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  • Effect of foliar fertilization on leaf mineral composition, sugar and organic acid contents of sweet cherry
    45-48.
    Views:
    376

    Influence of a three-year-long foliar fertilization on mineral composition of leaf, content of sugars (glucose, fructose, galactose and sucrose) and organic acids (citric, malic and fumaric acid) of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) fruits was studied. The experiment was conducted during 2005-2007 in West Hungary on mature cv. `Germersdorfi 3' grafted on Prunus mahaleb rootstock, planted in 1999. Trees spaced 7 x 5 m, and growing in a calcareous chernozem soil. Trees were foliar-fertilized with potassium (K) as KNO3 and calcium (Ca) as Ca(NO3)2. Potassium spraying was carried out 3 (K1) and 5 (K2) while calcium was applied at 3 (Ca 1), 5 (Ca2) and 6 (Ca3) weeks after full bloom. Beside fruit analysis, complete soil and leaf analysis were done to study the rate of nutrient uptake and its effects on fruit quality. Contents of nutrients of soil and leaf were determined by atomic absorption and spectrophotometric method, while sugars and organic acids in fruit were determined by HPLC. The applied treatments (except K1) had been increasing leaf K significantly compared to the control till ripening. Most of treatments had no significant effect on Ca content of leaf till ripening. From applied treatments only the boron treatments had significant increasing effect on contents of all examined sugars, compared the control. Furthermore, the effect of calcium spraying on the contents of organic acids was significant.

  • Illumination-Independent Reflectance Information Acquirement for Leaf Water Potential Measurement on the Example of Satsuma Mandarin
    75-79.
    Views:
    129

    Mandarin fruit sugar content can be increased when subjecting the satsuma mandarin tree (Citrus unshiu MARC. var. satsuma) to moderate water stress by mulching during the period of active sugar accumulation, thereby fruit quality improvement can be realized. In the frame of the precision agriculture production system, a non-destructive measuring method development became necessary based on remote sensing, field spectroscopy and image analysis, to be able to measure the degree of water stress. Large amount of visual information have been recorded at ground level, in near infrared, red and green channels by a false color digital camcorder designed specially for remote sensing applications. A method have been found to be able to calculate the absolute reflection of mandarin leaf surface by comparing leaf reflectance with known reference target reflectance, thereby established the basis of further studies in this topic. Leaf absolute reflection can be measured reliably, under variable natural illumination at field conditions. Functional correlation can be searched between visual information and leaf water potential measured by PMS pressure chamber.

  • Optimization of sample preparation for determination of antioxidant parameters from one grape berry
    93-97.
    Views:
    224

    Berry quality is an important issue in wineprocessing, however evaluating characteristics in a single berry level is very complex. The Phenolic compound analysis is more challenging because of the limited amount of material and a mixture of skin, pulp and seed. No clear protocol exists for evaluating these compounds from single berries. The aim of our investigation was to develop such a protocol. Single whole grape berries samples were homogenized in 20 replicates by 5 different methods. The most effective method was when berry was placed in a mortar and was crushed with a pestle under liquid nitrogen until seeds were clearly visible. Seeds were then taken from the mortar and crushed between two stainless steel plates with a hammer, and returned to the mortar without residues. Homogenization continued until the sample had a powdery appearance. The homogenized samples were taken for further analysis such as total polyphenols, total anthocyanin contents and total antioxidant capacity. Our results demonstrate that single berries could be processed and that the homogenates were suitable for taking chemically uniform subsamples.

  • Relationship beetwen the phenological features of pear cultivars and the main meteorological parameters in a gene bank with 555 pear
    59-63.
    Views:
    236

    The trees observed are grown at Ujfehert6, Eastern Hungary in a gene bank with 555 pear cultivars. Each of the cultivars was monitored for its dates of: the beginning of bloom, main bloom and the end of bloom and ripe phenophasis separately between I 984 and 2002. We analyzed the statistical features, frequency, distribution of these phenophasis and its' correlation the meteorological variables bet ween the interval. During this period the meteorological database recorded the following variables: daily mean temperature (°C), daily maximum temperature (0C), daily mini m um temperature (0C), daily precipitation (mm), daily hours of bright sunshine, daily means or the differences between the day-time and night-time temperatures (0C). For the analysis of data the cultivars have been grouped according to dates of maturity, blooming period as well as types of the seasons. Groups of maturity dates: summer ripe, autumnal ripening, winter ripe cultivars. Groups of blooming dates: early blooming, intermediate blooming, late blooming cultivars. At all the separated groups we analyzed the relationship between phenophasis and meteorological variables. During the 18 years of observation , the early blooming cultivars started blooming on 10-21 April, those of intermediate bloom date started flowering bet ween 20 April and 3 May, whereas the late blooming group started on 2- 10 May. Among the meteorological variables of the former autumn and winter periods, the winter maxima were the most active factor influencing the start dates of bloom in the subsequent spring. For the research of fruit growing-weather relationships we used simple, well known statistical methods, correlation and regression analysis. We used the SPSS 1 1.0 software for the linear regression fitting and for calculation of dispersions as well. The 1ables made by Excel programme.

  • Epiphytic microbiota of apple in integrated and organic growing
    85-89.
    Views:
    233

    The surface microbial contamination is of great interest in case of fruits, since they are they potential sources of spoilage or foodborne diseases. The aim of this work was to compare the epiphytic microbiota of food safety concern of different apple cultivars as a function of cultivation methods (organic versus integrated), production year and place. Investigating 47 samples it was found that the average microbial contamination of the apple surfaces was within a certain range,, practically independent of cultivar, growing area and year. The frequency distribution of the surface bacterial, mould and yeast counts did not show significant differences between growing technologies or varieties. The principal component analysis the samples ranked the apple samples into seven groups on the basis of their microbial contamination level, and the discriminant analysis proved the goodness of grouping. The grouping was independent from cultivars and growing methods. No foodborne pathogen Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. were found on the surfaces of apples.

  • Evaluation of supercritical plant extracts on volatile and non volatile biologically active lipophil components
    78-83.
    Views:
    159

    Authors dealt more than ten years with the analysis of supercritical extracts. For extraction (SFE) carbon dioxide was used as supercritical solvent. Fractionation of extracts was carried out by releasing the separations pressure at two stages. The extracts were collected as separate samples successively in time.

    The traditional extractions were carried out with steam distillation or by using n-hexane and ethanol in Soxhlet apparatus. For the analysis of volatile compounds GC, GC-MS; of non volatile compounds TLC-densitometry and spectroscopic methods were used.

    The following general characteristics were established comparing the composition of steam distillated oils with that of volatile SFE fractions. The SFE fractions were richer in monoterpene-esters and poorer in alcohols than the essential oils prepared by traditional way (clary sage, lavandel). Regarding the distributi,n of the monoterpene and sesquiterpene compounds, the SFE fractions contained sesquiterpene hydrocarbon in higher percentage than the distillated oils (e.g. 13-caryophyllene in Salvia fruticosa, (3-caryophyllene, y­muurolene, y-cadinene in Ochnum basilicum). Further the proportion of sesquiterpenes increased in SFE fractions collected successively in time.Significant difference was remarkable in respect of the optical rotationability of lovage oil and SFE fraction which was probably caused by the different ratio between the two ligustilid enantiomers. It was verified in some cases that a part of mono- and sesquiterpenes were present originally in a bounded form (glycosides) in plants. Therefore they appeared in essential oil fractions only after previous acidic treatment (Thymus, Origanum species). During the supercritical extraction the azulenogene sesquiterpene lactones did not transform to azulenes (in chamomile, yarrow), but the non volatile SFE fractions of some Asteraceae plant contained sesquiterpene--lacton of unchanged structure in high quantity (e.g. cnicin in blessed thistle, parthenolide in feverfew). Authors obtained also SFE fractions which were rich in triterpenoids and phytosterols (marigold, common dandelion).

     

  • Farm economic analyis of walnut production
    71-74.
    Views:
    256

    In this present study the returning issues and profit conditions of domestic walnut production are investigated. Our objective is to determine the fact that under what conditions our walnut production may be competitive and maintained in an economic way regarding the present economic and market situations. Our analysis was carried out by a deterministic model based on a farm-level data gathering in production enterprises. The total investment cost of an up-to-date walnut orchard is up to 3000 thousands HUF per hectare and turning to
    productivity is expected within 8-10th years. These orchards are able to produce a yield of 3 tons per hectare in the years of productivity in a normal year, thus in case of a medium-good selling prices a profit of 500 thousand HUF per hectare may be realized. As a result at the end of the whole lifetime of the orchard (30th year) an internal rate of return (IRR) of 10 to 12% may be calculated and the return is expected in the 20th to 22nd year, which may be considered as a very late return. Taking the 20 to 25% probability of harmful whether phenomena (frost, drought) into consideration, it may be concluded that in good years a performance reaching a yield of 4 tons per hectare is necessary in the long-run in order to achieve the profitable and sustainable production in an economic way. This is managed to reach in only the most up-todate orchards.

  • Genotyping Hungarian apricot cultivars for self-(in)compatibility by isoelectric focusing and PCR analysis
    69-72.
    Views:
    178

    Self-incompatibility (SI) in flowering plants is a widespread genetic system that promotes out-crossing. In Prunus species the SI is a gametophytic trait, which is controlled by a single multiallelic locus, termed S-locus. S-alleles codify stylar glycoproteins with ribonuclease activity (S-RNases). Our objective was to assess the S-genotype of some Hungarian apricot varieties by isoelectric focusing of stylar RNases as well as by PCR analysis using cherry consensus primers. Consensus primers amplified one or two bands of various sizes. Primers amplifying the 1st intron gained fragments the size of which ranged from 250 to 500 bp; while those amplifying the 2nd intron resulted in fragments of 800-2000 by length. Our data demonstrated that the first intron of the apricot S-RNase gene is shorter than the second one, which coincides with the structure of cherry S-RNase alleles. `Hargrand' (S1S2) and `Harcoe (S1S4) possessed one common S-RNase isoenzyme. Hungarian 'Orias' apricot cultivars showed different bands compared to the previous cultivars, but they shared completely identical patterns confirming that they possess the same S-genotype. 'Bergeron', `Harmat' and 'Korai zamatos' are characterised by an evidently distinct S-RNase pattern. The self-compatible cultivar (`Bergeron') had one allele, which suggests its correspondence to the Sc. Primers for the 2nd intron was unsuccessful in gaining fragments, which indicates that the 2nd intron in the Sc allele is too long to get any amplification. On the basis of our data, identities and differences were revealed in the S-allele constitution of some economically important Hungarian apricot cultivars at protein and DNA levels.

  • Genetic transformation of bean callus via Agrobacterium- mediated DNA transfer
    49-53.
    Views:
    132

    Callus cultures were induced from hypocotyl of young bean seedlings. Callus developed and maintenaned on B5 medium supplemented with 2mg/1 2,4-D and 1 mg/1 kinetin. The results demonstrate that A. tumefacins-mediated transformation is a convenient method to obtain transient gene expression in callus of bean. The results have shown that the bean callus co-cultivated with A. tumefaciens can be transformed to get heibicide Finale (glufosinate-ammonium) resistant GUS positive tissues. Southern blot analysis of transformed calli showed integration of gusA marker gene carried by a binary vector. Transformed calli were selected on herbicide containing media. Data of molecular analysis (Southern blotting) confirmed the insertion of gusA gene in the genome of herbicide resistant calli with bar gene. There are three evidences that calli are stable transformants: (1) herbicide resistance, (2) GUS activity which is indicative since the coding region containing an intron, (3) the results of Southern hybridization technique.

  • Comparative analysis of sweet cherry cultivars on their ecological and biological indicators
    14-33.
    Views:
    180

    Sweet cherries are slightly more demanding than sour cherries. It is grown in warmer areas around the world. The relative ecological values obtained for the varieties obtained by extensive data collection differ slightly from the leading descriptions. Warm and demanding. The woody parts tolerate the cool of the winter quite well, the flower buds are damaged by the spring frosts. Its water demand is medium, in the case of 550 mm of annual rainfall, it adorns well on loose soils with good nutrient supply. Airy ground, neutral soil (pH 5.5-7.5) is optimal, but not suitable for areas with strongly calcareous, stagnant, stagnant groundwater. From the start of ripening, sudden rainfall, stormy winds and birds can cause great damage. Highlighting the world’s leading varieties in the study (Bing, Rainier, Chelan, Van and Burlat) (Iezzoni et al., 1991, Faust & Surányi, 1997) - according to relative ecological and biological values, the most popular cherries are mainly they differed from the other varieties based on TB and KB. Open pollination and with it, the productivity of the varieties exceeded the overall variety average precisely because of the breeding objectives. Certainly, the analysis of historical varieties, the oldest landscape and local varieties based on relative ecological and biological values can help further pomological-ecological research.

  • Determination of chlorophyll content in case of peach leaf curl disease (Taphrina deformans) with spectral analysis
    49-52.
    Views:
    385

    One of the most important conditions of high quality fruit production is the early detection of hytopathologycal infections. The most dangerous disease of peach (Prunus persica) is the Taphrina deformans, which causes serious damages mainly in the years where the weather condition is cool and wet. In this study, healthy and naturally diseased leaves by peach leaf curl were investigated in the laboratory of University of Debrecen, CAAES, Institute of Water and Environmental Management. Both of hyperspectral measurement and the values of spectrophotometer shown the chlorophyll content of diseased leaves were lower than the healthy samples. Based on the experiments the water status of investigated leaves established the infected leaves contained more water in their tissues.

  • RAPD analysis of grapevine hybrids and cultivars
    63-66.
    Views:
    183

    Utilization of the Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique as a molecular marker was tested to investigate the relationships between some representative grapevine cultivars and hybrids established at the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding (CUB), to distinguish clones as well as to characterize various hybrids between species or cultivars and their parents. Vitis vinifera cultivars were easily and successfully distinguished by the RAPD technique and they were grouped according to the traditional taxonomic classification. RAPD patterns of the examined Pinot gris clones proved to be completely identical. Number of generations was reflected by the value of genetic distance of the examined hybrids. Genetic identity of parents and their offsprings was influenced by the selection applied in the process of plant breeding. Parental phenotypic and morphologic characteristics showed high degree of segregation in hybrids, but RAPD analysis revealed that their genetic similarity is considerable. The three Vitis anntrensis clones were properly discriminated from every cultivar and hybrid of Vitis vinifera, i.e. hybrids are much closer to the cultivated grapevine than to V. anzurensis due to the phenotypic selection carried out during the life-cycle of one or two generations.

  • Resistance gene Sw-5 of tomato confers resistance to TCSV in Solanum melongena
    41-47.
    Views:
    155

    Eggplants transformed with Sw-5 gene, regenerated by organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis, were resistant to the Tomato chlorotic spot virus, while wild plants did present systemic infection. TO plants were selfed and the segregation analysis of T1 and T2 generation indicated the existence of one or more insertion sites. Southern blot analysis confirmed one or two independent insertions in T2 plants. Different lesions associated with the insertion number were observed in TI and T2 plants. T2 plants with two copies displayed faster hypersensitive reactions and characteristic necrotic lesions that contrasted with slower responses and necrotic ring lesions in plants with one copy. These results suggest that the Sw-5 confers resistance to tospovirus in transgenic eggplants and that the resistant phenotype depends on the number of transgene copies.

  • Cost and profit analysis of sour cherry production for industrial purposes in Hungary
    75-79.
    Views:
    301

    Our main objective in this present study is to evaluate the profitability and efficiency of sour cherry production by a complex economic analysis of its technological process. We concluded that the per kilogram prime costs range between 80 to 90 HUF/kg in case of sour cherry for industrial purposes. On this basis, it is clear that the 50 to 90 HUF/kg regular selling prices of previous years do not make profitable production possible. Under the present market conditions even considering per hectare average yields of 10 to 15 tons the establishment of sour cherry orchards is not economical, the internal rate of return is below the interests of money-market and the recovery will not be happened even during the whole life-time of the orchard. In this way the domestic enterprises should not only raise the yields but realize technological changes (e.g. mechanic harvesting) in order to decrease the production costs in a significant way and to maintain a profitable sour cherry production. It is expected that the enterprise farming on great land (several ten hectares), being settled for mechanic harvesting (subordinating everything to this), reaching yields of 15 to 20 tons per hectare, producing on high technological and input levels, having specialized knowledge will stay on the sour cherry market far in the future.

  • Pre-scaling up evaluation of banana technology under irrigation conditions in Abergelle District, Wag-himra Zone, Ethiopia
    39-44.
    Views:
    574

    The study was conducted to compare the improved banana technology against the local production technique to enhance demand-driven banana technology up-scaling and diffusion. Data were collected at the field and farmers' levels. Descriptive and inferential statistics, cost-benefit analysis and matrix ranking were employed for analysis. The result revealed that the average yield (38.40 ton ha-1) of improved banana technology had a significant yield advantage (47.24%) over the local practice (p<0.05). Despite the higher cost of production, its net return was by far higher than the local practice. The benefit-cost ratio also displays that 9.49 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) profit per 1.00 ETB investment in an improved technology package. The overall farmers' perceptions were laid under strongly agree and agree categories, and 95% of them believed that the improved banana technology was appropriate for their area and hence accepted with full confidence. The respective organizations working on rural livelihood improvement are therefore advised to up-scale the improved technology for the wider community based on the irrigation potential.

  • Antioxidant, polyphenol and sensory analysis of cherry tomato varieties and landraces
    75-80.
    Views:
    267

    Among vegetables produced both for raw consumption and processing, tomato is one of the most important one in Europe, by production area and by yield as well. In the past years several study dealt with the investigation of the inner content of tomato, with special regards to antioxidant content. In this paper cherry tomato varieties and landraces from conventional and organic production were compared. Besides basic investigations sensory analysis were designed and Antioxidant Capacity (AOC) and Total Phenol Content (TPC) were measured. The aim of the research was to compare varieties and to study the effect of variety and production methods on antioxidant capacity and sensory profiles.

  • International competitive analysis of wine producer small and midsize companies on enterprise resource management
    23-25.
    Views:
    179

    In our research using primary data sources we are searching for satisfactory evidences, that the impressive economical growth of China has a strong impact on Chinese grape and wine production, wine market. However grape cultivation has long tradition in China, modem grape wine and wine production has only started 20 years ago. During my research I have collected the very rare and unreliable information on this theme to make a picture of Chinese grape and wine production. Using primary sources describe the present situation of Chinese grape industry, verify the supposition that the rise of Chinese grape crop land includes the growth of the total size of wine grape plantations. After this verification I make a comparative analysis of Chinese and Hungarian grape cultivation costs, to confirm, that grape and wine producing is a more requital activity in China than in Hungary.

  • Identification of Rabbiteye Blueberry Cultivars (Vaccinium ashei Reade) and Analysis of Genetic Relationships Using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP)
    27-30.
    Views:
    140

    Proper cultivar identification is a requisite for commercial planting and breeding nurseries of cross-pollinated blueberry (Vaccinium ashei Reade) cultivars to insure high crop yields and optimize germplasm maintenance and utilization. Fourteen rabbiteye blueberry cultivars and three non-identified clones were screened with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis with the aim of developing a fast and reliable identification technique. The selective primer pair applied (M-CTG/ E-ACC), which was previously tested, resulted in a large number of reproducible polymorphic fragments for cultivar identification. After comparison of the AFLP fingerprints, the Jaccard similarity indexes were calculated, and an UPGMA dendrogram was constructed. It was revealed that the three non-identified clones belong to the Tifblue' cultivar. Moreover, AFLP technique proved to be a fast, successful and reliable way in rabbiteye blueberry identification.

  • Molecular analysis of strawberry cultivars using RAPD, AP-PCR and STS markers
    24-28.
    Views:
    138

    Seventeen strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) cultivars representing the national list of Hungary, were subjected to RAPD, AP—PCR and STS analysis. Of the 31 decamer and oligomer primers tested 26 primers produced polymorphic patterns. 45 polymorphic fragments were analysed, ranging between 200-2800 by in size. Based on the data, similarity coefficients (Jaccard index and Simple matching coefficient) were calculated, and dendrograms were constructed using the unweighted pair group method of arithmetic averages (UPGMA). The dendrograms only partly reflect the known pedigree data. Specific RAPD markers were identified for cultivars F5, Pocahontas and Rabunda.

  • Farm economic evaluation of elderberry production
    57-60.
    Views:
    273

    In this present study the efficiency as well as the farm economic advantages and disadvantages of elderberry production are examined. Our objective is to determine the fact that under what conditions the elderberry production may be profitable regarding the present economic and market situations. Our analysis was carried out by a simulation model based on a farm-level data gathering in production enterprises. The total investment cost of an up-to-date, elderberry orchard of traditionally cultivated without irrigation is between 1000 to 1700 thousand HUF per one hectare and turning to productivity is expected within 4-5th years. These orchards are able to produce yields of 8,0 to 9,0 tons per one hectare in the average of the productive years, which makes reaching a revenue of 800 to 1000 thousand HUF possible regarding a per kg average selling price of 80 to 110 HUF. By this a net profit of 200 to 400 thousand HUF may be realized in case of a per hectare production cost of 600 to 700 thousand HUF. At the end of the lifetime of the orchard (12-15th year) an internal rate of return of 10 to 4%, an NPV of 1500 to 2000 thousand HUF per one hectare are typical in an average case, and the payback may be expected in the 6th to 8th year. From the farm economic aspect the elderberry may be considered as an extensive sector, which advantages are low capital and labour need, early recovery, good-acceptable profit on capital and cost to profit ratios, but its disadvantage is low per hectare profit comparing to intensive fruit species and orchards. In this way in general farms of capital-extensive and avoiding risks choose elderberry production.

  • New evaluation method to detect physiological stress in fruit trees by airborne hyperspectral image spectroscopy
    37-40.
    Views:
    218

    Nowadays airborne remote sensing data are increasingly used in precision agriculture. The fast space-time dependent localization of stresses in orchards, which allows for a more efficient application of horticultural technologies, could lead to improved sustainable precise management. The disadvantage of the near field multi and hyper spectroscopy is the spot sample taking, which can apply independently only for experimental survey in plantations. The traditional satellite images is optionally suitable for precision investigation because of the low spectral and ground resolution on field condition. The presented airborne hyperspectral image spectroscopy reduces above mentioned disadvantages and at the same time provides newer analyzing possibility to the user. In this paper we demonstrate the conditions of data base collection and some informative examination possibility. The estimating of the board band vegetation indices calculated from reflectance is well known in practice of the biomass stress examinations. In this method the N-dimension spectral data cube enables to calculate numerous special narrow band indexes and to evaluate maps. This paper aims at investigating the applied hyperspectral analysis for fruit tree stress detection. In our study, hyperspectral data were collected by an AISADUAL hyperspectral image spectroscopy system, with high (0,5-1,5 m) ground resolution. The research focused on determining of leaves condition in different fruit plantations in the peach orchard near Siófok. Moreover the spectral reflectance analyses could provide more information about plant condition due to changes in the absorption of incident light in the visible and near infrared range of the spectrum.

  • Prospects of mango fruit powder production at farm level and its utilisation during mango off-season in Ghana
    Views:
    391

    Mango (Mangifera indica) is an important fruit served to customers as fresh-cut fruit, juice, ice cream and yogurts in many fruit juice joints, restaurants and hotels in Ghana. However, the crop’s highly seasonal and perishable nature is a challenge for food processors and farmers. Preservation of the fruit in dry particulate form can serve as a substitute in off-seasons. The study sought to determine mango fruit powder production prospects at the farm level and explore its potential use as a substitute during the off-season. Farmer groups and food enterprises were therefore interviewed. The study showed that Keitt and Kent varieties were the most cultivated varieties because of market demand and high yield. However, an average annual fruit loss of 29.8% at the farm level was observed. Postharvest extension delivery service to farmers is inadequate, and where available, frequency of contact is irregular. A limited number of farmers received training in fruit processing; and few were engaged in transformational value addition activities but were willing to add value through processing into powder. Probit regression analysis showed that a unit increase in training would increase transformational farm level value addition into mango fruit powder by 22.9%. The majority of the food enterprises source fruits within Ghana while 79% experienced mango fruit shortage in the off-seasons. Only a few of the enterprises used mango fruit-based substitutes to serve customers in off-seasons. Probit regression analysis showed that a marginal increase in processors’ use of substitute significantly (p≤0.05) increased willingness to use mango fruit powder as a substitute by 47%. The study has revealed that local production of mango fruit powder could serve as a substitute to fill the seasonal gap in mango supply and also reduce post-harvest losses.

     

  • Investment appraisal of a plantation establishment for intensive apple production
    17-20.
    Views:
    206

    For fruits, establishing intensive apple-orchards requires the highest amount of investment cost, while the returns depend on many factors. Based on farm and bibliography data we appraised an investment in a model in some variations that are the most used in practice (100% owner's capital and 55% owner's capital +45%o subsidies). The profitability of the investment has been analysed using the methods of NPV (Net Present Value) and DPP (Dynamic Payback Period). The essence of our analysis is a sensitivity analysis with the optimistic, pessimistic and realistic combinations of the yield and the market price. Plantation establishment financed by only own (corporate's) sources turns into profitable over 7-10 years in average and favourable cases, but the opposite is the case in unfavourable circumstances. By subsidy of 45% for investments, it is highly possible to return by the fifth or sixth year after the year of establishment, but it can return by the twelfth year even in unfavourable case.

  • Effect of straw and plastic mulches on growth and yield of zero tillage potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in the Coastal Khulna Region of Bangladesh
    23-30.
    Views:
    70

    A randomized complete block design experiment was undertaken at the field laboratory of the Agrotechnology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, from November 2021 to March 2022 to ascertain the impact of various mulch treatments on zero tillage potato cultivation. The experiment employed BARI Alu 78 as the planting material and utilized three replications with five distinct mulch treatments. These mulch treatments were identified as follows: Straw mulch (T1), Mulch film (T2), Black polythene (T3), White polythene (T4), and Blue polythene (T5). The metrics that were recorded included the number of sprouts, plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf width, leaf length, number of tubers, tuber length, tuber breadth, number of defective tubers, weight of defective tubers, and tuber weight. Different mulching techniques significantly influenced the overall crop yield and the underlying factors that influenced the results. The mulch film treatment resulted in the highest yield, with a production of 34.76 tons per hectare, followed by black polythene (28.11 tons per hectare), straw mulch (23.74 tons per hectare), white polythene (20.44 tons per hectare), and blue polythene (18.66 tons per hectare). The economic analysis revealed that mulch film had a high benefit cost ratio along with high input and output. Black polythene came in second place when the benefit cost ratio was compared to that of mulch film and the rest of the three treatments. Combining zero tillage with mulch film or black polythene demonstrates significant potential for becoming a cost-effective practice in the coastal region of Bangladesh.

  • Investment analysis of Hungarian apple-orchard and fruit storage projects
    157-162.
    Views:
    303

    There are profound, long-term changes in world apple production and trade. The former hegemony of Europe in apple production doest not exists any more, among the most important apple exporters the emerging economies have a growing importance. The globalising apple market means new challenges of traditional producers. This is especially true for Hungary, which has been the most important apple exporter in terms of quantity thirty years ago, but now its production hardly covers the domestic demand. A necessary precondition of the modernisation is the re-construction of plantations and the cold-storage system. Analysing the economic effi ciency of apple production and cold storage, it is obvious, that a necessary precondition for the modern, competitive apple production is the availability of cold-storage facilities. Neither the apple-production, nor the cold-storage can not evaluated separately from each other. Under current Hungarian conditions there is a need for active state support for the establishment of cold-storage facilities.