No. 59 (2014)
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Articles
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Application of semen evaluation techniques
5-11Views:232Laboratory methods of semen evaluation are used to select males for artificial insemination. The current review describes several techniques that have been recently used for sperm analysis. Conventional microscopic methods in combination with the objective computerassisted sperm motility and morphology analyzers and flow cytometry, allows to obtain more precise information about the membrane and functional status of spermatozoa. By using several methods to detect motility, viability, acrosomal and capacitation status besides DNA integrity sperm biology and some of the mechanism involved in sperm cry injury can be better understood. The number of possible targets related to sperm quality is increasing, and possible that some of them could enable sperm analysis for predicting freezability and fertility to be improved.
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Renewable energy on animal farms: support system and practical application
13-17Views:165Renewable energy applications were examined in animal farms. The investment support system for animal farms – which has renewable elements – has been summarized through analyzing the legislation and future prospects. The most important in this topic is the Animal Farm Modernization Support, which had several application periods during the 2007–2013 CAP budgets. For analyzing practical application of renewable energies interviews and farm visits have done in Hajdú-Bihar County. The questions covered the general attributes of the farms and the details of the (existing or planned) renewable energy application. In terms of economic analysis saving, the investment return time and the employment effect were examined. The results show wide variety of applied renewable energy application. The investment supports plays great role in renewable energy projects by lowering the return time; and through additional points in application assessing, which is an incentive for farmers to include renewable energy element in their modernization projects.
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Relationship between the change of soil moisture content of different soil layers and maize yield
19-25Views:186The development of chernozem soil water management and its relationship with maize yields was studied in a 30-years long-term field experiment with different crop-rotation systems (mono-, bi- and triculture), in three crop years with different natural precipitation: a drought (2007), a wet (2008) and a dry (2009 one. The relevant soil layer was divided to three sub-layers: (0–60 cm, 61–120 cm, 121–200 cm) in which the development of soil moisture content was investigated during the whole vegetation. From the results it can be stated that change of the water stock of the upper soil layer (0–60 cm) was the most intensive. Both the direct effect of natural precipitation and irrigation could be observed in the most obvious way in it. Yield result of maize and the highest water supply deficit values in the vegetation were compared in our work too. According to the results it was revealed that among the three studied crop rotation systems it was the monoculture, the success of production of which depends the most of water supply. The most favourable crop rotation system was the triculture from both the aspect of the yield of produced crops and the favourable soil properties too.
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The role of some elicitors in inducing chilling stress resistance in apricot fruit
27-32Views:163This study aimed to study the role of 2 mM salicylic acid and 0.2 mM methyl Jasmonic acid in reducing the chilling injuries on two different apricot varieties fruits (Bergarauge and Flavor cot). These treatments were applied for apricot fruit directly after harvest after measuring the zero time data. Then the fruit were stored at 1 oC for three weeks and were examined 7 day periodically, other group of fruit was stored at 1 oC for 15 days then transport to room temperature and examined after 4 and 8 days. The fruit samples were collected at each examination time, and the measurements containing the fruit firmness (Kg cm-2), chilling and decay index, membrane electrolyte leakage, total phenol content and phenylalanine ammonia lyase mechanism (PAL) activity. The results showed that there are no obvious differences between the tested varieties and the differences may back to genetic variations and they took the same trend for most of measurement after treated with SA and MJ. SA and/or MJ treated fruit achieved low percentage of fruit softening in comparison to water treated fruit. At the same time the chilling and decay index showed that the SA and/or MJ reduced the decay or breakdown symptoms in either tested varieties. The treated fruit with those elicitor help the fruit to keep about stable phenol content while water treated fruit lose the phenol content sharply at early storage and this stable level of phenol my because of the ability of those chemical to raise PAL activity in treated fruit.
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In and out of the crisis − Greece
33-36Views:211Facing an unprecedented crisis, both Greece and the international actors have been struggling to facilitate a solution that assures sustainable growth through restructuring the economy and the national accounts. However, enduring solutions cannot be born but through a very thorough understanding of the root causes and the nature of the problem. A country far from fully exhausting her resources is also experiencing increasing tension in the society. Highlighting some key characteristics of the most relevant parties, the factors undermining the society and the real growth potential of the country will be addressed and challenged with key economic principles. This cross-sectional study aims to pave way to a more comprehensive approach to prevent any disagreements or delays that was experienced in late 2013. The findings refer to the assets of the country and identify some basic requirements to boosting the Greek economy. The lessons learned and the growth potential of the country is being discussed in the concluding remarks, pointing to some factors to be considered in the future.
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Evaluation of striptillage and conventional tillage in maize production
37-40Views:172Tillage changes soil properties and the way how the environment affects those properties. Soil properties and environment determine the rate of water movement in liquid and gaseous form into and out of soil. Based on the experimental database of the Institute of Land Utilisation, Regional Development and Technology of the University of Debrecen, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management and the KITE PLC, various cultivation systems were examined with maize (Zea mays L.) as indicator plant in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county. The sample area can be found in the outskirts of Kenderes on a meadow chernozem soil. On the examined plot, strip-tillage, subsoiling and moldboard ploughing were performed, each on 4.5 ha, respectively. The purpose of the present study is to compare these cultivation systems according to the soil- and maize kernel moisture content and to the yield based on the years of 2012 and 2013.
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Phytocoenological researches on the grasslands of the middle and inferior basin of Crişul Negru river
41-45Views:200The meadowlands from the middle and inferior basin of Crisul Negru river form an area with rich flora and vegetation suitable for a complex phytocoenological research and an ecologic and bio-economical study of the floor vegetation.
After conducting a number of 80 phytocoenological surveys on the meadowlands near Apateu and Satu Nou villages (Arad county, Romania), respectively near Cociuba Mare and Mărțihaz villages (Bihor county, Romania) there have been identified a number of fifteen vegetal associations from which one is examined in this work.
The paper presents the hygrophilic association Typhetum latifoliae Lang 1973 on the grasslands of the middle and inferior basin of Crişul Negru river, association classified from the coenotaxonomic point of view in the alliance Phragmition communis Koch 1926, order Phragmitetalia Koch 1926, class Phragmitetea australis R. Tüxen et Preising 1942.
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Analytical overview of dairy industry in the Poltava region, Ukraine
47-51Views:136The author presents essential characteristics of the state and place of Poltava region in it. The study aims at identification and description of latest trends in Ukraine’s and Poltava’s dairy industry. The author stresses an important place of the dairy industry in the agriculture of Ukraine, and particularly in the Poltava region. This article also presents the information of main indicators of dairy industry of Ukraine in the comparison with other countries of the World. It describe sources of forming the main agricultural products and directions of their use for the calendar year, data on per capita consumption of main dairy products in Ukraine and the Poltava Region and per capita average daily consumption of basic micro- and macro elements in foods. The study contains basic indicators which characterize the social and economic state of agriculture in Ukraine and its regions for 1990–2012. There are also the data of gross production and main kinds of dairy products per capita and as well as some indicators of livestock’s productivity and so on.
The goal of the article is to describe the complex evaluation of the achieved level of milk production, consumption of milk and dairy products in Ukraine and the Poltava Region, to show the specifics of the national dairy cattle breeding, identifying the main challenges in it.
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Role of living bacteria and other amendment in early development of maize
53-56Views:126Different bacteria and wood ash, as a possible micro-nutrient, and liming material, was examined in our experiment on the early growth of corn seedlings.
The development of renewing energy resources includes the use of energy grasses and energy forests. The intensive land use in forestry and in agriculture may cause the acidification of soils due to the harvest, or leaching of cations. To maintain the sustainability of soils necessary to maintain it’s the buffer capacity, and pH. Beside the lime the wood ash can is one of the most effective sources to provide the sustainability of intensive land use. The soil born micro organisms play a significant role in the maintenance of soil quality. The bio fertilizer, that contains soil originated bacteria (Azotobacter, and Bacillus sp.), was used in the experiments. The plants release several organic acids by their roots lowering the soil pH, and make more available the sparingly soluble minerals. The amounts of released organic matter depend on stress intensity, as the high pH is. The soil life has a significant role to keep the soil conditions on sustainable level, since there are several similarities in nutrient uptake mechanism between the bacteria and higher plants. Advantageous effects of bio-fertilizer were observed in our experiments.
We came to the conclusion that the use of wood ash is recommended instead of lime for the improvement of acidic soils, on the evidence of its pH increasing effect. The wood ash contains several micronutrients in an optimum composition for forestry and agricultural plants. The solubility of heavy metals is very low; therefore there is no risk to use the wood ash in the agriculture and in the horticulture by our experiments. The retardation of growth at higher ash doses can be explained by the modification effect to the soil pH, as far as the original soil pH was pH 6.8, and when ash was given to the soil, the pH increases to 7.8 pH, that is unfavourable for the uptake of most nutrients.
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Evaluation of sweet sorghum and sudangrass varieties by the viewpoint of bioethanol production
57-61Views:140Bioenergy and biofuels are very important in today’s energy policy. These kinds of energy resources have several advantages against fossil fuels. Environmental protection is a cardinal point of widespreading these technologies but the economic considerations are important as well. In order to improve the rate of the renewable energy in the energy consumption, the European Union settled down a program which determines a minimum ratio of renewable energy in the energy consumption for each member country of the EU. To fulfil the requirements bioenergy and biofuels should be produced. This production procedure needs adequate stocks which are commonly agricultural products.
One of the promising stocks is sorghum. This plant fits for bioethanol production due to its juice content being rich in sugar. In this study six sweet sorghum hybrids, two sudangrass hybrids and a sudangrass variety have been evaluated to determine their theorical ethanol production capacity.
On the score of the results of the year 2009 it can be set that sudangrasses have a lower theorical ethanol capacity than sweet sorghums have. In the case of sweet sorghums 1860.29–2615.47 l ha-1 ethanol yields had been calculated, while the sudangrasses had only 622.96–801.03 l ha-1. After that throughout three years (2011–2013) the sweet sorghum hybrids have been evaluated in order to determine the fluctuations of the ethanol production capacity caused by the impact of the years. As a result 2425.44–4043.6 l ha-1 theorical ethanol capacities have been calculated, which means that sweet sorghums can be an adequate stock to produce bioethanol.pdf172 -
A practical means of setting the scene for evaluating aggregated absorption risk in EU co-funded programmes related to project failure
63-66Views:119The main purpose of the mid-term evaluation of grant programmes is to assess relevance, progress, effectiveness and efficiency. There are several methodologies, tools and techniques applied in various evaluations to assess these programme aspects. An important area of the evaluation of both the financial progress and the effectiveness of the programme is to evaluate the risk of absorption which is indicated by various factors, inter alia risk of supported project failure. If a project fails in any EU co-funded programme in the stage of preparation or implementation, then the fund already committed to that particular project (assumed to have already been absorbed or “spent”) is to be reused again or is to face decommitment (funds have to be paid back to the EU). There are strict EU regulations governing the time scale of this re-use (n+2, n+3 rules), therefore it is of major importance to assess the risk severity (measured as the resultant of the volume of grant at risk and the chance of project failure) and build up an early warning mechanism which indicates if the risk reaches a critical level that requires immediate intervention.
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A simple but powerful tool for the assessment of financial progress in EU co-funded grant programmes – Simple Progress Overview Tool (SPOT)
67-72Views:145Mid-term evaluation of grant programmes always aim to assess the financial progress of the programme. Progress to date assessment is conducted via addressing three issues: by overviewing progress so far, by exploring the reasons behind the current level of progress, and by answering the specific evaluation questions formulated as a result of progress overview. The Simple Progress Overview Tool is a method and a tool facilitating the overview of financial progress, supporting the exploration of reasons behind the current level of progress and enabling the identification of targeted further evaluation questions. The methodology applies the Du Pont approach of division to factors, in which the variable describing a phenomenon is divided into the multiplication of factors (milestone stages of the process) influencing the variable. Also, this division to factors facilitates the identification of reasons behind progress. The factors carry individually meaningful information to the evaluation of progress. This method was used by many EU member states including the Czech Republic, Romania, and Malta for the evaluation of progress in the course of the mid-term evaluation of their National Strategic Reference Frameworks.
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Evaluation of technologies and resources from the spatial and social aspect
73-75Views:233The basic functioning of the world is mostly led by negative trends. One of the fundamental reasons for this phenomenon is that the different technologies (hardware, software, resources) do not act properly and in the proper structure by means of the produced products and services. Therefore, the examination of technologies and resources is a key question of our world and development from various aspects. Technologies convey all positive and negative impacts which can be regarded as the fundamental reasons and causes of harmonious or disharmonious development. For this reason, the role of technologies in development and harmonious functioning is of paramount importance.
As a final conclusion, we established that the different technologies (hardware, software, resources) are interpreted as impact conveyors which predominate by means of products and services in a way that their relation system is determined. By using the thermodynamic interpretation which is the basis of the functioning of the world, we built a system consisting of 14 elements to evaluate different technologies, to interpret its functioning and to develop positive interactions and trends.
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Study of some cooking and eating quality characters on some Egyptian rice genotypes
77-82Views:169Some Egyptian rice genotypes [i.e. Japonica (Sakha 104), Japonica/Indica (Egyptian hybrid1) and Indica (Giza 182)] were investigated to evaluate the cooking and eating quality characters. High significant differences in grain shape were observed among rice genotypes. Hulling, milling and head rice percentage were higher in Sakha 104 than other rice genotypes, while Indica type (Giza 182) recorded the lowest values in milling and physical characters. No significant differences were found in chemical composition of the three genotypes of rice was recorded, but Giza 182 had the highest protein content. All Egyptian rice genotypes were low in gelatinization temperature and soft in gel consistency. Japonica and Indica rice varieties were low in amylase content, while Japonica/Indica rice variety was intermediate. The use of RVA is considered a good index for palatability evaluation for milled rice flour and starch. The Indica and Japonica/Indica types are low in breakdown viscosity, but higher in cooked pasta than Japonica type. Japonica type recorded the best score in panel test, followed by Indica type, while Indica/Japonica rice variety was the least accepted by Egyptian consumer.
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The impacts of spring basal and side dressing on maize yield
83-86Views:200The yield potential of maize is very high. According to Tollenaar (1983), maize yield potential is as high as 25 t ha-1 (absolute dry yield) which is the highest among all cereals. In order to fully utilise this high yield potential, proper nutrient replenishment is of chief importance among all agrotechnical factors.
The aim of research was to examine the effect of nitrogen fertiliser applied as basal and side dressing on maize yield.
The measurements were performed at the Látókép experiment site (47° 33’ N, 21° 26’ E, 111 m asl) of the Centre for Agricultural Sciences of the University of Debrecen on mid-heavy calcareous chernozem soil with deep humus layer in an established experiment in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The trial design was split-split-plot with two replications.
Based on the experiment results, it can be established that the nutrient uptake of maize is greatly dependent on the amount of water store in the soil. From the aspect of the development of the maize plant and water supply, the most determinant factor was the distribution of precipitation over the growing season and not the amount precipitation. This is shown by the fact there was only 276 mm precipitation – which was favourably distributed – in 2012 to increase the availability of nutrients and the main average was the highest in this year (14.394 t ha-1).
Spring basal dressing helped maize development in all three years even on chernozem soil which is well supplied with nutrients. Although the effect of side dressing did not result in any yield increase, it could still contribute to mitigating the stress effects caused by environmental factors. Altogether, nutrient supply adapted to the various development stages of maize can favourably affect the success of maize production.
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Random regression models for genetic evaluation of performance of the Hungarian show-jumping horse population
87-91Views:148The aim of the study was to estimate genetic parameters for show-jumping competition performance using random regression model. Show-jumping competition results collected between 1996 and 2009 were analyzed. The database contained 272 951 starts of 8020 horses. Identity number and gender of the horse, rider, competition date, the level of the competition and placing were recorded in the database. Competition levels were categorized into five groups. Weighted – competition level used – square root transformed placing was used to measure performance of horses. The random regression model included fixed effects for gender, year and place of competition, and random effects for rider, animal and permanent environment.
Later performance of show-jumping horses measured with weighted square root ranks is less influenced by rider and permanent environmental effects than performance at the beginning of a horse’s sporting career. Heritability increased continuously from 6.3 years of age (2296 age in days), values were in the range of 0.07 and 0.37. Higher heritability was found in later ages. Weak genetic and phenotypic correlation was found between the early 4–5–6 years of age and older (7, 8, 8+) age classes. From 8.5 years of age (3132 days old) there were strong genetic and phenotypic correlations between neighboring age groups. For the same age classes moderate and strong genetic and phenotypic correlation was found. Genetic correlation between 13.5 years of age and older horses was very strong.
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Effects of different crop years and sowing date on maize yield
93-96Views:141We carried out the tests in the flood meadow soil formed on the alluvial cone of Nagykereki, Sebes-Körös belonging to the Bihar plane small region. The aim of the study was to analyse the effect of the different sowing date of maize on the yield trend based on a comprehensive study conducted for 6 years (2007–2012).
The sowing date of maize hybrids is a factor that significantly influences yield, however, its effect is not significant in each crop year. In the years when the date of sowing has a modifying effect, the reliable yield level can be reached with optimal sowing date management (24 April).
The advantage of early sowing (10 April) proved to be dominant in the year of 2012, the seeds were placed into the still wet soil therefore shooting was more balanced. Maize seeds sown at the time of optimal (24 April) and late (10 May) sowing dates were placed into the already dry soil, which deteriorated germination and the strength of early initial development that had an effect on the yield.
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Effects of soil cultivation and environmental changes on maize yield
97-100Views:173We evaluated the relationships among soil cultivation and other agrotechnical factors (fertilization, number of plants and hybrid) within the framework of a multifactorial long-term experiment set at the Látókép Experimental Site of the Centre for Agricultural Sciences of the University of Debrecen in mid-heavy chalcareous chernozem soil based on a long-term experiment conducted for a 5-year period (2002–2006).
Based on the evaluation of soil cultivation by the average of treatments, it may be assessed that spring ploughing (8.204 t ha-1) provides more favourable conditions to the stand compared to spring shallow cultivation; however, this did not result in a significant difference. Spring ploughing considerably increased the yield of hybrid FAO 300 in dry years, whereas it considerably increased the yield of hybrid FAO 400 in favourable crop years. A stand of 70 thousand stems/ha provided the higher yield result in both soil cultivation types. It was sufficient to use a fertilizer dose of 120 kg N ha-1 for economical production.
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Renewable energy strategy in Hungary
101-104Views:147The price of energy determinates our daily life. It is very necessary that we make energy strategy such as effective in everyday life, furthermore appoint a predictable development path. In these energy strategies the renewable energy and the energy efficiency is highlighted. This article describes about relevant pledges from recent years and possible improvements.
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