Search

Soilless cultivation of potatoes often utilizes organic coconut peat and inorganic vermiculite as growing substrates. The unique microbial communities and physicochemical characteristics inherent to each substrate significantly influence the microecological environment crucial for potato growth and breeding. This study analyzed environmental factors within each substrate and employed Illumina sequencing alongside bioinformatics tools to examine microbial community structures, their correlation with environmental factors, core microbial functions, and the dynamics of microbial networks across various samples. These included pure coconut peat (CP1) and pure vermiculite (V1), substrates mixed with organic fertilizer for three days (CP2 and V2), and three combinations cultivated with potatoes for 50 days (CP3, V3, and CV3—a 1:1 mix of coconut peat and vermiculite with organic fertilizer). Vermiculite naturally hosts a more diverse microbial community. After mixing with fertilizer and composting for 3 days, and 50 days of potato cultivation, fungal diversity decreased in both substrates. Coconut peat maintains higher bacterial diversity and richness compared to vermiculite, harboring more beneficial bacteria and fungi, resulting in a more complex microbial network. However, vermiculite shows lower bacterial diversity and richness, with an accumulation of pathogenic microorganisms. Among the 11 environmental factors tested, water-soluble nitrogen (WSN), total nitrogen (TN), available potassium (AK), total organic carbon (TOC) and air-filled porosity (AFP) were significantly associated with microbial succession in the substrate.The nutritional type composition and interaction patterns of indigenous microorganisms differ between vermiculite and coconut peat. Adding abundant nutrients significantly affects the stability and interaction of the entire microbial community, even post-potato cultivation. When using vermiculite for soilless cultivation, precise control and adjustment of nutrient addition quantity and frequency are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents reclamation of greywater using "Green-wall treatment system". A Green-wall of capacity 100 L/d has been implemented with the aim of greywater reclamation from a bathing water facility. The treatment system comprised of a degreasing tank of size 0.9 m x 0.9 m x 0.3 m for oil & grease removal, followed by a Green-wall. Removal of oil & grease has been done along with commonly observed pollutants in greywater, to prevent clogging of filler material. In stage-I studies, Green-wall pots are filled with 4-10 mm Ø inert filler material LECA and in stage-II, LECA is mixed with locally available coconut peat in equal proportion. Stage-I studies using LECA indicated that maximum achievable HRT is 12 h and the treated greywater with respect to BOD does not comply with USEPA (2012) norms for landscape irrigation. In stage-II, the optimized performance is observed at 16 &18 h HRT at hydraulic loading rate 67-70 L/m²/d, when compared with 14 and 12 h HRT. Treated greywater quality met the prescribed permissible limits with respect to BOD, TSS and FC and is observed to be innocuous in terms of the reuse options for agriculture and landscape irrigation. In stage-II, the BOD, COD, TSS and FC reduce from 48 to 10 mg/L, 58 to 18 mg/L, 96 to 10 mg/L and 400 CFU/ 100 mL to below detectable limits, respectively, at 18 h HRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugarcane fiber, coconut fiber and palm oil fiber are the examples of renewable and eco- friendly materials that is usually being implemented as thermal insulation which provides promising alternative compared to artificial options. Previous studies have proven the efficacy of these agricultural by-product in heat insulation for building construction, mechanical system and so on. In those studies, the specimen is in a form of compressed or added with binding agent for further characterization regarding its thermal properties. This study emphasizes on investigation regarding the viability of using coconut peat, sugarcane dregs and palm oil fiber in its dried and uncompressed form as thermal insulation. A temperature difference measurement was conducted to determine the capability of each of the material to retain heat as the result of the material attachment on a surface, without the addition of binding agent. From this study, it was found that each of this material has the capability to retain heat when used as surface insulating element. The sugarcane dregs (dried and uncompressed form) is proven to be most effective in retaining heat, followed closely by palm oil fiber in comparison with the uninsulated control set of experiment.

In this study, ZnO‐doped carbon aerogel is synthesized from cellulose in coconut peat with sodium alginate as a binder via both freeze‐drying and pyrolysis processes. Of those, zinc nitrate is used as not only a crosslinking agent to form gel but also a precursor source to dope ZnO in the carbon aerogel matrix. The effect of precursor ratios on the characterization and energy storage capacity of composite aerogel is investigated. As a result, it is indicated that the formed ZnO‐doped carbon aerogel possesses a highly porous structure which is typical for aerogel structure shown by SEM images, density, and porosity. Besides, via the XRD patterns, the confirmation of the ZnO crystal structure is found within the carbon aerogel lattice. In terms of energy storage, based on the specific capacitance results, the ZCA‐4 sample with a sodium alginate and cellulose weight ratio of 1:20 shows the best energy storage with a specific capacitance of 105 F/g in the voltage range of 0–0.5 V and scan‐rate speed of 0.005 V. Therewithal, the ZCA‐4 also performs high durability, high scanning speed tolerance, and stable storage performance with efficiency reaching more than 99% after 500 consecutive scan cycles. These results demonstrate that the ZnO‐doped carbon aerogel has potential applications as electrode materials in supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production of vivoplants of banana and plantain is an important step in the use in the field of healthy planting material, free of bacterial or viral infection. The objective of this study was to assess the recovery and the subsequent seedlings growth from banana fragments to different substrates for rapid multiplication of banana suckers in Benin. An experiment was set up following a two-factor split plot arrangement with three repetitions. The first factor was the substrate at three levels (White sawdust, Coconut peat + sand and White sawdust + cassava effluent); and the second was the cultivar free from bacterial and viral infections, with four levels (Aloga, Planta, Sotoumon and Gunkoékoé), totally 12 treatments. From the results, the appearance of the buds depended on the nature of the substrate and the type of cultivar. Coco peat + sand and sawdust + cassava effluent were significantly different (P<0.001) in influencing the number of leaves and roots, leaf area, plant height, diameter at the collar of the seedlings and the number of young seedlings per banana explant. The highest number of leaves and roots, and young seedlings; and greatest plant height and diameter were obtained with coco peat + sand and white sawdust + cassava effluent, at the collar of the seedlings. From this study, it is clear that coconut peat + sand is the best substrate for the rapid multiplication of banana plantlets from the fragments method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soilless cultivation of potatoes often utilizes organic coconut peat and inorganic vermiculite as growing substrates. The unique microbial communities and physicochemical characteristics inherent to each substrate significantly influence the microecological environment crucial for potato growth and breeding. This study analyzed environmental factors within each substrate and employed Illumina sequencing alongside bioinformatics tools to examine microbial community structures, their correlation with environmental factors, core microbial functions, and the dynamics of microbial networks across various samples. These included pure coconut peat (CP1) and pure vermiculite (V1), substrates mixed with organic fertilizer for three days (CP2 and V2), and three combinations cultivated with potatoes for 50 days (CP3, V3, and CV3—a 1:1 mix of coconut peat and vermiculite with organic fertilizer). Vermiculite naturally hosts a more diverse microbial community. After mixing with fertilizer and composting for 3 days, and 50 days of potato cultivation, fungal diversity decreased in both substrates. Coconut peat maintains higher bacterial diversity and richness compared to vermiculite, harboring more beneficial bacteria and fungi, resulting in a more complex microbial network. However, vermiculite shows lower bacterial diversity and richness, with an accumulation of pathogenic microorganisms. Among the 11 environmental factors tested, water-soluble nitrogen (WSN), total nitrogen (TN), available potassium (AK), total organic carbon (TOC) and air-filled porosity (AFP) were significantly associated with microbial succession in the substrate.The nutritional type composition and interaction patterns of indigenous microorganisms differ between vermiculite and coconut peat. Adding abundant nutrients significantly affects the stability and interaction of the entire microbial community, even post-potato cultivation. When using vermiculite for soilless cultivation, precise control and adjustment of nutrient addition quantity and frequency are essential.

Oil spillage is one of the world's biggest environmental problems and its various impacts included shifting the balance of the ecosystem, affecting marine animals, and inhibiting economical activities. Therefore, the efficient resolution of this issue is a topic of great interest. In this work, cellulose coconut peat cryogel (CCPC) is synthesized by freeze-drying technique with cellulose extracted from coconut peat and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a binder. The CCPC is furthermore dip-coated in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) to obtain PDMS-coated cellulose coconut peat cryogel (CCPC-P) with hydrophobic property for the studying of oil adsorption. The characteristics of CCPC and CCPC-P are evaluated by density and porosity, specific surface area following Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) theory, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and water contact angle (WCA) measurements. Results showed that CCPC-10 with the mass ratios of cellulose to PVA 10:1 had the lowest density of 28.21 mg/cm3, highest porosity of 98.15 %. Furthermore, after coating with PDMS, the obtained hydrophobic CCPC-P10 had maximum adsorption capacities of up to 2.083 and 2.452 mg/mg for the static adsorption model and dynamic adsorption model, respectively. This indicates that coconut peat is a viable material for cryogel synthesis in oil adsorption applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of vegetables on substrates has become a great alternative. Therefore, different substrates were evaluated in a greenhouse lettuce culture. A completely randomized block design (BCA) with three treatments was used as follows: T1: peat 30% coconut peat 70%, T2: peat 70% coconut peat 30% and T3: peat 50 % Coconut peat 50%, for a total of 9 experimental units each consisting of 10 plants. Every 8 days, during 32 days, the height of the plant, fresh and dry mass of leaves and root, leaf area and every 2 days, the SPAD units and the stomatal conductivity (SC) were determined. There were significant differences in the SPAD units in time for day 11 ddt with a value of 20.7. The SC presented the highest values in T3 and T2 with values of 354.2 and 366.2 mol m-2 s–1, respectively. T1 presented the highest value of stomatal resistance (RE) with 7.5 m2 s mol–1. The leaf area and height did not show significant differences. T2 at 15 days after transplant showed the highest values of fresh root mass (MFR), dry root mass (MSR) and fresh leaf mass (MFH) with 3.1 g, 0.106 g and 13.19 g respectively. In harvest, T3 showed 10% and 15% more production of MFH in lettuce than treatments T2 and T1, respectively.

Moisture is one of the critical failures affecting asphalt pavement. It has been recently found that moisture created by rainwater and undrained water deteriorate the bonding interface between asphalt mastic and aggregate. Using different mineral fillers can lead to different moisture resistance in the same mix design. Nowadays, waste natural materials allow agriculturists to receive more income by recycling in many industries. In this study, the researchers adopted bagasse and coconut peat grinding into very fine particle passing through the sieve number 200 (0.075 mm) to replace the mineral fillers. Although the indirect tensile strength (ITS) test is commonly used for evaluating the moisture damage resistance of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) in a laboratory, there are some shortcomings in using this test, such as costly, heavy and indirect equipment. Another potential test that is likely to be more advantageous than the ITS test for evaluating the moisture damage resistance is the pull-off tensile strength (POTS) test. However, it is typically measured on a concrete surface, and no results using an asphalt mixture have been reported. The objectives in this study were to investigate the effects of waste natural fillers in asphalt mixture on adhesive bonding caused by moisture, and to determine whether the POTS test is a potential method in measuring moisture damage resistance in a laboratory. Results showed that the tensile strength ratios (TSR) of asphalt mixture with bagasse and coconut peat fillers are approximately equivalent to those with mineral fillers. Results also showed that asphalt mixtures with bagasse and coconut peat fillers can effectively prevent the moisture damage resistance. In addition, with the preliminary result, it was found that the POTS test showed a very good R square (R2) for a relation of TSR with the ITS test. As a result, the POTS can be a valid tool of quantifying moisture damage resistance with better simulating to field behavior, lower cost of equipment, and light weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coconut peat (CP) is a product derived from coconut husks and it has been recognized as a valuable resource for the removal of heavy metals, as an oil-sorbent material, and for agricultural purposes. However, large quantities of coconut husks are still discarded yearly, leading to environmental pollution. In this study, a series of CP/polyethylene glycol (CP/PEG) composites were prepared as novel shape-stabilized phase change materials (SSPCMs) by vacuum impregnation to demonstrate a potential new application of CP in the area of thermal energy storage. The composites were investigated by thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, leakage test, and thermal cycling testing. The results revealed that the CP/PEG composites exhibit minimal leakage of PEG while the composite with a CP/PEG mass ratio of 3:7 has a high latent heat storage of 108.5 J/g and relative enthalpy efficiency of 91.7%. Meanwhile, TG results indicated that it has good thermal stability up to 150 °C and the thermal cycling test showed that it has excellent thermal reliability even after 100 thermal cycles. The heat harvesting and releasing performance of the sample was evaluated as well to understand its thermoregulation capability. Therefore, the obtained CP/PEG composite demonstrates that it can potentially be utilized for thermal storage applications such as in wallboard or building materials for passive cooling, thus fostering a cleaner process by realizing energy savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Southern Agriculture is the property of Journal of Southern Agriculture 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.)

The production of vegetables on substrates has become a great alternative. Therefore, different substrates were evaluated in a greenhouse lettuce culture. A completely randomized block design (BCA) with three treatments was used as follows: T1: peat 30% coconut peat 70%, T2: peat 70% coconut peat 30% and T3: peat 50% Coconut peat 50%, for a total of 9 experimental units each consisting of 10 plants. Every 8 days, during 32 days, the height of the plant, fresh and dry mass of leaves and root, leaf area and every 2 days, the SPAD units and the stomatal conductivity (SC) were determined. There were significant differences in the SPAD units in time for day 11 ddt with a value of 20.7. The SC presented the highest values in T3 and T2 with values of 354.2 and 366.2 mol m-2 s-1, respectively. T1 presented the highest value of stomatal resistance (RE) with 7.5 m² s mol-1. The leaf area and height did not show significant differences. T2 at 15 days after transplant showed the highest values of fresh root mass (MFR), dry root mass (MSR) and fresh leaf mass (MFH) with 3.1 g, 0.106 g and 13.19 g respectively. In harvest, T3 showed 10% and 15% more production of MFH in lettuce than treatments T2 and T1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moisture is one of the critical failures affecting asphalt pavement. It has been recently found that moisture created by rainwater and undrained water deteriorate the bonding interface between asphalt mastic and aggregate. Using different mineral fillers can lead to different moisture resistance in the same mix design. Nowadays, waste natural materials allow agriculturists to receive more income by recycling in many industries. In this study, the researchers adopted bagasse and coconut peat grinding into very fine particle passing through the sieve number 200 (0.075 mm) to replace the mineral fillers. Although the indirect tensile strength (ITS) test is commonly used for evaluating the moisture damage resistance of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) in a laboratory, there are some shortcomings in using this test, such as costly, heavy and indirect equipment. Another potential test that is likely to be more advantageous than the ITS test for evaluating the moisture damage resistance is the pull-off tensile strength (POTS) test. However, it is typically measured on a concrete surface, and no results using an asphalt mixture have been reported. The objectives in this study were to investigate the effects of waste natural fillers in asphalt mixture on adhesive bonding caused by moisture, and to determine whether the POTS test is a potential method in measuring moisture damage resistance in a laboratory. Results showed that the tensile strength ratios (TSR) of asphalt mixture with bagasse and coconut peat fillers are approximately equivalent to those with mineral fillers. Results also showed that asphalt mixtures with bagasse and coconut peat fillers can effectively prevent the moisture damage resistance. In addition, with the preliminary result, it was found that the POTS test showed a very good R square (R2) for a relation of TSR with the ITS test. As a result, the POTS can be a valid tool of quantifying moisture damage resistance with better simulating to field behavior, lower cost of equipment, and light weight.

Biogas is one of the most promising sources of renewable energy in today’s world. Liquid and the solid digestates are the byproducts of anaerobic digestion of various kinds of wastes to produce biogas. Disposal of liquid digestate is one of the major issues faced by the existing biogas plant facilities worldwide. In this study, liquid digestate from anaerobic digestion of food waste is examined for its potential as an organic fertilizer for food crops. Coconut peat is used as a matrix to hold the digestate and also to grow plants in a soil-less culture. Three plants from the family- Solanaceae were chosen viz. tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), green chilli (Capsicum annum) and eggplant or brinjal (Solanum melogena). The plants were grown in trays as control (coconut peat and water) and slurry (coconut peat and digestate). Digestate sets showed an increase in growth parameters as compared to control by a factor of 60.8% in tomato, 48.6% in chilli and 97% in brinjal for plant height, 86% in tomato, 82.4% in chilli and 63.8% in brinjal for leaf length, and 66.3% in tomato, 87.3% in chilli for number of leaves. The final yield for chilli plants was 2.5 fruits/plant in 70 days while for brinjal it was 2 fruits/plant after 74 days of growth.

Abstract: Malformation of emerging leaves with distortion of leaf tips, a condition known as tipburn, is frequently observed in strawberry. Calcium (Ca) deficiency has been considered the main cause of tipburn. The aim of the present study was to analyse the relationship between leaf mineral composition and the incidence of tipburn in three short-day strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) cultivars (‘Ventana’, ‘Camarosa’ and ‘Candonga’) submitted to different concentrations of Ca. The studies were conducted in a hydroponic system in a greenhouse. Calcium was added as Ca(NO3)2 at 2mM, 3mM, 4mM and 5mM. A completely randomized block design (4 Ca concentrations×3 cultivars) with three replications was used. Each replicate consisted of 12 plants grown in a polyethylene bag (100cm×18cm×3cm) filled with coconut peat. Crown diameter and tipburn incidence were evaluated throughout the experimental period, and at the end of the experiment leaf mineral composition was assessed. In general, plants with larger crown diameters had a greater incidence of tipburn. The ‘Candonga’ cultivar had the smallest incidence of tipburn, while the ‘Camarosa’ and ‘Ventana’ cultivars were more susceptible. There was no correlation between level of Ca applied and incidence of tipburn. The incidence of tipburn was associated with foliar K:Ca and K:Mg ratios. Ratios above 3.40 for K:Mg and 1.77 for K:Ca represented a risk of more than 50% of tipburn incidence, when overall means for all cultivars and levels of Ca were used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workability is of importance during asphalt construction, which plays a role in increasing stability and other performances. Using different mineral fillers can result in different asphalt workability in the same mix design. While fillers can increase stability, viscosity with regards to asphalt mastic needs to be considered for working in the field. Nowadays, waste natural materials can allow agriculturists to get more income by recycling in many industries. In this study, the objective is to determine the effect of using bagasse and coconut peat as filler on mastic viscosity and the resistance to failure performances. Findings show that the viscosities of asphalt mastic with coconut peat and bagasse fillers are relatively similar to those with limestone filler for all temperatures at 20 percent filler content. Additionally, the stabilities and flows of asphalt mixtures mixed with waste natural fillers were close to those mixed with mineral fillers at equivalent temperatures. In conclusion, the mastic viscosity is vital for determining the workability of asphalt mixture. The waste natural fillers including bagasse and coconut peat give similar mastic viscosity to limestone filler and higher than granite filler, which shows less difference to performance results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]