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Element content analyses in the Institute for Food Sciences, Quality Assurance and Microbiology
203-207Views:111The role of chemical elements to ensure and promote our health is undisputed. Some of them are essential for plants, animals and human, others can cause diseases. The major source of mineral constituents is food, drinking water has a minor contribution to it, so the knowledge of elemental intake through food is crucial and needs continuous monitoring and by this way it promotes the food quality assurance and dietetics.
With the evolution of spectroscopic methods increasingly lower concentrations could be determined, so the elemental composition of a sample could be more precisely and fully described. Due to the results the gathered knowledge up to the present is supported and new observations can be done helping us to understand such complex systems as biological organisms are.
The quality of a food is determined by the full process of its production, consequently it starts with agricultural production so elemental-analysis usually cover the whole soil – plant – (animal) – food chain, by this way the „Fork-to-Farm” precept is true in elemental analysis field also.
The history of elemental analysis in the University of Debrecen, Centre for Agricultural and Applied Economic Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, Institute of Food Processing, Quality Assurance and Microbiology goes back to 1980s when the so called Regional Measurement Central gave the background for research. The continuous deployment resulted in an obtain of an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES) in 1988, which extended the scope of examinations due to its excellent performance characteristics
compared to flame atom absorption (FAAS) and flame emission spectrometers (FES). The instrumental park retain up to date correlate to the developing analytical techniques due to acquiring a newer ICPAES in 1998 and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer in 2004 – which sensitivity is three order of magnitude better compared to ICP-AES. The Institute supports the work with its own ICP-AES and ICP-MS since 2011. -
Effects of soil cultivation and environmental changes on maize yield
97-100Views:126We 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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Modelling forestation alternatives
35-41Views:178Agroforestry systems are part of the history of the European Union rural landscapes, but the regional increase of size of agricultural parcels had a significant effect on European land use in the 20th century, thereby it has radically reduced the coverage of natural forest. However, this cause conflicts between interest of agricultural and forestry sectors. The agroforestry land uses could be a solution of this conflict management. One real – ecological – problem with the remnant forests and new forest plantation is the partly missing of network function without connecting ecological green corridors, the other problem is verifiability for the agroforestry payment system, monitoring the arable lands and plantations.
Remote sensing methods are currently used to supervise European Union payments. Nowadays, next to use satellite imagery the airborne hyperspectral and LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) remote sensing technologies are becoming more widespread use for nature, environmental, forest, agriculture protection, conservation and monitoring and it is an effective tool for monitoring biomass production.
In this Hungarian case study we made a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) to create agroforestry site selection model. The aim of model building was to ensure the continuity of ecological green corridors, maintain the appropriate land use of regional endowments. The investigation tool was the more widely used hyperspectral and airborne LiDAR remote sensing technologies which can provide appropriate data acquisition and data processing tools to build a decision support system.
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Regional interactions of bioenergy utilization
159-162Views:57The backwardness of the rural areas compared to the cities poses a problem all over Europe. In Hungary, a relatively small size of the population lives in the capital, more than 80% of Hungarians live in rural cities or villages. The tension between the countryside and the cities is rather intensified and the symbiotic correlation would need to be restored. Many people migrate from the countryside, especially young adults, as they have no opportunities to find a job in their hometowns. This phenomenon poses big risks because getting a job is usually difficult everywhere and because fitting into a new environment always involves a lot of difficulties.
Non-renewable energies are restricted and they will not be accessible after reaching a certain limit. People’s everyday activities and the functioning of the economy presuppose the availability of the necessary amount of energy. In the future, a solution that provides the longterm stability of energy for the world will become increasingly necessary. There is a huge potential in bioenergy, more specifically in biomass. The building of biomass plants and putting them into operation creates jobs in the rural spatial environments: a locally available resource that can help in creating the energy safety of the country and the reduction of the dependence on import. The production of energy crops or the crops whose purpose of use is energy could help in strengthening the multifunctional character of agriculture and it can represent a source of income for those living off agriculture under the current uncertain conditions.
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Optimization of Density of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) Production Quotas by Pointwise Geostatistic Methods
46-50Views:81The regional distribution of the Hungarian sugar beet production quotas was developed by the conventional concurrency relationships. In our research we analyzed 320 sectors of 9 factories with geostatistic methods in a GIS environment. The applied researches of spatial mean, spatial deviation, deviational ellipse have been introduced by us in this speciality. We used two different methods in our optimization inquiries, where the spatial segment of the standard deviational ellipse was based on a more robust preliminary data processing solution, and this is why it is a less parametricable method. The inquiry of the spatial buffer zones in production sectors ensures an obvious optimization possibility. We considered the supply route distances in both cases as a modeling boundary condition. Our results show that we introduced an effective decision making method to the occurent replanning of the production sectors with the pointwise density inquiries and the geometric analogy that was fitted to it.
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The effect of the queen's age on the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) burden of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies
83-87Views:275An apiary trial was conducted in 2016 August to October in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Nyírmada to evaluate the influence of queen’s age on the Varroa destructor-burden in the treatment colonies. Sixty colonies of bees belonging to the subspecies Apis mellifera carnica pannonica in Hunor loading hives (with 10 frames in the brood chamber/deep super) were used. The colonies were treated with amitraz and the organophosphate pesticide coumaphos active ingredients. The amitraz treatment includes 6 weeks. The coumaphos treatment with Destructor 3.2% can be used for both diagnosis and treatment of Varroasis. For diagnosis, one treatment is sufficient. For control, two treatments at an interval of seven days are required. The colonies were grouped by the age of the queen: 20 colonies with one-year-old, 20 colonies with two-year-old and 20 colonies with three-year-old queen. The mite mortality of different groups was compared. The number of fallen mites was counted at the white bottom boards. The examination of spring growth of honey bee colonies has become necessary due to the judgement of efficiency of closing treatment. The data was recorded seven times between 16th March 2017 and 19th May 2017.
Data on fallen mites were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Post-Hoc Tukey-test. Statistical analysis was performed using the software of IBM SPSS (version 21.). During the first two weeks after treatments, the number of fallen mites was significantly higher in the older queen’s colonies (Year 2014). The total mite mortality after amitraz treatment in the younger queen’s colonies was lower (P<0.05) compared to the three-year-old queen’s colonies. According to Takács and Oláh (2016) although the mitemortality tendency, after the coumaphos (closing) treatment in colonies which have Year 2014 queen showed the highest rate, considering the mite-burden the colonies belongs to the average infected category. The colonial maintenance ability of three-year-old queen cannot be judged based on the influencing effect on the mite-burden. The importance of the replacement of the queen was judged by the combined effect of several factors.
During the spring-growth study (16th March–19th May) was experienced in the three-year-old queen’s colonies the number of brood frames significantly lower compared to the one- and two-year-old queen’s colonies. In the study of 17th April and 19th May each of the three queen-year-groups were varied. Therefore in the beekeeping season at different times were determined the colonial maintenance ability of queens by more factors: efficiency of closing treatment in early spring, the spring-growth of bee colonies, the time of population shift (in current study, this time was identical in each queen-year), honey production (from black locust).
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Marginalisation and Multifunctional Land Use in Hungary
50-61Views:75Our study prepared as a brief version of National Report in the frame of EUROLAN Programme. We deal with the interpretation of some definitions (marginalisation of land use, multifunctionality of land use, marginalisation of agriculture, multifunctionality of agriculture), with sorting and reviewing indicators of marginalisation and finally with the analysis of functions of land use. We suggested a dynamic and a static approach of marginalisation. We can explore the dynamic process by time series and the static (regional) one by cross-section analyses.
It is very hard to explain the perspective of the future of marginalisation of land and of agriculture in Hungary. The process of marginalisation seems faster in the agriculture in the coming years, but it depends on the utilisation of new possibilities given by the EU financial resources and by the Common Market. At this moment agriculture seems one of the big losers of the accession.
In the long term we should face considerable challenges in the land use. It is necessary to take into account that there is a supply market of foods and traditional fibre production world-wide. There are limited possibilities to produce and to market for example biodiesel (fuel), bioethanol, or maybe biogas. Thus the environment and landscape preservation becomes more and more real land use alternatives.
The environmental interpretation of the multifunctionality of land use: activities (functions) of environmental preservation and nature conservation in a certain area, which aim to preserve natural resources by the existing socio-economic conditions.
Preservation of rural landscapes is the task mainly for land-users, who can be commanded by legal means and can be encouraged by economic measures to carry out the above activity. In the recent past measures of „command and control” type regulation were predominant, however nowadays, especially in the developed countries, the role of economic incentives increases.
As a conclusion of our analysis we can state that as long as the main land-dependent activities (agriculture, forestry, housing, tourism, local mining) cease to be viable under an existing socio-economic structure, then it is hardly possible to sustain the rural landscape on an appropriate level by non-commodity products (such as environment preservation, cultural heritage, nature conservation, employment etc.).
1 The study was prepared in the frame of EUROLAN (EU-5 Framework Project), QLK5-CT-2002-02346, as a compiled version of the Hungarian National Report, The national project co-ordinator: Prof. Dr. Gabor Szabo.
A part of places with high ecological values coincides with the areas with unfavourable agricultural endowments and underdeveloped micro-regions. We think so that the marginalisation preserves the non-environmental-sound activities and hinders the development of multifunctional agriculture and this process can change only by joint utilisation of endogenous and exogenous resources and methods. Thus the successful programmes for agri-environmental protection and multifunctional land use can serve the moderation of negative effects of marginalisation or maybe the marginalisation process itself. -
Effect of year and irrigation on yield and quantity of different potato varieties
7-14Views:78dramatically in the last few decades. We are lagging behind Western European countries as regards yields. The ecological conditions are not favourable for potato, but the low yields other causes: the use of non-suitable seed, the low level of irrigation and nutrient supply and out of date machinery. The competitiveness of production is further decreased by the great alternation in yields from year to year, unpredictable market conditions, poor consumption habit, and often the lack of quality products.
The experiment was carried out at the experimental site of the University of Debrecen, Farm and Regional Research Institute, at Látókép. In our experiment, we examined the yield and selected quality parameters of 9 medium-early varieties in large parcels. Of the examined varieties, 3 are of Dutch, and 6 are of Hungarian breeding.
The experiment was set up in 2004 and 2005, on 50 m2 parcels on calcareous chernozem soil after winter wheat (2004) and two rowed barley (2005) as a forecrop. The varieties were examined in 4 repetitions in randomized blocks, of which two repetitions were irrigated, and two were non-irrigated. We examined the yields of the varieties, the distribution of tubers according to size and their percentages and changes, and selected parameters of quality and chemical composition due to irrigation. We studied the dry matter content, the starch content, the underwater mass, the amount of reducing sugars, and the colour index of frying of the tubers.
Summary, it can be stated that among the agrotechniques, year effect, variety and irrigation factors have considerable impact on potato yield quality and quantity. However, the impact of irrigation depends on the year effect. -
Effect of Irrigation on the Yield and Quantity of Potato Varieties
53-61Views:86In Hungary, the growing area of potato area dropped dramatically in the last few decades. Additionally not only are we lagging behind Western European countries as regards yields, but the competitiveness of production is further decreased by the great alternation in yields from year to year, unpredictable market conditions, poor consumption habits and, often the lack of quality products.
The experiment was carried out at the experimental site of the University of Debrecen, Farm and Regional Research Institute, at Látókép. In our experiment, we examined the yield and some quality parameters of 9 medium-early varieties in large parcels. Of the examined varieties, 3 are of Dutch, and 6 are of Hungarian breeding.
The experiment was set up in 2003 and 2004, in two years of significantly different precipitation, on 50 m2 parcels on calcareous chernozem soil after winter wheat as a forecrop in both years. The 9 varieties were examined in 4 repetitions in randomized blocks, from which two repetitions were irrigated, and two were non-irrigated.
We examined the yields of the varieties, the distribution of tubers according to size and their percentages, and the changes in specific parameters of quality and inner content due to irrigation. We studied the dry matter content, the starch content, the underwater mass, the amount of reducing sugars, and the colour index of frying of the tubers.
In Summary, it can be stated that among the agrotechniques, year effect, variety and irrigation factors have considerable impact on potato yield quality and quantity. However the effect of irrigation depends on the crop year. In a draughty year, like in 2003, irrigation could increase the yield by 10%, while in a more favourable wet year, the improving effect of irrigation was low. -
Application of advanced environmental assessment methods in orchard management
221-225Views:113Our reseaches were carried out in apple and pear orchards at Farm and Regional Research Institute in Pallag of the University of Debrecen and Pear Gene Reservoir in Újfehértó. Aim of this study is to interpret and analyse field studies with the aim of a GIS based database. Furthermore, beside field measurements, airborne and field hyperspectraldatacollection and analysis were also made to facilitate special watermanagement and irrigation related surveys. The integration of unified, geoinformatics systems with high spatial resolution and calibrated airborne hyperspectral data are appropriate tool for decision support systems, which support the continuous update and actualization of the changing cropping data, the analysis of cropping results in a unified complex data system, the acquiring of agro environmental subsidies, the establishment of monitoring system, and the optimization of irrigated fruit production.
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Conceptional Model of Regional Agricultural Water Management System
199-209Views:91Our study focuses on the water management improvement of the Hajdúsági-löszhát (loess ridge). The Hajdúsági-löszhát (loess ridge) is an intensive agricultural area. At the same time, the problem of increasing water demand is still not solved, so towards of safety production irrigation should be improved. To realise this should be known not even agricultural water demands but industrial and urban ones as well, thus a complex water management system is required to be worked out.
In the first part of the research, the water demand in the area is mapped, then a conceptional model of the Hajdúsági-löszhát’s (loess ridge’s) water management system is created. After collecting data the water management scenario is summarized in a real time model splitted into five periods.
During the research, the instruments of spatial informatics (GIS) are used to get acquainted with the variation of the hydrological parameters in space and time. To understand and simulate the different decision making processes and to choose the right decision alternative, a decision support system is created with the use of spatial informatics data.
In addition, considering the potentially right decision alternative, irrigation will be started in practice, an effect and after-effect inquiry will be made, and the results will be analysed, evaluated and summarized. Finally, a suggestion to the most adequate irrigation technology will be made. -
Comparative examination of the tillage systems of maize on meadow chernozem soil
21-24Views:148Maize production plays a major role in the agriculture of Hungary. Maize yields were very variable in Hungary in the last few decades. Unpredictable purchase prices, periodical overproduction, the increasing occurrence of weather extremities, the uncertain profit producing ability, the soil degradation processes (physical, chemical and biological degradation) and the high expenses are risk factors for producers. Due soil tillage, there is an opportunity to reduce these risks. Based on the experimental database of the Institute of Land Utilisation, Regional Development and Technology of the University of Debrecen, Centre for Agricultural and the KITE Plc., various cultivation systems were examined with maize (Zea mays L.) as indicator plant in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok country in 2012 and 2013. The sample area can be found in the outskirts of Kenderes on a meadow chernozem soil. On the examined plot, strip-tillage, subsoiling and moldboard ploughing were performed, each on 4.5 ha, respectively.
In general, our findings show, that strip-tillage and subsoiling can be alternative tillage systems beside moldboard ploughing on meadow chernozem soils in Hungary.
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On the connection between spatial development and sustainable landscape in the Northern Great Plain region
145-148Views:58This paper tries to find connection between sustainable landscape and spatial development policy of the Northern Great Plain region on the basis of specific examples explained in scientific literature. Searching for the common roots of spatial development and sustainability the paper explains two interpretations of sustainability from the view point of landscape, than the most significant element of current landscape change – the polarization of landscapes – will be introduced. This trend in landscape change basically determines the direction of spatial development. This paper analyses the Northern Great Plain region from two different approaches. In the first grouping the region is exposed from the view point of spatial development. In the second partitioning the area is divided into subject matters based on the principles of sustainability and polarization of landscape. This research – analyzing development plans and strategies – considers the current situation within the subject matters.