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The examination of relation between the C/N ratio and the biogas yields in the Regional Biogas Plant of Nyírbátor
63-68Views:232The Regional Biogas Plant of Nyírbátor was built by the Bátortrade Ltd. The biogas plant contains 6 mezophil and 6 thermophil fermentation tanks, because the biogas production is based on mixed compositions. The regional plant is a multifunctional system. It produces agricultural products and biogas with high methane content. The utilization of biogas is also accomplished here; gas-engines transform it to electricity and
heat-energy. The product electricity is used by the local plants, the surplus is sold.
The aim of the research is the examination of the quality and quantity of the input materials that put into the mixers and follow the seasonal, periodical and optional changes of the input materials. The analyzation of the quality and quantity data can give an answer to the optional changes of biogas production because the input materials determine the composition of the examined recipe. The C/N ratio was between 11-13, the maximal value of the biogas yield was observed by 12.35 C/N ratio. -
Analyzing the Efficiency of Dairy Farms by Using the Method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)
17-21Views:267In Hungary the dairy sector is in a long-term critical period, the stock has been in constant decline. The consumption of milk and dairy products in Hungary is slightly rising compared to the world tendency, and it is fallen behind the level in 1990. The milk consumption per capita in 2006 was with 75 liters less than the EU-15 average. Dairy enterprise is a very risky activity: the profitability of the enterprise is affected by the fluctuation of feed and animal health products prices from the side of inputs, and by the fluctuation of end-product prices. Under these circumstances it is vital for the
cattle breeders, in order to survive, to harness the reserves in the breeding as effectively as possible. In our research we made a multi-faceted efficiency analysis of an agricultural holding’s three dairy farms. The chosen method for the analysis was Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The
selection of the method is justified by the fact that there is not such a reliable database by which we could define production functions, and that DEA makes possible to manage several inputs and outputs, i.e. multiple decision problems, simultaneously. By using DEA the sources that causes shortfalls can be identified, analyzed and quantified on farms that does not operate efficiently, thus it can help the corporate decision support successfully. In the model inputs are the cost data per one liter milk – feed, medicinal product use, logistic costs -, and the main parameters
concerning the keeping and rearing. Outputs are indicators concerning milk production, milk quality and others. We prepared the model in MS Excel, the linear programming model series were programmed by Visual Basic. After solving the model, in light of the shadow prices we can determine why either of the farms is not efficient. -
Conceptions regarding sustainable agriculture – the national sustainable development strategy
42-51Views:168The task of the national sustainable development strategy is to provide a long term conception for the economy and society, so that this might function and develop in harmony with the environment. Creating the conditions for sustainable agricultural production requires the elaboration and implementation of long-term programs spanning generations. The objective is to find a compromise between the conceptions appearing in the long-term and the short-term programs.
In Hungary, several principles, conceptions and proposals have been suggested regarding sustainable agriculture. In the present study, I intend to systematize the above mentioned principles and conceptions, and compare them to the conceptions regarding agriculture in the national strategies of the EU member states. Furthermore, I examine to what extent the agricultural policy of the European Union supports the conceptions regarding agriculture in the strategies. This topic deserves special attention, as the Hungarian national sustainable development strategy is being prepared and is supposed to be finished by the end of 2005. -
Survival analysis of sow longevity and lifetime reproductive performance – Review
75-80Views:545Sow longevity plays an important role in economically efficient piglet production. Improving sow longevity results increase in the productivity and profitability of a sow herd. Longevity is a complex trait with many factors that can contribute to a sow having a long and productive life. Not only the sow’s genetics, but also nutrition, environment and the management policies are important. In addition, the removal of non-productive sows along with the introduction of replacement gilts is an essential part of maintaining herd productivity at a constantly high level. The objective of this paper was to summarize the current knowledge about the sow longevity and lifetime performance values, as well as, discusses the survival analysis methods for sow longevity traits. This method can estimate the hazard rate indicating proportional risk of sows being culled at any given time, in addition, it is able to investigate the effects of different factors on longevity. Identifying factors that influence the longevity could assist many commercial pig producers in becoming more efficient.
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Complexity of ecosystem services in agricultural fields, in particular the biodiversity
43-51Views:207Since the Convention on Biological Diversity a lot of papers have been published how to measure and value biodiversity. In the last decades publications on agro-ecosystems become more frequent and play a significant role in the provision of ecosystem services. There is a uniform definition for biodiversity in general, however, in terms of agro-ecosystems and their services (including biodiversity) many weaknesses can be identified. The objective of this paper is to explore some of these problems with special regard to different definitions and terms and to the farmland ecosystem services. One solution could be to adopt a more complex system which has some ecological and environmental components (air, water and soil pollution) and also takes in to consideration the efficiency of agricultural production.
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Optimal age of breeding gilts and its impact on lifetime performance
15-20Views:799Age at first breeding and lifetime reproductive performance was analyzed on 17,558 F1 Landrace x Yorkshire gilts from 9 piglet producing herds of Midwest, United States entered in herds between 1st Jan 2014 and 31st July 2016. At the time of data collection Dec 2018, 15% of the sows were still active in the herds hence excluded from the analysis. Individual gilt data included date of birth, age in days at first mating, piglet total born by parity, lifetime piglet total born and reason for culling. Quality data checks were done before analysis to eliminate all outlier values together with sows that had no entry information for any listed category. The total database of the sows was classified into 6 classes according to age at the first mating in days 170-190(n=754), 191-211(n=4683), 212-232(n=7123), 233-253(n=3385), 254-274(n=1002) and 275-369 (n=611). Piglet total born obtained from each sow during the lifetime production was significantly (P < 0.05) greater for gilts bred between 233-253 days of age at first mating. Gilts that were bred at <233 days appeared to have a higher risk of removal by farrowing productivity as compared to the other groups. However, the results show that the risk of being culled due to health problems and conformation issues increases as the age at first mating is delayed. Overall reproductive failure appears to be the most economical culling reason across all age groups. There is a need to evaluate the best management decisions for gilt initiation in a herd to maximize her lifetime performance. The results indicate that gilts mated for the first time at the right age, 233–253 days, are more productive, both in lifetime total born and have a minimal risk of culling due to farrowing productivity.
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Management of phytopathogens by application of green nanobiotechnology: Emerging trends and challenges
15-22Views:522Nanotechnology is highly interdisciplinary and important research area in modern science. The use of nanomaterials offer major advantages due to their unique size, shape and significantly improved physical, chemical, biological and antimicrobial properties. Physicochemical and antimicrobial properties of metal nanoparticles have received much attention of researchers. There are different methods i.e. chemical, physical and biological for synthesis of nanoparticles. Chemical and physical methods have some limitations, and therefore, biological methods are needed to develop environment-friendly synthesis of nanoparticles. Moreover, biological method for the production of nanoparticles is simpler than chemical method as biological agents secrete large amount of enzymes, which reduce metals and can be responsible for the synthesis and capping on nanoparticles.
Biological systems for nanoparticle synthesis include plants, fungi, bacteria, yeasts, and actinomycetes. Many plant species including Opuntia ficus-indica, Azardirachta indica, Lawsonia inermis, Triticum aestivum, Hydrilla verticillata, Citrus medica, Catharanthus roseus, Avena sativa, etc., bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Lactobacillus sp., Klebsiella aerogenes, Torulopsis sp., and fungi, like Fusarium spp. Aspergillus spp., Verticillium spp., Saccharomyces cerevisae MKY3, Phoma spp. etc. have been exploited for the synthesis of different nanoparticles. Among all biological systems, fungi have been found to be more efficient system for synthesis of metal nanoparticles as they are easy to grow, produce more biomass and secret many enzymes. We proposed the term myconanotechnology (myco = fungi, nanotechnology = the creation and exploitation of materials in the size range of 1–100 nm). Myconanotechnology is the interface between mycology and nanotechnology, and is an exciting new applied interdisciplinary science that may have considerable potential, partly due to the wide range and diversity of fungi.
Nanotechnology is the promising tool to improve agricultural productivity though delivery of genes and drug molecules to target sites at cellular levels, genetic improvement, and nano-array based gene-technologies for gene expressions in plants and also use of nanoparticles-based gene transfer for breeding of varieties resistant to different pathogens and pests. The nanoparticles like copper (Cu), silver (Ag), titanium (Ti) and chitosan have shown their potential as novel antimicrobials for the management of pathogenic microorganisms affecting agricultural crops. Different experiments confirmed that fungal hyphae and conidial germination of pathogenic fungi are significantly inhibited by copper nanoparticles. The nanotechnologies can be used for the disease detection and also for its management. The progress in development of nano-herbicides, nano-fungicides and nano-pesticides will open up new avenues in the field of management of plant pathogens. The use of different nanoparticles in agriculture will increase productivity of crop. It is the necessity of time to use nanotechnology in agriculture with extensive experimental trials. However, there are challenges particularly the toxicity, which is not a big issue as compared to fungicides and pesticides.
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Loss and Disease Development of Monilinia fructigena (Aderh. & Ruhl.) Honey in an Organic Apple Orchard
6-8Views:337In a two-year-study, yield loss and temporal development of incidence of Monilinia fructigena were quantified in organic apple orchards and the importance of fruit wounding agents was determined. The first infected fruits were observed at the beginning of August in 2001 and 2002. Disease development was continuous until fruit harvest in both years. Pre-harvest yield loss caused by Monilinia fructigena amounted on average 27.2% in 2001 and 41.6% in 2002 by fruit harvest. The growth rate of disease development was almost double in 2002 compared to 2001. All infected fruits were injured by wounding agents such as aboitic and mechanical injury factors, codling moth (Cydia pomonella), common earwig (Forficula auricularia) and birds. In this study, the most important wounding agents were codling moth and mechanical injury factors in organic apple orchards. In both years, our results showed that 70-80% of the infected fruits were damaged by codling moth in organic apple production. Moreover, 10-15% of the infected fruits were mechanically injured in the two years. Our results indicated that most of the damaged fruits fell on the orchard floor before harvest and they became an important secondary inoculum source of M. fructigena. Biological and practical implications of the results are discussed.
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The impacts of spring basal and side dressing on maize yield
83-86Views:298The 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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A simplified growing model for mixed black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) and poplar (Populus spp.) plantations in the Danube-Tisza Interfluve
97-100Views:240This study presents a static model of mixed black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) plantation stand structures for inventory stand structures between 10 and 40 years of age. Due to its local character, the model can be advantageous in planning tending operations, making structural factor predictions for the standing stock (main stand) after tending cuts, and preparing local wood production and silvicultural models. The model data presented in this paper show that poplars account for 55–62 % of the volume per hectare due to their faster growth rate in mixed black locust and poplar plantations. Maintaining the black locust part of the stand necessitates harvesting the poplars by the age of 10 at the latest.
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The significance of biological bases in maize production
61-65Views:254The comparative trial has been set up in the Demonstration Garden of the Institute of Crop Sciences of the University of Debrecen, Centre for Agricultural and Applied Economic Studies, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management in 2012, with 24 hybrids with different genetic characteristics and growing periods. The soil of the trial is lime-coated chernozem, with a humus layer of 50–70 cm.
The weather of the trial year was quite droughty; the monthly average temperature was 3–4 oC higher than the average of 30 years. High temperature, together with lack of precipitation occurred during the most sensitive phenophases of maize (flowering; fecundation, grain saturation).
The following characteristics have been observed: starting vigour, date of male and female flowering, plant and cob height, dry-down dynamics during maturation and the change of yield composing elements has also been quantified. The yield was recalculated to 14% moisture content grain yield after harvesting.
The beginning of the growing period was advantageous, therefore the analysed hybrids could grow a high (above 300 cm) and strong stem. The yield of the hybrids changed between 10.33 and 11.87 t ha-1, but as a result of the unfavourable climatic extremes, their genetic yield potential prevailed only at a rate of 30–40%. However, moisture content by the time of harvesting was good despite its early date (12th September); it remained under below 14% in most cases. Dry-down was measured on a weekly basis between 14th August and 5th September.
The analysis of the qualitative parameters of the maize hybrids (protein %, oil % and starch %) resulted in significant differences. The most significant difference has been observed in the case of protein content (LSD5%=2.01). Oil content was the most advantageous in the case of hybrids belonging to the mid-late growing group (FAO 400). The X9N655 and 36V74 hybrids had the highest oil content (around 4%), while hybrids P9915 and 37F73 had significantly lower oil content. Starch content was above 70% in the case of every hybrid.
Hybrid selection is highly important in terms of yield and yield security of maize, as well as the application of modern biological fundamentals and hybrid specific technology for the improvement of the level of cultivation technology.
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Strategic planning in agribusiness
23-27Views:416Agricultural businesses operate in a complex and dynamic environment, with many challenges and opportunities. It is therefore essential for these businesses to have a strategic plan. It is a critical process that helps businesses navigate in a complex and uncertain environment and achieve long-term goals and objectives. In this article, we have conducted a bibliometric analysis of academic journals to investigate the extent to which strategic planning is a researched topic in agribusiness enterprises. We found that there is no concentrated research, with only three keywords appearing in the literature with at least five repetitions. Even of the two repetitions, only 22 were found. The clustering of keywords helps to identify research directions. The results of a survey of 134 enterprises were then presented. The majority of enterprises do not have a long-term plan or even a written vision. We found that SWOT analysis is still the most common planning method among the companies surveyed. It was also found that there is no difference between industries in this respect. Significant differences were only found in relation to company size, with all large companies having a strategic plan and the vast majority of SMEs not. Only 17 out of 132 firms have a plan longer than three years, and 32 do not have any plan at all. Strategic planning can help to address many of the challenges in the agribusiness area, and it is therefore proposed to improve the proportion of firms planning through knowledge transfer.
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Variability examination of photosynthetic pigment content and specific leaf area in individual maize (Zea mays L.) plants
153-157Views:408Currently, maize is one of the most important crops (Zea mays L.) both globally and in Hungary. We compared physiological parameters of a maize genotype – p9903 – at two different experimental sites in a field experiment. Furthermore, we examined these parameters’ variability in individual plants on the leaves with different ages. Absolute chlorophyll content of the leaves were analysed, separately that of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. We also measured the absolute carotenoid contents of leaves. Furthermore, we calculated these photosynthetic pigments’ content ratio. Specific leaf area (SLA) and dry matter weight were also measured in order to characterise plant production. The results obviously reflect the decreasing in the efficiency of photosynthetic apparatus on the low yield site. Otherwise, we identify significant differences only in certain cases of leaves.
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Effects of a traditional agricultural sector’s decline in less favoured areas
109-114Views:195Due to the effects of economic and political transformations, privatization and accession to the EU, Hungarian agriculture has gone through significant changes in the last two decades. As a result of continuous changes in the economic and regulatory environment, producers have to plan and maintain cultivation and adapt to the changing market needs within continuously changing circumstances. These effects have resulted in a significant decline or in some cases, certain sectors have disappeared. These exercise a negative social and economic effect on all over the country, causing irreversible damages on those regions where agriculture is the only source of living. This paper discusses the effects of breakdown or disappearance of a traditional agricultural sector, namely the tobacco sector.
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Impacts of ethnoveterinary medicine integrated with livestock farm technologies on the performance and antimicrobial resistance of indigenous goats in South Africa –A review
93-103Views:303Ethnoveterinary medicine and livestock farm technologies represent a junction of innovation and tradition with the aim to accomplish livestock systems that are resilient, productive, and sustainable to meet 21st century challenges, especially the antimicrobial resistance issue. This article aims to emphasise the impacts of integrating ethnoveterinary medicine with livestock farm technologies on the performance of indigenous goats in South Africa. With the growing concern over antimicrobial resistance in livestock, there is a pressing need for complementary approaches to the health of animals and their productivity. In this review, the aim evaluated whether an integrative approach could offer a sustainable alternative that benefits animal health and productivity while addressing the concerns of antimicrobial resistance. Comparative study designs across multiple indigenous goat farms were used to integrate specific medicinal plants in ethnoveterinary medicine with present-day livestock technologies that are used to monitor the effects on livestock performance indicators and antimicrobial resistance patterns. In the treated populations, the outcomes were indicative of substantial improvements in reproduction and growth rates, and alongside, there has been a notable decrease in the markers of antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, it is proposed that through these discoveries, the integration of these traditional and modern approaches not only improve the performance of indigenous goats but also contribute immensely to the mitigation of risks associated with antimicrobial resistance.
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Perspectives of the livestock sector in the Philippines: A review
175-188Views:3965The Philippine livestock industry is a vital component in the country's agricultural sector. It contributes around 18.23 percent of the gross output value in agriculture and provides livelihood to many people living in rural areas, signifying its importance with regard to the country’s economy. The constantly increasing demand for animal protein associated with the increase of the world’s population led to the intensification of livestock production, realized through the various initiatives implemented by the government, such as the import of high producing purebreds of various species. This strategy greatly influenced the country's animal genetic resource's diversity and increased food animals' population; however, it impacted the native breeds of food animals. Understanding the characteristics, performance and value of native and exotic breeds is essential to prioritize their livestock industry existence. Thus, this paper aims to characterize various native and exotic breeds of livestock in the Philippines and assess the current conservation of native animals.
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Evaluation of the interaction between environmental factors, cultivation and fertilisation
103-108Views:206The effect of production factors on maize yield was examined in the Látókép Experiment Site of the Centre of Agricultural and Applied Economic Sciences of the University of Debrecen on calcareous chernozem soil between 2001 and 2003. The impact of environmental factors (precipitation, temperature, number of sunny hours), cultivation methods (autumn ploughing, spring shallow cultivation) and fertilisation (non-fertilised, 120 kg N + 90 kg P2O5 + 106 kg K2O, and 240 kg N + 180 kg P2O5 + 212 kg K2O) on maize yield was examined. During the three years, autumin ploughing significantly increased yield by 2.91 t ha-1 in comparison with spring shallow cultivation. The yield increasing effect of fertilisation was observed in each year, although its extent depended on the given crop year and the applied cultivation method. The higher fertiliser dose (240 kg N ha-1) did not cause significantly higher yield in either year. After the evaluation of the observed correlations, it can be established that the yield increasing
effect of fertilisation was higher in the case of autumn ploughing in comparison with spring shallow cultivation. The environmental factors (especially the extent of precipitation) significantly affected the maize yield. -
Productivity and Nutrient Reaction of Maize Hybrids
78-83Views:261Several factors influence the quantity and stability of maize yield, the most important being the nutrient supply, the hybrid and precipitation. In 2004, during the maize growing season the precipitation was more than the 30 year’s average, with 68.3 mm, but the distribution was unfavorable. The 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 favorable results reached were due to the rainy season. The average yield varied between 7.78-9.67 tha-1. The DK 440, PR37M34, PR38A24, PR39D81 and PR36R10 of the hybrids reacted to higher fertilizer doses with significant growth yields, the yield (more than 11 tha-1) was the highest for N200, P125, K150 fertilizing. The other hybrids, DKC 5211, Mv Vilma and MV Maraton, gave similar results at the N120+PK fertilizer dose and the ensuing doses depressed the yield. Fertilization was more effective thanks to the precipitation. The fourth and fifth dose increased or decreased maize yield depending on the nutrient reaction of the hybrid. The agro-ecological optimum of NPK fertilization was N120, P75, K90 kgha-1.
During the experiment we tested the moisture loss of five hybrids. The rainy crop year’s effect on the seed moisture content at harvest was higher than in previous years. The seed moisture content hybrids at harvest which have shorter crop years (FAO 300) was 18-19%, and hybrids with longer vegetation periods had more than 20% seed moisture content. DK 440 hybrid had the intensive moisture loss of the five hybrids, at the start of the measurement, the seed moisture content was higher than 40%, and it decreased to 18.6% by harvesting. -
Effects of soil compost application on the leaf surface area per running meter of apple (Malus domesticaBorkh.) leaves cultivated in organic and integrated orchard
111-116Views:258The effect of different compost doses on the nutrient contents of the soil (in depth of 0–30) were measured in an (organic and integrated) apple orchards. The leaf surface area per running meter shoot for certain apple species (Golden Delicious and Pinova) were determined.
The field experiments were conducted in the Research Field of Debrecen-Pallag, University of Debrecen, the analysis of the soil and plant samples took place in the laboratories of the Institute of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science.
The compost treatments increased the amount of the examined nutrients in the top 30 cm of soil originated from organic and integrated orchard. Changes in rainfall were observed in the trends of the leaf surface area of the two apple varieties. 2010 was rainy and 2012 was drier. The leaf surface area of the Pinova increased better under the precipitation/year effect, than in case of the nutrient supply treatments. The opposite was observed in case of the Golden Delicious. -
Applicability of precision weed detection technologies
163-168Views:420In an agricultural field or horticultural plantation, weeds compete with cultivated plants for water and nutrients. The transpirated water by the weeds is needed to be replaced, which saddles surplus costs on the farmer, which could reduce the profitability of crop production. The aim of the precision plant protection system is to protect cultivated plants by applying site-specific technologies and optimized herbicides combination and methods, without environmental damage. The first step of precision weed control is the scouting for weeds. Traditional and modern (passive and active remote sensing) weed surveying technologies are available to detect weeds. The examination was carried out in an intensive apple orchard with drip irrigation system, protected by hail net of the Study and Regional Research Farm of the University of Debrecen near Pallag. The spectral-based weed detection was worked out by the Tetracam ADC broadband multispectral camera and the GreenSeeker 505 vegetation indexmeter. A strong correlation observed between vegetation indices and weed coverage. Based on the collected data, weed maps are created in appropriate software environment, thus the spatial distributions of the weeds are determined. The species level discrimination and the recognition of weed structural parameters were executed based on the 3D point cloud data by Leica ScanStation C10 laser scanner.