Search

Copyright of Agricultural Outlook (1673-3908) is the property of Institute of Agricultural Information, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Barley stem gall midge, Mayetiola hordei (Kieffer) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) is among the most destructive pests of barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) in the Mediterranean region of southern Europe and northern Africa. In Tunisia, the biology and ecology of this pest are not well documented. In addition to a management study, a study of M. hordei distribution, frequency of occurrence and population dynamics in barley crops was conducted in two semi-arid regions of North Tunisia. The pest was detected in 84% of all sampled fields across two years. Zaghouan region was identified as a high spot region with economic infestations registered in 67 and 56% of surveyed fields in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Three annual generations occurred at both sites, with two complete and one incomplete generation. The second generation (winter generation) is the most important one in terms of crop damage. The study showed that damage from this pest affects host plant growth at different developmental stages. The highest infestation was observed during tillering and elongation. The impact of different sowing date of barley on M. hordei infestation was also conducted. The infestation rate of barley by M. hordei increased by delaying sowing date. We demonstrate that M. hordei is a serious biosecurity threat to Tunisian barley's production and industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Price volatility complicates price discovery and creates risks for cattle producers. This paper analyzes volatility spillovers in the western Canadian beef cattle supply chain. A modified bivariate VAR‐BEKK‐GARCH model is used to examine spillovers and account for asymmetries associated with rising versus falling markets. The spillovers that are found are unidirectional from input to output markets. Spillovers tended to be stronger when cattle prices are depressed and feed costs are rising. Volatility transmission is also flows from feed barley to feeder cattle markets, but volatility does not flow in the opposite direction nor does it advance by more than one level in the supply chain. La volatilité des prix complique la découverte des prix et crée des risques pour les éleveurs de bétail. Cet article analyse les répercussions de la volatilité au sein de la chaîne d'approvisionnement des bovins d'élevage. Un modèle VAR‐BEKK‐GARCH modifié à deux variables sert à l'examen des répercussions et tient compte des asymétries associées aux marchés à la hausse et à la baisse. Les répercussions décelées sont unidirectionnelles du marché des intrants aux produits. Les répercussions semblent plus fortes lorsque les prix des bovins sont bas, et les coûts de fourrage à la hausse. Le transfert de la volatilité se fait aussi sentir de l'orge de fourrage aux marchés de bovins d'engraissement, mais l'inverse ne survient pas et elle ne progresse pas de plus d'un niveau dans la chaîne d'approvisionnement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of the present study were to construct and evaluate the performance of a hydroponic unit for intensive barley green fodder production. The constructed hydroponic system included lighting unit to provide plants with its lighting requirement, cooling and air conditioning unit to conserve the appropriate microclimate conditions to propagate a healthy plants and aeration and CO2 proportioning unit to enhance the root-zone media with its air balance to achieve the plant stress. The performance of the constructed hydroponic unit was studied under some different technical parameters (growing period, aeration rate, with and without nutrient solution addition and with and without CO2 injection). The performance of the constructed hydroponic unit was evaluated in terms of total yield, yield quality, water use efficiency, energy requirements, operational cost and net profit. The experimental results reveal that total yield (4646.4 kg/period), plant moisture content (92.13%), water use efficiency (156.028 g/l) and net profit (8256 LE/period) were in the optimum region under conditions of 8.0 days growing period, 2 hr./day aeration rate, with both nutrient solution addition and CO2 injection. While the protein percentage (18.29%) was optimum under conditions of 5.0 days growing period, 1 hr./day aeration rate, with both nutrient solution addition and CO2 injection. Meanwhile dry matter (21.12%) was optimum under conditions of 5.0 days growing period, 2 hr./day aeration rate, without neither nutrient solution addition nor CO2 injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing climate change as well as the evolution of agricultural prices have led to important changes in the structure of crops cultivated predominantly in Romanian farms. If in the past the Romanian agricultural producer does not have a great deal of openness to the new technologies, as well as to new crops like sorghum and rapeseed ten years ago, it is noticed that, with Romania joining the EU, 2007, things they changed. By increasingly contacting European farmers with a much better yield per hectare, but also opening up to new technologies and the attractive price of oil crops, Romanian farmers have begun to focus their attention on far more attractive crops than In terms of sales prices and the application of new technologies to help them achieve high output to cope with European competition. By interpreting the statistical data provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Eurostat, a comparative analysis of the import and export of sorghum and barley was carried out in the light of the pre-accession and post-accession EU production to observe whether these crops provide a high level of profitability and if it is justified to cultivate them on extended surfaces. Although there is still much to be done in this area, we see that investing in high performance technologies and equipment, in quality inputs and hybrids, is a way of generating production levels comparable to those recorded at European level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first genetic study reporting on the interaction and molecular mapping of resistance to the barley grass stripe rust pathogen ( Puccinia striiformis f. sp. pseudo-hordei, Psph) in common wheat. Seedlings of 638 wheat accessions were tested and it was determined that wheat is a near-nonhost to Psph based on rare susceptibility observed in <2% of commercial cultivars and <5% of wheat landraces. As previously observed for P. striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), the Australian cultivar Teal was highly susceptible to Psph. In contrast, a selection of cv. Avocet carrying complementary resistance genes Yr73 and Yr74 (Avocet R; AvR) was resistant. The Teal × AvR (T/A) doubled haploid ( DH) population was used to map resistance in AvR to Psph. Infection types on the T/A DH lines inoculated with Psph and Pst indicated that all DH lines carrying both Yr73 and Yr74 were also resistant to Psph; however, fewer DH lines were susceptible to Psph than expected, suggesting the resistance was more complex. QTL analysis using 9053 DArT-Seq markers determined that resistance to Psph was polygenically inherited and mapped to chromosomes 3A, 3D, 4A and 5B. The 3 DL and 5 BL markers co-located with Yr73 and Yr74, suggesting an overlap between host and non-host resistance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A range of cultivar types, including two-row and six-row types as well as line and hybrid types, are used for winter barley production in Ireland. There is little information available on the fertiliser nitrogen (N) requirements or the N use efficiency of these different types, particularly under Irish conditions. The objectives of the work presented here were to compare the response to fertiliser N of a two-row line cultivar, a six-row line cultivar and a six-row hybrid cultivar in terms of grain yield and aspects of N use efficiency. Experiments were carried out over three growing seasons, in the period 2012-2014, on a light-textured soil comparing the response of the three cultivars of winter barley to fertiliser N application rates ranging from 0 to 260 kg N/ha. There was no evidence that cultivar type, regardless of whether it was a two-row or six-row line cultivar or a six-row hybrid cultivar, influenced the response to fertiliser N of winter barley. There were some indications that six-row cultivars were less efficient at recovering soil N but used accumulated N more efficiently than the two-row cultivar. This work provided no evidence to support adjustment of fertiliser N inputs to winter barley based on cultivar type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Cereal grains are important ingredients of ruminant diets, but their rapid degradation seriously impairs rumen fermentation and the host's health. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether processing of barley grain with 1 or 5% lactic acid (LA) and 1 or 5% tannic acid (TA), without or with an additional heat treatment (1% LAH or 1% TAH), may affect microbial ruminal abundance, fermentation profile, and nutrient degradation in vitro. RESULTS: Processing with LA lowered (P < 0.05) the concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), proportions of branched-chain SCFA, and the acetate-to-propionate ratio. Treatment with 1% TAH and 1% LAH lowered (P < 0.05) gene copy numbers of total protozoa, rumen lipopolysaccharide, and degradation of crude protein, and tended (P = 0.08) to lower the proportion of the genus Prevotella. Treatment of barley grain with 1% LA or 1% LAH stimulated Clostridium cluster XIV. Degradation of fibre was enhanced (P < 0.05) by all LA and TA treatments. CONCLUSION: Chemical and heat treatment of barley grain modulated the ruminal fermentation profile and enhanced fibre degradation; however, processing of grain with LA seems to be superior because this effect was not associated with a concomitant depression in ruminal degradation of organic matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Likely to the equity market, the problem of anomalies in the commodities market is becoming an interesting phenomenon, particularly in the segment of the agricultural market. This paper tests the hypothesis of daily, the day-of-the week, the first and the second half of monthly effects on the market of futures contract of: barley, canola, rough rice, soybean oil and soybean meal, quoted in the period of 12.12.2006-31.06.2015 (barley) and 01.09.1998-31.06.2015 (the other commodities). Calculations presented in this paper indicate the existence of monthly effect: in September (canola), February and September (soybean oil) and July, September and October (soybean meal) as well as the day-of-the-week effect: on Tuesdays (canola) and on Thursdays (rough rice). The seasonal effects were also observed in the case of testing the statistical hypothesis for daily averaged rates of return for different days of the month: 4th (barley), 12th (canola), 5th (rough rice) and 9th (soybean oil and soybean meal). The seasonal effects were no registered for the daily average rates of return in the first and in the second half of the month. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]