soil enzymes, including invertase, urease, phosphatase and catalase, was increased significantly at the jointing, booting and grain-filling stages with the DD and BAD treatments compared with the traditional BA mode. The DD and BAD treatments also increased basal internode and neck-panicle internode bleeding intensity. The DD treatment gave the highest crop yield, increasing the yield by 0.63 and 0.31 t/hm2 in 2011 and 2012, respectively, compared with BA. The results suggest that ditching during panicle N fertilizer application after sun-drying of the fields increases rice yields, most likely by improving the activity of soil enzymes and enhancing the physiological activity of roots and grain weight.