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Promising Leuce poplar clones in sandy ridges between the rivers Danube and Tisza in Hungary: a case study
111-113Views:452An intensive integrated research and development work has been carried out on the improvement of Leuce poplars including primarily the native white poplar (Populus alba L.) and its natural hybrid grey poplar (Populus × canescens). More than 70 percent of the Leuce poplar stands can be found on calcareous sandy sites in the Danube–Tisza region, so they play a significant role in the poplar management of this part of the country. The most important task ahead of Hungarian poplar growers is to improve the quality of poplar stands and plantations based on selecting new clones and cultivars. The growth and yield of four promising Leuce poplar clones was evaluated on a marginal site in central Hungary. The clones ‘H 425-4’ (Populus alba L. × Populus alba L.), and ‘H 758’ (Populus alba L. Mosonmagyaróvár 124) seem to be suitable for wood production, while the ‘H 427-3’ (Populus alba L. × Populus alba L. cv. Bolleana) and ‘H 422-9’ (Populus alba L. × Populus grandidentata (Michx)) clones (with decorative stem form) could be better used for tree lines and ornamental plantations.
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Individual cage housing affects feed intake and induces sex-specific effects on body weight in Japanese quails
137-142Views:560Individual cage housing in poultry production could be a potentially stressful environment for the birds that can alter feed intake, consequently induce negative effects on performance. Previous studies used individual bird-based experiments to extract the detailed molecular, physiological, and fitness outcomes of treatments. Understanding sex-specific effects of isolation on social birds such as Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) may reveal important considerations. To understand this phenomenon, birds were kept in groups of 10 for one week and they were kept in individual cages for another week. Daily feed intake (DFI) was measured each day and body weight was measured at the beginning, middle, and end of group rearing and at the beginning and end of individual rearing. It was found that both males and females showed a reduction DFI in response to individual rearing (p<0.0001). Females consumed on average 29.38% higher amount of feed than males. Additionally, females showed a pronounced reduction in body weight after isolation, while the effect on males was not significant. Similarly, females had on average 17.61% higher body weight than males. The body weight to DFI ratio was higher in males than females. The finding of this research revealed an important implication of isolation and sex differences.
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Investment funding programs on dairy farms in Hajdú-Bihar County
11-16Views:296The dairy farming sector needs constant modernization of its buildings, machines and technology in order to maintain its competitiveness and productivity. For the greater scale investments, these companies try to apply for state funds in addition to their own financial sources. Therefore, the investment support system plays a great role by improving the competitiveness and modernity of these farms. In the last 10 years, 7 funding programs were available for dairy farms. In this research, 25 dairy farms were interviewed in Hajdú-Bihar County. The examined farms cover more than 50% of the milk production in Hajdú-Bihar County. The survey questions focused on the investment funding program use of farms between 2007 and 2017 and renewable energy investments including all programs. The results show how many tenders were submitted, how many were successfully evaluated and completed. All farms had at least two successfully evaluated projects. A correlation was found between completed projects by farm size and completed projects. The connection of the modernity index of dairy farms and the completed projects was also shown.
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Bacteria in the milk of sheep with or without mastitis- mini Review
47-52Views:672From a nutritional point of view, sheep milk is more valuable than cow and goat milk and the interest for sheep milk is increasing in many countries. However, sheep milk is easily contaminated during milking, handling, and transport and it is an ideal medium for bacterial propagation. Consequently, sheep milk spoils quite quickly. The proper, clean handling of milk is not only of sanitarian interest, but it also serves the farmers’ interests, because contaminated milk may not be distributed, and is unsuitable for producing good quality products. Following this technological trend, this review addresses the bacterial composition of sheep milk with and without mastitis. Even though sheep milk contains a lot of bacteria, this review article highlighted total plate count, Enterobacteriaceae, coliform, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter, Salmonella spp. and Streptococcus spp. Mastitis in sheep is a vital cause of mortality, reduction in milk production and early culling. The reported risk factors for mastitis in sheep were age, a case of mastitis, breed, husbandry systems, and location. The main priority should be implementation of programs to minimize human pathogenic bacteria and mastitis in raw ewe milk.
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The effect of dissolved oxygen on common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and basil (Ocimum basilicum) in the aquaponics system
89-96Views:1085Aquaponics is an integrated system that combines fish farming (aquaculture) and hydroponic plant production. The objective of this study was to examine how the level of dissolved oxygen with or without an air pump affects water quality, fish output and plant growth parameters for common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and basil (Ocimum basilicum).
Ebb – and flood aquaponics systems (with automatic syphon) was used. Two treatments were set in this experiment, one of which was the aquaponics system without air pump (unit I), where water of the plant bed was pumped two directions, one falling back to the fish tank oxygenating the water the other was pumped to the hydroponics unit. The other system (unit II) was designed with an air pump.
In the course of the study, water quality parameters, such as oxygen saturation, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC) and nitrite were significantly different (p<0.05). Total basil biomass was higher in unit II. (5367.41 g). The final biomass of common carp were
2829.45 g ± 79.24 and 2980.6 g ± 64.13 g in unit I and unit II respectively. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) showed no significant differences (p>0.05) between the treatments. -
The examination of flesh firmness in different apple varieties
103-107Views:362Of the different physical features of fruits, one important quality feature is flesh hardness. This is an important parameter to be considered when selling fresh apples, for the manufacturing industry and when entering into storage. In our research, we examined 7 apple varieties, in 2016 and 2017, from the establishment of KITE Zrt. in Derecske and the Horticultural Experimentation Site of Pallag (Pallagi Kertészeti Kísérleti Telep). The plantations took place in accordance with intensive apple production. In both years, samples were collected at the time ripening of the given apple variety. Of the examined apple varieties, 5 of them are resistant to scab (Gaia, Isaaq, Modí, Smeralda, Fujion), 1 is not resistant (Golden Reinders) and 1 (Pinova) is moderately susceptible to scab. The scab resistant apple varieties were correlated to the non-resistant Golden Reinders. Flesh firmness was measured with a fruit penetrometer in each of the seven apple varieties. In the first year a two-month storage experiment was carried out, where the flash firmness after harvest, and after one-month and two-month storage was measured. The results were assessed with the help of the IBM SPSS Statistics 20 program. The goal is to compare the apple varieties based on their flesh firmness, in particular with regard to the resistant varieties.
The Isaaq 8.81–8.82 N/cm2 , the Modí 9.18–9.59 N/cm2 and the Fujion 8.66–9.13 N/cm2 , all of which are scab resistant apple varieties, showed a significant initial flesh firmness. During storage, the Pinova apple variety flesh firmness changed the most favourably.
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Study of animal welfare status and heat stress measures applied in dairy cow herds in Hungary
79-82Views:361The following material focuses on dairy production and climate related issues in Hungary. All the data was gathered during PhD
project: Study of animal welfare status in dairy cow herds in Hungary. Relations between animal welfare and climate changes expressed by
increase in temperature are described. Extremely hot weather creates hard conditions for milking cows when animal welfare is highly
compromised. From the preliminary results obtained one might formulate hypothesis that there are still areas on the farms where immediate
actions should be taken to give a relief to cows in hot seasons. There was found significant number of farms with too many animals per one
water trough, dirty water troughs, limited access to water troughs and hazardous surface for cows in critical places where many animals are
gathered. Calves with not sufficient amount of water in hot days and other parts of the year were reported. Silage exposure to the sun and
mouldy food in a silage clump was also found to be an important factor in monitoring impact of warm weather. Half of the farms letting
animals to spend time on the pasture or paddock did not provide shade for animals. Low conception rate of first insemination was predicted
to be influenced by heat stress, what is proved by lack of heat decreasing measures taken on the farms. -
Anaerobe degradation of maize infected by Fusarium graminearum
57-61Views:567Last year intense rainfalls and moisture conditions were beneficial for the Fusarium sp. in Hungary. Fusarium strains decrease cereal quality (for example maize), furthermore may cause yield loss. Due to the toxin production, the fungi have a dangerous animal and human pathogen effect (Placinta et al., 1999).The effects of the Fusarium infection and its mycotoxin production haven’t been perfectly eliminated. Fusariumgraminearum
is the most common agricultural pathogen in Hungary. The utilization of infected maize as an alternative biogas raw material may be an efficient and environmentally friendly disposal method. In this case, Fusarium-, and mycotoxin-content of the maize have to be analyzed as well as the impact of these factors’ on the biogas production process. Our experience was based on the raw material basis of a biogas plant. Different amount of Fusarium free and infected maize grits have been added to the regular raw material mixture. The detection of Fusarium fungi has been analyzed
in experimental digesters throughout the different stages of mesophilic digestion. In the biogas liquid end product the Fusarium was detected by breeding and by microscope. According to our results, the Fusarium sp. was not detectable in the liquid end product after 30 days. -
Agricultural land use and food safety
55-60Views:551The world’s food production needs to be doubled in order to cover the need of the population by 2050 even if it exceeds 9 billion. The output of agriculture is expected to increase by 1.7% every year until 2020 (OECD, FAO 2011) which is a major decrease in comparison with the average 2.6% increase of the previous decade. At the same time, the meat, dairy, sugar and vegetable oil consumption is likely to increase by 2020 to a higher extent than so far. Due to the increasing food prices, the amount of starving people will increase and food consumption will decrease – especially in developing countries – as people will be able to buy less and only cheaper food products. Also, obesity may become a more severe problem and the inequality of the population’s health status could increase.
One of the most important elements of adapting to global climate change is food safety; therefore, it is especially important to breed new biological bases and to introduce production systems which contribute to adapting to changed circumstances.
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Characteristics of Land Use and Plant Production in Transcarpathia
290-294Views:148The character of plant cultivation and animal husbandry in different parts of Transcarpathia, are mostly determined by the location of a given region. Usually, four zones are delineated: 1. lowlands; 2. foothills and volcanic remains zone; 3. inter-mountainous subsidence and deep valley; 4. mountain zone.
In county this zone divides quite visibly. By studying the soil, climatic conditions and plants, it is not difficult to see that the vertical zones play a major role in their characteristics and formations. If we go from lower to higher elevations, we can observe the qualitative difference in the environment and, of course, in the character of agriculture.
Environmental pollution is a global problem of our age. In agriculture, the most important thing is to preserve the ideas of sustainable development, because only these can ensure the protection of production resources, which will ensure the continuous production of agricultural products. Present environmental conditions pose a more problematic challenge to agriculture. -
The effect of season and fertilizer on the LAI, the photosynthesis and the yield of the maize hybrids with different genetic characteristics
27-34Views:369The experiment was carried out in Debrecen, at the Experimental Station of the University of Debrecen Centre of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Crop Production and Applied Ecology. We tested 10 various hybrids with their own genetic characteristics for five different fertilizer doses, in addition to the parcels without fertilization. The three factors of production technology jointly determine the successfully of maize production, but in different measure. The yield and the stability of yield of maize can be increased with hybrid-specific technologies.
In 2004-2005 experiment years the favorable results reached were due to the rainy season. There were significant difference between the productivity of maize hybrids. The N 40, P2O5 25, K2O 30 kg/ha treatment caused the highest increase of yield (3-5 t/ha) compared to the control (parcels without fertilization). The reaction of hybrids to the further fertilizer doses was different. The agro-ecological optimum of NPK fertilization was N 120, P 75, K 90 kg of the most hybrids.
During the experiment, we tested the moisture loss of the five hybrids. The seed moisture content at harvest was higher than in previous years due to the rainy seasons. The seed moisture content of harvest of FAO 200-300 hybrids were about 20%. It changed between 21-24% in the case of hybrids with longer vegetation period (FAO 400), the seed moisture content of Mv Vilma (FAO 510) was 24.21-25.04% in the average of fertilizer treatments. There is an important difference between the moisture loss ability of hybrids which changed 0.2-0.6%/day. The moisture loss of hybrids changed depending on the fertilizer treatment; usually, it was more favorable in the optimal fertilizer dose (N120+PK).
In the case of tested hybrids, we measured the highest LAI and photosynthetic activity at the optimal treatment, N 120, P2O5 75, K2O 90 kg/ha in the respect of efficiency and environmental protection, and the yield was high also for this treatment. There are significant difference between the LAI, the photosynthetic activity and the yield of hybrids, and these values could change depending on the treatment of fertilization. -
The future of apple growing in the Northern Great Plain region
35-38Views:409We revealed and assessed those macroeconomic data which enabled us to identify the outstanding role of agriculture and within it that of fruit production. Based on this, it can be said that soil is the most important natural resource of Hungary. The appropriate combination of the additional resources required for production, labour and assets can provide a comparative advantage for the Northern Great Plain Region.
The Northern Great Plain Region is one of the most underdeveloped regions in Hungary, so its development is a political objective. When analysing the economic sectors in the region, the important role of agriculture is obvious and it is also clear that the industry and the tertiary sector can only have an alternative income generating role in the future also. Therefore, it is important that the regional development funds of Hungary and the European Union are directly or indirectly aimed at improving agricultural development and competitiveness. -
Comparison of Integrated and Conventional Production of Young Nonbearing Apple Orchards
3-5Views:195The large number of pesticide applications in apple orchards creates serious problems with pesticide residues and their side effects on beneficial organisms, the environment and human health. This is the reason behind the search for new systems for apple protection.
The investigations were made in apple orchards of the Institute of Agriculture at Kyustendil, during the period from 1997-1999. Three scab resistant cultivars grafted on rootstocks MM106 were planted in 1996. The orchard was divided into four plots. Two plots were treated as „conventionally” and the other two were treated as „integrated” according to the general principles, rules and standards of integrated apple production.
The key disease during the experimental period was powdery mildew, which can be controlled only with pruning of infected clusters and shoots during the first three years after planting. The key pests in the orchard during the nonbearing period were the green apple aphid and San Jose scale. In the integrated plant protection system, it is possible to reduce the number of insecticide treatments depending on the density of the main pests. -
Soil Fertility Management in Westsik’s Crop Rotation Experiment
34-39Views:218The crop rotation experiment, established by Vilmos Westsik in 1929, is the best known and most remarkable example of continuous production in Hungary. It is still used to study the effects of organic manure treatment, develop models and predict the likely effects of different cropping systems on soil properties and crop yields. Westsik’s crop rotation experiment provides data of immediate value to farmers concerning the applications of fertilisers, green, straw and farmyard manure. The experiment also provides a resource of yield, plant and soil data sets for scientific research into the soil and plant processes which control soil fertility, and into the sustainability of production without environmental deterioration. The maintenance of Westsik’s crop rotation experiment can be used to illustrate the value of long-term field experiments.
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Examination of the interval between litters (IBL) of different genotype HLW sows using survival analysis
13-17Views:561In this study our aim was to find out if there is a difference between the genotypes determined for the previously identified mutations of seven genes of the Hungarian Large White in terms of the time spent in production. We identified the previously determined alleles of the seven genes (BF, EGF, ESR, FSHβ, H2AFZ, LEP, PRLR) related to proliferation that were and performed the survival analysis between breeds indicating the risk of culling and the time spent in production on the given farm. Based on the results of survival analysis by Log-rank test, Breslow (Generalized Wilcoxon) and Tarone-Ware test we concluded that they indicated a significant difference in case of the genes BF (Breslow and Tarone-Ware tests) the EGF (Log-rank and Tarone-Ware tests) and ESR (Log rank test) based on which the curves of the survival of the certain genes varied form one another significantly.
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Determining elements of variety-specific maize production technology
157-161Views:305Our aim was to work out such new maize fertilizer methods and models which can reduce the harmful effects of fertilization, can
maintain the soil fertility and can moderate the yield fluctuation (nowadays 50-60 %).
The soil of our experimental projects was meadow soil. The soil could be characterized by high clay content and pour phosphorus and
medium potassium contents. In the last decade, out of ten years six years were dry and hot in our region. So the importance of crop-rotation
is increasing and we have to strive for using the appropriate crop rotation.
The yields of maize in monoculture crop rotation decreased by 1-3 t ha-1 in each dry year during the experiment (1983, 1990, 1992,
1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2007). The most favourable forecrop of maize was wheat, medium was the biculture crop rotation
and the worst crop rotation was the monoculture.
There is a strong correlation between the sowing time and the yield of maize hybrids, but this interactive effect can be modified by the
amount and distribution of precipitation in the vegetation period. At the early sowing time, the grain moistures were 5-12 % lower compared
to the late sowing time and 4-5 % lower compared to the optimum sowing treatment.
There are great differences among the plant density of different maize hybrids. There are hybrids sensitive to higher plant density and
there are hybrids with wide and narrow optimum plant densities.
The agro-ecological optimum fertilizer dosage of hybrids with a longer season (FAO 400-500) was N 30-40 kg ha-1 higher in favourable
years as compared to early hybrids.
We can summarize our results by saying that we have to use hybrid-specific technologies in maize production. In the future, we have to
increase the level of inputs and have to apply the best appropriate hybrids and with respect to the agroecologial conditions, we can better
utilize the genetic yield potential. -
Examination of the conditions of extreme water balance circumstances (water logging, drought) with environmental information technology tools
79-86Views:539The Carpathian Basin is characterized by varying hydrological extremes, both in space and time. Hungary's natural endowments are more favourable than average, especially for agricultural production, with 5,3 million hectares of land we have which is suitable for agricultural production. These extreme water management are often occur in the same year and mostly in the same region, which may become more frequent in the future, especially in the lowland regions. The negative impacts of extreme water management was influenced by the land use changes in recent years, which has modified the runoff processes of the affected regions.
The aim of the study was to research the formation of inland water and drought circumstances in two sample areas the Great Plain (Szolnok-Túri flat and Nyírség) by geoinformatic tools. During the investigation in the first step we determined that areas which are susceptible to inland water and drought, based on the AGROTOPO database. In addition, land-use categories of characteristics of the sample areas are evaluated according to the Corine Land Cover. Furthermore, after defining characteristic of NDVI values between the period of 2003–2013, we evaluated the effect of drought whether can be detected in crop failures in respective areas.
Based on our results, we concluded that the formation of inland water and drought circumstances can be investigated in a large spatial extension by geoinformatic tools and databases.
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Agricultural biogas plants in Eastern Hungary
79-81Views:272In the scope of the article, agricultural biogas plants which operate within the region have been analysed together with their linked livestock plants. The study attempts to describe the current condition and future opportunities of the sites. It also covers the description of energy production/use efficiency. The study contains the list of factors determining the economic operation of biogas plants. In the course of the analysis, types, amount and quality of energy produced of different raw materials have been determined within the decentralised energy production.
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Biomass production estimation of processing tomato using AquaCrop under different irrigation treatments
131-136Views:506The wiser usage of irrigation water is inevitable in the future. Irrigation has very high input cost; therefore, farmers must carry out irrigation with care. Also, the effect of irrigation on crops has a big role in decision making. Modeling provides a possibility to evaluate this effect. AquaCrop, as a crop production simulation model has great potential in this field. The accuracy of tomato biomass yield prediction of the model was tested in this research. For collecting the necessary data, a field experiment was conducted at Szarvas on processing tomato with different water supplies, such as 100% (I100), 75% (I75), 50% (I50) of potential evapotranspiration and a control with basic water supply (C). The relation of the simulation and actual biomass yields was evaluated during the season. Very good correlation was found between the modelled and the actually harvested data. The data for the control and I100 treatments showed higher correlation than the I75 and I50. The relationship for all of the data was moderately strong. Miscalculations occur mostly when the dry biomass yield reaches
7 t ha-1. The accuracy of the model was evaluated with the use of mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean squared error (RMSE) values. The least error was found in the C treatment, which means 0.34 MAE and 0.45 t ha-1 RMSE. The simulation resulted in higher errors in the I75 and I50 treatments. -
Heat stress of cattle from embryonic phase until culling
11-22Views:728Heat stress becomes a serious problem in the livestock sector as it affects cows' performance negatively. The objective of this paper review is to investigate the effects of heat stress during the different phases of the life cycle of cows; embryos, calves, heifers, and cows. Heat stress during early maternal gestation affects the ability of embryos to develop increasing the risk of abortion and early embryonic death. Heat stress during late maternal gestation affects the performance of calves and heifers later in their life, as it reduces growth performance, conducts physiological changes, impaired immunity, changes the behavior, and reduces the length and intensity of the estrus in heifers with decreasing in milk production in the first lactation. On the level of cows, milk quality and production, meat quality, and the final body weight decrease under hot temperatures. Heat stress decreases the conception rate, alters follicle growth, and estrous symptoms. Hormones secretion and physiological changes because of the heat stress conduct to impair the immunity system, and in oxidative stress and death in some cases. Same as for calves and heifers a change in the behavior of cows was detected in order to decrease their temperature.
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Assessment of Environmental Susceptibility/Vulnerability of Soils
62-74Views:249Soils represent a considerable part of the natural resources of Hungary. Consequently, rational land use and proper soil management – to guarantee normal soil functions – are important elements of sustainable (agricultural) development, having special importance both in the national economy and in environment protection.
The main soil functions in the biosphere are as follows: conditionally renewable natural resource; reactor, transformer and integrator of the combined influences of other natural resources (solar radiation, atmosphere, surface and subsurface waters, biological resources), place of „sphere-interactions”; medium for biomass production, primary food-source of the biosphere; storage of heat, water and plant nutrients; natural filter and detoxication system, which may prevent the deeper geological formations and the subsurface waters from various pollutants; high capacity buffer medium, which may prevent or moderate the unfavourable consequences of various environmental stresses; significant gene-reservoir, an important element of biodiversity.
Society utilizes these functions in different ways (rate, method, efficiency) throughout history, depending on the given natural conditions and socio-economic circumstances. In many cases the character of the particular functions was not properly taken into consideration during the utilization of soil resources, and the misguided management resulted in their over-exploitation, decreasing efficiency of one or more soil functions, and – over a certain limit – serious environmental deterioration.
Soil resources are threatened by the following environmental stresses:
– soil degradation processes;
– extreme moisture regime;
– nutrient stresses (deficiency or toxicity);
– environmental pollution.
Environmental stresses caused by natural factors or human activities represent an increasing ecological threat to the biosphere, as well as a socio-economic risk for sustainable development, including rational land use and soil management.
The stresses are caused by the integrated impacts of various soil properties, which are the results of soil processes (mass and energy regimes, abiotic and biotic transport and transformation and their interactions) under the combined influences of soil forming factors. Consequently, the control of soil processes is a great challenge and the main task of soil science and soil management in sustainable development.
The efficient control of these processes necessitates the following consecutive steps:
• registration of facts and consequences (information on land and soil characteristics, land use, cropping pattern, applied agrotechnics, yields, with their spatial and temporal variability);
• evaluation of potential reasons (definition and quantification of soil processes, analysis of influencing factors and their mechanisms);
• assessment of the theoretical, real, rational and economic possibilities for the control of soil processes (including their risk-assessment and impact analysis);
• elaboration of efficient technologies for the „best” control alternatives (best management practice).
Scientifically based planning and implementation of sustainable land use and rational soil management to ensure desirable soil functions, without any undesirable environmental side-effects, require adequate soil information. In the last years such data were organized into a computer-based GIS soil database in Hungary, giving opportunities for the quantification, analysis, modelling and forecasting of the studied environmental stresses and for the efficient and scientifically based prevention, elimination or reduction of environmental stresses and their unfavourable ecological and economical consequences.
Special attention was paid to the assessment of various soil degradation processes, as: (1) soil erosion by water or wind; (2) soil acidification; (3) salinization and/or alkalization; (4) physical degradation (structure destruction, compaction); (5) extreme moisture regime: drought sensitivity and waterlogging hazard; (6) biological degradation; (7) unfavourable changes in the plant nutrient regime; (8) decrease of natural buffering capacity, (9) soil (and water) pollution.
The actions against undesirable environmental stresses and their unfavourable consequences are important elements of sustainable, efficient, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound crop production and agricultural development. These are joint tasks of the state, decision makers on various levels, the land owners, the land users and – to a certain extent – of each member of the society. -
Comparison of Scab Warning Systems in Integrated Apple Production
53-57Views:301In the present study, the suggestions for infection risk and sprays of the most frequently used PC-based scab warning systems (RIMpro and WELTE) and the conventionally used Mills table as a reference were compared in integrated apple production. The efficacy of the spraying programs based on the three different warning systems was evaluated by assessment of apple scab incidences during primary infection periods.
13 and 11 Mills infection periods were detected in 2000 and 2001, respectively, during primary infection periods (from 15 March until 5 June). Taking into consideration the heaviness of Mills infection periods, 11 and 9 sprays were applied in 2000 and 2001, respectively. The two PC-based scab warning systems detected 1-4 less infection periods and suggested 1-3 less sprayings compared to the numbers of infection periods and sprays according to the Mills table. Our results proved that the 9-11 sprays according to the Mills table could be reduced to 7-9 sprays by RIMpro scab warning systems which did not reduce the efficacy and did not increase the symptoms of leaf and fruit scab significantly. The WELTE scab warning systems detected generally one or two more infection periods and suggested one additional spray compared to RIMpro warnings and sprays. -
Comparison of Pálfai’s drought index and the Normalised Precipitation Index in the North Great Plain region
59-64Views:617Agriculture has always been an important role in economy, food supplies, sustainability of society and creation of job opportunities in Hungary. Our country has resource-related strength of agriculture, because we have more than 4.5 million ha for agricultural production. Agricultural production can be influenced by several factors, including climate, hydrology, soil conditions and antropogenic impacts. Climate determines the quality and quantity of the crop yields. The climate conditions in Hungary are variable and it shows spatial and temporal extremes. As a result of this, drought have become more frequent in our country (2003, 2007, 2009, 2012), which is reflected in the decline in yields as well. In the present study, Pálfai's Drought Index (PAI) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) were compared 2003–2012 in Debrecen. The temperature and precipitation data were calculated from data provided by a local meteorological station to work out PAI, while the SPI-3 index values were downloaded from the database of the European Drought Observatory. This allowed to drought assessment in a local and regional scale. Our study was supplemented with SPI-3, soil moisture anomalies, PAI and yields of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) to evaluating the impact of drought on agriculture.
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Effect of sowing technology on the yield and harvest grain moisture content of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids with different genotypes
17-22Views:278From the aspect of the efficiency of maize production harvest grain moisture content shall be considered beside the amount of harvested grain yield. Hybrids with different genotypes and vegetation period length lose their moisture content different that is affected by row spacing and plant density – among agrotechnical production factors – depending on the given crop year. In the present research work three crop years with different weather conditions were studied (2013, 2014, and 2015). The small-plot field experiment was set up at the Látókép Field Research Centre of the University of Debrecen, Centre for Agricultural Sciences with four replications on a chernozem soil type. The effect of three factors was analysed in the experiment on yield amount and its moisture content. Factors were row spacing (45 and 76 cm), plant density (50, 70 and 90 thousand plants ha-1), while hybrids were of very early (Sarolta: FAO 290), early (DKC 4014: FAO 320, P 9175: FAO 330, P 9494: FAO 390) and medium (SY Afinity: FAO 470) ripening.
In the crop year of 2013 the highest yield was produced – regarding the average of the hybrids – by the application of a row spacing of 45 cm (4.5%, 673 kg ha-1), however there was no significant difference between the yield of the populations of different row spacings. Significant difference (14.9%, 1751 kg ha-1; 6.3%, 583 kg ha-1) could be found in case of yield between different row spacing applications in 2014 and 2015. The effect of insufficiently distributed low amount of precipitation and lasting heat days in 2015 could be revealed in yield amounts and harvest grain yield moisture content results that were lower than in the previous years. In 2015 grain yield moisture content varied between 10.3 and 13.9% in case of a row spacing of 45 cm, while by 76 cm between 11.0 and 13.9%.
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The effect of agrotechnological factors and the cropping season on sweetcorn (Zea Mays L. convar. saccharata Koern.) production in a humid year
146-151Views:204We have examined the effect of three agrotechnological factors (sowing time, fertilization, crop density) and four genotypes on the yield
of sweetcorn on chernozem soil in the Hajdúság region in 2009. The experiment was set up at the Látókép Research Site of the University of
Debrecen. We have included two sowing times (27 April, 26 May), six nutrition levels (control, N30+PK, N60+PK, N90+PK, N120+PK,
N150+PK) and four genotypes (Jumbo, Enterprise, Prelude, Box-R) at two crop density levels (45 thousand ha-1).
In the humid cropyear of 2010 the amount of precipitation exceeded the 30-year average by 184 mm in the cropping season; the average
temperature exceeded the same by 0.8 C on the average of the examined months. The circumstances were most favourable for sweetcorn
production with the first sowing time, thus, this was when the yield of all hybrids was the highest.
With early sowing time, the highest yield (23437 kg ha-1 yield) was obtained with Enterprise at 45 thousand ha-1 crop density level at
N150 + PK nutrition level. The highest yield of the other three hybrids was 22253 kg ha-1 (Jumbo) 22286 kg ha-1 (Box-R) and 1873 kg ha-1
(Prelude). With the second sowing time, the highest yield was obtained with Enterprise again (22237 kg ha-1) at 65 thousand ha-1 crop
density level. With this sowing time the yield of Jumbo, Box-R and Prelude was 20888 kg ha-1, 17796 kg ha-1 and 17401 kg ha-1, respectively.
We found that the highest yield was obtained at the highest nutrition levels (N120 + PK, N150 +PK) with the first sowing time, while the same
was obtained at lower nutrition levels (N90 + PK, N120 + PK) with the second sowing time.