Scientific Journals of INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria)
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Feasibility of using pyranometers for continuous estimation of ground cover fraction in table grape vineyards
Get PDFThis paper evaluates the feasibility of using pyranometers for continuous estimation of ground cover fraction (GCF) at remote, unattended sites. Photographical techniques were used for measuring GCF (GCFref) at a table grape vineyard grown under a net. Daily pyranometer-driven GCF estimates (GCFpyr) were obtained from solar radiation measurements above and below the canopy. For GCFpyr computation, solar radiation was averaged for two hours around solar noon (midday periods) and for daylight periods (8:00 to 18:00 Universal Time Coordinated). GCFpyr and GCFref (daylight periods) showed a good agreement: mean estimation error, 0.000; root mean square error, 0.113; index of agreement, 0.967. The high GCF attained, the large measurement range for GCF and the presence of the net above the table grape were the likely reasons for the good performance of GCFpyr in this crop despite the short number of pyranometers used. Further research is required to develop more appropriate calibration equations of GCFpyr and for a more detailed evaluation of using a short number of pyranometers to estimate GCF
Fatty acid intake and rumen fatty acid composition is affected by pre-grazing herbage mass and daily herbage allowance in Holstein dairy cows
Get PDFThe objective of this study was to investigate the effect of level of pre-grazing herbage mass (HM) and daily herbage allowance (DHA) on the fatty acid (FA) intake and composition of ruminal content of grazing dairy cows. Four rumen fistulated Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were allocated to either a high or low HM (1700 vs 2600 kg DM ha-1) and within herbage mass treatment further allocated to a high or low DHA (20 vs 16 kg of DM cow-1 day-1) in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Total FA intake and linolenic acid (LNA) intake was higher for cows on high DHA (p<0.05). Ruminal oleic acid, linoleic and LNA were not affected by treatments. Ruminal stearic acid (C18:0) and vaccenic acid (VA) concentrations were higher at low HM (43.6 and 14.8 g/100 gof FA respectively; p<0.01) compared to high HM (42.0 and 12.5 g/100 gof FA respectively for C18:0 and VA). Cows grazing high DHA had higher ruminal concentration of VA (15.3 g/100 gof FA; p<0.01) than low DHA (12.1 g/100 gof FA). Regarding milk FA composition, only some of the milk FA varied across treatments, being the VA and LNA concentrations higher at low HM (p<0.05). These data suggest that low HM and high DHA, at least within the range studied here, promotes the accumulation of ruminal VA which could be available for subsequent conversion within the mammary gland to the human health promoting c9,t11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid
Soil fatigue and its specificity towards pepper plants in greenhouses
Get PDFThe aim was to confirm the depressive effect on pepper plants grown in non-disinfected soils and to ascertain the possible specificity of fatigue with the goal of establishing strategies for disinfecting soils with a broad spectrum of fumigants. Soil samples were taken from six greenhouses that had been used for different numbers of years to grow a monoculture of pepper and which received different disinfestation treatments (methyl bromide, 1,3-dichloropropene+chloropicrin, biosolarization) and one which received no treatment. Every soil sample was splitted in three fractions. The first fraction was disinfested with methyl bromide (MB), the second with steam at 120ºC by autoclaving (A), and the third was not disinfected (ND). Pepper plants were cultivated in pots. Celery and lettuce were also cultivated in the same conditions to ascertain the degree to which soil fatigue was specific. In 87.5% of the 16 soil variants, the plants cultivated in the disinfected soil fractions (MB or A) were higher than those grown in the non-disinfected fractions. However, in the case of celery and lettuce, the plants cultivated in ND were higher than those cultivated in MB or A. The results show that the fatigue accumulated in the soil of the pepper monoculture was highly specific towards this crop, suggesting that rotation with other crops is an advisable agronomic practice in order to recover the soil productive capacity
Genetic relationships between six eastern Pyrenean sheep breeds assessed using microsatellites
Get PDFThe knowledge of the genetic composition and relationships among livestock breeds is a necessary step for the implementation of management and conservation plans. This study aims to characterise the genetic diversity and relationships among six sheep breeds of meat aptitude that are spread through the eastern Pyrenees: Tarasconnaise, Castillonnaise and Rouge du Roussillon from France, and Aranesa, Xisqueta and Ripollesa from Spain. All but Tarasconnaise are catalogued as endangered. These breeds do not share the same ancestral origin but commercial trades and gene flow between herds are known to have occurred for centuries. Additionally, two outgroup breeds were included: the Guirra, from a different geographical location, and the Lacaune, a highly selected breed of dairy aptitude. A total of 410 individuals were typed using a panel of 12 microsatellite markers. Statistical, phylogenetic and Bayesian analyses showed that eastern Pyrenean breeds retained high levels of genetic diversity and low, but significant, levels of genetic differentiation (FST = 4.1%). While outgroups were clearly differentiated from other breeds, Pyrenean breeds tended to form two clusters. The first encompassed Tarasconnaise and Aranesa, which probably descend from a common meta-population. The second tended to group the other four breeds. However, none reached high mean Q-values of membership to a discrete cluster. This is consistent with the recent past gene flow between breeds, despite different ancestral genetic origins. The genetic characterisation carried out of the eastern Pyrenean sheep populations provides useful information to support decision making on their conservation and focusing efforts and resources to more singular breeds
Wine consumers’ preferences in Spain: an analysis using the best-worst scaling approach
Get PDFResearch on wine consumers’ preferences has largely been explored in the academic literature and the importance of wine attributes has been measured by rating or ranking scales. However, the most recent literature on wine preferences has applied the best-worst scaling approach to avoid the biased outcomes derived from using rating or ranking scales in surveys. This study investigates premium red wine consumers’ preferences in Spain by applying best-worst alternatives. To achieve this goal, a random parameter logit model is applied to assess the impacts of wine attributes on the probability of choosing premium quality red wine by using data from an ad-hoc survey conducted in a medium-sized Spanish city. The results suggest that some wine attributes related to past experience (i.e. it matches food) followed by some related to personal knowledge (i.e. the designation of origin) are valued as the most important, whereas other attributes related to the image of the New World (i.e. label or brand name) are perceived as the least important or indifferent
Household demand elasticities for meat products in Uruguay
Get PDFThis article analyzed the demand for meats at household level over the past decade in Uruguay, a country that exhibits a very high per capita consumption of these products. In particular, the consumption of beef is one of the highest in the world and only comparable to Argentina. The analysis involved a two-step estimation of an incomplete system of censored demand equations using household data from the last available national income and expenditure survey (2005/06). Thirteen meat products were included in the analysis: six broad beef products (deboned hindquarter cuts, bone-in hindquarter cuts, ground beef, rib plate, bone-in forequarter cuts, and other beef cuts), four products from other meats (sheep, pork, poultry, and fish), and three generic mixed-meat products. A complete set of short-term income, own-price and cross-price elasticities were computed and reported along with their 90% confidence intervals (CI). The results were consistent with both economic theory and empirical evidence as well as with the expected behavior, considering the relevance of these products, particularly beef, in the diet of Uruguayan consumers. All meat items were necessary goods and evidenced income-inelastic responses, which was expected given their high consumption level. All meats behaved as normal goods although exhibiting different reactions to changes in price. In general, beef cuts were more price elastic than other more broadly defined products. The more specific and disaggregated the meat product the higher its corresponding direct price elasticity. The complement/substitute relationships found in this study were highly depended on the specific product combinations
Influence of farming system and production purpose on the morphostructure of Spanish goat breeds
Get PDFThe aim of this study was to examine the possible influence of farming systems, based on the morphostructure of 1,571 female goats drawn from 40 flocks containing seven Spanish breeds (Blanca Andaluza, Blanca Celtiberica, Negra Serrana, Pirenaica, Payoya, Murciano-Granadina and Malagueña) raised under four different farming systems. Analysis of morphometric variables showed that the morphostructure of native Spanish goat breeds was linked to the farming system used and thus to the production purpose. The morphostructure of grazing breeds may be more influenced by natural selection within the physical environment and less by human selection. That of stall-fed breeds, by contrast, reflects intense artificial selection aimed at achieving a highly-productive dairy type. For this reason, morphological evaluation systems used in breeding programmes for meat or dual-purpose goat breeds farmed extensively or semi-extensively should be specific, and should reflect the influence of the environment in which these goats are farmed
Effect of gender on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat and fat quality of calves of Avileña-Negra Ibérica breed fattened under free-range conditions
Get PDFThe effect of gender (entire males vs females) on growth performance, carcass traits and meat and fat quality of Avileña-Negra Ibérica calves, fattened under free range conditions and supplemented with concentrate, were investigated. The average daily gain, leg width and thorax depth were higher in males than in females. Carcass conformation score, fore-quarter weight and percentage in carcass were higher in males than in females, whereas dressing percentege, loins and flank percentages in carcass and carcass fatness degree were higher in females than in males. Instrumental colour variables of muscle were not affected by gender at days 1, 3, 7 and 9 of refrigerated storage. In muscle, the L*, a*, b*, chroma, oxymyoglobine and oxymyoglobine/metmyoglobine ratio values observed 9 days after slaughter were lower than those at days 1 and 3 after slaughter. Intramuscular fat percentage of Longissimus thoracis muscle was higher in females than in males. Gender had no effect on α-tocopherol content in intramuscular fat (IMF) from Longissimus thoracis muscle. The omental and IMF of females had lower C18:2 n-6, Σ n-6 and Σ PUFA proportions than those from the males. In IMF C16:1, C18:1 n-9 and Σ MUFA proportions were greater in females than in males. The IMF percentage in Longissimus thoracis affected significantly to its fatty acid composition