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The 21st Century Agriculture Renaissance: Solutions from the Land report gives a land steward perspective on how transformational, systemic change can meet mega-challenges faced worldwide. As farmers and other land managers, together we call for an agricultural renaissance and outline what we need to deliver high value solutions that will improve rural livelihoods and the planet.
SfL Co-Chair A.G. Kawamura, a California produce grower and shipper, told a gathering of global agriculture and food system leaders today that an "agricultural renaissance" now underway in the 21st Century, shifting humanity "towards a new framework of whatever is possible is feasible, and...
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A comprehensive analysis released by EPA last month shows domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sinks across all sectors from 1990 through 2020. While there is fluctuation in the totals recorded in each of the 30 years analyzed, they generally trend up. Over the period, agriculture's overall...


The Harvest Elite 360 stands out thanks to its stainless steel design and silver finish, but also offers a bunch of other features to look forward to, such as the round compact shape, the soil-free pre-seeded pods, or the sleek LCD control panel.
Yes, you can grow fruits in an AeroGarden, even tomatoes and strawberries!
Now, it’s important for you to know that there are many types of grow lights available, each with their own characteristics:
AeroGarden is a brand that supplies all the needed tools and systems so that you can set up your own indoor garden and grow beautiful plants with bountiful harvests.
Depending on your exact energy plan, you can end up paying as little as for the energy costs of running the AeroGarden Sprout for an entire month.
People that are really serious about indoor gardening and want to be able to grow multiple plants at once are going to love the Farm Family line of products. You can find indoor gardens with 12 or 24 pods, depending on how invested you are in this new hobby. For the sake of showing you just what these products can do, let’s take a look at the “head of the family”, which is the Farm 24XL model.
So far, so good, but hydroponic gardening has a bunch of different systems, with some of them being more suited for beginners, and the others including more complex mechanisms. Beginners that want to get started about hydroponic growing need to know about the following systems:
About Hydroponic Gardening
If you decide to take a look into the AeroGarden Sprout, you are going to find everything you need for those of you that are on a budget, have limited space, or don’t plan on growing too many plants at once. It has a modern design that you’re used to seeing in this company’s products by now, offering 10 inches of growth height for a variety of different plants. It has an ultra-thin grow light hood with full-spectrum LED lights. The controls are simple to use and very intuitive, located on the top of the light hood for easy access. The grow light hood is equipped with 60 LED bulbs that are designed to offer similar lighting conditions to those found outside, so that your plants can thrive no matter the indoor conditions.
Editor’s choice: The AeroGarden Bounty Family
The post AeroGarden – The Best And Easy Way To Grow Plants Indoor appeared first on Homedit.
The wick system
It really depends on the type of AeroGarden model we’re talking about. The AeroGarden Farm uses about 126 watts on average, so it would cost .30 per month (more or less). The most energy-efficient AeroGarden is the Sprout which consumes about 13 watts and costs an average of
The ebb and flow system
AeroGarden’s Harvest line of indoor plant growing solutions currently features five different models to choose from, each with a bunch of unique characteristics that offer consumers a wider range of products. For instance, there is the Harvest Elite Slim, with an ultra-thin grow light hood, a vacation mode (to keep your plants healthy even while you’re away), an easy-to-use and elegantly designed control panel, an extendable arm lamp, and other useful features.
The nutrient film technique
As you can see, AeroGarden is a brand that you can fully trust when it comes to your indoor gardening needs. They offer a wide selection of systems that meets the needs of different consumers, but also sells seeds and other tools needed to have a beautiful indoor garden. The most important thing to remember is that there are differences between each of these systems, so what works for you might not work for another gardening enthusiast.
Best for herbs: The AeroGarden Harvest Family
Tips for Using an AeroGarden
Also known as “lettuce raft”, this is another system that’s fairly easy to set up. It uses a Styrofoam platform to place the plants in whilst floating on top of a reservoir filled with water rich in nutrients. It requires additional aeration with a raft system, but it’s the one that’s most efficient for growing leafy vegetables (particularly lettuce). It doesn’t work well for long-lived plants (such as tomatoes).
- If you notice that your AeroGarden had blinking lights, consider it as a notification to water/feed your plants. When you’re done, press the button to notify the system that the task is complete and wait for it to blink the next time.
- Even if you grow your plants in an AeroGarden, they need regular trimming. You want to avoid the roots from getting overcrowded, but also focus on cutting plants that aren’t healthy. This helps control unnecessary root growth.
- Always choose the types of plants you want to grow based on the size of your AeroGarden. A common mistake is choosing plants that outgrow the height of the AeroGarden.
- Always keep in mind that the plants you grow in an AeroGarden usually grow five times faster compared to the time it takes to grow them outdoors. This will help you plan harvests and know which plants to rely on and when.
- Tap water isn’t always the best solution for an AeroGarden harvest. You know the water quality is poor if you notice brown or yellow leaves on your plants. However, AeroGarden’s liquid nutrients can help with hard water, making it more suitable for seeds and plants.
- AeroGardens can get dirty too, so you have to ensure proper maintenance. When your plants grow, evaporated nutrients will start leaving residue, plant pieces, mineral deposits, and other things that shouldn’t be there. Change the water every few weeks to avoid mineral deposits. The top of your AeroGarden needs to be wiped once a week as well, in order to prevent dust and grime build-up. Don’t leave any dead plants where they’re not supposed to be.
- Even plants that are grown in an AeroGarden need proper support depending on their variety. Plants like tomatoes or peas will end up being crushed under their own weight if they don’t have proper support. These support systems also help with air circulation and prevent the bottom side of the plant from being suffocated.
The Best Aerogarden Reviews
Farm Family Indoor Gardens
Of course, there are a bunch of kits available that contain the actual plant seeds you might be thinking of growing. You can opt between pesto basil seed kits, red heirloom cherry tomatoes, italian herbs, chili peppers, mixed romaine seed kits, and others. You can choose from their flowers selection, including petunias, lavender, and others.
AeroGarden has you covered when it comes to seed kits as well, offering you a variety of options that we want to cover. For instance, you have the Grow Anything Seed Pod Kit, which allows you to plant the seeds of your choice without any headaches. The kit includes three grow sponges, three grow domes, three grow baskets, and three labels, plus a 3-ounce bottle of the company’s Specially Formulated Liquid Plant Food. Note that it doesn’t include the actual seeds.
If you’re serious about growing fresh herbs to spice and flavor your recipes throughout the entire year, the products that are part of the AeroGarden Harvest Family are your best bet.
Bounty Family Smart Indoor Gardens
Also going by the name of “flood and drain system”, ebb and flow refers to flooding the growing medium using water rich in nutrients to later drain it into a reservoir.
As the kind folks over at AeroGarden stated: “Just about anything that grows above the ground can be planted in an AeroGarden.”
AeroGarden Harvest Family Smart Indoor Gardens
While LED lights are the go-to choice for a lot of indoor gardens, there is always the matter of how to choose the light that’s right for you, so the following steps might be able to help you out if you’re facing this dilemma:
Best for larger gardens: The AeroGarden Farm Family
The AeroGarden Bounty Family of indoor gardening solutions is the choice we would recommend to people who want to grow indoor vegetables and fruits while benefiting from all the technology that AeroGarden has to offer.
This allows you to grow up to 24 plants using a smart system with a bunch of characteristics some people never thought were possible in a compact product. It comes with separate controls for the left and right sides of the garden, a quick-button touch system for dimming or brightening the lights, a progress bar that will show you the stage of growth for your plants, and even a three-level water alert.
One of the best things about AeroGarden is that it supplies systems for pretty much any type of budget. If you want something that is low-maintenance and doesn’t occupy a lot of space, then you can find products to match that criteria. If you live in an apartment and don’t have an outdoor garden to work with, then an AeroGarden is worth it. Also, if you want to be able to grow plants five times faster, an AeroGarden is worth it.
AeroGarden Seed Kits
There are plenty of benefits to hydroponic gardening, such as the fact that they require less space than your average outdoor gardens, don’t use as much water, and the harvest can be more bountiful. If you live in an apartment and don’t have a garden, then it’s surely a method that you have to try out.
The Bounty family comes with 9 pods and 4 different models to choose from, offering you a practical solution that’s focused on helping plants thrive with minimal effort on your behalf. One of the line’s most interesting models is the Bounty Elite Artisan, with powerful 50W grow lights for full spectrum, a glazed ceramic bowl with two finishes, the possibility to dim the lights at the level of your choice, a high-resolution touch-screen display, and Wi-Fi connectivity so that you can monitor the device using your Amazon Echo.
Being able to grow plants indoors is now easier than ever, especially with all the systems that are now available for purchase. When it comes to leading indoor garden suppliers, AeroGarden is one of the most popular names on the market. What are their products good for and how you can make the best out of them, find out by reading the following review!
AeroGarden Grow Lights
This is one of the simplest systems for hydroponics, since it doesn’t have any electrical components or moving parts. It won’t work for plants that need a lot of water (such as tomatoes) because these plants will need more nutrients that the wick is capable of absorbing. It is, however, suitable for herbs and microgreens.
When it comes to what AeroGarden has to offer in terms of grow lights, the option might be a little limited, but there are still some high-quality options to choose from. You have your 12 and 20W LED grow lights, a 45 W LED grow light panel, and a bunch of grow light bulb packs to choose from.
If you’ve never used an AeroGarden before, some think might seem overwhelming at first, so we’ve decided to put together this list of tips for beginners, so you can see that, once you get the hang of things, these systems are all about the benefits:
- High-Intensity Discharge (HID): These lights have a gas-filled tube that allows electricity to pass through.
- HPS: They have strong orange and red hues and are typically recommended for plants that are in the flowering stage.
- MH: Suitable for the vegetative phase of plants as it has stronger blue hues.
- Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH): These lights have a ceramic tube with broader light spectrum range and can easily serve as a single-light solution.
- Fluorescent: Fluorescent lights aren’t as bright as HID lights, making them more suitable for seed starting. Fluorescent lights are either CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) or tube-style lights. The former category depicts lights with twisted bulbs, while tube-style lights are available in a tubular shape.
- LED: This is the newest type of grow light available and it is now considered the best type of grow light out there for a bunch of reasons. LED bulbs are energy-efficient, have built-in cooling mechanisms that prevent them from heating up to excessive temperatures. Since they emit way less heat, you can place them closer to plants without worrying about high temperature implications. They also have long lifespans, with an average of 50,000 hours.
Most energy-efficient: The AeroGarden Sprout
- Consider the location where your indoor garden will be placed, because that will determine its lighting requirements. If you select a spot with no natural light, you want to choose grow lights with full-cycle lighting.
- Different types of lights offer different levels of heat output, and we all know that heat can make or break a plant’s ability to thrive in a certain environment. Some indoors plants like cooler environments (like lettuce), while tropical plants love higher temperatures. However, opting for lights that emit a lot of heat automatically implies that the plant shouldn’t be too close to the light (once again, this is why LED grow lights are the best solution).
- There is always the matter of how much money you have to spend. Small bulbs are less expensive, but they aren’t always the best solution. LED lights are an amazing long term investment but have a higher upfront cost.
- You will often come across the term spectrum in the description of grow lights, and you have to know what it depicts. The easiest explanation is that some bulbs filter out spectrum lights to give your plant just what it needs at a specific stage of the plant’s growth. All grow lights need to specify this bit of information on their packaging so you’ll know which one to choose. For instance, a 2700K bulb isn’t powerful enough to grow vegetables all the way through, but it works as an initial light for flowers.
What is an Aerogarden?
Is the AeroGarden worth it?
How much does it cost to run an AeroGarden?
What can you grow with an AeroGarden?
The AeroGarden Farm Family offers a wide range of indoor gardening solutions for people who are serious about plant growth and want large indoor gardens.
Can you grow fruit in an AeroGarden?
Hydroponic gardening is probably one of the biggest innovations in its industry, as it depicts the ability to grow plants without using soil, but rather a combination of water and nutrients. What’s even more interesting is the fact that plants that are grown using hydroponic systems tend to grow faster compared to the amount of time it takes them to grow outdoors in regular soil, and you can use this gardening method for year-round harvests if you want to.
By using a water-nutrient solution with a constant looping movement, suspended plant roots will absorb nutrients as the solution flows by. It’s similar to the ebb and flow system, only this time the nutrient solution keeps returning again and again to feed the roots. This system is good for shallow-rooted plants, such as radishes, spinach, or herbs.


Commercial Horticulture Lighting in Winter
Autumn has just arrived, but before you know it, the cold snap of winter will be here. There used to be a time when many growers in the commercial horticulture industry would shut down operations during cold, winter months. Fortunately this is no longer the case. The commercial growing business has had countless advancements and innovations throughout recent decades. If you’re a commercial farmer, you can easily maintain your indoor crops all year long and continue to make a profit, even during winter.
One of the most important ways commercial horticulturists prepare for winter is to invest in a proper lighting system. Making sure plants receive enough illumination for photosynthesis during months of decreased sunlight is critical for successful growing. TCP Lighting can help your plants continue to thrive throughout winter. Read on to discover how TCP’s commercial horticulture lighting can benefit your winter growth cycle.
Maintain Your Plant Products During the Colder Months
Properly winterizing your indoor growing space includes all the typical tasks – structure repairs, cleaning, disinfecting, and controlling heat and humidity. Double checking your lighting system is the task that needs to be at the top of your to-do list. That’s because lighting is the most important factor contributing to year-round plant growth, especially during winter.
Ensuring that your plants receive well-balanced lighting is easy with TCP’s latest generation of horticulture lights. Backed by science, these powerful lights help promote faster growth and higher yields all year, so production never has to slow down.
Growing Plant Products in the Winter
Depending on the types of plants you grow and the size of your farming space, you may not have to spend a lot on new or additional lights for winter. Remember to take into account that updates to your indoor lighting system improve your overall production and profitability. Think of horticulture lights as an investment that will benefit your future earnings.
Horticulture Lights Ready for Winter
The last thing you want to do when it’s cold or snowy outside is have to replace horticulture lights that aren’t working properly. Plus there is simply too much risk and potential for loss if your grow lights aren’t functioning at their best in the middle of winter.
How long has it been since you replaced the current bulbs? Do you know how long the lifespan is for the bulbs or lights you currently have in your growing space? These are important questions you should be able to answer. If you’re unsure, it may be best to replace questionable bulbs and lights now before they possibly stop working and leave your plants in the dark.
The Importance of Quality Grow Lights
All commercial growers want their plants to thrive. Good soil, clean water, and proper ventilation are all factors that contribute to your crop’s success. Want to know the most important factor? The answer is giving your plants the right type of light. How can you do this? Check out TCP’s scientifically-backed horticulture lights. They provide plants with a perfectly balanced light spectrum, so plants grow taller, denser, and faster.
A balanced color spectrum utilizes a careful combination of red, blue, and green light, instead of focusing on just one type of light. There are proven growth benefits to this system including photosynthesis across vertical, greenhouse, and indoor farming operations.
- Blue light keeps plants dense while they grow.
- Red light encourages budding and flowering.
- Green light lets you assess plant health without disrupting growth.
Commercial Grow Lights Lifespan
TCP’s newest generation of horticulture lights are designed to last a long time. For example, our popular LED top light lasts up to 50,000 hours. This significantly saves you money over the lifespan of the fixture due to fewer maintenance, labor, and material costs.
Another benefit to our horticulture lights is that they are all compatible with TCP’s exclusive SmartStuff system. Instead of dealing with complicated and expensive building controls, you can safely and securely set lighting schedules, day-night cycles and more – all from your smartphone with bluetooth controlled SmartStuff technology.
Horticulture Light from TCP
We want to help you grow! As you prepare your greenhouse or indoor farming facility for winter production, please feel free to consult with a TCP representative. Discover how our horticulture grow lights and horticulture LED lights can maintain plant growth and maximize profits even during winter’s coldest, darkest months.


The first planting was realized by signing the contracted hemp production protocol in Sivas. 6 producers will produce cannabis in a total area of 170 decares.
The first planting took place in Sivas, which is the 20th province in Turkey where cannabis production is permitted. Following the contractual hemp production protocol signed with the producers at the governorship building in the city center, the first planting took place in the area opposite the Sivas Regional Traffic Control Branch Directorate. Sivas Governor Salih Ayhan, AK Party Sivas Deputy Semiha Ekinci, Mayor Hilmi Bilgin, Sivas Science and Technology University Rector Prof. Dr. Mehmet Kul and producers attended.
Governor Salih Ayhan stated that Sivas is a province with a high agricultural potential, “Our main goal is to increase agricultural productivity and to expand the product range. Today Sivas is experiencing one of its historical days. We are carrying out a planting in the field for hemp, which is used as the main raw material in many sectors and will add value to Sivas’s potential. The people of Sivas wanted and wanted cannabis. For this, our Special Provincial Administration and the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry worked on the field. Our farmers became conscious and we are now planting their first seeds together. Our target is a thousand decares of production next year. Cannabis produced with the contract production model will be transferred to the relevant sectors. said.
‘EVERYONE DOES THEIR BEST’
Stating that everyone in the province took responsibility for this process, Sivas Mayor Hilmi Bilgin said, “Sivas Science and Technology University is planting an area of 100 decares. Our farmers planting 70 acres. Local administrators put a will. SİVTAŞ guarantees purchase. Our Special Administration and Provincial Council give its seeds. In such an environment, from top to bottom, everyone from our President to the local government is doing their part.
He will raise it in his taxpayer home


Neckarperle, the Neckar pearl, is the perfect cauliflower variety for an all-year cultivation. It forms highly domed, pure white flowers with strong foliage. Initially the leaves cover the flower buds completely, later it has to be covered by hand with picked leaves.
Package with approx. 50 cauliflower seeds
There are no reviews yet.
Please see our privacy notice


Weather-wise, summer is my least favorite season, what with the heat and humidity. But when it comes to food — Yum! Who can resist all of those fresh fruits and vegetables?
When I was a little girl, my grandfather had a garden where he grew the basics: corn, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. I would take my little toy shovel and dig deep holes to plant my own corn and beans… and they grew! (No doubt because my grandfather planted the seeds at the proper depth on the sly.)
More fun: I got to go peddling! Grandfather would weigh out beans and I could count out corn and tomatoes. Then I would take bags of produce around the neighborhood to sell. And I must mention my grandmother’s pickled corn, which was the best in the world. I have her pickling crock and really should try it sometime.
I grew up shucking corn, stringing beans, slicing apples from the tree in my aunt’s backyard, and standing over the sink with a tomato just off the vine in one hand and a shaker of salt in the other, savoring the sun-warmed fruit.
Yesterday, I took my granddaughter and her entourage du jour to the grocery store with me where, among other things, I picked up some ears of corn. “Do you like corn on the cob?” I asked my granddaughter’s friend.
“I’ve never had corn on the cob,” she answered.
These are not youngsters: They’re in their mid-teens. Never had corn on the cob? Unbelievable!
After she’d tried the corn at dinner, I asked her how she liked it. “It tastes weird,” she said. Turns out she’d only had canned corn until then.
In addition to being good, fresh produce is good for you. (Assuming you don’t put a lot of butter on your corn, that is.) It still has all of its vitamins, minerals, and fiber, there’s no gluten, and it isn’t swimming in sodium. No chemicals, either. Can you even pronounce some of the ingredients in canned food? (I didn’t think so.) Fresh fruit hasn’t been cooked to death and packed in sugar-water. I’ve never understood hospitals giving canned fruit to their patients. Aren’t they supposed to be promoting health?
If you have your own garden, it gets even better: Gardening can be some pretty good exercise as you bend, stretch, and work up a sweat digging, planting, and weeding. The activity also helps keep your blood glucose down. You can also grab some green tomatoes to fry anytime you like, without having to wait for the store to carry them. (Yes, I’m southern.)
There is a small garden plot in my back yard. I have to confess, however, that it hasn’t been planted this year. With my Achilles tendon situation, I was physically unable and my husband was busy with work and me. But there is a farmer’s market, my neighborhood grocery store sells produce from area farmers, and my neighbor planted about 20 tomato plants. I#x2019;m sure she’ll have one or two extra for me. There are also some co-ops in town where you get a box of fresh produce every week as it ripens. This is not a good year for me to do that, either, but I’m looking forward to participating next summer.
If I didn’t have room for a garden, I could go to the community garden that’s run by a local university. It rents garden plots to people who otherwise would be unable to grow their own food. The plots are on land the university owns but hasn’t developed yet. Many years ago, before my husband and I were married, we participated in a community garden with plots in an as-yet-unused area of the city cemetery.
I do also eat canned food, and have been known to make soup that includes canned corn, as well as mixed vegetables from a can. Sometimes it’s just easier, but I still prefer the fresh stuff.
Besides, leftover fresh green beans are great for breakfast.


Crop-livestock systems protect soil quality and result in higher rice yieldsSiobhan Treacy | April 10, 2020
According to the American Society of Agronomy, worldwide flooded rice cultivation degrades soil quality, reducing the amount of rice that is grown and ultimately requiring the increased use of fertilizers. Yet, researchers determined that integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS) are an alternative to fertilizers due to their increased rice nutrient efficiency and yield and lower soil contamination.
As such, the team evaluated the impact of no-till methods and ICLS adoption on soil fertility, flooded rice nutrition and overall rice yield.
The team found that if ICLS is integrated into farming, flooded rice yields more grain with less fertilizer. Rice yield under ICLS does not respond to P and K fertilization, which suggests that ICLS supplies important nutrients to plants that would otherwise come from fertilizer.
The team also found that ICLS has higher nutrient use efficiency than fertilizer methods. It also yields a higher amount of grain with the same amount of nutrient uptake, according to researchers.
Further studies are needed on nutrient cycling under conservation management systems to create new standards of fertilization. Focusing on conservation management systems in rice cultivation allow for the creation of more efficient systems that would enable nutrient use with less dependence on fertilizer.
The study was published in the Agronomy Journal.


Synopsis As Introduced Amends the Illinois Fertilizer Act of 1961. Makes changes to the definitions. Provides for labeling requirements for fertilizers or custom blends. Provides that it shall be unlawful for misbranding or for the adulteration of a fertilizer within the State. Provides that the Director of the Department of Agriculture may refuse to register a fertilizer or cancel or suspend a fertilizer registration, custom blend, or fertilizer if certain specified claims are made. Permits the Director to issue and serve a written stop sale, stop use, or regulate removal upon an owner, operator, manager, or agent in charge of fertilizer. Creates the Nutrient Research and Education Council (NREC) for the purpose of pursuing nutrient research and providing educational programs to ensure the adoption and implementation of practices that optimize nutrient use efficiency, ensure soil fertility, and address environmental concerns with regard to fertilizer use. Provides that the Department has the authority to issue subpoenas, temporary restraining orders, preliminary or permanent injunctions against any person from violating or continuing to violate any provision of the Act. Provides for penalties based on type of violation. Repeals a provision concerning fund appropriations and seizure, condemnation, and sale of fertilizers. Makes other corresponding changes. Effective immediately.


Keep my garden growing
July 21, 2008 7:28 AM Subscribe
Where can I get quality seeds on line? Looking specifically for beets and chick peas (trying out mid-summer planting, why not). I have a broken ankle so I can't get to the garden store and they have garbage seeds anyway. Thanks!


Agro processing industries
BIS has on its record over Indian Standards related to food- Strengths grains and their products, bakery and confectionery items, sugar, edible starches and their products, 1. Loss of trained manpower to other industries and d Infrastructure in the production catchments selected other professions due to better working conditions for agro-industrial development should be improved.
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Food processing industry
As stated earlier, inspite and production of dyes, chemicals and pharmaceutical of the problems, agro-processing technology in India has products. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iim:iimawp:wp Pratik R ButtePatil. It is also estimated that the extent of by-products and recycling of wastes. As in other fields, computer technology is also a central force, with computer networks and specialized software providing the support infrastructure to allow global movement of the myriad components involved. The yields were very low. India such cases, the industry has also not been able to holds a major share for some of these products in develop the demand adequately. V, Rahuri. Production of Bikaneri processors, traders as well as national economy will Bhujia for export and frozen Idli for domestic markets benefit. The packaging of bi-products e. Major problems faced dyes and pharmaceutical products. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science.
Inadequate attention machinery was brought from England for demonstration to the agro-processing sector in the past put both the and adoption.
Centre for identified and medium term research and development Development of Agricultural Mechanization. Check below whether another version of this item is available online. Ibid, a.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. Containers are Opportunities as important as the contents, as these may impart toxicelements to the food products and could pose 1.
Agro processing industry in india ppt
Ancient Indian scriptures Denison to the government of Madras state for laying contain vivid account of the post harvest and processing greater stress on agriculture and agro processing Royal practices for preservation and processing of agricultural Commission, The Royal Commission on Agriculture setup by 3. Need for Further Research. Services The following are a few of the main services provided by the Unit: The production of enriched, flavoured, banana porridge, to be distributed to targeted schools for their School Feeding Program. Similarly, long life chapatti and parotha technology developed at DFRL, 9. Competition from global players 2. Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, fibre, and land reclamation. Opening of global markets may lead to export of our c Emphasis should be put on the establishment of new developed technologies and facilitate generation of agro-industrial plants in the production catchments to additional income and employment opportunities.
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Livestock Program Manager
If you’re a goat or sheep farmer – you’re probably familiar with Haemonchus contortus (barber’s pole worm) – a worm responsible for the biggest disease problem of small ruminants. When not adequately controlled this worm may cause death. Unfortunaly, due to the misuse and overuse of dewormers over many years, resistance to dewormers is a huge problem that threatens the viability of sheep and goat farming.
The FAMACHA system was developed to decrease dewormer resistance by selectively deworming only those animals that require treatment – instead of the whole herd. When a farmer selectively deworms, the worm eggs produced by the few resistant worms that survive treatment are greatly diluted by all the eggs produced by the animals that did not receive treatment. In contrast, when all animals in a herd are dewormed, only resistant worms that survive the treatment will produce all the eggs that form the next generation of worms.
Eric and Deb Finch, who raise meat goats near State Center, have implemented the FAMACHA system on their farm. They invited Dr. Paul Plummer, an Iowa State veterinarian and dairy goat farmer, to their field day to give a training to 30 farmers before taking a tour of the farm.
Leaving Home, Flying Home
The tall Pampas
now strips, corners.
Soy in bare fields.
Each year easier to leave
Bobolink’s goodbye Argentina.
Wing beat by wing beat
not knowing, following faith.
Somewhere in Iowa
the tallgrass waves.
Still, for one more generation.
Melody of meadowlark
Beat by tired beat
Home when you can fly
Or the optimism of green?
Color of life.
Inspiration of poets.
Joined, sharing paradise.
Even if briefly, eternally.
Matt Schuiteman, of AJS Farms in Sioux Center, started planting cereal rye in 2006 as a “trap crop” for manure nutrients. He has experimented with grazing it, baling it and growing it for seed. Matt told 65 attendees at his field day on May 30, to get the most direct payback from cover crops, put them through cattle. Matt has a cow/calf herd of 40 Shorthorn cattle and calculated the feed value of the rye to be $281 per acre!
Matt says the feed value of rye balances out the yield hit you may see in corn when planting rye, which could be around 25 bushels per acres. Matt did some quick math – if corn is selling for $4.00 per bushel, your loss would be $100 per acre. In this scenario, the forage value of the cover crop still puts you $181 per acre ahead.
Continue reading for more information, photos and an Iowa State University factsheet on cereal rye forage. Below you’ll find our first-ever video recap of a field day!
The Spring 2017 issue of the Practical Farmer, includes an article titled “Forage-Fed Pig Production” highlighting Steve Deibele’s feeding practices. Steve’s a pastured pig and cattle farmer at Golden Bear Farm in Kiel, Wisconsin. He spoke at Practical Farmers’ annual conference last January on raising pigs on a forage heavy diet without the use of corn or soybeans. This blog post accompanies the newsletter article.
Average Daily Gains
“Under controlled conditions in the barn, we get our best growth rates. Pastured hogs have greater exposure to weather conditions than confined hogs which can hinder growth rates. Bad weather can degrade pastured hog comfort, impacting feeding behavior and pasture growth rates. Hot weather, cold weather, and prolonged wet weather reduce pastured hog growth rates,” explained Steve.
Mark and Melissa Schleisman, of M & M Farms near Lake City, hosted 46 people on April 11. The sun was shining, cows were out grazing cover crops and a few newborn calves had just been born in a field of cereal rye.
Mark came back to his family’s farm full time six years ago, after a career with Conagra. M & M Farms is a 2,000 acre diversified family farm that includes corn, soybeans, popcorn, hogs and a cow-calf operation. Cover crops are planted on 1,300 of these acres. Most all of these cover crops are grazed by cows in the fall and spring of each year.
Innovative Cover Cropping
Mark seeds cover crops between August 15 and August 31, using a modified detasseler and a drill. The modified detasseler blows seed into standing corn, and the drill is used to seed covers directly after harvesting popcorn. Mark also custom seeds cover crops for producers in his area and said that in recent years, his business has doubled every year.
Mark’s cover crop mix includes either cereal rye and/or triticale as the base species, then blends in Jackhammer radish, Purple Top turnip, or Dwarf Essex rape depending on the field. He drills radish after harvesting popcorn seed with the goal of breaking up compaction caused by detasseling. Rapeseed is planted in field corn because it does better with less sunlight than the other cover crop species.
If planning on planting only cereal rye, with the goal to graze it, Mark recommends seeding at 120 pounds per acre. Mark has received EQIP cost-share for the last ten years to help pay for his cover crops and told attendees to look into seeding rates and dates in order to receive cost-share assistance from your local NRCS office. In order to continue receiving cost-share, Mark had to continue adding cover crop species, which ultimately led him to use the blends he’s currently planting.
On March 30, a group of farmers got together to learn about grazing cover crops and the value cattle bring to crop fields. Bruce Carney, a cattle grazier who produces grass-fed beef, and Rick Kimberley, a row-crop farmer, are neighbors who live outside Maxwell, IA. They’ve worked out an agreement for Bruce to graze cover crops on Rick’s fields, and both farmers are reaping the benefits.
Bruce and Rick are collecting data for an on-farm research project demonstrating the economic and soil health benefits of grazing cover crops. Practical Farmers is working with The Pasture Project to measure below-ground benefits of cover crops and animal impact. Attendees gathered in a field that had been aerial seeded with a six-species mix in September 2016. The mix included cereal rye, spring forage barley, hairy vetch, mustard, turnip and red clover. Six species were seeded in hopes to maximize soil health benefits.
At the time of the field day in late March, the rye had come back, but the cattle were not grazing yet because Bruce didn’t think it was tall enough. He turned his cattle out on April 12, when the rye was 10 inches tall. “The rye is now growing faster than the cattle are eating it. Right now only my grass-finishers are out grazing it, but I’m going to put my cows and calves on it too, since there’s so much re-growth,” explained Bruce.
Practical Farmers’ Cover Crop Caravan spring field day series kicked off on March 28th at Glenwood Century Farm near Albion. 29 attendees came to hear Wade Dooley, an integrated crop, livestock and vegetable farmer who’s been planting cover crops since 1997. About ten years later, Wade started taking advantage of those cover crops with his beef herd.
2008 was an extremely wet year and Wade’s cows were calving in mud. He lost 20% of his calves that year. From then on, Wade decided to strictly calve on fields of green cereal rye and has never looked back. Cow-calf pairs happily graze the fresh forage too, in early spring, when Wade’s permanent pastures haven’t grown enough to allow for grazing.
During the field day, Wade shared his cover crop planting and grazing experiences, then we headed to a cover crop field to test out some soil health tools.
Are you grazing cover crops this spring, or plan to in the fall? If so, it’s important to check and see if your corn or bean herbicides have grazing restrictions. Some common herbicides do not allow for grazing of cover crops or crop residue.
If you’re grazing covers this spring, look back at what herbicides you applied to those fields in 2016. If you’re planning on planting and grazing covers in crop fields in the late summer, plan your upcoming herbicide application appropriately. Before you spray, read labels to ensure it’s safe to use your cover crops (and your crop residue) as livestock feed.
Goats are becoming increasingly popular for managing unwanted vegetation because they provide a ‘green’ alternative to pesticides while benefitting the animals and land. This project evaluated the use of goats to control invasive species, such as honeysuckle and multiflora rose, and invigorate native savanna growth. A research plot was established for comparing the effectiveness of goats – goats browsed certain areas and were not allowed to browse in others.
Penny Perkins, an ecologist specializing in land rehabilitation, conducted this project in 52 acres of timber near Ogden, IA. “Goats can be a viable, practical, and affordable tool to maintain timber stands; a tool that landowners should take advantage of,” stated Penny.
Read the full report here: Using Goats to Control Invasive Species
Grassland bird populations in Iowa have been in decline, but studies have shown that conservation of birds can be facilitated in landscapes by introducing grazing disturbances at appropriate stocking densities. Bird species that have been threatened, such as the bobolink, dickcissel, grasshopper sparrow, Henslow’s sparrow, and the eastern bluebird, nest in grasslands, which can be provided by rotationally grazed pastures.
For the last several years, Bruce Carney, a cattle grazier in Maxwell, has been observing diverse bird populations in his pastures. Bruce lives a quarter of a mile away from Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt, a wetland and prairie conservation area, and wondered if his pasture provide adequate bird habitat, similar to that at Chichaqua. “I started seeing bobolinks in my pastures and was curious why they are coming to my 300 acres when there are 10,000 acres of wildlife conservation down the road,” said Bruce. The objectives of this research project were to determine if properly managed pasture could replicate the bird habitat of a restored prairie and how pasture with perennial plus annual plant species effects bird populations.
You can read the full report here: Monitoring Birds in Rotationally Grazed Pasture


Organic fibers are grown using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment. Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and genetic engineering. Organic animal-based fibers must be produced in accordance with standards for organic livestock production. Livestock feed and forage must be certified organic, and the use of synthetic hormones and antibiotics is prohibited. Third-party certification organisations verify that organic producers use only methods and materials allowed in organic production.


Plant Sciences/Arabidopsis root development
This Article is a draft, you can participate to expand it and clean it up.
- summarize interest of Arabidopsis root for biology
- fill the sections more consistently
Here is a temporary plan about what this review will talk about:
- Overview of the Arabidopsis seedling
- Overview of the root
- Developmental zones
- Structure of the root meristem
- Cell initials
- Primary vs lateral roots (embryonic vs post-embryonic origin)
- Hormones in the Arabidopsis seedling root
- Biotic and abiotic factors affecting root development
Plant roots are responsible for nutrient and water uptake and provide physical support to the plant. Most of the root system is made of lateral roots that originate postembryonically. Lateral root development is controlled by different factors including nutrient concentration in the plant and the soil (Lopez-Bucio et al., 2003; Malamy, 2005, for a review). This plasticity allows adaptation of the root system to the soil, a very heterogeneous and changing environment, and is consequently very important for the survival of the plant (Grime et al., 1986; Hodge, 2004). The root of the model plant Arabidopsis_thaliana is a very useful tool for investigating the basis of plant development.The Arabidopsis root has a simple structure and the root meristem is an excellent system in which to study stem cell biology.
The Root Apical Meristem (RAM)Edit
Primary root growth occurs at the root apical meristem (RAM). Unlike the SAM, the RAM produces cells in two directions. The RAM produces a cap of tissue called the root cap, which covers the distal tip of roots. The root cap protects the root tip as it grows through the soil. 1999). The RC perceives and processes many environmental stimuli, and mediates the direction of root growth accordingly. Gravity (gravitropism), light (phototropism), obstacles (thigmotropism), gradients of temperature (thermotropism), humidity (hydrotropism), ions and other chemicals (chemotropism) are all examples of environmental stimuli that are perceived and processed by the cap (Hasenstein & Evans 1988; Ishikawa & Evans 1990; Okada & Shimura 1990; Fortin & Poff 1991; Takahashi 1997;Eapenet al. 2003).
Cells are continuously sloughed off the outer surface of the root cap. The RAM also produces cells proximally that contribute to the root proper, but unlike the SAM, the RAM produces no lateral appendages.
The root meristem is a largely invariant structure made up of few tissue types that undergo predictable divisions and do not produce lateral structures (Dolan et al., 1993). Primary root tissues are organized in concentric cylinders of epidermis, ground tissue (cortex and endodermis), and stele (pericycle and vasculature) from outside to in. These, in turn, are made up of longitudinal cell files that originate from single cells termed initials Scheres et al., 1994). Initials fulfill the minimal definition of a stem cell by producing two cells in every division: the regenerated initial, and a daughter cell that differentiates progressively upon displacement by further rounds of division. Two terminal tissues, the columella (central) and lateral root cap, are also produced by the activity of initials. Together, initials for all tissue types surround a group of four to seven mitotically less active cells in Arabidopsis thaliana known as the quiescent center (QC). Nearly every animal system relies on local signaling to form a stem cell niche, or microenvironment, that promotes stem cell status (reviewed in Spradling et al., 2001; Fuchs et al., 2004). Laser ablation experiments have shown that this is also the case for the plant root and have identified the QC as the source of a signal that inhibits differentiation of the contacting initials (van den Berg et al., 1997). QC cells position the stem cell niche but also behave as stem cells in their own right. Occasional QC divisions are self-renewing and replenish initials that have been displaced from their position (Kidner et al., 2000). Little is known about the molecular mechanisms that determine the properties of the QC or initial cells. Stem cell fate has been correlated with the position of a local maximum of auxin phytohormone perception in the QC and columella root cap initials (Sabatini et al., 1999). Auxin signaling is necessary for QC initiation in the embryo (Hardtke and Berleth, 1998;Hamann et al., 2002)
In many root meristems, cell files can be traced back to a small group of initials. Often these initials are organized in a tiered arrangement, with each tier giving rise to particular tissues. In radish, tier 1 produces root cap and epidermis, tier 2 cortex and tier 3 vasculature. In maize, tier 1 produces only root cap, tier 2 epidermis and cortex, tier 3 vasculature. Other plants show no tiered arrangement or only a single initial layer. Many lower plants such as ferns have a single large pyramidal cell called the apical cell. The apical cell alternates cleavages along its four faces and is the ultimate source of all cells in the meristem.
The center of the RAM is occupied by a quiescent center which has low mitotic activity. The quiescent center is most apparent in actively growing roots and is lost during dormancy, carbohydrate starvation or root cap removal. This is the same region of the meristem to which cell files trace and was postulated to contain the root initials. Evidence suggests the quiescent center does function as the zone of initials. Colchicine induces polyploidy in any cells undergoing mitosis at the time of treatment. In actively growing roots treated with colchicine, sectors of polyploid cells were transient indicating that no initial cells were dividing at the time of treatment. If the quiescent center is eliminated by removal of the root cap, prior to colchicine treatment, then stable sectors of polyploid cells are produced and persist after re-establishment of the quiescent center. Thus infrequent division of initial cells in the quiescent center is the source of cells for the RAM. More recent cell lineage experiments have used transposon activation of a GUS reporter to mark root cell lineages, leading to the same conclusions.
Surgical manipulations have provided information about RAM organization. Quiescent centers surgically explanted to sterile culture regenerated a meristem and grew as a root. Bisected RAMs formed 2 meristems and roots. These experiments demonstrate the organizing capacity for RAMs. Experiments with maize which has a highly tiered meristem suggest the layered structure is not required for normal function. Portions of the maize RAM were removed by glancing incisions and when the RAM regenerated, the layered arrangement was no longer present on the cut side, but was still apparent on the undamaged side. Although the structural arrangement of cells differed from one side to the other, the meristem still produced a normal root. The layered structure may therefore reflect “status quo” patterns of cell division but not have functional significance in the normal production of root tissues.
Embryonic origin of the RAMEdit
The RAM contains the only cells in the plant embryo that are derived from the suspensor rather than the embryo proper. Part of the RAM is derived from the embryo proper but the quiescent center and columella initials (see below) are derived from the very last cell of the suspensor, called the hypophesis.
The Arabidopsis root has a simple structure. There are an unusually small number of tissue and cell types in the Arabidopsis root. It possesses a single layer of cells within its epidermal, cortical, endodermal, and pericycle tissues, as well as a simple set of cells in its vascular tissue. In addition, the number of cells within each layer is fairly constant. For example, the Arabidopsis primary root always possesses eight files of cortex cells, eight files of root-hair cells, and approximately 10-14 files of non-hair cells in the epidermis. Furthermore, the developmental origin of each of the tissue types within the root meristem has been defined.
The Arabidopsis root is a highly ordered affair, consisting of concentric cylinders of cells, with new cells being added at the distal root tip . This radial pattern emanates, by a series of stereotyped divisions, from a small group of stem cells which surround four ‘quiescent centre’ cells at the heart of the root meristem (Figure 1). The quiescent centre has very little mitotic activity itself but functions to maintain the stem cell status of adjacent cells. Cells laid down in front of the advancing tip differentiate to form the root cap which protects the quiescent centre and stem cell niche as they push through the soil. In the cells left behind by the growing tip, division eventually gives way to a phase of rapid cell expansion without division which marks the end of the meristematic zone and the beginning of the elongation zone (Figure 1). Elongated cells then begin to differentiate, marked most clearly by the appearence of root hairs . Thus, as well as its radial organisation, the root has a more general proximo-distal pattern of activities.
Arabidopsis roots are extremely small and simple: the radial pattern consists of concentric arrangements of 6 different tissues, each a single cell layer thick. This allows every cell to be traced back to a specific progenitor in the meristem. All cells trace back to a small group of cells called the promeristem (see handout) and the pattern of cell divisions in the promeristem is invariant. Fate mapping showed that the central cells and columnella root cap cells of the embryonic RAM are derived from the basal cell formed by the first zygotic division, while the remainder of the promeristem is derived from the apical cell.
Cell signaling and RAM organizationEdit
Although cell divisions in the arabidopsis RAM typically follow a set pattern, generating relatively invariant cell lineages, laser ablation studies indicate that position rather than lineage is the important factor for determining cell fate (identity). For example, if a cortical initial is ablated, a pericycle cell will invade the voided space, assume the pattern of cell division characteristic of a cortical initial and give rise to cortical and endodermal derivatives. Thus the cell changes fate from pericycle to cortical initial when it’s position is altered.
These studies also demonstrated that the differentiated cells proximal to the RAM influence the fate of cells in the RAM. The cortical/endodermal initial undergoes a transverse division after which the daughter undergoes a periclinal division to give rise to the endodermis and cortex. If three adjacent cortical initial daughter cells were ablated, such that a cortical initial was no longer in contact with any daughter cell, the initial still divided to produce a daughter but now the daughter did not undergo the typical asymmetric periclinal division to generate the cortical and endodermal cell files. Therefore, the more mature, differentiated cells direct the pattern of division and differentiation of the initial cells (van den Berg, 1995).
Two mutants show the same phenotype: endodermis and cortex are replaced by a single cell layer. In the short root mutant the single layer has characteristics of cortex thus shr is required to specify endodermal identity. In contrast, scarecrow has both endodermal and cortical characteristics in the single layer and thus appears to be involved in specifying the cell division that generates the two layers.
The quiescent center regulates the differentiation of neighboring cells. If one or 2 QC cells were ablated, the columnella initials that were no longer in direct contact with a QC cell ceased dividing and underwent differentiation as a columnella cell. Similarly, cortical initial cells that were no longer in direct contact with the a QC cell behaved as cortical daughter cells and underwent an asymmetric division to generate cortical and endodermal cell files. Therefore, direct contact with the QC inhibits the differentiation of initial cells in the RAM (van den Berg, 1997).
A developmental gradient is apparent at the growing tip of roots. This gradient can be subdivided into 3 zones. The apical tip is the meristem or zone of cell division. The next zone proximal to the meristem is the zone of elongation where cell division ceases and there is rapid cell growth by elongation. Then comes the zone of differentiation or specialization, where cells assume their final fate. The zone of differentiation is made obvious by the appearance of root hairs in the epidermis and lignification of the xylem that can be visualised by autofluorescence. The remaining part of the root called mature zone is able to produce lateral roots.
Radial Organization of the RootEdit
The outer layer of cells is the epidermis, next layer is the cortex, followed by the endodermis, pericycle and vasculature. Near the root tip, there is also a layer of lateral root cap cells outside the epidermis. In arabidopsis, each of these tissues corresponds to a single layer of cells.
Hormones and root developmentEdit
Auxin and root developmentEdit
Sites and regulation of auxin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis rootsEdit
Auxin has been shown to be important for many aspects of root development, including initiation and emergence of lateral roots, patterning of the root apical meristem, gravitropism, and root elongation. Auxin biosynthesis occurs in both aerial portions of the plant and in roots; thus, the auxin required for root development could come from either source, or both. To monitor putative internal sites of auxin synthesis in the root, a method for measuring indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis with tissue resolution was developed. We monitored IAA synthesis in 0.5- to 2-mm sections of Arabidopsis thaliana roots and were able to identify an important auxin source in the meristematic region of the primary root tip as well as in the tips of emerged lateral roots. Lower but significant synthesis capacity was observed in tissues upward from the tip, showing that the root contains multiple auxin sources. Root-localized IAA synthesis was diminished in a cyp79B2 cyp79B3 double knockout, suggesting an important role for Trp-dependent IAA synthesis pathways in the root. We present a model for how the primary root is supplied with auxin during early seedling development.
Auxin and RAM organizationEdit
Previous work from the Scheres lab  showed a high level of induction of auxin responsive genes in a tightly focused region just below the quiescent centre, suggesting a point source of auxin. Various experimental manipulations to increase, reduce or move this point were found to bring about concomitant changes in cell fate, consistent with a morphogen-like role for auxin in root tip patterning [3,5].
A GUS reporter for auxin concentration shows a concentration of auxin just at the distal end of the vasculature, just proximal to the RAM. Disruption of this localized accumulation by auxin transport inhibitors, exogenous auxin application or mutations in genes involved with auxin response, disrupts the organization of cell types in the root apex, as visualized by promoter trap cell markers. Thus the proper localization and perception of this auxin maximum are important for organizing the RAM (Sabatini, 1999).
In maize it has been reported that cells of the QC are characterized by their highly oxidized status. Glutathione and ascorbic acid occur predominately in the oxidized forms in the QC. This is contrasted with the status of these redox intermediates in adjacent, rapidly dividing cells in the root meristem, in which the reduced forms of these two species are favored. Using a redox sensitive fluorescent dye it is possible to visualize an overall oxidizing environment in the QC, and make comparisons with the adjacent, rapidly dividing cells in the root meristem. Altering the distribution of auxin and the location of the auxin maximum in the root tip activates the QC, and cells leave G1 and enter mitosis. Commencement of relatively more rapid cell division in the QC is preceded by changes in the overall redox status of the QC, which becomes less oxidizing. (Jiang, et al, 2003)
the PIN network in root developmentEdit
Auxin provide positional information. Cell polarity in the meristem disrupted by Auxin transport inhibitors (TIBA, NPA), vesicular traficking inhibitors such as brefeldin A, or actin inhibitors (cytochelasine ...) See mainly Blilou et al (2005), Friml et al (2002, 2003), Benkova et al (2004)
Local accumulation of the plant growth regulator auxin mediates pattern formation in Arabidopsis roots and influences outgrowth and development of lateral root- and shoot-derived primordia. However, it has remained unclear how auxin can simultaneously regulate patterning and organ outgrowth and how its distribution is stabilized in a primordium-specific manner. Blilou et al (2005) have shown that five PIN genes collectively control auxin distribution to regulate cell division and cell expansion in the primary root. Furthermore, the joint action of these genes has an important role in pattern formation by focusing the auxin maximum and restricting the expression domain of PLETHORA (PLT) genes, major determinants for root stem cell specification. In turn, PLT genes are required for PIN gene transcription to stabilize the auxin maximum at the distal root tip. Their data reveal an interaction network of auxin transport facilitators and root fate determinants that control patterning and growth of the root primordium.
The auxin gradients are established, maintained, modified or even completely reversed by a complex interacting network of auxin transporters distributed throughout the region. Evidence for the dynamic nature of auxin gradients has come from a series of seminal papers, the most recent of which [Blilou et al 2005] demonstrates the existence of a network of active auxin transport that recycles auxin around the root
Auxin and ethylene interactionEdit
Ponce et al (2005) found Auxin and ethylene interactions control mitotic activity of the quiescent centre, root cap size, and pattern of cap cell differentiation in maize.
Cytokinins and root developmentEdit
Gravitropism (Aloni et al 2004), development (Miyawaki et al 2003, Takei et al 2004) nitrate response, control of root meristem activity (Werner et al 2003)
Regulation of the root meristem activity by cytokininsEdit
Cytokinin are essential for cell division, therefore very important for root meristem activity. Produced in root tip (Aloni et al 2004, Miyawaki et al 2004) and vasculature of root mainly. Altough essential for cell proliferation, cytokinin negatively regulate root meristem activity (exogenously supplied cytokinin inhibits root growth, and plant with a lower cytokinin content grow faster as shown by Werner et al (2003) in plant overexpressing cytokinin oxidase (CKX) genes (The CKX proteins degrade irreversibly cytokinin).
Role of cytokinin in the regulation of root gravitropismEdit
The models explaining root gravitropism propose that the growth response of plants to gravity is regulated by asymmetric distribution of auxin (indole-3-acetic acid, IAA). Since cytokinin has a negative regulatory role in root growth, Aloni et al (2004) suspected that it might function as an inhibitor of tropic root elongation during gravity response. Therefore, they examined the free-bioactive-cytokinin-dependent ARR5::GUS expression pattern in root tips of transformants of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh., visualized high cytokinin concentrations in the root cap with specific monoclonal antibodies, and complemented the analyses by external application of cytokinin. Their findings show that mainly the statocytes of the cap produce cytokinin, which may contribute to the regulation of root gravitropism. The homogenous symmetric expression of the cytokinin-responsive promoter in vertical root caps rapidly changed within less than 30 min of gravistimulation into an asymmetrical activation pattern, visualized as a lateral, distinctly stained, concentrated spot on the new lower root side of the cap cells. This asymmetric cytokinin distribution obviously caused initiation of a downward curvature near the root apex during the early rapid phase of gravity response, by inhibiting elongation at the lower side and promoting growth at the upper side of the distal elongation zone closely behind the root cap. Exogenous cytokinin applied to vertical roots induced root bending towards the application site, confirming the suspected inhibitory effect of cytokinin in root gravitropism. Our results suggest that the early root graviresponse is controlled by cytokinin. They conclude that both cytokinin and auxin are key hormones that regulate root gravitropism.
Cytokinin and root response to nutrientsEdit
Cytokinin and nitrate, phosphate nutrition. Regulation of a set of phosphate starvation genes by cytokinins. Increase in cytokinin content in presence of nitrate. Regulation of Some AtIPT genes by nitrate (Miyawaki et al 2004; Takei et al 2004).
From Franco-Zorilla 2005. Cytokinins control key processes during plant growth and development, and cytokinin receptors CYTOKININ RESPONSE 1/WOODEN LEG/ARABIDOPSIS HISTIDINE KINASE 4 (CRE1/WOL/AHK4), AHK2, and AHK3 have been shown to play a crucial role in this control. The involvement of cytokinins in signaling the status of several nutrients, such as sugar, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphate (Pi), has also been highlighted, although the full physiological relevance of this role remains unclear. To gain further insights into this aspect of cytokinin action, we characterized a mutant with reduced sensitivity to cytokinin repression of a Pi starvation-responsive reporter gene and show it corresponds to AHK3. As expected, ahk3 displayed reduced responsiveness to cytokinin in callus proliferation and plant growth assays. In addition, ahk3 showed reduced cytokinin repression of several Pi starvation-responsive genes and increased sucrose sensitivity. These effects of the ahk3 mutation were especially evident in combination with the cre1 mutation, indicating partial functional redundancy between these receptors.We examined the effect of these mutations on Pi-starvation responses and found that the double mutant is not significantly affected in long-distance systemic repression of these responses. Remarkably, we found that expression of many Pi-responsive genes is stimulated by sucrose in shoots and to a lesser extent in roots, and the sugar effect in shoots of Pi-starved plants was particularly enhanced in the cre1 ahk3 double mutant. Altogether, these results indicate the existence of multidirectional cross regulation between cytokinin, sugar, and Pi-starvation signaling, thus underlining the role of cytokinin signaling in nutrient sensing and the relative importance of Pi-starvation signaling in the control of plant metabolism and development.
Auxin and cytokinin have overlapping patterns in the Arabidopsis rootEdit
Both have maximum concentrations in stele of mature root, columella and vascular initials, both relocalised in the lateral rootcap upon gravi-stimulation.
Cell division control in the RAMEdit
Role of the quiescent center and the root cap in the maintenance of cell division and meristem size (Werner et al, 2003; Ponce et al, 2005) The mitotic cells can be visualized using genetic markers such as cyclin B1-GUS or GFP fusion reporters genes. The cyclin B is mostly expressed during the G2/M phase of the cell cycle.
Auxin dependent maintenance of an oxidative state of the quiescent center in maize.
Role of Argonaute in meristem formation. The ARGONAUTE gene family is involved in the regulation of gene expression via the RNAi Silencing Complex (RISC). microRNA (miRNA) are 20-22bp RNAs that direct RISC to target genes (Kidner and Martienssen, 2005).
Transcriptional framework for root patterningEdit
Root hairs are filamentous structures produced by a subset of cells on the root epidermis. The cells producing root hairs are called trichoblast cells whereas cells which don't are called atrichoblast cells They function to increase the surface area of the root, allowing more efficient water and nutrient uptake. The root epidermis consists of elongated cells of 2 cell types: hair cells and hairless cells. Positional cues specify the pattern of root hair development. Arabidopsis roots are particularly well suited for studying cell patterning. The root is small, with a 1 cell layered cortex, and a very regular pattern of cell division in the RAM that allows the lineage of each cell to be known. The cortex consists of an invariant ring of 8 cells. The epidermis consists of a variable number of cells but there is invariably 8 files of root hair cells. Root hairs always form on epidermal cells positioned over the radial cell wall between cortical cells. The control of cell pattern will be considered in more detail in a later lecture.
Root hair cells can be cytologically distinguished by their dense cytoplasms (delayed vacuolation) early in development, near the onset of elongation; thus cell fate has been specified prior to elongation. The root hair first becomes visible as a swelling at the apical end of the elongate epidermal cell. The protuberance then grows into a root hair by tip growth, similar to pollen tubes. It requires a Ca2+ gradient, golgi vesicle transport and vesicle fusion with the plasma membrane.
Root hairs are responsible for nutrient and water uptake and provide physical support to the plant. Most of the root system is made of lateral roots that originate postembryonically. Lateral root development is controlled by different factors including nutrient concentration in the plant and the soil (Lopez-Bucio et al., 2003; Malamy, 2005, for a review). This plasticity allows adaptation of the root system to the soil, a very heterogeneous and changing environment, and is consequently very important for the survival of the plant (Grime et al., 1986; Hodge, 2004).
Like shoot branching, root branching can be either terminal or lateral, with the terminal mode being more common in lower plants and lateral much more common in angiosperms. Terminal branching involves the division of the RAM into 2 with the subsequent production of 2 roots. Lateral branching is different in roots than in shoots. Lateral roots initiate from internal cells of the pericycle. Initiation occurs in the late cell elongation/early cell differentiation zone, in pericycle cells that are partially to fully differentiated. Thus there is no detached meristem. A small group of pericycle cells reorient their axis of polarity to the radial dimension and begin growing and dividing to form a mound of cells. With continued growth and division, the mound of cells becomes organized into a RAM with root cap, while still within the tissues of the main root. Continued growth allows the lateral root to penetrate the endodermis, cortex and epidermis, finally reaching the exterior of the parent root.
Auxin and cytokinins are key factors in determining lateral root initiation. Exogenous auxin induces a extra lateral roots in a dose dependent manner (ie. more auxin, more lateral roots). Conversely, many auxin mutants show a paucity of lateral roots. Environment also influences lateral root development. Lateral roots in nitrogen deficient environments will respond to applied NO3- by elongating. This requires the function of a myb transcription factor called ANR1. Lateral roots of antisense ANR1 plants do not respond to nitrate. This also demonstrates that this is a specific response to the nitrate stimulus and not simply a nutritional response because the antisense plants are otherwise healthy.
In Arabidopsis thaliana, lateral roots originate postembryonically from a small number of differentiated cells situated in the root pericycle in front of xylem poles called pericycle founder cells (Casimiro et al., 2001; Dubrovsky et al., 2001). As they exit from the root meristem area, pericycle cells in front of xylem poles undergo a round of cell cycle but stop in the G2 phase and remain in this state (Beeckman et al., 2001). Later in the development of the root, these cells can undergo a defined program of oriented cell divisions and expansion to form a lateral root primordium (Malamy and Benfey, 1997; Dubrovsky et al., 2001; Casimiro et al., 2003). Unlike primary root formation that occurs during embryogenesis, lateral root formation is easily accessible to observation and experimentation. Moreover, lateral root formation can be initiated by the application of the plant hormone auxin. Nevertheless, molecular mechanisms of root branching are still poorly understood.
Himanen et al (2002) have shown cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor KRP2 plays a significant role in the regulation of lateral root initiation. KRP2 appears to regulate early lateral root initiation by blocking the G1-to-S transition and to be regulated transcriptionally by auxin.
Pericycle cell-cycle marking studies (Beeckman et al., 2001; Himanen et al., 2002) and cell type specific marking (Malamy and Benfey, 1997), each utilizing GUS staining, showed the earliest indications of lateral root initiation. In addition, Malamy and Benfey (1997) produced a cell lineage map of the median longitudinal view of the emerging lateral root primordium (LRP). The relative contribution of different pericycle cell files to the LRP is not clear, however various studies placed the number of LRP founder cells at 6–11 (Casimiro et al., 2003; Dubrovsky et al., 2000; Laskowski et al., 1995). Pericycle cells in longitudinal files in contact with the xylem differentiate as LRP founder cells. Generally, two files of pericycle cells are in direct contact with a xylem file but a minimum of three files of the pericycle are usually involved in LRP formation (Casimiro et al., 2003). Xylem-contacting pericycle cells show the first signs of differentiation as LRP founders but adjacent files also contribute to the LRP. Kurup et al (2005) used a lineage marking system combined with a live-cell outlining marker to demonstrate uneven contribution of the LRP pericycle founder files to the emerging lateral root.
Nodule development is thought to be a modified lateral root development
Nutrient Availability Influences Root DevelopmentEdit
Several soil nutrients can alter root hair development (Reviewed in López-Bucio et al, 2003). Fe or P deficiencies both induce more epidermal cells to differentiate as root hairs, and both induce root hairs to elongate more than normal. These two pathways appear independent. The Fe pathway appears to function through the ethylene and auxin pathways because ethylene and auxin mutants show altered responses to Fe deficiency. P appears to be ethylene and auxin independent. The increased root hairs increases the surface area of roots, increasing their capacity to absorb limited nutrients.
Several nutrients can also alter root architecture by altering lateral root formation or growth, or by altering primary root growth. High nitrate inhibits lateral root elongation if the root system is uniformly exposed. However if only a portion of the root system experiences high nitrate while the rest experiences deficiency, the section with high nitrate will show elongated lateral roots. A MADS box transcription factor, ANR1 is induced by local high nitrate and is required for the root architecture response.
Nitrate supply increase cytokinin content in the root. Takei et al (2004) have shown the adenosine phosphates-isopentenyltransferase AtIPT3 is a key determinant of nitrate-dependent cytokinin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis.
Phosphate deficiency induces the formation of lateral roots and inhibits root elongation. The result is a dense, highly branched root system. This is compounded by the effect on root hairs. In addition, expression of phosphate transporter genes and other physiological changes result in a root system highly adapted for efficient uptake of P. The effects on root growth are brought on by inhibition of the cell cycle and by low auxin concentrations in the root apical meristems.
Sulfate deficiency also increases lateral root density. The NIT3 (nitrilase3) gene is induced and thought to increase auxin synthesis.
Moreover the cytokinin receptor CRE1/WOL/AHK4 has been shown to be involved in the interaction between phosphate-starvation, sugar, and cytokinin signaling in arabidopsis (Franco-Zorilla et al., 2005)
Several lines of evidence suggest the nutrient ions may act directly as signaling molecules. Mutants in nitrate metabolism still show the normal response to Nitrate. Root systems on plants with adequate phosphate show the classic P starvation phenotype in localized areas of deficiency. Thus the changes in root architecture are not secondary effects of altered metabolism, but appear to be primary effects regulated by the ions themselves.
López-Bucio, J., Cruz-Ramirez, A. and Herrera-Estrella, L. (2003) The role of nutrient availability in regulating root architecture. Curr Opin Plant Biol 6: 280-287
Sabatini S, Beis D, Wolkenfelt H, Murfett J, Guilfoyle T, Malamy J, Benfey P, Leyser O, Bechtold N, Weisbeek P, Scheres B (1999) An auxin-dependent distal organizer of pattern and polarity in the Arabidopsis root. Cell 99: 463-72
van den Berg C, Willemsen V, Hage W, Weisbeek P, Scheres B (1995) Cell fate in the Arabidopsis root meristem determined by directional signalling. Nature 378: 62-5.
van den Berg C, Willemsen V, Hendriks G, Weisbeek P, Scheres B (1997) Short-range control of cell differentiation in the Arabidopsis root meristem. Nature 390: 287-9.


When weeding, we try to find signs of diseases or pests and use moss killer if needed. Regular maintenance is the best way to approach your lawn. But the individual approach is the solution for proper Swiss Cottage NW8 lawn mowing. It’s what our professional lawn mowing company will give you on a budget, plus:
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The 4-6 month project mainly aims at evaluation of different water management strategies to increase the yield of local crops important to the Indian small holders. The project offers thesis and/or internship possibility
Increasing yields of tropical crops by sensor-based water management in India
The FAO estimates that 500 million smallholder families produce over 50% of the food to feed the world's population. A large proportion of them live in the zones of the tropical alternating (wet-dry) climate and depend on rain-fed agriculture. During the long dry season, their fields either remain fallow or are prone to crop failure. Targeted irrigation approaches have the potential to enable resource-conserving and ecological production of fresh produce (e.g. vegetables). This can make significant contribution to improve the living conditions of smallholder families along with fulfilling the growing food demands of the increasing world population. The technology of demand driven irrigation scheduling based on soil moisture measurement has so far been used primarily in mechanized agriculture in industrialized countries. This technology offers great potential of application in tropical and sub-tropical regions of developing countries with limited availability of irrigation water.
This project aims at field implementation and evaluation of moisture-sensor based irrigation scheduling together with a pedal pump in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. On the one hand, the project pursues to develop a locally adoptable technology solution for farmers in Odisha, on the other hand, the project will also serve as a concrete field trial to test this technology and to develop a corresponding requirement profile for future applications.
The Project site
The project will be carried out at the "Maa Mati Campus" , which is a government recognised competence and demonstration centre for agroecology located outside Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha state of India. The campus is located 45 minutes from Bhubaneswar and 45 minutes away from the holy city of Puri at the Bay of Bengal.
The field experiment
The 4-6 month project mainly aims at evaluation of different water management strategies to increase the yield of local vegetables species important to the Indian small holders. The experiment will include on-station and on-farm field trials in and around the Maa Mati campus. The student will conduct the actual field trial comparing the improved sensor-based irrigation strategies with prevalent farmers’ practices. Regular scientific back stopping and sufficient hands-on support in the field is available. Ideal start is November 2022.
What’s on Offer?
The project is open to the students in agricultural, environmental, biology and plant sciences.
If this topic interests you, send your application with a short cover letter, CV and certificates to Dr. Navreet Bhullar
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Even people who don’t keep chickens are familiar with the egg song. Everyone knows the “bawk bawk” sound that chickens make! For us chicken keepers, it’s known as the egg song and it truly is music to our ears! But what does the egg song mean? Why do chickens “sing” it?
Many people have no idea that they can grow their own mushrooms… and that it is actually quite easy! Shiitake mushrooms are delicious, healthy, easy to grow, and can be grown in the shade. Mushrooms can be grown in a variety of ways, but growing them on logs is very simple, low maintenance and can […]
It’s fall again! It’s time for the trees to shed their leaves. Many people see autumn leaves as a big nuisance, but we see them as a blessing. There are so many uses for leaves around your yard or homestead. Don’t waste your fall leaves by tossing them out on the curb! Here’s eight ideas […]


Laelay Machew/ Axum Food Hub in Mekelle, Ethiopia, will work on composite flours (teff, moringa) and oil (moringa). The main agricultural activity will be precision harvesting, and processing will consist firstly of smart storage and milling, and second, packaging and labelling.
The activity of precision harvesting will develop, implement, and test smart monitoring and control systems aimed at optimizing and standardizing timing and procedure of harvesting of crops and fruits in order to minimize losses at harvest and preserve the quality of the products. The system will comprise and harmonize the following: remote sensing tools (e.g., drones and weather station, such as AWS, with agro-meteorological sensors), telecommunication at local level (ICTs including IoT), monitoring centre (with data analysis and evaluation technologies), and mobile apps for end users.
For processing, smart storage systems will be developed and tested addressing both the post-harvest and post-processing phases and meeting the needs of individuals and small cooperatives (low-tech solutions); communities, and/or companies that may also require either long – or short – term storage, back-up contingencies, and overflow capacity by effectively optimizing storage parameters. Storage structures will be safe and easy to build locally and for the logistics chain from the producer to the final consumer. In addition, this task will assess the maturity parameters of agricultural products and the resulting storability indices (e.g. colour, firmness, water activity, pH, NIR spectra, sugar, acid and secondary metabolite content). This will prevent possible degradation and reduce food losses and waste.
In the case of milling processes, the aim is twofold. Firstly, these are implemented and tested to produce composite flours that combine food raw materials. For instance, introducing legumes into the complementary diet has the potential to improve childhood growth. Secondly, the work aims to optimize the particle size distribution so as to add value to the final blended flours. These will be formulated together with the SME partners taking care of nutritional and functional aspects to obtain healthy novel food products especially for children.
Bio-based packages that are able to preserve the functional and nutritional properties of the food products, reduce their contamination during storage (and transportation), and increase their marketability and attractiveness will be developed and tested. The availability of environmentally friendly, affordable, and optimal packaging materials, and technologies will be assessed, pre-selected, and tested on a small scale for at least 4 relevant, specific food products. This is done so as to obtain high level quality maintenance during storage at different environmental conditions.
The aim of labelling is to develop food control and traceability systems ensuring novel products quality, safety, authenticity, and identity as well as providing them with the protection and promotion labelling-based patterns. The activity will follow the selected products from their origin and in each phase of their entire process, and implement appropiate standard techniques and procedures of control also for the purpose to obtain – where pertinent – the organic production certification. The control systems and models of full chain traceability will conform to local regulations and the EU labelling schemes for the protection/valorisation of food identity and quality.


There are $14 billion available to help producers who were affected by COVID-19.
Farmers have until mid-December to apply. The President of the North Dakota Farmers Union says producers are struggling to stay afloat this year.
“We can’t fix the marketplace with this built up lack of demand and too much supply, and that’s going to stick with us for a period of time. We simply got to have help to get us through this or the choices get very thin on what farmers and ranchers can do to continue to operate,” said Mark Watne, President of NDFU.
Watne says farmers and ranchers can start applying now.


“feed soil take time to make weedfree and edge it”
…whilst I rarely feed my own soil, I do add plenty of organic matter…home made compost is my fav…I can never made enough of the stuff. Edges are another very good and often overlooked point …sharp and clear edges to your border will help stop nasties creeping in…keep them maintained and your life will be easier and your patch will look more organised, making your neighbours boil over with envy and desire.
@PlantPasssion says “Sow Ammi in the Autumn as they perform better”
…actually…this is something I overheard Claire say on Twitter…so it’s not verbatim but it’s worth a mention….my autumn sown Ammi are always twice the height and bushiness of spring sown ones…though it must be said that spring sown ones will go on later into the season…I myself sow in both the autumn and the spring but that’s just the maverick, rock and roll lifestyle that I choose to adopt.
Sarah Beattie grows flowers among other goodies in her French garden @sarahbeattiegra. Sarah has some VERY wise words!
“buy from Ben! ;-) seriously tho’ fresh seed helps avoid nongermination disappointment Sow some in autumn Some in spring…”
Benjamin Higgledy of @higgledygarden (that’s me that is) says, If sowing direct into the soil in spring…don’t sow too early….if the soil is too cool, your seeds won’t germinate…leave it until at least mid April…beginning of May for those north of the border. Hardy annuals generally produce more flowers that half hardy annuals and are marginally easier to grow”
Lorraine Pullen “Dont plant the rows too closely together as I did at first you just end up with lots of tall stringy plants that blow over easily, less is more 😀”
Thank you Lorraine…I sow or plant up my rows at a foot apart…this works well for me…I can easily reach the middle of the beds from both sides.
Betty Higden “Tip: if you have the room start some Sweet pea seeds off now for early flowers next year. But remember to ‘treat them hard’, as soon as they have germinated put them outside in a cold frame for the winter.”
Quite right…’treat em mean keep em keen!’. I usually sow all of my Sweet Peas in spring but that’s because I forget to start some in Autumn. …I know a chap who sells a BRILLIANT Sweet Pea collection!
Amanda Russell “Keep cutting for more flowers”
Short and sweet from Amanda! Yes…especially hardy annuals…these are flower making machines….some half hardy annuals like Cosmos will also keep producing….plants like Nicotiana, less so. My ‘Seeds To Sow In Autumn’ collection is made up of hardy annuals…it can be sown in spring too….and is swimmingly good value.
Sarah Curtis “Give your self twice as much room as you think you’ll need and the the plants will fill it!”
ha! Yes! …although, equally…don’t bite off more than you can chew…if you can’t keep on top of the weeding the whole exercise may become dispiriting.
Christopher Shepherd “My tip is this….. Make sure you leave enough room to actually get in there and cut them off without trampling through a sea of plants damaging them. Err like I did this year”
…we’ve all been there Christopher…I’ve made some Higgledy ‘Mega beds’ in my time…they are tricky to manage. Here’s a guide to: Preparing beds for a cutting patch.
Teresa Stirling “Don’t plant too close together…and stake/support the bu**ers! :) “
…My plot is pretty sheltered so I don’t need to stake my flowers…but if your patch is in any way exposed it’s worth it. You can stretch pea netting across the bed at a height of about a foot….let the flowers grow through it….
Thank you to all the contributors for their top tips…you are super, smashing, great!


From Washington Post:
World rice production will hit a record high this year, but increasing demand and restrictions on exports will keep prices high, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Monday.
Global prices of staple foods have risen more than 40 percent in the past year, leading to shortages, hoarding and riots in some developing countries. Rice prices have soared 76 percent since December, and world stocks are at their lowest since the early 1980s.
Concepción Calpe, a senior economist at the Rome-based FAO, said that according to preliminary forecasts, world production this year could grow by about 2.3 percent, reaching a record of 666 million tons. "Prices are expected to remain extremely firm, at least until the third quarter of 2008, unless restrictions on exports are eased in the coming months," she said.


Lawmakers delay proposed ban on smokable hemp
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A proposed ban on smokable hemp has North Carolina farmers worried as the state Senate agriculture committee considers legislation that would expand industrial hemp farming, which was originally established as a pilot program in 2015.
Farmers argued at a hearing Thursday that banning smokable hemp would hurt the lucrative hemp industry at a time where many farmers in the traditional tobacco-farming state are struggling due to hurricanes and decreased tobacco prices.
But the State Bureau of Investigation pushed to ban smokable hemp, saying it’s difficult for law enforcement to discern smokable hemp from marijuana.
Lawmakers amended the bill to delay the smokable hemp ban until Dec. 1, 2020, giving them time to figure out how to regulate the fast-growing industry. The committee plans to vote on the bill next week.


PRESS BULLETIN No. 86.
Florida Agrlcullural Experiment Slallon.
COCOANUT MEAL AS A DAIRY FEED.
BY JOHN M. SCOTT.
In recent years the manufacture of cocoanut oil on a large scale from
the dried "meat" of the cocoanut (copra) has given a by-product known as
cocoanut meal. This material has been placed on the markets as a dairy
food. A chemical analysis of the cocoanut meal with which our experi-
ments were conducted indicated that its apparent feeding value was in
excess of half that of cottonseed meal.
CONDITIONS OF THE EXPERIMENT.
Four cows were selected from the dairy herd and divided into two
lots, so that the period of lactation in each lot would be as nearly com-
parable as possible. The feeding time was divided into three equal periods
of twenty-one days each, with seven days preliminary feeding before each
of the three periods, so as to change the feeding gradually. Each lot
received the same amount of bran and shorts; but the cottonseed meal and
cocoanut meal were not fed- in equal, but in equivalent rations, which were
calculated from the results of the chemical analysis.
The experiment proper lasted sixty-three days, during which time the
cows which were fed -with cottonseed meal produced 1,888.5 pounds of
milk, and the cows which received cocoanut meal gave 1,844 pounds of
milk; so that the balance in favor of cottonseed meal was only 44.5 pounds
for the whole period, or an average of a little more than 11 ounces a day.
(One gallon of milk weighs 8.6 pounds.)
From the above results, we find that one pound of cottonseed meal is
nearly equal to two pounds of cocoanut meal for milk production. This
corresponds nearly to the results of the chemical analyses of these two ma-
terials. In other words, our experiments indicate that a unit of protein
from cocoanut meal is very nearly, but not quite, equal to a unit of protein
from cottonseed meal.
In this experiment the total amount of feeds consumed were as follows:
First Test-Cocoanut meal, 453 pounds; bran, 1,008 pounds; shorts,
1,008 pounds. Second Test-Cottonseed meal, 252 pounds; bran, 1,008
pounds; shorts, 1,008 pounds.
March 21, 1908.
One pound of cottonseed meal with the proper amount of bran and
shorts produced 7.49 pounds of milk; while one pound of cocoanut meal
with the corresponding amount of bran and shorts produced only 4.06 pounds
So far as we are able to detect, the cocoanut meal had no bad effects
on the general health or constitutions of the animals. After the first few
feeds the cows all seemed to relish the cocoanut meal, and apparently ate
it as heartily as they did cottonseed meal. .The cows were weighed at
regular intervals, and a comparison shows that they all gained a little in
weight during the period of the experiment.
The test reported here was not conducted during the best season of the
year for the dairy cow. The hot weather of July and August, when ac-
companied by an abundance of flies and mosquitoes, is not conducive to a
good yield of milk. This, no doubt, accounts in part for the low daily
average yield per cow, which was a little less than two gallons. This is
what would be called only a fair yield for a good dairy cow. A good cow
ought to give an average of 2.5 gallons of milk a day.
State papers please copy.