Scientific Journals of INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria)
Not a member yet
3042 research outputs found
Sort by
Analysis of the commercial value of rabbit meat based on positioning of the different types of fresh meat
Get PDFIn-depth knowledge of consumers' perceptions of value is considered a critical success factor in today’s competitive market. There is very little information about the perception that consumers have of rabbit meat compared to other types of meat (mainly beef and pork). To identify the consumer perception of rabbit meat in Spain, two marketing tools were used: positioning and image analysis. To this end, a survey was carried out in Spain mainland with an error of 3.53% and a confidence level of 95.5%. According to the positioning analysis, rabbit meat competed with turkey for the "low fat" and "healthy" attributes. Rabbit meat had in its favour that it was considered more “economical” than turkey. Commercially, rabbit meat did not compete with any other fresh meat and it was not associated with any other adjective. The image that consumers had of rabbit meat was that it is a clean, healthy and easy to find meat. Two clearly distinguished groups were also found: consumers who rated rabbit meat more positively and consumers that did so less positively. These two groups were defined by the variables “educational level”, “rabbit meat consumption by children under 18 residing in the home”, “geographical area” and “habitual residence”. For the variables “gender”, “age”, “number of people in the home” and “presence of children younger than 18 years in the home”, there were no significant differences. These results are very useful for the different value chain stakeholders, who can set different marketing strategies to improve rabbit meat consumption
Incorporating stand level risk management options into forest decision support systems
Get PDFAim of study: To examine methods of incorporating risk and uncertainty to stand level forest decisions.Area of study: A case study examines a small forest holding from Jönköping, Sweden.Material and methods: We incorporate empirically estimated uncertainty into the simulation through a Monte Carlo approach when simulating the forest stands for the next 100 years. For the iterations of the Monte Carlo approach, errors were incorporated into the input data which was simulated according to the Heureka decision support system. Both the Value at Risk and the Conditional Value at Risk of the net present value are evaluated for each simulated stand.Main results: Visual representation of the errors can be used to highlight which decision would be most beneficial dependent on the decision maker’s opinion of the forest inventory results. At a stand level, risk preferences can be rather easily incorporated into the current forest decision support software.Research highlights: Forest management operates under uncertainty and risk. Methods are available to describe this risk in an understandable fashion for the decision maker
Short communication: On the effect of live fuel moisture content on fire-spread rate
No full textAim of study: To reconcile the effects of live fuel moisture content (FMC) on fire rate of spread (ROS) derived from laboratory and field fires.Methods: The analysis builds on evidence from previous fire-spread experimental studies and on a comparison between two functions for the FMC damping effect: one derived from field burns, based on dead FMC, and another derived from laboratory trials, based on a weighted FMC (dead and live fuels).Main results: In a typical Mediterranean shrubland, laboratory and field-derived FMC damping functions are linearly related, which is explained by the correlation between monthly average live and dead FMC variation throughout the year. This clarifies why the effect of live FMC on real-world fires ROS has remained elusive.Research highlights: By providing evidence that the most significant effect of FMC on ROS is independent of vegetation phenology (dead or live condition), and explaining why in specific situations dead FMC is sufficient to provide satisfactory ROS predictions, our results can assist future modelling efforts
Association mapping for morphological traits relevant to registration of barley varieties
Get PDFElucidating marker-trait associations would have fruitful implications in distinctness, uniformity, and stability (DUS) tests of new varieties required for both variety registration and granting plant breeders’ rights. As the number of new varieties with narrow genetic bases increases, the necessity for deployment of molecular markers to complement morphological DUS traits gets particular attention. We used simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and sequence related amplification polymorphisms (SRAPs) markers in association mapping of morphological traits in a collection of 143 barley landraces and advanced breeding lines. This panel represented a diverse and uniform sample in terms of both quantitative and categorical traits whilst it was structurally partitioned by number of ear rows (six- and two-rowed) and seasonal growth habit (winter and spring types) characteristics. SSRs were more powerful compared with SRAPs in separating six- and two-rowed genotypes based on both model-based Bayesian and neighbor joining clustering methods. A number of associated SSR and SRAP markers were found for 15 out of 36 DUS traits after considering Bonferroni correction through linear models (GLM and MLM) and chi-square-based tests (SA and AAT). This is also the first report of association of awn roughness and grain color with molecular markers in barley. Moreover, SSR marker BMAC0113 appeared associated with time of ear emergence (TEE), confirming previous findings. These markers could be beneficial to complement and speed up DUS testing of new varieties, as well as for improving management of barley reference collections
Grain number and grain weight as determinants of triticale, wheat, two-rowed and six-rowed barley yield in the Pannonian environment
Get PDFClimate significantly affects cropping systems across Europe. Knowledge of the variability in grain number per unit area and grain weight across different growing seasons and its association with grain yield is important for further improving small grain crop production. The main aim of this study was to compare grain yield and its numerical components among triticale, wheat, two-rowed and six-rowed barley cultivars across different growing seasons in a typical Pannonian location (south-eastern part of Central Europe). Trials with twelve winter cereal genotypes (three two-rowed barley, three six-rowed barley, three wheat and three triticale genotypes) were carried out in four successive seasons in Novi Sad, Serbia. Results of this study showed that growing season, species, cultivar, and species × growing season interaction significantly (p<0.01) affected grain yield and its determinants. Generally, triticale had higher average grain yield, while the lowest grain yield was recorded in six-rowed barleys. Grain yield was more associated with the number of grains/m2 than with grain weight. Heading date was recognized as one of the important adaptive traits in crop development and yield determination. Short duration of the pre-anthesis phase in early cultivars and delayed anthesis in late cultivars significantly decreased the number of grains/spike in different species/spike types, reducing the final grain yield. Medium early cultivars had the highest number of grains/spike due to optimal duration of the pre-anthesis period and heading date and are suggested as recommendable for large scale production in the Pannonian environments
Microbial fertilizers: A comprehensive review of current findings and future perspectives
Get PDFPlant growth promoting microorganisms (PGPM) are an important group of microbial inoculants, which exist in rhizosphere and have the ability to inhabit the root of the plants and improve their development. Their positive influence is achieved through solubilization of phosphorus, nitrogen fixation, production of plant nutrients and phytohormones, protection from pathogens and recovery from stressful environmental conditions. This is the main reason for the increasing usage of many PGPMs which formulations are commonly known as microbial fertilizers. Microbial fertilizers represent an attractive replacement for chemical fertilizers that are polluting the environment. They are used to increase the crop yield in an eco-friendly way while relying on sustainable agriculture principles. The biggest problem nowadays is the very poor quality of such products, which results in the lack of confidence and makes commercialization much more difficult. In order to increase production and hence the commercialization of microbial fertilizers, desired quality and stability should be achieved. For this reason, many researches are done in this particular field. In order to develop an optimal product, it is important to know and understand the process, including the physiology of bacteria and plants, mass multiplication technological processes as well as the existing formulation and the specific effect on the desired plant. For this purpose, the aim of this review is to indicate the significance of microbial fertilizers and their beneficial effects on the plants, as well as to give a brief survey of the different aspects of production processes with a special emphasis on mass multiplication