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The Carpathian lingonberry, raspberry and blackberry fruit extracts feature variable antimicrobial efficiency
27-32Views:563Wild berry is an excellent source of phytonutrients and/or bioactive compounds associated with significant therapeutic properties, so that they have been utilized in folk medicine and traditional nutrition throughout centuries. Multiple health-promoting effects, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-heart and coronary disease properties were attributed to such wild berries. It has also been proved that berries could feature antimicrobial effects that could be of a great importance for the prevention of food-feed poisoning and fighting back antibiotic resistance.
In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial properties of lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), raspberry (Rubus idaeus) and blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) crude and ethanolic extracts prepared from fruits obtained from the spontaneous flora of Eastern Carpathian Mountains situated in Transylvania. The antimicrobial effect of crude and alcoholic extracts were assessed on four Gram-negative, five Gram-positive bacteria and one yeast species using the agar diffusion method. The studied bacteria can cause food or feed spoilage and foodborne diseases. Our results indicate the significant inhibitory effect of lingonberry extracts in the case of Gram-negative bacteria like Proteus vulgaris and Salmonella Hartford, while among Gram-positive bacteria the strongest inhibitory effect was observed for Bacillus species like B. cereus, B. subtilis, B. mojavensis and Micrococcus luteus. The raspberry and blackberry extracts featured milder inhibitory effects in the case of the studied bacteria species. Furthermore, we have studied the crude or ethanolic extract combinations associated antimicrobial effects synergistic/additive or antagonistic properties. Interestingly, the triple and double ethanolic extract mixes had stronger antimicrobial properties, whereas the crude extract mixes showed relatively reduced effects, if any. Our results indicate that the antimicrobial activity of studied fruit extracts obtained from wild berries can vary upon the applied extraction method and their combination formulae, so that all these considerations must be taken into account when such fruit extracts are considered for foodstuff development.
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Effects of soil cultivation and environmental changes on maize yield
97-100Views:307We 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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Fusarium culmorum isolated from rhizosphere of wooly cupgrass (Eriochloa villosa) in Debrecen (East Hungary)
93-96Views:292Wooly cupgrass (Eriochloa villosa) is an East-Asian originated weed species and it has been spreaded worldwide by now. The first occurrence of this species in Hungary was observed and published in 2008 nearby Gesztely village (Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, North-East Hungary) than in the summer of 2011 a significant population was discovered next to Debrecen city (Hajdú-Bihar county, East Hungary).
In 2013 this weed was also reported from Szentborbás village, Somogy county (South-West Hungary). These observations of spreading and its biological features (production of stolons and large number of seeds, moreover herbicide tolerance) indicate that wooly cupgrass (E. villosa) has a great potential of invasiveness, so it may become a hazardous weed not only in Hungary but in all over the world.
The objective of this study was to identify the fungus which was isolated from wooly cupgrass (E. villosa) root residue samples which were collected after maize harvesting on arable land in late autumn, near Debrecen. The identification of the fungus based on morphological characters of colonies and the features of conidia developed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates. After the examination of axenic culture we revealed that the fungus from rhizosphere of wooly cupgrass was Fusarium culmorum. Pathogenicity and/or endophytic relationship between the fungus and wooly cupgrass is still uncertain so pathogenicity tests and reisolations from plants are in progress.
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Correlation between the weather in 2017 and the productivity of maize
89-93Views:422In our research we examined the effect of the hybrid, the nutrient supply, the number of plants and the abiotic factors (temperature, amount of precipitation) on the yield, crop quality and yield stability of maize. We devoted special attention to the natural nutrient utilization ability and fertilizer reaction of maize. The experiment took place in Hajdúszoboszló on chernozem soil, on a nearly 8 ha field. The size of one plot was 206 m2; therefore, this experiment was half-industrial. We tested six hybrids with different genetic characteristics and growing seasons. I analysed the correlation between the nutrient supply and the yield of maize hybrids with control treatment (treatment without fertilization) and with N 80, P2O5 60, K2O 70 kg ha-1 and N 160, P2O5 120, K2O 140 kg ha-1 fertilizer treatments. The yield increasing effect of the fertilizer also depended on the number of plants per hectare to a great extent. The number of plants of the six tested hybrids was 60, 70, and 80 thousand plants ha-1.In Hajdúszoboszló in 2017, up to October, 445.8 mm of rain fell, which is in line with the average values of 30 years, and is only 45.7 mm less than those. In 2017, the effect of increasing the plant number was slighter. Averaged over the observed fertilizer treatments and hybrids, the yield was 9.10 t ha-1 with 60 thousand plants ha-1, 9.11 t ha-1 with 70 thousand plants ha-1 and 9.12 t ha-1 with 80 thousand plants ha-1. Without fertilization, in most cases, increasing the plant number from 60 thousand plants ha-1 to 70-80 thousand plants ha-1 does not increased the yield but decreased it. With N80+PK treatment the yield changed between 8.90 and 11.27 t ha-1. The effect of increasing the plant number was just slightly observable and did not show a clear tendency. The effect of changing the plant number, even with the highest dosage of fertilizers, could not be detected adequately. In contrast with the plant number, the effect of the different fertilizer treatments was expressly traceable. Compared to the control treatment (treatment without fertilization), with N80+PK fertilizer dosage with 60 thousand plants ha-1 the yield increased by 3.36–4.99 t ha-1. The smallest demonstrable proof, i.e. the LSD5% was 0.22 t ha-1, which means that fertilization, in each case, significantly increased the yield. When analysing the effect of fertilization in the average of the hybrids and the different plant numbers, a yield of 5.61 t ha-1 could be detected, which value was 10.12 t ha-1 with N80+PK treatment and 11.61 t ha-1 with N160+PK treatment. Thus, it can be calculated that compared to the treatment without fertilization, the N80+PK treatment increased the yield by 4.51 t ha-1, while compared to the N80+PK treatment, the N160+PK treatment increased the yield by 1.49 t ha-1. In addition to agrotechnical factors, in maize production, the impact of the crop year is specifically of high importance.The average yield of hybrids (in the average of the different fertilizer treatments) was 6.81 t ha-1 in 2015, 11.86 t ha-1 in 2016 and 9.11 t ha-1 in 2017. When comparing the yield results against the precipitation data, it is clearly visible that the amount of rain fell in the January– October period is directly proportional to the average yield of maize. The effect of the crop year can be defined in a 5.05 t ha-1 difference in the yield. -
The relationship between silver crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio bloch) and fish poulations of natural waters
30-36Views:359The fisheries management on inland waters is very complicated. Often the unclear propriety rights make the normal management difficult, and other times the stocking of the waters is problematic. In the last hundred years a lot of new fish species have been introduced to Hungary. Lot of them have found their place in the Hungarian fishfauna, till others have caused big problems for the fish farmers, and the anglers too. The biggest problem was caused by the topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva Schlegel, 1842) brown bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus LeSueur, 1819) and the silver crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio Bloch, 1782). In this article I show what kind of problems were caused by the silver crucian carp, because it seems that this fish is the most harmful.The damage caused by silver crucian carpposesa complex question. To get into the ponds and rivers, the crucian carps occupy the territory form the native fishspeciesandthesilvercrucian carp competes with these fishes for food, too.The silver crucian carphasa special reproduction method and because of this the speciesis expand rapidly. The silver crucian carp is able to reproduce with other cyprinids, and because the female silver crucian carps are triploids every fingerlings will be silver crucian carp.This fish is a vectorfora lot of diseases, which can easily spread over for other species.
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Examination of the conditions of extreme water balance circumstances (water logging, drought) with environmental information technology tools
79-86Views:532The 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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Investigation of the effect of allithiamine-enriched feed on the poultry gut microbiome composition and resistome
149-155Views:275Over the past 20–25 years, the poultry industry has evolved into a specific protein production system. However, the stress resulting from intensive rearing practices has led to numerous negative consequences, making the optimisation of livestock gut microbiome composition crucial for mitigating these effects. Advancements in modern molecular biology methods have brought attention to the impacts of nutrients on gut microbiota. In our study, we extensively investigated the changes induced by feed formulations rich in phytonutrients on the gastrointestinal microbiota of livestock using targeted 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Our objective is to examine how the developed feed prototype affects the composition of core microbiomes in raised poultry, community diversity, and the resilience of complex microbial networks. We seek correlations between biological livestock and environmental samples to identify which community constituents, in what proportions and occurrences, may play a role in the development of specific diseases. Based on our measurement results, it can be asserted that allithiamine positively modulated "beneficial" community constituents. Beyond the impact of allithiamine-enriched feed rich in phytonutrients, the composition of the microbial community in the poultry gastrointestinal tract is significantly influenced by the age of the birds. Furthermore, due to the presence of multi-drug-resistant pathogens in environmental samples from livestock facilities, appropriate transmission risk management measures are of paramount importance.
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Nitrogen Supplying Capacity of Brown Forest Soil under Different Cropping Practices and 0.01 M CaCl2 Soluble Organic Nitrogen
17-23Views:408The best known and most remarkable example of continuous production in Hungary is the Westsik’s crop rotation experiment, which was established in 1929, and is still in use to study the effects of organic manure treatment, to develop models, and predict the likely effects of different cropping systems on soil properties and crop yields. In this respect, Westsik’s crop rotation experiment provides data of immediate value to farmers concerning the applications of green, straw and farmyard manure, as well as data sets for scientific research.
Although commonly ignored, the release of nitrogen by root and green manure crops has a significant impact on soil organic matter turnover. The design of sustainable nitrogen management strategies requires a better understanding of the processes influencing nitrogen supplying capacity, as the effects of soil organic matter on soil productivity and crop yield are still very uncertain and require further research. In the treatments of Westsik’s crop rotation experiment, nutrients removed from soil through plant growth and harvesting are replaced either by fertilisers and/or organic manure. Data can be used to study the nitrogen supplying capacity of soil under different cropping systems and its effect on the 0.01 M CaCl2 soluble organic nitrogen content of soil.
The aim of this paper is to present data on the nitrogen supplying capacity of brown forest soil from Westsik’s crop rotation experiment and to study its correlation with hundredth molar calcium-chloride soluble organic nitrogen. The main objective is to determine the effects of root and green manure crops on the nitrogen supplying capacity of soil under different cropping systems. The nitrogen supplying capacity was calculated as a difference of plant uptake, organic manure and fertiliser supply.
The 0.01 M CaCl2 soluble organic nitrogen test has proved reliable for determining the nitrogen supplying capacity of soils. Brown forest soils are low in organic matter and in the F-1 fallow-rye-potato rotation, the nitrogen supplying capacity was 15.6 kg/ha/year. 0.01 M CaCl2 soluble organic nitrogen content was as low as 1.73 mg/kg soil. Roots and green manure increased the nitrogen supplying capacity of soil by more than 100%. This increase is caused by lupine, a legumes crop, which is very well adapted to the acidic soil conditions of the Nyírség region, and cultivated as a green or root manure crop to increase soil fertility. -
Coenological and grassland management studie in different planted and renewed grasslands
55-58Views:516We studied the vegetation of a 260 ha Hungarian Grey Cattle pasture near Páskom, which can be found in Zámoly basin. We carried out our surveyes in May 2012. The pasture can be divided into five parts. One part, approximately the half of the area (150.83 ha), is an old-field grassland, which was overseeded 20 years ago. The other half of the pasture was restored (109.17 ha) in 4 different ways in 2009 and then was mowed until 2011. Seven relevés were made in each part of the pasture (the occurence of species and their cover value were recorded). The aim of our study was to compare the effects of the different restoration methods and mowing on the botanical composition of the pasture.
The results showed, that the grassland restored with hay transfer method was the most similar to the natural conditions. The greatest number of species was recorded in that part and the species of natural grasslands become dominant. The directly sowed and the spontaneous grassland parts separated chiefly from the semi-natural 20 years old grassland.
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Foreword
9-10Views:491The higher education of economics and agriculture in Debrecen started 150 years ago. The historical roots of our institution reach back to the middle of the 19th century. In the 1850s, the wise leaders of the city of Debrecen realised that the development of agriculture is the sole opportunity which can make the region of the Tisza River and the Trans- Tisza region the most valuable pantry of the nation. Due to the generous support of the citizens of Debrecen, as well as the enthusiastic work of scientist and teachers, the National Higher Education Institute of Farming was established on 22nd October 1868 as the first agricultural higher education institution of the Great Hungarian Plain.
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Leaf reflectance characteristics and yield of spring oat varieties as influenced by varietal divergences and nutritional supply
29-34Views:273Inadequacy of nutrients in the soil and sufficient inaccessibility to nutrients is caused by factors that affect production and productivity of spring oat varieties. Exogenous application of nutrient and real time nutrient assessment can therefore reverse these associated negative consequences. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of spring oat varieties to sulphur and silicon based fertilisation. Eight spring oat varieties, four level of nutrient application was arranged in a split-plot design with three replications. The obtained results showed that foliar application of sulphur improves the grain yield of most nutrients responsive varieties by about 34.7%. However, application of silicon had shown a diminishing return association to grain yield of variety GK Kormorán, GK Pillangó, Lota, Panni. LAI, thousands grain weight, SPAD, NDVI was significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by genetic difference of the tested varieties, developmental plasticity, and nutrient application. Significantly higher grain yield was obtained from the variety Mv Pehely than the other tested varieties. Therefore, it could be inferred that a combined use of nutrient responsive spring oat varieties and sulphur containing fertilisers could be important agronomic practice to improve grain yield and to develop climate resilient oat varieties.
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Evaluating changes in nitrogen and sulphur content in a soil-plant system in a long-term fertilization experiment
77-85Views:361The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of long term NPK fertilization (considering that S containing superphosphate was supplied for 26 years of experiment, but since 9 years S has not used any longer) on sulphur- and nitrogen content and N/S ratio of winter wheat. The second objective of this work was to determine the changes of the amount of the different nitrogen and sulphur fraction in chernozem soil in a long term fertilization experiment. The third aim of the work was to determine if a relationship could be established between the studied parameters. Based on our results, it can be stated that the sulphur containing superphosphate supplied in the period of 1984-2010 has no longer significant effect on total sulphur content of plant in 2018. The NPK fertilization treatments had positive effect on total nitrogen content of winter wheat. In general, increasing NPK doses resulted in significantly higher nitrogen. The effect of irrigation applied in previous years has no statistically significant effect on the sulphur and nitrogen content of wheat. The wheat grain produced in our experiment, especially in fertilized treatments showed S deficiency. Analysing the changes of CaCl2 soluble nitrate-N and total N of the soil, it can be stated that the effect of increasing fertilizer doses clearly appears in these parameters, because the treatment with increasing fertilizer doses resulted higher CaCl2 soluble N forms compared to the control treatment in soil. These values increased until flowering stage of wheat and after that a slightly decrease was observed as a result of higher N uptake of plant. In overall, it can be stated, that the effect of superphosphate on measured sulphur fraction is prevailed. With increasing fertilizer doses higher sulphate content was detected in soil, but the sulphate content measured in different soil extractant is not enough for the wheat in this experiment area. Studying the correlation between the measured parameters of plant and soil, it can be concluded, that the relationships between nitrogen in the plant and in the soil is stable, and did not change during the growing season. The correlation between plant S and soil S varied in the measured periods and the r value was low in most cases. At the stage of flowering the highest r value was found between KCl-SO4 and plant S. In the stage of ripening the strongest correlation was detected between KH2PO4-SO4 and grain S content.
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The role of some elicitors in inducing chilling stress resistance in apricot fruit
27-32Views:325This 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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Mitigation and adaptation measures in the hungarian rural development programme
245-250Views:202In the Hungarian Rural Development Programme (RDP) climate change adaptation is addressed through the measures in Axis 1, 2, 3 and 4. Under Axis 1 farmers can receive support for farm modernisation that will help them adapt to climate change. The processing industry will also be able to use the available resources for capital expenditure on buildings and new equipment. Axis 2 and especially the soil and water package within the agrienvironmental
measure aim to support production methods, which protect soil quality and will help adaptation to climate change. Measures of Axis 3, such as basic services for the economy and rural population, village renewal and development will provide local communities the opportunity to identify actions that can be undertaken to deal with the effects of climate change. On the other hand, the extension of forest resources contributes to climate change mitigation and enhances carbon sequestration. New methods have been elaborated to the sustainable regional water management, irrigation, water regulation, defence against internal water, and soil protection established. Water management contributes to the balance of water quantity on one side, but also to mitigating the climate change on the other. -
Insect base-protein: A new opportunity in animal nutrition
129-138Views:908The consumption of insect protein, as well as its use in animal feeding, has become a trend. This trend is particularly receiving a lot of attention in animal nutrition because the current protein source of the highest quality in animal feeding which is fishmeal is unsustainable, expensive and its demand is higher than supply. Insect protein can be of great potential in combating world hunger as the world population continues to increase. The potential of insect protein is wide-ranging, it could improve the economics of feed production, lead to cleaner production due to its low environmental footprint.
This review focuses on the need, (nutritional and environmental) advantages of insect protein in feed production, as well as previous research findings.
The unanimous conclusion of the reviewed papers is that insect protein has a great potential in feed production in terms of nutritional value, environmental implication, sustainability as well as economic implication.
However, there is a need for the intensification of research on this alternative protein source in Europe, especially in aquaculture due to the approval of 7 insect species in aquafeeds by the European Union. Another reason for the intensification is that there is still much to be done as a result of past research which shows that growth effects vary based on species and inclusion level.
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Site and hybrid-specific agrotechnical models in sweet corn production
105-108Views:203The effect of three agrotechnical factors (sowing time, fertilization, plant density) and two genotypes on the crop yield of sweet corn was examined on chernozem soil in the Hajdúság region in two different crop years. Compared to the 30-year average, the climate was dry and warm in 2009 and humid in 2010. The experiments were conducted at the Látókép Research Site of the University of Debrecen. In the experiments we applied two sowing times (end of April, end of May), six fertilization levels (control, N30+PK, N60+PK, N90+PK, N120+PK, N150+PK) and two crop density levels (45 thousand ha-1, 65 thousand ha-1). The hybrids we used were Jumbo and Enterprise. As regards the requirements of sweet corn production, the crop year of 2009 was dry and warm. The effect of moisture deficiency was more adverse on the crop yields with the second sowing time. On the contrary, the other examined year (2010) was significantly humid; the precipitation was 184 mm above the 30-year average and the temperature was average.
In the dry and hot crop year, the best yields were obtained with the hybrid Jumbo (25677 kg-1) at 65 thousand ha-1 plant density level on the average of the fertilization levels. The crop yields of Enterprise were also the highest at high plant density level (24444 kg ha-1). With the second sowing time the highest yields were obtained at the higher plant density level (65 thousand ha-1) with both hybrids (Jumbo 18978 kg ha-1, Enterprise 18991 kg ha-1), which confirmed the good adaptation capability of these hybrids at high plant density level. In humid crop year with early sowing time the highest yielding hybrid was Enterprise (at 45 thousand ha-1 crop density level 20757 kg-1), at the same time, Jumbo was best yielding at the higher plant density level (18781 kg-1). With the second sowing time the highest crop yield was obtained with Enterprise again (20628 kg ha-1 at 65 thousand ha-1 plant density level). With this sowing time the average yields of Jumbo, was 18914 kg ha-1 respectively. We found that dry crop year and early sowing time provided the best conditions for sweet corn production; the highest yields were obtained under these circumstances, which might be the results of the outstanding water management of chernozem soils. -
Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) as a remedy to human livelihood challenges: a review
5-11Views:539Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) is a unique plant predominant in different ecosystems in Africa. This review assessed its value in relation to human nutrition, health, and related aspects. Our synthesis shows that baobab leaves, seed oil, and fruit pulp were utilised in different forms. Baobab tree products such as fruit pulp, leaves, and seed oil contain high levels of macronutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, carbohydrates, and proteins. Therefore, promoting the utilization and processing of baobab products for improved human nutrition is key. However, the determination of optimal parameters through elemental traceability as well as the relationship between geographical locations and nutrient composition of the baobab plant is required. Altogether, promoting innovative utilization of baobab products by exploring processing techniques to develop novel food and product formulation from Adansonia digitata tree products sheds a green light to sustain human livelihoods.
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Does drought stress always negatively affect the yield and quality of soybean in Hungary?
37-40Views:451Globally-fluctuating climate imposed serious abiotic stresses on the agricultural sector, leading to noticeable, and sometimes disastrous, losses in yields and/or quality of crops; however, in certain cases, plants could survive stress with relatively low reductions, and sometimes even with some enhancements as a reaction to changed environment, especially in the case of mild stress. An experiment was conducted in 2017 and 2018 in Debrecen, Hungary to evaluate the mild drought stress influence on the yield and quality of three soybean cultivars. The results showed that both ES Pallador and Pedro cultivars could achieve more yield when subjected to mild drought conditions; however, protein concentration was enhanced in ES Pallador whereas slightly degraded in Pedro under drought. The cultivar Pannonia Kincse followed different trend; both yield and protein concentration were reduced under drought. Oil concentration of the three cultivars did not show significant changes; however, it always followed opposite trend to that of protein concentration. It could be concluded that both ES Pallador and Pedro are recommended to be grown under rain fed conditions in Debrecen, whereas Pannonia Kincse is recommended under irrigation conditions.
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Development of an InDel marker set to establish hybridization between wild boar and domestic pig (Sus scrofa) breeds
21-25Views:586Wild boar and domestic pig breeds belong to the same species (Sus scrofa), so they can easily have viable offspring. This could be a problem in preserving the genetic lines of wild boars, keeping clean the food industry from lower-grade hybrid boar meat, and „producing” ethically questionable trophies, too. The aim of our study was to develop a cost-efficient, fast, easy and accurate marker set which can separate the wild boars from hybrids and domestic pig breeds.
The InDel markers were developed using 59 full pig genomes of 17 different breeds (e.g. Duroc, Large White, Landrace, Mangalica, wild boar). Sequence differences between the genomes of wild boars and domestic breeds were identified in variant call files, and verified using the IGV software. Wild boar, mangalica and duroc specific primers to amplify the chosen InDel regions were designed using Primer3.
After preliminary tests five markers were chosen, three wild boar specific, one Mangalica specific and one Duroc specific one. Fluorescently labelled primers were used to make the valuation easier and more accurate with capillary electrophoresis instead of gel-electrophoresis. The markers were optimised individually and in multiplex conditions and tested in samples of 11 breeds.
In conclusion, a new, faster and cheaper set was developed to separate the wild boars from the hybrids and domestic breeds. Based on the preliminary testing on wild boars, duroc and mangalica breeds zero samples resulted false negative, so it is 100% accurate. In addition, it is a much more cost- and time-effective way than testing every single sample with STR sets.
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Lack of polymorphism of the agouti signaling protein (ASIP) gene among four different brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas 1778) populations
81-85Views:380The brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas 1778) is a common palearctic and a popular game species therefore it has been an obvious subject for population genetic studies since the second part of the 20th century. Among the several mitochondrial DNA studies some have been carried out concerning nuclear genes as well. The agouti signaling protein gene (ASIP) is involved in regulating the synthesis of eumelanin and pheomelanin in melanocytes of mammals. Though many studies focused on it in relation with several mammalian species, minimal information is available on this topic concerning the brown hare.
Here we present a short communication concerning the agouti signaling protein (ASIP) gene in four different country’s L. europaeus populations, namely Lithuania, Hungary, Serbia and Georgia. N=45 tissue samples have been investigated from overall 17 sampling sites of the different countries. There has not been found any polymorphism among the sequences. In an alignment with other Leporid species’ partial ASIP sequences downloaded from ENA we have found that based on a 178 base pairs long DNA sequence the haplotype of our samples contains three other Lepus species as well. This is concordant with the findings of a previous study focusing predominantly on the European rabbit (Orycto lagus cuniculus Linnaeus 1758) and the several mutations of its ASIP gene.
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An overview of swine production and marketing in Africa - Mini review
121-129Views:602Pigs are the oldest domesticated animals, though their ancestry is still uncertain because of a lack of archaeological and genetic evidence. Pigs serve a vital role in reducing the demand for livestock and livestock products in most parts of the world. Especially in the African continent, pigs serve as mobile cash implying how easily they can be converted into cash to sort pressing family needs. Pig production in Africa is different from advanced systems of production in temperate countries, however, it has similarities with most of the tropical low and middle-income nations. Pig production in Africa requires attention to enable it to contribute effectively to the growing African population. However, it has been orchestrated with a myriad of challenges including market access. This mini-review is designed in a manner to provide an overview of pig production contribution to livelihoods in Africa and associated challenges with possible appropriate solutions.
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Mathematical modelling of surface irrigation for field crops in Jordan based on soil hydrological-physical properties
137-148Views:259Jordan suffers from drought and depletion of water resources. In-field crop management, the issue of irrigation scheduling is important and influential. In this research note, a simple method was developed for scheduling surface irrigation of field crops based on inputs of crop ecology, effective root depth, soil texture, soil hydrology, and logical mathematics. It was concluded that the science of mathematics has succeeded to meet academic irrigation scheduling in terms of surface irrigation for field crops based on both soil hydrological and physical traits. Extension scholar has a decision to choose mathematical irrigation model depends on the traditional inputs or updating the model by searching for renewable inputs such as different varieties root depths, optimum row spacing of each crop, drip irrigation mathematical modelling, and digital sensing. In both cases, the input related to the effective root depth is a major and basic factor in mathematical irrigation scheduling. It is, therefore, recommendable that extension research-based systems should focus on basic mathematics to capacitate the complementary role of academics, research, and extension in irrigation modelling, and rural development.
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The effect of season on the microbiological status of raw milk
95-99Views:494Many factors can influence the microbiological quality of raw cow’s milk. In this study, our aim was to determine whether there was any difference between the microbiological statuses of milk produced in different seasons. Samples were collected and analysed from five dairy farms in Hajdú-Bihar County, from February to November in 2019. During our studies, total plate count (TPC), coliform count and Staphylococcus aureus count of raw cow’s milk samples were determined.
There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between the mean TPC values detected in the milk collected in winter and autumn, but that values were significantly (P<0.05) lower than in the milk samples collected in spring and summer. Similarly to the TPC, in the case of coliform bacteria the lowest mean colony count was detected in the samples collected in winter. The difference was significant (P<0.05), compared to the values observed in the samples collected in summer. S. aureus was detected in bulk milk of only two farms in excess of 1.0 log10 cfu/ml. Also in case of S. aureus, there was a significant difference (P<0.05) between the values observed in the samples collected in winter and in summer. Samples from spring and summer contained the highest amount of S. aureus.
Based on the results of our studies, in the case of almost all farms the mean TPC, coliform and S. aureus counts were lower in the samples collected in winter, than in the samples collected in summer. The fact that the samples collected in winter contained the lowest amount of colonies could be attributed to the inhibition of growth of mesophilic microorganisms below 8 °C. Furthermore, the fact that we observed the highest colony counts in samples collected in summer, can be related to the heat stress of cows during the summer due to unfavorable weather conditions (high temperature and humidity).
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Status and Prospects of Integrated Pest Management in Apple Production in Hungary
307-316Views:216Farming methods supporting the ecological function of agriculture will play an even more dominant role in the near future than they do now, as much in Hungary as in the rest of the EU.
Several farming techniques supporting sustainable development have already evolved, and in this essay, I deal with integrated production i.e. integrated fruit production in Hungary and its perspectives. I analyze both European and Hungarian regulations on integrated production and their development.
It is obvious that in the orchards of Europe, integrated production is gaining ground. We can expect the increased spread of this western trend to Hungary, too, because one of the conditions for remaining on the market will be a product from integrated production. However, we cannot expect any rapid increase in the future. In my opinion, there are three ways to propagate integrated production:
− changes in the approach of farmers;
− vocational training of farmers because of the greater „knowledge-demand”; improving the consultant network;
− strict monitoring of the production process. -
Autumn and winter kidney fat indexes of roe deer does and their correlation with reproductive parameters
61-65Views:239I studied the variations of kidney fat indexes (KFI) in two game management units of the Great Hungarian Plain between 2002 and 2004 in the autumn and winter months. I was looking for correlation between the autumn and winter KFI as well as between the autumn KFI and reproductive parameters (number of corpora lutea, recruitment rate).
There was a significant positive correlation between the average winter and the average next autumn KFI (r=0.991, p<0.1). The average winter KFI showed strong positive correlation with the average number of corpora lutea (CL) in the next rutting season (r=0.978, p<0.05). The average autumn KFI and the average grown up offspring showed positive but not significant correlation (r=0.725, p=0.275).