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  • Isolation of promoters of tissue and ripening-specific strawberry genes by TAIL-PCR and bioinformatic characterization of the sequences
    91-99
    Views:
    177

    Isolation of ripening- and tissue-specific promoters has become a very important subject of the genetic regulation and plant physiology research in recent years. It could be possible to reveal the regulation of gene expression, and it may be a very useful approach in the biotechnology. In our work, we have isolated promoter regions of genes exhibiting ripening- and tissuespecific expression in our previous experiments, and the data were
    characterized by bioinformatic methods. In the sequence of the ripening-specific Spatula and ACC-oxidase promoters (ACCoxidase is one of the key-enzymes of ethylene biosynthesis, directly related to the process of ripening); we could identify auxin- and ethylene-related cis-regulatory elements. This suggests that there is an interaction between ripening and ethylene-synthesis, in case of non-climacteric strawberry, too. We investigated the promoter regions of three green receptacle-specific genes (putative nitrilaselike protein, Ring transcription factor and an aquaporin protein)
    and we could identify several regulatory elements, which refer to hormonal regulation. Additionally, we could find several cisacting elements which associated with stress-responsiveness and endospermium-specific expression. 

  • Mitigation of environment impact of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species
    159-164
    Views:
    500

    The Fusarium fungi hazards the grain quality of cereals, therefore significantly affects their utilization as animal feed or consumable product. The Fusarium can decrease the quality of wheat in different ways: decreases the germination capability, causes visible discoloration, mould may appear, reduces the dry material and nutrient content of the grain, causes mycotoxin infection – as a result given by its by-product. Micotoxins produced by Fusarium genus, as the trichotecenes (T-2, HT-2, deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, Fusarenone-X) and the zearalenone (F-2) are the most common in Hungary. Occurrence of fumonisins first discovered in 1988 are must be identified carefully. About 20–30% of the overall worldwide production of cereals is infected with Fusarium and its toxins, which situation is similar in Hungary. This infection causes serious yield-losses in cereal production. In the case of cereal products, which non-utilizable as forage seems, an optimal solution is utilizing as biogas raw material, but it is also important to examine the effect of the infected cereal on the anaerobe digestion process.

  • Role of hypothalamic neuropeptides in feed intake regulation of livestock species (literary review)
    63-68
    Views:
    603

    Energy balance is the net result of the energy intake (nutrition) and expenditure (basic metabolic rate). The purpose of the daily feed intake is to provide energy and nutrients for maintenance, production and fill and maintain energy storages in form of glycogen and fat. Animals can adjust their feed intake to ensure their energy demand. Food intake regulation in animals and human is a very complex process, in which the digestive system, the central nervous system, the joining hormonal and non-hormonal factors, and the integrating hypothalamus take part. This review primarily focuses on the action mechanism of some important appetite regulating neuropeptides, and their impacts on the performance traits of the economically significant animal species.

  • Competence modules of the agro-environmental engineering bachelor course in Hungary
    229-236
    Views:
    289

    One of the most important goals of the Bologna Process is to introduce the three circle system: bachelor, master, doctorate courses. In Hungary from 2006/2007 academic year 132 bachelor courses are launched. One of the launched bachelor course is environmental engineering of which the scientific background and economical sector are rapidly changing. Hence, to help graduates from this area to find a job, it is very important to examine working activities, expectations of employers, to study requirements of the training programs, the system of competencies. Having examined these points, frameworks of professional requirements have been worked out by 27 validation tests. In this publication, the results of the research work related to the environmental engineering bachelor program were presented.

  • Evaluation of IT-Investments
    378-386
    Views:
    192

    An informatical innovation is essentially a private business in the life of a venture but the ability of evolution and adaptability of ventures is remarkable for the national economy too. This is why it is important to observe the economical effects of IT investments. The introduction of an information system – as in the cases of other investments – requires pre- and post-calculations for payback of fixed assest, thrift and profitability. The operation of an information system means not only one-off acquisition of instruments and intangible assets, but requires continuous development, version control and improvement of hardware in the sake of conservation. There is a high rate of depreciation of IT investments in Hungary, because such goods change too quickly, together with the economic environment. If the conservation of IT instrument value wanted one has to make new expansions continually. IT specialists have determined some indices, one of which is Total cost of Ownership, which is an important indicator for investment analysis. In practice, there are some other models and methods we can adopt in our analysis. In this paper, I collected several relevant and usable methods for pre analysis of IT projects. Management can adopt these models in his investment process to make sound decisions.

  • Influence of collective wine marketing on hungarian wine sector
    37-41
    Views:
    230

    Nowadays, the importance of marketing is increasingly obvious. The number of those who apply those possibilities and methods provided by the marketing with which more efficient operation and higher amount of profit can be obtained is increasing. Special marketing fields have appeared that make the marketing characteristics of the single trades, product groups and industrial branches are widely known and utilized. During the more than 10 years following the changes of regime, the Hungarian wine market underwent a huge change. It is obvious, that this process has not stopped, and further market rearrangements may be claimed. The product and price policies have changed. Out of the marketing mix elements, mostly the marketing communication has changed, and the costumer has come to the centre. This marketing approach resulted in the formation of the newly established Hungarian Wine Marketing Public Benefit Company. The common marketing activity of the organization should have positive impacts on the industrial branch, although its efficient operation still has hindrances

  • Influencing the growth kinetics of yeast strains with vitamin supplementation
    113-115
    Views:
    291

    The aim of the current experiment was to optimize the creation process of single cell protein on plant-based substrate solution with the intention to improve end-product turn out by means of adding vitamin solution. Based on the results of the fermentation processes of yeast strains, it was concluded that the vitamin-supplementation produced its greatest effect on the dry matter production, primarily on the K. marxianus DSM 4908 strain, while it was less beneficent when it comes to the figures of wet cell mass. In addition, it can be assumed that vitamin supplementation increased the maximum specific rate of growth (μmax) and decreased the generation time (tg) significantly. In the case of the K. marxianus yeast strain on corn steep liquor treated with vitamin-supplementation, the highest (μmax) and the lowest (tg) data were observed [(0.226 h-1) and (4.4 h), respectively]. Based on the results it was found that K. marxianus DSM 4908 is expedient to be applied on corn steep liquor medium in order to determine its suitability to produce additive for feeding.

  • A földhasználat alakulása az ezredfordulón - egy felmérés eredményei
    58-66
    Views:
    223

    There were no significant changes in land ownership and use in 2000, compared to the period following the compensation process. Land is mainly owned by people who do not want to use their property, so they generally turn to renting it out to others. Although farming on rented land is performed under various conditions, farms try to rent the lands of better quality. In general, examined farms would like to increase their size by tenancy or land purchase. Buying land is a good investment, considering the price increase in the future, but because of the lack of capital, tenancy remains the main form of territory increase.
    Farms which rent land are in connection with a lot of owners, the land within their use is frittered away, it is in a lot of parts. Most rental contracts are written, but the ratio of oral contracts is still quite high. To reduce this ratio is one future aim. One more characteristic of the rental contracts is the dominance of a medium length period – which is acceptable for both the owner and user, but the ratio of short time contracts is still high. Land rent, on average for the examined farms, is quite balanced, it is on the level of about 16.000 HUF/hectare.
    The land users mainly pay the same land rent to the owners, but in some cases, there are exceptions. Generally, land rent is a fix cost, but sometimes this cost depends on the level of the yield or the change of product price. Land rent, on average, is 16% within the production costs on the examined farms, which try to choose better and larger lands for rent. Sometimes, farmers can pay higher land rent for the unit of better land, but this is not a general tendency. It is mainly true that they pay the same land rent for the unit, regardless of land quality. Land owners can not interfere in the use of their land within the rental period, and also is a main characteristic of contracts that important particulars are not spelled out sufficiently by the partners. It follows that their content has to be improved in the future.

  • Comparison of Added Value between Bioethanol Production and the Most Important Animal Production Branches Based on Concentrated Fodder, as Potential Competitors
    111-115
    Views:
    193

    There are an enormous amount (2-3 million t/yr) of corn surplus is available year by year in Hungary. Inland utilization is an unsolved problem, whereas export facilities of raw (unprocessed) material could not be regarded as optimal way because of logistical barriers and the very low producer’s price. There are two basic opportunities for the export of the surplus of maize with reduced transportational costs and higher value: 
    animal production and process of bio-ethanol. In Hungarian conditions both of them demand the same raw material so they should compete with each other for maize. Both need financial aid at least for the investment in order to reach profit. Decision makers are influenced by several factors in allocating of national supports between the differential branches, one of them could be the added value developing in the given vertical change. I will introduce and analyze the expectable added values of the abovementioned competitive activities.

  • Impact of tillage systems on maize emergence
    129-136
    Views:
    427

    In Europe, there has been a significant change in the way tillage is approached in recent years. This change is due to a growing awareness among farmers, politicians and society as a whole that soil is not a renewable resource in itself. From an agricultural point of view, the greatest impact on soil condition can be achieved through the use of the applied tillage systems.  My research takes this approach as a basis when examining the different tillage systems and their impact on the environment. In this context, conventional and a variety of no-tillage systems are examined in this paper. As a next step, it is examined how the environmental conditions created by the different tillage systems influence the emergence of maize hybrids. The analyses are carried out in a multi-factorial, long-term tillage field experiment. The same batch of the same hybrid seed was sown in several crop years, and the effects of environmental conditions on the emergence process were examined. Environmental effects and emergence-related uptake were measured in the examined plots. Measurements of environmental effects included air temperature, precipitation, soil temperature measured at seeding depth, as well as % cover of stem residue on the surface in the treated plots. The first emergence time measurements of the sown crop in the plots of each treatment were compared and relationships between these factors were investigated.

  • On the Knowledge of University Students About the Strategies of National Sustainable Development
    232-240
    Views:
    213

    The definition of sustainable development has a past which spans two decades. Today it is evident that the three pillars of sustainable development – environment, economy and society – have a strong correspondence and equally effect on every people. The UN’s Environment and Development Conference in 1992 declared the requirement in the document of Objectives for the XXI. century, that governments should prepare national sustainable development strategies. The World Conference of Sustainable Development in August 2002 made a stronger decision: „the states should make immediate steps forward … defining and preparing their national sustainable development, and for the purpose to start its realization until 2005”. Most of the countries fulfilled these requirements, and the Hungarian government promises to prepare its national strategy by the end of 2004.
    The aim of my study is to survey the knowledge of university students about the above mentioned process and generally about the topic of sustainable development. The selection of the target group is justified by the importance of young intelligentsia in the future. In order to examine their knowledge, I prepared a questionnaire and from the emerging primary data, my conclusion and statements have been deducted by a processing-analysing course, on the bases of which I made my suggestions.

  • Experiment of quality properties of dehydrated fruits
    7-15
    Views:
    257

    The lyophilization is the joint application of freezing and drying. It is an up-to-date conserving procedure, the point of which is that the humidity existing in the frozen humid material is transferred from the solid state directly into the gaseous state at a temperature below 0 oC under vacuum. Out of the procedures applied nowadays, this is the most tolerant drying process.
    With regard to the high investment and operational costs, freeze drying is applied only for valuable, heat-sensitive materials when the technological aim is to preserve such properties as aroma, taste and colour as well as such components as proteins and vitamins. This procedure is suitable for drying and conserving certain foodstuffs, stimulants, organic chemicals, medicines and similar sensitive and valuable materials.
    In our institute, we have been conducting freeze drying experiments with regional fruits and vegetables since the year 2005. During the first phase, we examined the heat- and material transfer as well as the abstraction of humidity, while during the second phase we analysed the rehydration ability and nutrient content of the freeze-dried materials as compared to those dried with the method of convection. Moreover we have conducted penetration measurements with a portable hardness tester.
    To sum up the results gained so far, we can state that the quality of the lyophilized materials is better than those dried in the traditional way. It originates partly in the fact that the temperature and pressure applied for the freeze drying are smaller and the drying period is far longer than for the convection drying.
    In contrast to convection-dried materials, freeze dried materials set in close to their original water-content, keep their original shape and size after being rehydrated. The reason of it the porous, spongy structure (flexible cell wall) of the lyophilized products which is able to take up moisture quickly. In addition, the lyophilized products can be rehydrated faster than those dried in the traditional way.
    Regarding the results of the chemical analyses, the following conclusion can be drawn: the vacuum freeze drying results a small decrease of nutrient content and nutritive value for the lyophilized products.
    The results of the hardness tests support the statement that the majority of agricultural materials cannot be considered as an ideal flexible body, because during the experiment the flexibility coefficient changed when going from the surface of the material inwards. In addition, the penetration tests also confirm that the surface of the convection-dried vegetables is at least 1.5-3 times harder than that of the freeze-dried products. The reason of it that it takes place during the drying denaturation processes.
    The article summarizes the results of our research work listed above, in accordance with our experiments conducted by using the characteristic fruits (apple, plum) of the Nyírség Region.

  • Land use changes in suburban areas – case study of Lublin
    43-46
    Views:
    221

    The main reason to analyzing the space structure in the Lublin area is to determine the direction and pace of suburbanization in municipalities adjacent to Lublin, distinction factors and motives of population movements to the suburbs, complain rural-urban interaction and multifunctionality of land use. Housing development over the years was accompanied by confusion in planning documents and the law. Changes in regulations on land use in 1994 and 2003 in Poland additionally deepened the negative situation. Local authorities failed to control the spontaneous process of suburbanization, which adversely affected not only the spatial structure of municipalities, but also on local relationship, landscape, land use and the former urban systems. The result are long-term problems associated with incompatibility rural areas to support a growing number of residents, such as failure of the social and technical infrastructure.

  • Application of GIS, precision agriculture and unplugging cultivation in plant breeding of Karcag
    49-56
    Views:
    356

    In the last two decades, the prevailing ecological conditions and climate change have caused negative effects. Therefore, a paradigm shift is needed in the field growing of plants. The latest inventions, digital technologies, precision cultivation are not enough, the mentality of the farmers is more important. For this reason, not only big financial sacrifices, but adequate receptivity are needed on behalf of farmers. Adequate skills and continuous self-education are necessary. The yield of plant growing farms is determined by ecological conditions to a 40% extent, genetic background of the seed has a 30% share and the applied agricultural technology has a proportion of 30%. In different agroecological conditions, bred varieties of plants have bigger tolerance to unfavorable factors of the regions and significant yield stability. Farmers, who buy and sow seeds, can only contribute to the genetic potential of the seeds with cultivation technology. Plant breeding provides stable genetic background and good quality seeds. Breeding activity – choosing variety proposants, breeding them, selection work, classical breeding process for 8-10 years – must create new landraces, which can produce balance, high yield and have good quality parameters in extreme ecological conditions, yearly excursion and have higher tolerance to unfavorable factors of the region giving significant production stability for farmers. In Karcag GIS technology, precision cultivation elements and soil-friendly agrotechnical methods have been introduced which largely support the aims of breeding and can also provide optimal cultivation conditions in extreme years. Because of the specificity of breeding the main aim is not only to increase yield but to provide harmonic growing for bred materials, to decrease the number and the cost of cultivation and to be punctual. In this study, applied new methods and technologies are introduced.

  • How does the S-locus determining self-incompatibility in stone fruits work in self-compatible peach?
    93-100
    Views:
    340

    The majority of stone fruit species are self-incompatible, a feature that is determined by a specific recognition mechanism between the S-ribonuclease enzymes residing in the pistils and the F-box proteins expressed in the pollen tubes. Failure in the function of any component of this bipartite system resulted in self-compatibility (SC) in many cultivars of Prunus species. Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.) is the only species in the Prunoideae subfamily that is traditionally known to be self-compatible, but its molecular background is completely unknown. Isoelectric focusing and S-gene specific PCR revealed that SC is not due to functional inability of pistil ribonucleases. We hypothesize that SC may be a consequence of a kind of pollen-part mutation or the action of one or more currently unknown modifier gene(s). Only two S-alleles were identified in a set of peach genotypes of various origin and phenotypes in contrast to the 17–30 alleles described in self-incompatible fruit trees. Most important commercial cultivars carry the same S-allele and are in a homozygote state. This indicates the common origin of these cultivars and also the consequence of self-fertilization. According to the available information, this is the first report to elucidate the role of S-locus in the fertilization process of peach. 

  • Using of e-learning in agricultural training programs
    117-124
    Views:
    177

    We use the Moodle at the University of Debrecen, Businessand Agricultural Department since January 2007. The Moodle is an open source Learning Management System. Learning Management System (or LMS) which is a software package, which enables the management and delivery of learning content and resources to students. Most LMS systems are web-based to facilitate „anytime, anywhere” access to learning content and administration. LMS tracks student progress in a course and indicates completions. At the least, learning management systems
    track individual student progress, record scores of quizzes and tests within an online learning program, and track course completions. The Moodle has more and more function at our Department in education. In January we worked to introduce Moodle in our Faculty. Therefore, we took lessons for the tutors about the usage of the Moodle. Our aim was to develop such a learning system, which is an integral part of  educational process,
    to improve the efficiency of agricultural higher education.

  • A simple but powerful tool for the assessment of financial progress in EU co-funded grant programmes – Simple Progress Overview Tool (SPOT)
    67-72
    Views:
    235

    Mid-term evaluation of grant programmes always aim to assess the financial progress of the programme. Progress to date assessment is conducted via addressing three issues: by overviewing progress so far, by exploring the reasons behind the current level of progress, and by answering the specific evaluation questions formulated as a result of progress overview. The Simple Progress Overview Tool is a method and a tool facilitating the overview of financial progress, supporting the exploration of reasons behind the current level of progress and enabling the identification of targeted further evaluation questions. The methodology applies the Du Pont approach of division to factors, in which the variable describing a phenomenon is divided into the multiplication of factors (milestone stages of the process) influencing the variable. Also, this division to factors facilitates the identification of reasons behind progress. The factors carry individually meaningful information to the evaluation of progress. This method was used by many EU member states including the Czech Republic, Romania, and Malta for the evaluation of progress in the course of the mid-term evaluation of their National Strategic Reference Frameworks.

  • Evaluating economic value properties of different beetroot varieties
    137-142
    Views:
    325

    The root vegetables have a pivotal role in the vegetable consumption and to form a healthy diet. The consumption of natural juices, like apple-beetroot are becoming more popular and the drying-, the pharmaceutical- and canning industry require more beetroot to process. For the processing, the industry requires easily peeled and round shaped roots, therefore to use the proper variety is very important. The primary quality parameters are the inner color intensity, uniform color and water soluble dry matter content.
    4 beetroot varieties were evaluated (Libero, Rubin, Detroit 2 and Cylindra) in the 3 years experiment which was carried out at the University of Debrecen, Institutes for Agricultural Research and Educational Farm, Botanical and Exhibiton Garden. The soil type was calcareous chernozem. Leaf length, shape index and water soluble solid content were measured, and sensory evaluation was carried out on taste, inner color intensity and white ring.
    To summarize, we can state the exception of Rubin genotype all of the varieties are suitable for second cultivation and good for processing (canned, juice, powder).

  • Soil – Environment – Sustainability
    331-337
    Views:
    349

    The future and life quality of human society depends primarily on the success of the sustainable use of natural resources: the geological strata–soil–water–biota–near surface atmosphere continuum. Soil is the most significant conditionally renewable natural resource in our Earth’s system, with three unique properties: multifunctionality; fertility/ productivity; resilience. In the case of rational land use and precise soil management soil does not disappear, and its desirable „quality” does not decrease considerably, irreversibly and unavoidably. Its renewal, however, requires continuous care and permanent activities.
    Consequently, the prevention, elimination or moderation of soil degradation processes and extreme hydrological situations (the two main factors limiting desirable soil multifunctionality) with rational land use and soil management are the key factors and priority tasks of sustainable development on each level and in each phase of the decisionmaking process.

  • The examination of the profit-making capacity of the wooden chip-based large-scale product path
    21-26
    Views:
    256

    Heating with wooden chips would provide a significantly cheaper energy production alternative for the local governments in heating their facilities and in district heating as well. The raw material should be available in the appropriate quality, quantity and at the right time. This type of heating requires the well-organized and joint work of the forestry, transporting, processing and receiving plants. This activity might be realized in the form of non-profit clusters. In order not to suffer any losses, the participants of the product path should carry out a very careful planning regarding the factors appearing in heating with wood but missing from gas heating. One such critical element is the transportation distance which might make the basically cost-efficient wooden chip-based heating process significantly more expensive.

    One of the main findings of my paper is that the transportation distance should be at most 23 kilometers for the wooden chips to be worth (economical) using against gas. From the viewpoint of practical use, this can be interpreted as the distance between the forestry and heatproducing units. By determining the constant and varying costs of transporting and chopping and from calculating the initial contribution, I concluded that the profit-making capacity of the product path would be sufficient for an energy-related investment. According to my calculations, by remaining within the economical transporting distance of 23 kilometers, such long-term savings might be achieved compared to gas heating which would partly cover the establishment of a biomass-based power plant or heating plant.

  • The Effect of EU Accession on the Hungarian Tobacco Sector. The Evaluation of the Regulations
    368-377
    Views:
    169

    Tobacco growing can be regarded as a special small sector of Hungarian agriculture. However, studying it from a different point of view, we can see that it is an outstanding sector among others in agriculture. Not only is its budget importance that makes it significant (its total budgetary income is more than 200 billion HUF), and on the other hand it also plays an important role in employment and income output.
    Nevertheless questions of regulation arise, and especially those of its justification, methods and scope. Moreover, EU accession forces Hungary to redraw its regulatory statutes for legal harmonization. Below is a discussion of the impacts of this process, as well as of the domestic tobacco market itself.

  • GC-MS studies to map mechanistic aspects of photolytic decomposition of pesticides
    11-16
    Views:
    213

    Transformation of pesticides in the environment is a highly complex process affected by different factors. Both biological and physical-chemical factors may play a role in the degradation, whose ratio depends on the actual environmental conditions.
    Our study aims to reveal specific details of photolytic degradation of pesticides as important soil contaminants. Significance of these studies is enhanced by the fact that pesticide decomposition may contribute to soil degradation, and have harmful biological effects by degrading to toxic products. The toxicity of the examined pesticides is well known, however very little information is available regarding their natural degradation processes, the quality, structure and biological impact of the degradation products.
    The photolytic degradation of frequently applied pesticides of distinctive types (acetochlor – acetanilide, simazine – triazine, chlorpyrifos – organophosphate, carbendazim – benzimidazole) was investigated. A special, immerseable UV-light source was applied in order to carry out photodegradation. The degradation processes were followed by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and mass spectrometry coupled with gas chromatography (GC/MS). EI mass spectrometry was used to identify the degradation species.
    Each of the studied pesticides underwent photolytic decomposition, and the detailed mechanism of photolytic transformation was established. At least four degradation species were detected and identified in each case. Loss of alkyl, alkyloxy, amino-alkyl and chloro groups might be regarded as typical decomposition patterns. Deamination occurred at the last stage of decomposition.

  • Development opportunities of biomass-based ethanol production in relation to starch- and cellulosebased bioethanol production
    71-75
    Views:
    298

    The biomass is such a row material that is available in large quantities and it can be utilizied by the biotechnology in the future. Nowadays the technology which can process ligno cellulose and break down into fermentable sugars is being researched. One possible field of use of biomass is the liquid fuel production such as ethanol production. Based on the literary life cycle analysis, I compared the starch-based (first generation) to cellulose-based (second generation) bioethanol production in my study considering into account various environmental factors (land use, raw material production, energy balance). After my examination I came to the conclusion that the use of bioethanol, independent of its production technology, is favorable from environmental point of view but the application of second generation bioethanol has greater environmentally benefits.

  • Biological control of sweet chestnut on Pécsbánya, Hungary
    77-81
    Views:
    487

    The supervision of plant hygiene of sweet chestnut grove on Pécsbánya (South Hungary) started more than four years ago. Hypovirulent strains were applied as a biological process to control Cryphonectria parasitica fungus which causes the chestnut blight disease. By now the performed interventions have shown obvious results, the vitality of the trees has greatly improved, the amount of harvested nuts is increasing, and the hypovirulent strain has been spreading within the area. During plant health inspection the galls of chestnut gall wasp (Dryocosmus kuriphilus) was found in the year of 2015, which is the obvious symptom of new occurrence of the pest. The pest was eradicated by destroy galls, which allows taking out of consideration the damage by now in this area.

  • Investigation of the Effect of P-Supply on Maize (Zea mays L.) Development
    171-173
    Views:
    548

    Quantification of plant development is important in areas where the actual dates of certain phonological stages should be identified. The influences of different ecological factors are put into algorithms by crop modellers. In this process the effect of plant nutrients are not yet well quantified. This paper gives data on the effect of phosphorus on maize development prior to flowering stage. The main conclusions are as follows: 1. In lack of phosphorus more degree days are needed for flowering then in case of well P-supply. 2. The effect of P is seen not on leaf initialisation (i.e. final eaf number is the same) but rather on the phyllochron interval. 3. P effect on phyllochron interval can be observed at the younger stage (prior to leaf number 10) but not later.