bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of growth regulators on reproductive abscission in faba bean (Vicia fabacv. Troy)
Authors: Clifford P. E. , Pentland B. S. , Baylis A. D. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryGrowth regulators were applied to faba bean (field bean) plants in order to study hormonal control of premature reproductive abscission. Combined data from pairs of racemes sited in a consistently yielding region of the main stem indicated effects of growth regulator treatments. Decapitation increased pod numbers, but the inhibitory influence of the upper shoot could not be replaced completely by indol-3yl-acetic acid (IAA) applied to the cut stem stump. Blockage of auxin transport through the stem with the auxin-transport inhibitors 2, 3, 5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA) or methyl-2-chloro-9-hydroxyfluorene-9-carboxylate (CF, chlorflurenol) reduced pod numbers above the application point. The latter effects might have been indirect and due to elevated ethylene levels, since pod retention in this shoot region was decreased when sprayed with the ethylene-releasing compound 1-aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid (ACC) and increased when sprayed with ethylene-biosynthesis inhibitors 2-aminoethoxyvinyl glycine (AVG) or l-amino-2-cyclopropylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (cyclopropyl-ACC). Pod numbers were increased when the reproductive structures themselves were sprayed with IAA, gibberellic acid (GA3) or 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), although a corresponding increase in total seed weight occurred only with the latter growth regulator. Application of BAP or abscisic acid (ABA) as root drenches showed that levels of reproductive abscission were raised or lowered with BAP treatment, depending on its concentration, and lowered with ABA treatment. It is suggested that growth regulator treatments leading to decreased ethylene production in the shoot and/or increased cytokinin and abscisic levels in the xylem sap are those most likely to reduce abscission.
Ratios of strontium-85 to cations for crops and soils of Greece
Authors: Papanicolaou E. P. , Apostolakis C. G. , Skarlou V. , Nobeli C. , Kritidis P. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryIn a glasshouse pot experiment in Athens, Greece in 1989, 85Sr to calcium observed ratios (OR) based on the values of exchangeable Ca instead of soil Ca (ORexCa), were determined for crops or plant parts grown in eight soils widely differing in their physical and chemical properties. Compared to the values of concentration ratio (CRs) the values of ORexCa did not show as wide variation with the soil type. They were relatively constant and usually not related to soil properties. The ORexCa values were essentially the same as OR values for the non-calcareous soils and much smaller than the OR values for calcareous soils, considering as soil Ca in the calculation of OR, the sum exchangeable, watersoluble and CaCO3 Ca.The values of 85Sr/Ca + Mg observed ratios (ORexCaMg) were just as good as the ORexCa values, while those of 85Sr/Ca + Mg + K + Na (ORex bases) showed more variation.Highly significant (P <0·01) correlations were observed between the fractions of the observed ratios ORexCa, ORexCaMg and ORex bases, for each crop or plant part tested.
On the variation of urinary creatinine in buffalo calves and the effect of dietary protein intake on urinary creatinine, creatinine-nitrogen ratio and creatinine coefficient
Authors: Chetal Urmila , Mehra Usha R. , Nath K. , Ranjhan S. K. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYVariation in urinary creatinine in nine male and twelve female buffalo calves divided into three equal groups on diets containing three levels of dietary protein intake (low, medium and high) was estimated. The variation in urinary creatinine (% and total) was large from animal to animal and also from day to day (P< 0·01) in the same animal. It was not affected (P> 0·05) by the level of dietary protein. The creatinine-nitrogen ratio decreased (P< 0·01) with increase in the protein level of the ration, but the creatinine coefficient (creatinine per kg body weight) did not differ significantly (P> 0·05). The male and female animals responded similarly.It was concluded that urinary creatinine (% and total) and the creatinine coefficient cannot be used as an index either in nutrient balance studies or for evaluating ruminant nutrition in general. The creatinine-nitrogen ratio could also not provide a suitable yardstick to evaluate protein status of the animals because of the significant interaction of days × protein. The nitrogen balance is considered to be better for this purpose.
Energy values in pig nutrition:II. The prediction of energy values from dietary chemical analysis
Authors: Morgan D. J. , Cole D. J. A. , Lewis D. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYEighteen individual feedstuffs and 19 mixed diets were used in a study attempted to relate determined energy values to various chemically determined measures. For cereals the level of fibre could be used to predict digestible and metabolizable energy (DE and ME). In the case of DE the relationships with crude fibre and modified acid detergent fibre (MADF) based on 14 feeds were:DE (kcal/kg D.M.) = 4179–86 MADF (%):r=–0·96; P < 0·01,DE (kcal/kg D.M.) = 4228–140 x crude fibre (%):r=–0·97;P< 0·01.For all feeds the following equations gave the best prediction of energy values from dietary analysis (on the basis of correlation coefficients and residual standard deviations):DE (kcal/kg D.M.) = 109·9 x crude protein (%) + 149·3 x acid ether extract (%) + 90·1 x nitrogen-free extract (%)–5030: R = 0·95; P < 0.01.ME (kcal/kg D.M.) = 99·5 x crude protein (%) + 144·7 x acid ether extract (%) + 87·8 x nitrogen-free extract (%)–4795: R = 0·94; P < 0·01.Digestible nutrients were closely related to DE and ME, e.g.DE (kcal/kg D.M.) = 52·9 x digestible crude protein (%) + 108·3 x digestible ether extract (%) + 39·4 x digestible crude fibre (%) + 39·9 x digestible nitrogen-free extract (%) + 183·7: R = 0·99; P < 0·01.
Relationships between levels of feeding and certain blood metabolites in dairy cows in mid lactation
Authors: Fisher L. J. , Donnelly P. E. , Hutton J. B. , Duganzich D. M. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYFollowing a 14-day uniformity period when they were stall-fed to appetite on a grass silage-grass ration, 18 cows in mid lactation were allocated to three treatments on which they received during the following 28 days either 100%, 75% or 50% of their previous voluntary feed intakes.Treatment effects were measured on milk yield and composition, live weight, liveweight change and fasted live-weight change. Twice during uniformity period, and on the 7th, 14th, 22nd and 26th days of the treatment period, samples of jugular blood were obtained from each cow immediately before and 3 h after the first meal of the day. These were analysed for percentage packed cell volume, blood acetone and β-hydroxybutyrate levels, plasma glucose, non-esterified fatty acid, and total fatty acid concentrations.Alternative methods of collecting blood samples, involving cannulation of the vein and venipuncture, were compared. Obtaining samples through cannulae took nearly three times as long as by venipuncture, but the method of sampling did not significantly affect the concentrations of individual blood metabolites. Blood samples collected before as contrasted with after feeding had significantly higher concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids and glucose, and lower concentrations of acetone and β-hydroxybutyrate.The feed requirements of the cows were assessed using data on live weights, fasted live-weight change and milk production by calculating the regression of estimated net attributable energy/kg LW0·75 on digestible energy intake/kg LW0·75, from data for the full 28-day period. The maintenance requirement was 124 kcal net energy/kg LW0·75, and the efficiency of conversion of digestible energy to milk and body-tissue loss or gain was 60%. These data were used with each animal's live weight, milk yield and liveweight change appropriate to each blood-sampling day to calculate individual feed requirements on every occasion. Ratios of actual feed consumed to estimated requirements were calculated subsequently to provide quantitative indices involving all cows and feeding levels. Regressions of these indices on individual blood metabolites were examined to assess the value of the latter as predictors of the relative nutritional status of the cows as defined in this way. Of the blood metabolites studied, only plasma NEFA were consistently significantly correlated with these indices, and relationships were specific to each feeding level. Thus although, at a common feeding level, plasma NEFA can be used to categorize lactating cows according to degree of nutritional stress, they will have limited values as predictors if applied indiscriminately to the wide range of feed availabilities and intakes which exist between herds at similar stages of lactation.The results have been discussed relative to previously published work, mainly with sheep and beef cattle.
The nutritive value for sheep of ruminant Diet AA6, a complete cobbed diet containing 30% barley straw
Authors: Wainman F. W. , Smith J. S. , Dewey P. J. S. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYSeven determinations of energy and nitrogen retention using four adult wether sheep were made when they were fed a complete cobbed diet. The diet contained 30% of barley straw and had a metabolizable energy value of 10·9 kJ/g organic matter and the net availabilities of its metabolizable energy were 52·8% for fattening and 72·8% for maintenance. The starch equivalent on a dry basis was 53.
The results of the Red Sindhi grading-up scheme in Malaysia
Authors: Sivarajasingam S. , Mukherjee T. K. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYThe upgrading programme of. the Local Indian Dairy cattle in Malaysia to the Red Sindhi over a period of 21 years is evaluated. Heterosis was not observed among the Fx cross-breds for milk yield and related traits. The attempt to upgrade local dairy cattle using Red Sindhi however resulted in deterioration of performance.
Heritabilities and genetic correlations for yield in Italian ryegrass (Lolium muliflorum Lam.) grow at different densities
Authors: England F. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYFifty-nine full-sib progenies produced in a North Carolina Model I design were assessed fortotal yield (sum of three harvests) under four treatments differing in plot size and density. The treatments were: swards of 0.25 m2, spaced plants at 0.6 x 0.6 m and single and double rowswith 0.3 m betweenrows and 0.15 m between plants, with ten plants per row. Estimates of plot heritabilities ranged from 0.24 for spaced plants to 0.59 for double rows. Heritability in the sward was 0.35. Additive genetic correlations between the sward and the other treatments were surprisingly high: about + 0.86 for the spaced plants and between +0.8 and +0.9 for the row plots. The implications of these estimates for the relative selection efficiencies of the non-sward treatments are discussed.
Experiments on the nutrition of the dairy heifer:IX. Food utilization in lactation
Authors: Broster W. H. , Broster Valerie J. , Smith T. , Siviter J. W. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYFood utilization by lactating dairy cows was studied in a randomized experiment covering the first 24 weeks of lactation, with further observations on performance over the remainder of the lactation under farm conditions. Over a 3-year period 90 firstcalf cows each took part in the experiment for one lactation, making six groups of 14–16 animals.For the experimental period a fixed basal diet was given of hay, concentrates, and wet brewer's grains. One group received only the basal ration. Four groups received in addition a fixed concentrates supplement for 4, 8, 12, 16 weeks from calving onwards respectively. The sixth group also had supplementary concentrates for 16 weeks but for weeks 5–12 inclusive the amount was doubled so that this group's diet simulated broadly ad libitum feeding in early lactation.Milk yield was increased by extra concentrates. The greater part of the effect was apparent in the first 2 weeks of different levels of intake, with a further build-up over the next 6–8 weeks. The size of the response fell as time from calving to initiation of different intakes increased. Additional food increased and delayed peak yield level. Persistency of milk yield was not affected by fixed differences in intake. Rate of liveweight change was improved by extra concentrates, less so in the third compared with the first month on treatment.A higher level of feeding in early lactation led to a greater partition of nutrients in mid-lactation to milk at the expense of gains in body reserves. This advantage to milk production extended to the end of lactation. In it the greatest response per unit concentrates was obtained from supplementation in the first 4 weeks of lactation but the total effect was increased by giving a double allowance of concentrates, and by extending the period of extra feeding to 8 weeks after calving.Solids-not-fat content and yield, and fat yield but not fat content, showed a similar response pattern to milk yield.Animal-to-animal variation in output on constant diets was characterized by negative regressions of live-weight change on milk yield. The regression coefficients were greater in early than in mid-lactation but they were constant in size at any one time for the various groups. A change in ration induced a change in output of the individual in which that production pathway favoured naturally by the animal was the more affected.
Palatability tests of seventeen maize (Zea mays) genotypes for human consumption
Authors: Alika J. E. , Okwechime C. C. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYseventeen maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes (unimproved local varieties, improved open-pollinated composites, hybrids and F1 varietal crosses) were compared on a 1–5 scale for taste when eaten as boiled green maize. Significant differences were obtained between and within genotypic groups. Differences within the open-pollinated composites and the varietal crosses were highly significant. Using mean score ratings as an index for selection, the three genotypes TZB, BN59 × 1K8149SR-BC2 and TZESR-W × 1K8149SR-BC2 were identified as having the best taste, with mean scores of 3·6, 4·3 and 3·5, respectively.
Effects of sulphitation press mud and nitrogen fertilizer on biomass, nitrogen economy and plant composition in sugarcane and on soil chemical properties
Authors: Yaduvanshi N. P. S. , Yadav D. V. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYOn a clay loam soil, the cultivar Col 148, planted in spring 1987 at 57560 three-budded setts/ha received 0, 75, 100 and 150 kg N/ha and 0, 10, 20 and 30 t/ha fresh sulphitation press mud either separately or in combined applications, at 80% moisture. Separate applications of up to 150 kg N/ha and up to 30 t press mud/ha increased the cane biomass by 24·6% and 13·2%, respectively, whereas combined application increased it up to 38·1% more than in the control. A N concentration of 1·95–2·12% in the blades of leaves 3·6 from the top of the plant from tillering to the grand growth stage was necessary for maximum dry matter production. Sulphitation press mud enhanced uptake and availability of N and P to the crop and reduced soil pH. Application of 10 t press mud/ha saved 75 kg/ha of fertilizer N.
Implications of daylength sensitivity in bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) for production in Botswana
Authors: Harris D. , Azam-Ali S. N. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYBambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verde.) is grown throughout southern and western Africa, primarily as a subsistence crop, but agronomic information is scarce. The rates of emergence, flowering and pod production were assessed for 20 weekly sowings between 16 October 1990 and 26 February 1991 at Sebele, Gaborone, Botswana. Daylength during this period changed from 12·7 h to 13·7 h and back to 12·6 h. Mean time to 50% emergence was 111 days while mean time to 50% flowering was 47·5 days. The thermal time to first pod production varied with daylength, decreasing as daylength decreased, to an approximately constant value when daylength after flowering was less than about 12 h. Consequently, the plant size at which pods were produced also varied. The practical implications for date of sowing and plant spacing are discussed.
Factors influencing establishment inVicia faba
Authors: Villalobos M. J. Pascual , Jellis G. J. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYTannin-containing and tannin-free members of two pairs of near-isogenic lines ofVicia fabawere studied in glasshouse experiments at Plant Breeding International Cambridge in 1989 to determine the cause of poor establishment of tannin-free lines in the field. Tests in field soils demonstrated marked differences in disease severity and growth, the tannin-containing lines being the more resistant toFusarium culmorumandF. solani, the principal pathogens isolated. Susceptibility was not attributable to testa damage in tannin-free lines. In further tests on a range of varieties, some tanninfree and low-tannin, coloured-flowered varieties were as resistant as standard high-tannin lines. The results indicate that it should be possible to select for resistance to seedling infection and to subseque1t poor establishment among tannin-free lines and varieties.
Improvement of carrot crop establishment by combining seed treatments with increased seed-bed moisture availability
Authors: Finch-Savage W. E. , Pill W. G. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYIn studies of carrots sown on three dates at Wellesbourne in 1986, mean time to seedling emergence and spread of times to seedling emergence of untreated and fluid-drilled seeds increased as seed-bed moisture at sowing decreased. These differences were not observed with irrigation before sowing.Osmotic priming increased the percentage of seeds with emerged radicles at the time of fluid drilling from 17% in the untreated control to 56%. Irrespective of seed-bed moisture, time to emergence was shorter from primed germinating seeds than from germinating seeds, both treatments giving earlier seedling emergence than untreated seeds. Seedling shoot weight was greater from treated than from untreated seeds.Seed-bed characteristics on unirrigated plots had no effect on seedling emergence when soil moisture was adequate but, where soil moisture was limiting, rolling the seed bed to increase capillarity resulted in 79% emergence compared with the 67% average from seed beds that were not rolled. Application of a soil conditioner to stabilize the seed-bed surface structure generally improved emergence when rain fell soon after sowing. The results suggested that a combination of seed-bed and seed treatments can significantly improve the predictability of crop establishment of carrots on different dates.
Effects of nitrogen timing and frequency of fungicide applications on grain yields of winter barley in Ireland
Authors: Conry M. J. , Dunne B. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYThe effects of varying the timing of nitrogen application and the frequency of fungicide sprays on the incidence of foliar disease and on the grain yield of winter barley (cv. Panda) were investigated at two sites in Ireland over three years, 1986–88. Nitrogen application timing had little effect on the amount of foliar necrosis due to disease but delaying application of all the nitrogen until April significantly reduced grain yields in two of the three years when compared with standard split dressings in March and April. The reductions in yield reflected small differences in 1000-grain weight.The number of fungicide sprays applied had significant effects on the amount of foliar necrosis and on grain yields. One-spray and two-spray programmes increased average yield by 16 and 32%, respectively. The yield increases were attributable to more ears/m2 and larger grains (greater 1000-grain weight). Fungicides also delayed the onset and significantly reduced the amount of brackling. Delaying nitrogen application in the spring did not decrease the number of fungicide sprays required to achieve maximum yield.
Progesterone, oestrogens and selected biochemical constituents in plasma and uterine flushings of normal and repeat-breeder buffalo cows
Authors: El-Belely M. S. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYSixty-four lactating buffalo cows (24 normal cycling, 8 pregnant and 32 repeat-breeder), selected from two buffalo farms near Cairo during 1987 and 1988, were studied during thefirst 26 days after oestrus (day 0). Plasma progesterone concentrations were significantly (P< 0·01) higher in pregnant than in cyclic (between days 3 and 5) and repeat-breeder (between days 0 and 8) animals. Concentrations of total unconjugated oestrogens were also highest (P< 0·01) in the pregnant group between days 6 and 16. Cyclic and pregnant cows had higher (P< 0·01) concentrations of plasma calcium between days 3 and 7, inorganic phosphorus at all times and glucose between days 2 and 8 than repeat-breeders. Plasma protein concentrations were greater at all times, except between days 6 and 8, in the first two groups. Analysis of the uterine fluid collected from cyclic and repeat-breeder buffalo cows revealed that concentrations of all biochemical components, except for calcium, were significantly (P< 0·01) higher in flushings from the uterus of cyclic animals than from repeat-breeders at alltimes for inorganic phosphorus, between days 6 and 12 for glucose and on day 2 as well as between days 8 and 12 for protein. Large differences were found in calcium levels, especially on day12 when flushings from repeat-breeder cows contained more than six times the concentrations of this metabolite in uterine flushings from cyclic animals. The results suggested that reduced luteal function, related to atypical profiles of plasma biochemical components, during the oestrous cycle in repeat-breeder buffalo cows might provide the basis for altered syntheses and secretions of uterine calcium, phosphorus, glucose and proteins which are needed for embryo development.
Influence of sowing date on the uptake of and responses to soil and fertilizer nitrogen by the spring wheat cultivar Tonic
Authors: Webb J. , Sylvester-Bradley R. , Wafford J. D. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYAt 14 sites in the UK, spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) cv. Tonic, was sown on three or four dates at each site between October and March in the 1988/89, 1989/90 and 1990/91 seasons. Responses to spring-applied fertilizer N over the range 0–320 kg/ha were determined. Earlier sowing did not increase uptake of soil N by the crop. Fertilizer N increased grain N offtake by between 25 and 140 kg/ha and yield by between 0·3 and 5·5 t/ha, although grain yield was less responsive to fertilizer N at later sowing dates. Apparent recovery of fertilizer N (AFR) also decreased as sowing was delayed but there was no effect of delayed sowing on the amount of grain produced from each kg of fertilizer N recovered. Because fertilizer N recovery decreased with later sowing, the amount of fertilizer N needed to produce the optimum economic grain yield was not reduced. Neither AFR nor optimum fertilizer (Nopt) was related to optimum yield. Regression of Nopt on the difference between optimum yield and yield without fertilizer N (△y) explained 77% of the variance in Nopt. There was an inverse relationship between △y and soil mineral N (SMN) in spring; regression of △y, on SMN in spring accounted for 29% of the variance in △y Current advisory systems which adjust economic fertilizer N recommendations according to anticipated yield are not justified by these results. Moreover the adjustments made, based on yield expectation, appear about three times as large as those needed to minimize residues of fertilizer N left unrecovered by the crop and to reduce the risk of nitrate leaching in the following winter.