Sorghum extrusion process combined with biofortified sweet potato contributed for high iron bioavailability in Wistar rats

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sorghum and sweet potato on the bioavailability of iron, gene expression of proteins involved in iron metabolism and the plasma antioxidant capacity in animals fed with whole sorghum grains processed by dry heat or extrusion, combined or not with sweet potato flour with high content of carotenoids. Five experimental groups were tested (n = 7): dry heat sorghum flour (DS); extruded sorghum flour (ES); whole sorghum flour + sweet potato flour (DS + SP); extruded sorghum flour + sweet potato flour (ES + SP) and positive control (FS). The evaluations included: hemoglobin gain, hemoglobin regeneration efficiency, gene expression of divalente metal transporter 1 (DMT-1), duodenal citochroma B (DcytB), ferroportin, hephaestin, transferrin and ferritin and total plasma antioxidant capacity (TAC). The ES + SP group showed higher (p < 0.05) expression of DcytB, ferroportin and hephaestin when compared to the control group. The DS group showed high (p < 0.05) expression of DMT-1 and the ES showed high mRNA expression of transferrin and ferritin. The changes in the sorghum physicochemical properties from extrusion process reduced the iron and phytate content, and increased the gene expression of proteins involved in iron metabolism, improving iron bioavailability. The combination of sweet potato and sorghum flour (dry or extruded) improved the iron capture and total antioxidant capacity, probably due to the presence of β-carotene and antioxidant compounds.     

Preharvest applications of growth regulators and their effect on postharvest quality of table grapes during cold storage

Over 54,600 ha of table grapes (Vitis vinifera), mainly cvs. ‘Thompson Seedless’, ‘Flame Seedless’ and ‘Redglobe’, are planted in Chile. Almost the entire production is exported to the USA, Europe, Asia, or one of several Latin American countries, which typically requires 15–40 d of maritime transportation. During this period, several physical, physiological, and pathological factors cause table grape deterioration. Because berry size is the main quality factor in international markets, farmers often overuse the growth regulators, gibberellic acid (GA₃) and forchlorfenuron (CPPU), in an effort to increase berry size. We examined the effect of preharvest growth regulators on seedless (‘Thompson Seedless’, and ‘Ruby Seedless’) and seeded (‘Redglobe’) table grape cultivars during cold (0 °C) storage plus a shelf life period of 3 d at 20 °C. The overuse of GA₃, eight instead of two GA₃ applications on Thompson Seedless, and the use of one GA₃ application on Redglobe and ‘Ruby Seedless’, increased berry pedicel thickness and lowered cuticle content but induced shatter and predisposed grapes to gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea. In contrast, CPPU increased berry pedicel thickness and cuticle content but did not increase shatter or gray mold incidence. Clusters that were subjected to overuse of combined GA₃ and CPPU were highly sensitive to shatter, had the thickest pedicel, and developed a high gray mold incidence during cold storage. Hairline, a fine cracking developed during cold storage, was induced on ‘Thompson Seedless’ and ‘Ruby Seedless’ by growth regulators, but no hairline occurred on ‘Redglobe’ table grapes. Therefore, berry quality during cold storage is greatly influenced by growth regulator management in the vineyard.     

不同施肥模式对玉米各器官碳氮累积和分配的影响

以长期定位试验为依托,选取:1)不施肥(CK);2)农民习惯施肥(FP);3)推荐施肥(OP);4)有机肥氮替代100%化肥氮(OM);5)有机肥氮替代50%化肥氮(MF)5个处理,研究不同施肥模式对玉米植株及各器官碳氮含量、碳氮分配比例及C/N的影响,为西南紫色土地区合理施肥、作物增产提供科学依据。结果表明,与FP处理相比,MF处理显著增加了玉米植株生物量,达26.2%。相比OM和OP处理,MF处理显著增加玉米苞叶和根茬中碳浓度,分别增加5.4、4.2 g·kg^-1和7.4、21.3 g·kg^-1,同时增加玉米苞叶、根茬、穗轴和籽粒中的碳储量,玉米茎秆和籽粒中的氮储量也有增加。此外,相比FP处理,MF处理能显著增加玉米整株的碳储量和氮储量,达29.1%和16.9%。等氮水平下,MF、OP处理均能增加玉米苞叶和籽粒中碳同化物的分配比例,MF处理玉米籽粒中氮素的分配比例较OP和OM处理分别增加1.7%和3.6%,同时MF处理能使玉米维持较高的C/N。综上,有机肥氮替代50%化肥氮能增加玉米植株的生物量,同时提高玉米对氮素的吸收和碳素的累积,增加玉米籽粒中碳同化物和氮素的分配比例,同时,有机肥氮替代50%化肥氮能使玉米植株维持较高的C/N,有利于产量的形成,该施肥方式不仅能够促进氮素的高效利用,减少化肥的投入,还能够减少化肥损失,降低氮素损失引发的环境风险。     

地理探测器与Tobit模型在粤西地区粮食生产效率及影响因子分析中的比较应用

为明晰粤西地区粮食生产效率及其关键影响因子，实现优化资源配置效率和推进粮食生产转型升级，基于1999—2018年粤西地区茂名、阳江、湛江3市粮食生产数据，采用交叉效率DEA模型测算区域粮食生产效率，揭示近20年粮食生产效率的时空变化特征，并利用Tobit模型和地理探测器模型比较分析粮食生产效率的关键影响因子。结果表明：粤西地区粮食生产效率平均值为0.77，其中，茂名市粮食生产效率最高（0.88），阳江市次之（0.78），湛江市最低（0.65）。Tobit模型和地理探测器测算粤西地区粮食生产效率影响力（贡献力）最大的投入因子是农业机械总动力，分别为-1.082和0.942。Tobit模型测得的7个投入因子仅化肥施用量（0.015）与粮食生产效率呈显著正相关，有效灌溉面积、粮食播种面积、农药使用量3个因子与粮食生产效率相关性不显著，农用塑料薄膜使用量、从业人口、农业机械总动力3个因子呈显著负相关。而地理探测器测得所有因子均对粮食生产效率产生显著影响。阳江市投入因子贡献力与粤西地区大致相同，但化肥施用量贡献力高出有效灌溉面积0.008。湛江市与茂名市化肥和农药投入的贡献力仅次于农业机械总动力，有效灌溉面积贡献力均最低。但茂名市粮食播种面积的贡献力依次大于从业人口和农用塑料薄膜使用量，湛江市则相反。研究表明，20年来粤西地区粮食生产效率不高，整体呈中等效率水平，粮食生产效率先降后升的变化趋势显著；地理探测器测度结果无不显著因子存在，探测因子影响力比Tobit模型所得结果更稳定且偏误小；农业机械总动力是影响粤西3市粮食生产效率的主导因子，但不同城市粮食生产效率的因子贡献力差异较大，湛江和茂名对化肥、农药等污染较大的生产要素依赖性更强。     

Scottish farmers' intentions to afforest land in the context of farm diversification

Increasing woodland area in the United Kingdom is strongly supported in policies, but there is evidence of low rates of new planting, infrequent uptake of farm forestry, and negative attitudes to woodland among farmers. Additionally, there is a wider context of increasing farm diversification, and a need for greater understanding of farmers' attitudes and behaviour related to afforestation. This paper uses a representative survey of Scottish farmers (survey year: 2013, respondents used in analysis: 1735) to compare farmers who intended to expand forestry in future and farmers with alternative combinations of intended and past behaviour in relation to forestry. Overall, we find that certain characteristics: already operating forestry, reporting types of non-farming activities, involvement in environmental schemes, having a high education level, having a relatively high number of employees, and being relatively recent entrants to holdings, were more frequently found among farmers intending to increase forestry in future than farmers described as ‘non-increasers’ who did not intend to increase forestry and also had not expanded it in the past. Farmers with these characteristics could be a useful focus in attempts to expand woodland at larger scales, and encouraging small-scale tree planting could be an effective policy approach.     

双唑草腈对双季水稻田杂草的防效及后茬作物的影响

通过大田试验测定了双唑草腈及其与苄嘧磺隆、五氟磺草胺和扑草净混用对双季水稻田杂草的防效,并评价了双唑草腈对水稻及后茬作物的安全性。结果表明:2%双唑草腈GR对双季水稻田杂草具有良好的防治效果,210、315和420 g/hm~2处理药后30、45 d对禾本科杂草和阔叶类杂草的防效均在87%以上,低剂量140 g/hm~2处理药后30、45 d对双季水稻田禾本科杂草和阔叶类杂草防效均在75%以上。2%双唑草腈GR 140、210、315和420 g/hm~2处理对后茬作物小白菜、马铃薯、小麦、紫云英和冬季油菜生长安全。2%双唑草腈GR以140、210 g/hm~2分别与苄嘧磺隆或五氟磺草胺混用,药后30、45 d对禾本科杂草和阔叶杂草的防效均在93%以上,显著优于2%双唑草腈GR相应浓度的单剂处理,其中2%双唑草腈GR 210 g/hm~2+10%苄嘧磺隆WP 30 g/hm~2混用可以达到2%双唑草腈GR 315 g/hm~2处理的防治效果,且对水稻生长安全;单独施用50%扑草净WP 450 g/hm~2对双季稻田禾本科杂草的防效较差,其与2%双唑草腈GR混用后防效显著提高,但对水稻生长有较强的抑制作用。综上,双唑草腈及其与苄嘧磺隆、五氟磺草胺混用对双季水稻安全,可在双季水稻田推广应用。     

2株可培养细菌氮代谢特性的研究

研究旨在分析土壤中可培养细菌菌株的氮代谢特征,并进一步探讨微生物在土壤氮素转化中的可能作用机制。以2株分离自苹果园土壤的细菌菌株SY5-4和SY11-10为试材,采用传统培养方法结合分子检测技术,分别测定菌株生长特性及其氮素转化能力。研究结果表明,异养条件下,菌株SY5-4和SY11-10的世代时间分别为243.5 min和202.7 min。菌株生长过程中,培养液中铵态氮浓度始终维持在较高水平,铵态氮、亚硝态氮和硝态氮浓度均表现出先升后降的趋势。硝化（amoA和hao）和反硝化（nosZ、norB、nirK和nap）基因检测结果表明,菌株SY11-10具有多种氮素转化潜能。综上,供试菌株培养过程中,培养液中氮素发生变化,并在菌体中检测到不同氮转化基因,表明菌株参与多种氮代谢途径。     

Response of soil properties and vegetation to reclamation period using drip irrigation in coastal saline soils of the Bohai Gulf

Paddy and Water Environment - Soil salinization is a major soil degradation threat worldwide. Sparse vegetation and soil desertification are widespread phenomena in coastal saline land due to high...     

Contribution of green manure legumes to nitrogen dynamics in traditional winter wheat cropping system in the Loess Plateau of China

Excessive application of N fertilizer in pursuit of higher yields is common due to poor soil fertility and low crop productivity. However, this practice causes serious soil depletion and N loss in the traditional wheat cropping system in the Loess Plateau of China. Growing summer legumes as the green manure (GM) crop is a viable solution because of its unique ability to fix atmospheric N₂. Actually, little is known about the contribution of GM N to grain and N utilization in the subsequent crop. Therefore, we conducted a four-year field experiment with four winter wheat-based rotations (summer fallow-wheat, Huai bean–wheat, soybean–wheat, and mung bean–wheat) and four nitrogen fertilizer rates applied to wheat (0, 108, 135, and 162 kg N/ha) to investigate the fate of GM nitrogen via decomposition, utilization by wheat, and contribution to grain production and nitrogen economy through GM legumes. Here we showed that GM legumes accumulated 53–76 kg N/ha per year. After decomposing for approximately one year, more than 32 kg N/ha was released from GM legumes. The amount of nitrogen released via GM decomposition that was subsequently utilized by wheat was 7–27 kg N/ha. Incorporation of GM legumes effectively replaced 13–48% (average 31%) of the applied mineral nitrogen fertilizer. Additionally, the GM approach during the fallow period reduced the risk of nitrate-N leaching to depths of 0–100 cm and 100–200 cm by 4.8 and 19.6 kg N/ha, respectively. The soil nitrogen pool was effectively improved by incorporation of GM legumes at the times of wheat sowing. Cultivation of leguminous GM during summer is a better option than bare fallow to maintain the soil nitrogen pool, and decrease the rates required for N fertilization not only in the Loess Plateau of China but also in other similar dryland regions worldwide.