Scientific Journals of INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria)
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Structural analysis of a mounted moldboard plow using the finite element simulation method
No full textAim of study: Structural analysis of a mounted moldboard plow to redesign and optimise its frame.
Area of study: Shahrekord, Iran
Material and methods: In this study, a complete modeling of a three-bottom moldboard plow was conducted in Solid work 2016 and then, plow-soil interaction model developed in Abaqus 2018. The FEM-simulated draft was compared with the draft calculated by the analytical model.
Main results: The maximum stress and displacement in chassis were determined under different work conditions. The attachment points of the crossbar to the two-lower links of the three-point hitch, the middle of the bottom standard, the head points of the brace and the attachment point of the mast to the top link of the three-point hitch needed to be redesigned. As a result, higher safety factor ranging 2.5-3 is recommended for the mentioned unsafe places.
Research highlights: The obtained results could be used for further studies on the optimization of the moldboard plow frame
Prevalence and risk factors of lameness in dairy cattle in Alexandria, Egypt
No full text Aim of study: Providing further information on the prevalence of lameness in four dairy cattle herds and gain insights into the risk factors associated with the frequency of lameness incidence including farm, frequency of mastitis, and number of lactations.
Area of study: Alexandria, Egypt.
Material and methods: Four dairy Holstein cattle farms near Alexandria Governorate in Egypt were involved in a retrospective investigation of lameness episodes between the years 1987 and 2011. The association between the frequency of lameness injury and the explanatory variables was tested by the maximum likelihood analysis of variance, adopting a loglinear model. The explanatory variables included in the model were farm, frequency of mastitis injury and number of lactations as well as their one-way interactions.
Main results: The prevalence of lameness ranged between zero and 19% in the four farms and the frequency of lameness events (from 0 to 4 times) increased with lactation number and mastitis incidence with correlation coefficients of 0.15 and 0.12, respectively.
Research highlights: Lameness is present in Egyptian dairy cow herds with highly variable prevalence and the risk increases with lactation number and mastitis
Effectiveness of the entropy weight method to evaluate abiotic stress tolerance in citrus rootstocks
No full textAim of study: The entropy weight method (EWM) is considered one of the most reliable and scientific approaches when decision making is influenced by multiple factors. However, there are no reports on the application of EWM in the evaluation of abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in crops. In this study, abiotic stress via saline water irrigations was imposed on different citrus rootstocks. The relative stress tolerance levels of rootstocks were ascertained using EWM and compared with standard fuzzy membership approach and the factor analysis.
Area of study: Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Station Abohar, India, 2017-2019.
Material and methods: In a pot culture study, about 1½ yr-old rootstock seedlings were exposed to saline water irrigations with 4 and 6 dS m-1 electrical conductivity (EC) for 60 days. Saline water response index for mineral composition of plant parts, physiological and biochemical attributes of rootstocks were calculated for each salinity level over 2 dS m-1 conductivity water, considered as control and subjected to further analysis.
Main results: At 4 EC, the entropy weight and membership function value of the rootstocks ranged 0.758-0.998 and 0.682-0.731, respectively. The corresponding values at 6 EC ranged between 0.759-0.991 and 0.391-0.728, respectively. Following EWM, the rootstocks were rated for their relative tolerance levels as: Rangpur Lime>Cleopatra>Volkamer Lemon=Rough Lemon>Carrizo at 4 EC salinity level. At 6 EC, the order was: Cleopatra>Rangpur Lime>Volkamer Lemon>Rough Lemon>Carrizo. The results were consistent between EWM and standard principle component analysis approaches.
Research highlights: The study suggests that the comprehensive evaluation of crop genotypes for abiotic stress tolerance is also feasible with the EWM
Identifying optimal monitoring strategies to predict soil hydraulic characteristics and water contents by inverse modeling
No full textAim of study: To investigate the monitoring strategies that let us to build effective models able to best estimate water contents, θ and pressure heads, h with the least amount of data.
Area of study: Field data was acquired in an experimental plot at Bahía Blanca (Argentina).
Material and methods: Field data of θ(t), h(t) for six soil depth were used to optimize the SHP (θr, θs, α, n and Ks) by inverse modeling with HYDRUS 1D. Several scenarios of available data from θ(t) and h(t) were considered: (1) six monitoring depths (6-MD); (2) five monitoring depths (5-MD); (3) four monitoring depths (4-MD). Model accuracy was assessed by comparing the measured and predicted θ and h for each monitoring strategy. Additionally, field measured SHP with independent methods were compared to inversely optimized SHP.
Main results: The best fit between predicted and observed θ and h was achieved with the 6-MD strategy. Nevertheless, deterioration of statistics EF and rRMSE in the 5-MD or 4-MD schemes were lower than 10%, depending on the location of the missing data. The observation points that had less importance in parameter prediction corresponded to the intermediate vadose zone and to the deeper layers. The proposed strategies presented a better performance than field measured SHP to reproduce soil water retention curves for each layer of the soil profile.
Research highlights: By reducing the number of vertical observations in the profile without harming the final SHP estimation, the resources needed in data monitoring strategies can be greatly enhanced
Soil properties modulate the effect of different carbon amendments on growth and phosphorus uptake by cucumber plant
No full textAim of study: Phosphorus (P) is a non-renewable, limited and strategic resource, inefficiently used in agriculture. Organic carbon (C) supply to soil can stimulate microbial activity increasing the mobilization of soil P thus improving its uptake by crops. This work aimed at investigating the effect of different C amendments on P uptake and how may differ depending on soil properties and P fertilization.
Area of study: Soils used in this study were collected in SW Spain.
Material and methods: An experiment with cucumber was performed involving three factors: (i) C amendment (cellulose, glucose, citric acid and control without amendment), (ii) soil type (Vertisol and Alfisol), and (iii) P supply (unfertilized, and mineral phosphate in form of KH2PO4).
Main results: Cellulose or glucose provided the highest P uptake by plants in soils independently of the treatment. Cellulose and glucose addition was effective increasing dry matter (DM) in the Alfisol. Citric acid application decreased the development of aerial parts and roots, and P uptake in soils compared with other sources. In the Alfisol, increased P uptake with cellulose was associated to an increased concentration of low molecular weight organic acids, which seemed to be related to microbial activity.
Research highlights: Organic amendments affect microbial activity, and P mobilization mechanisms are associated to microorganisms. This explain the improvement of P supply to plants with amendments; these effects, however, are modulated by soil properties and consequently vary depending on soil type
Tunisian consumer preferences for local forest honey attributes: A market segmentation analysis
No full textAim of study: This study focuses on the segmentation of local forest honey market based on consumer preferences for its origin and other sensory attributes.
Area of study: Tunisia
Material and methods: The empirical analysis relies on a face-to-face questionnaire survey of 200 respondents, conducted in 2019 among Tunisian consumers. A cluster analysis was used to identify the market segments and multinomial logit analysis was used to determine segment membership characteristics.
Main results: Three distinct market segments were identified. The first segment of consumers (44% of the sample) prefer eucalyptus and multifloral honey from the Northwest origin; the second segment (39%) is composed of consumers that tend to buy honey mainly produced in the eastern region of the country; in the third (17%), consumers prefer thyme-rosemary' honey.
Research highlights: Consumer preferences for local forest honey mainly depend on its geographical origin, flower type, flavor and color. Findings suggest that gender, income, and grocery shopping task are the main determinants of the importance of these attributes
Bean meal and cactus pear in Santa Inês lamb rations for meat production: Intake, digestibility, performance, carcass yield, and meat quality
No full textAim of study: The objective of this study was to evaluate the intake, digestibility, performance, carcass yield, and meat quality parameters in Santa Inês lambs fed cactus pear and bean meal.
Area of study: NW Brazil
Material and methods: 32 intact Santa Inês male lambs were distributed in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments (diets): control diet (concentrated feed containing corn and soybean meal as energy and protein ingredients); diet containing bean meal as a protein source; diet containing cactus pear as an energy source and; diet containing bean meal and/or cactus pear), using 8 animals per treatment. At the end of the experimental period, lambs were slaughtered with an average body weight of 32.78 kg.
Main results: Animal fed cactus pear and bean meal/cactus pear had a higher intake and digestibility for non-fibrous carbohydrates (p<0.05). Lambs fed cactus pear diet had greater water intake via diet and lower neutral detergent fibre digestibility compared to other evaluated diets (p<0.05). Cactus pear and bean meal/cactus pear diets promoted lower water intake concerning to control and bean meal diets (p<0.05). The lower feed conversion was observed for animals that received control diet (p<0.05). Carcass characteristics and meat quality were not affected for the diets (p>0.05). Bean meal can be used as a source of protein concentrate in combination with cactus pear promoting a reduction in the use of corn and soybean in diets for small ruminants. The use of cactus pear in the diets promoted a water supply to the animals.
Research highlights: Diets containing cactus pear and bean meal/cactus pear provided higher non-fibrous carbohydrates intake
Evaluation of the anti-coccidial effect of aqueous Sacoglottis gabonensis (Magnoliophyta, Humiriaceae) stem bark extract in broilers experimentally infected with mixed Eimeria species
No full textAim of the study: The aqueous Sacoglottis gabonensis stem bark extract (SGSBE) was evaluated for its anti-coccidial effects and toxicity in broiler chickens
Area of the study: Nsukka, Nigeria
Materials and methods: A hundred and nineteen, four-week old, broiler birds were used for this study. The toxicity of SGSBE was evaluated by administering graded doses of the extract once and for 21 days. The anticoccidial effect of SGSBE was determined using 25 birds arbitrarily divided into five groups (A-E) of five birds each. Groups A-D were orally infected with 200,000 sporulated mixed Eimeria oocysts while group E served as the uninfected control. Groups A and B birds were treated orally with SGSBE (200 mg/kg) once and daily for five consecutive days respectively while group C birds were treated with amprolium daily for five days. Birds in group D remained infected-untreated. The birds were observed for clinical signs, body weight changes, oocyst output, and some haemato-biochemical parameters.
Main results: Mild signs of toxicity were detected with mortality only in the group that received the highest dose of SGSBE following toxicity tests. Clinical signs of coccidiosis were observed following infection of the birds. Oocyst output, clinical signs and lesions were significantly reduced (p<0.05) while body weight, survivability and haemato-biochemical indices of the birds were significantly improved (p<0.05) in SGSBE treated groups. Moreover, five days consecutive treatment with SGSBE yielded better results.
Research highlights: The aqueous S. gabonensis stem bark extract is relatively safe and possesses anti-coccidial efficacy against mixed Eimeria infections in broiler chickens
