A major problem for small farmers in the semi-arid tropics is the chronic shortage of fodder for draft animals. Leucaena leucocephala has improved productivity in many places in India and in various cropping systems, usually as either a pure crop or in a
hedgerow alley-cropping configuration. Mixed cropping with arboreal forms is seldom seen. For off-season fodder production,
hedgerows have the disadvantage of being open to unmanaged browsing when unfenced (as is usual). Arboreal forms are generally
far less vulnerable.
In this paper, the components of production of sorghum and arboreal Leucaena are measured under different intensities of canopy lopping. The most productive management system of those examined was pollarding
of the Leucaena at the time of under-sowing with sorghum. In a year with less than 50% of average seasonal rainfall, this system gave a yield
of 4.6 tonnes/ha/yr fresh wt fodder and 3.8 tonnes/ha/yr dry wt. of fuel harvests, while increasing the standing crop of wood
by 1.8 t/ha/yr and retaining a yield of sorghum grain equivalent to 46% of pure sorghum cropping; the LER of this system was
1.35.
Cash values of the alternative management systems were estimated, including the discounted Net Present Value of the standing
crop of timber. Maximum value was attained with unlopped pure crop Leucaena followed by pollarded Leucaena with sorghum; pure crop sorghum achieved a lower value.
These results demonstrate both the high productivity of Leucaena/sorghum based systems, and the stability of production even in poor rainfall conditions. Pollarding transferred the high
future value of Leucaena timber to the present value of sorghum grain and fuelwood. 相似文献
This study investigates the potential use of neem (Azadirachta indica) sawdust treated with hydrochloric acid for the removal of copper (II) and nickel (II) ions from wastewater. The effects
of different system variables, viz, adsorbent dosage, initial metal ion concentration, pH and contact time were studied. The
results showed that as the amount of the adsorbent was increased, the percentage of metal ion removal increased accordingly.
Optimum pH value for metal adsorption is determined as 5.0 for Cu (II) and 4.0 for Ni (II) ions. Maximum metal is sequestered
in 150 min for Cu (II) and 180 min for Ni (II) after the beginning of every experiment. Similar experiments were carried out
with acid treated sawdust to compare the results. The adsorption of metal ions followed a first order rate equation. Both
Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption models are suitable for describing the sorption of Cu (II) and Ni (II) on the two forms
of sawdust. Furthermore, the natural organic matter (neem sawdust) is characterized by FTIR spectra and surface area analysis.
At optimal conditions the maximum adsorption capacity is found to be 48.3 and 286 mg/g for Cu (II) and 31.5 and 74.1 mg/g
for Ni (II) in natural and acid treated forms, respectively. 相似文献
The paper describes the agronomic and statistical principles that form the basis for measuring crop yields in on-farm agroforestry
studies. Agroforestry systems differ from agricultural systems because of the presence of tree/crop interfaces and the need
for large plots, large borders and long-term monitoring. These differences accentuate the variability of crop performance
on farms. Crop yield estimation per unit area in any agroforestry system involves essentially i) stratification of the plot
into different, clearly distinguishable crop zones such as those under and free from the influence of trees, those on sloping
and flat areas, and those on areas affected by pests, ii) drawing representative samples from each stratum, and iii) weighting
the sample yields with weights proportional to the stratum area.
The tree/crop interface areas may require further stratification and determination of yields of individual crop rows at different
distances away from trees based on the nature and extent of tree/crop competition. The precision of yield estimation depends
on how well one is able to define the strata as well as the variance of crop yields in space and time in each stratum. Studies
that provide this information are urgently needed for developing practical recommendations for crop-yield measurements on
farms. 相似文献
Lymphotropic nanoparticle magnetic resonance imaging (LNMRI) utilises ultrasmall paramagnetic iron nanoparticles (USPIOs) for imaging of metastatic lymph nodes in patients afflicted with cancer. LNMRI has been shown to be a highly effective and accurate way to diagnose metastasis in humans but has not been commonly reported on in veterinary medicine. USPIOs are phagocytised by macrophages and then localised to lymph nodes where they create a susceptibility artefact on gradient echo MRI sequences. In this study dogs (n = 24) with naturally occurring head and neck tumours were imaged with LNMRI then had mandibular and retropharyngeal lymph nodes extirpated for histological analysis. Subjective and objective analysis of the LNMRI images was performed and imaging results compared to histology as the gold standard. A total of 149 lymph nodes were included in this study. The overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy was 64%, 94.4% and 89.3% respectively. However, if dogs with mast cell tumours were excluded from analysis the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy rose to 85.7%, 95.7% and 94.6%. LNMRI is potentially an accurate way to determine the presence of lymph node metastasis in dogs with some types of head and neck tumours. However, LNMRI has only moderate accuracy in dogs with oral or mucocutaneous mast cell tumours in this region. 相似文献
Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of including toasted (120°C/35 min) guar meal (GM, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) in the diet on performance and egg shell quality of White Leghorn (WL) layers.
Totals of 2376 and 2816 layer chickens (Babcock, BV 300) were randomly distributed into 27 and 32 replicates with 88 birds each in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Three diets in Experiment 1 (0, 50 and 100 g GM) and 4 diets in Experiment 2 (0, 50, 100 and 150 g GM/kg) were prepared having similar concentrations of energy and protein. Each diet was fed ad libitum to 9 and 8 replicates, respectively, in Experiments 1 (from 53 to 68 weeks) and 2 (35 to 46 weeks of age).
Compared to soya bean meal (SBM) GM contained similar concentrations of protein, but was deficient in all essential amino acids except arginine, which was 70% higher than in SBM. Total non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) content in GM (166 g/kg) was lower than that of SBM (179 g/kg). Amongst different NSP fractions, GM contained higher levels of arabans, xylans, mannans and glucans compared to SBM. The galactomannan gum content in GM was 46 g/kg.
Egg production (EP), body weight (BW), food intake (FI), food efficiency (FE) and egg quality (shell weight, shell per cent, shell thickness, Haugh unit score, egg density and egg breaking strength) parameters were not affected by incorporating GM up to 100 g/kg diet in Experiment 1. However, egg weight (EW) and egg mass (EM) were reduced significantly in groups fed on 100 g/kg diet.
In Experiment 2, EP and FE were not affected by incorporating GM up to 100 g/kg, but were reduced at 150 g/kg diet. FI, EW, BW and egg quality parameters were not affected by incorporating toasted GM up to 150 g/kg diet.
Based on the results of both experiments, it is concluded that toasted GM can be included in WL layer diets up to 100 g/kg without affecting EP, FE, EW, EM, Haugh unit score, BW and egg shell quality parameters.
Endogenous progesterone and synthetic progestins may induce hypersecretion of growth hormone (GH) of mammary origin, hyperplastic ductular changes in the mammary gland, and the development of cystic endometrial hyperplasia (CEH) in dogs. It was investigated whether progestin-induced mammary GH plays a role in the pathogenesis of CEH in the bitch. During 1 year, bitches with surgically excised mammary glands and healthy control bitches received medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). Before and after MPA treatment, uterine and mammary tissues were collected for histological, immunohistochemical, and RT-PCR examination. After MPA administration, the mammary tissue in the control dogs had differentiated into lobulo-alveolar structures and CEH was present in all uteri of both dog groups. In the MPA-exposed mammary tissue of the control dogs, GH could only be demonstrated immunohistochemically in proliferating epithelium. After treatment with MPA the dogs of both groups had immunohistochemically demonstrable GH in the cytoplasm of hyperplastic glandular uterine epithelial cells. RT-PCR analysis of the mammary gland tissue after MPA administration demonstrated a significant higher GH gene, and lower GHR gene expression than before treatment. In the uterus, the expression of the gene encoding for GH was significantly increased in the mastectomized dogs, whereas in the control dogs the expression of the gene encoding for insulin-like growth factor-I had significantly increased with MPA administration. MPA treatment significantly down regulated PR gene expression in the uterus in both dog groups. These results indicate that progestin-induced GH of mammary origin is not an essential component in the development of CEH in the bitch. 相似文献