Machine vision smart sprayer for spot-application of agrochemical in wild blueberry fields

An essential part of the wild blueberry cropping system is the proper management of agrochemical inputs including herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. A machine vision system was developed and mounted on the rear sprayer boom 0.18 m in front of the sprayer nozzles capable of targeting the agrochemical application on an as-needed basis. The three-point hitch mounted sprayer featured 27 nozzles over a 13.7 m boom width and a storage tank capacity of 1135 l. Nine digital color cameras continually take images in real-time while computer software processes the images in 0.15 s to determine the target locations where the nozzles open and spray at speeds up to 1.77 m s^?1. Two wild blueberry fields in central Nova Scotia were selected for smart sprayer performance testing with spot-application (SA) of agrochemical as compared to control and uniform application techniques. Chateau^® herbicide was applied in a field with an infestation of hair cap moss. Spray droplet comparison showed moss patches were properly targeted using the smart sprayer. SA provided the same coverage performance as compared to uniform on the moss targets with herbicide application savings of 78.5% using the smart sprayer. Harvestable yield results were similar for all application tracks. TruPhos Magnesium and ZincMax foliar fertilizers were tank mixed with Bravo^® and Proline^® fungicides and applied to compare the difference of SA, control and uniform application. Results showed SA of foliar fertilizer and fungicide led to less premature leaf drop and increased the blueberry stem height, number of branches, stem diameter and fruit buds. SA of foliar fertilizer and fungicide also increased the percent of healthy wild blueberry plants by 57.8% and the harvestable yield by 137.8%. Fungicide application savings using the smart sprayer for SA were 11.6%.     

Predicting the patterns, perceptions and causes of human–carnivore conflict in and around Machiara National Park, Pakistan

Human–carnivore conflict is considered to be a major conservation and rural livelihood issue because many carnivore species have been heavily persecuted due to elevated conflict levels with communities. To mitigate such conflicts requires a firm understanding of their underlying patterns. This situation is epitomized in Pakistan, where carnivore populations have been greatly reduced, but where no research has investigated the conflict patterns of large carnivore guilds with humans. Focusing in and around Machiara National Park (MNP), Azad Jammu and Kashmir region, we conducted the first such scientific study in Pakistan. From January 2004 to May 2007, 148 people lost their livestock to four carnivore species. Leopard was responsible for the majority (90.6%) of the 363 livestock killed, mainly goats (57.3%) and sheep (27.8%). Information-theoretic evaluation of a candidate set of regression models found that leopard kills inside villages were significantly higher for areas without electricity, while leopard kills outside villages were higher for pastoralists with larger herds that were further from MNP, with no effect from several guarding strategies used. Temporal leopard attacks were significantly and positively related to temperature, but not to rainfall, for goat kills, but not for other livestock kills. While leopard kills caused the greatest overall financial loss (19.8%) amongst carnivores, which negatively affected local tolerance towards leopard, disease caused greater livestock losses (72.7%). To improve both large carnivore and local livelihood prospects around MNP and across rural Pakistan, conservation and development projects should install village electricity supplies and vaccinate livestock, while the cost-effectiveness of different conflict mitigation strategies should be trialed.     

Growth and physiology of basmati rice under conventional and water-saving production systems

Conventionally flooded rice (CFR) requires enormous water and labor inputs. Water scarcity aspires for cultivation of water-saving rice. Growth response and physiology of basmati rice genotypes under the water-saving production systems has not been reported yet. Studies were conducted for 2 years to compare the growth and physiology of three rice cultivars (Super Basmati, Basmati-2000 and Shaheen Basmati), under high (CFR), medium (alternate wetting and drying [AWD]) and low water input (aerobic rice [AR]) systems. Leaf area index, crop growth rate, leaf area duration and dry matter accumulation were higher for AR followed by AWD and CFR, respectively. Shaheen Basmati had a lower growth and relative water contents than Super Basmati and Basmati-2000, probably due to its shorter stature and shorter life cycle. Photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance of rice cultivars in the different production were affected only at reproductive stage. Basmati-2000 grown as AR had the highest photosynthetic rate followed by the same cultivar under AWD. The results of this study provide us an idea that basmati cultivars can attain a high growth and development with low water input. This would be helpful to grow rice successfully under water-short rice-growing environments.     

Interaction of Different Wheat Genotypes and Nitrification Inhibitor 3,4-Dimethylpyrazole Phosphate Using 15N Isotope Tracing Techniques

To investigate the effect of applying ¹⁵N-labeled ammonium sulfate with or without a nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on fertilizer use efficiency and crop productivity of different wheat genotypes, a field trial was conducted at the Nuclear Agricultural Department’s farm of Iran in 2013–2014. The treatments included five wheat genotypes with different 13 C isotope discrimination and three fertilizer treatments, an unfertilized control, ¹⁵N-labeled ammonium sulfate, and ¹⁵N-labeled ammonium sulfate with DMPP in three replications. Soil samples were taken after 2, 4, and 6 weeks after sowing and also at harvest time. Results from ¹⁵N experiment showed that DMPP delayed nitrification of ammonium for 42 days. Genotypes with lower discrimination index had greater uptake of ammonium ions which led to increase crop yield and nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency. The results also suggested that the use of DMPP may not be beneficial in some fast growing wheat genotypes.     

Thermochemical behavior of Norway spruce (Picea abies) at 180–225 °C

Norway spruce (Picea abies) was heated for 2–8 h in the temperature range 180–225 °C, under a steam atmosphere. The chemical analyses of the treated feedstock samples indicated that during heating (total mass loss 1.5–12.5% of the initial DS) carbohydrates (hemicelluloses and cellulose) were clearly more amenable to various degradation reactions than lignin. In addition, major water-soluble products released from the feedstock material during the treatments were classified into several compound groups and changes in the relative mass portion of these groups were monitored by GC during a separate experiment. Received 20 December 1998     

In vitro and in vivo acaricidal activity of a herbal extract

The anti-tick efficacy of combined aqueous herbal extracts of Azadirachta indica leaves, Nicotiana tabacum leaves, Calotropis procera flowers and Trachyspermum ammi seeds was evaluated using adult immersion test, larval packet test and ear bag method. The extract exhibited lethal effects on egg laying (index of egg laying=0.371404±0.00435), hatching (22.35%) and total larval mortality at 50 mg ml(-1) and reduced tick intensity on the infested calves (18 detached out of 35 at 45% (w/w) suspension, topically applied). The herbal extract exerted dose- and time-dependent response against all the developmental stages of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus considered in this study, thus justified their use in the traditional system of Pakistan.     

Reducing NH3, N2O and {\text{NO}}_3^ - –N losses from a pasture soil with urease or nitrification inhibitors and elemental S-amended nitrogenous fertilizers

A 3-month field experiment comparing nitrogen (N) losses from and the agronomic efficiency of various N fertilizers was conducted on a sandy loam (Typic Hapludand) soil at Ruakura AgResearch farm, Hamilton, New Zealand during October to December 2003. Three replicates of seven treatments: urea, urea + the urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (trade name Agrotain), urea + Agrotain + elemental sulphur (S), urea + double inhibitor [DI; i.e., Agrotain + dicyandiamide (DCD)], diammonium phosphate (DAP), DAP + S, each applied at 150 kg N ha⁻¹, and control (no N). After fertilizer application, soil ammonium () and nitrate () concentrations (7.5-cm soil depth), ammonia (NH₃) volatilization, nitrate () leaching, nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission, pasture dry matter, and N uptake were monitored at different timings. Urea applied with Agrotain or Agrotain + S delayed urea hydrolysis and released soil at a slower rate than urea alone or urea + DI. Urea applied with DI increased NH₃ volatilization by 29% over urea alone, while urea + Agrotain and urea + Agrotain + S reduced NH₃ volatilization by 45 and 48%, respectively. Ammonia volatilization losses from DAP were lower than those from urea with or without inhibitors. Total reduction in leaching losses for urea + DI and urea + Agrotain compared to urea alone were 89% and 47%, respectively. Application of S with urea + Agrotain reduced leaching losses by an additional 6%. Nitrous oxide emissions were higher from the DAP and urea alone treatments. Urea applied with DI and urea + Agrotain reduced N₂O emissions by 37 and 5%, respectively, over urea alone. Compared to urea alone, total pasture production increased by 20, 17, and 15% for urea + Agrotain + S, urea + Agrotain, and urea + DI treatments, respectively, representing 86, 71, and 64% increases in N response efficiency. Total N uptake in urea + Agrotain, urea + Agrotain + S, and urea + DI increased by 29, 22, and 20%, respectively, compared to urea alone. These results suggest that the combination of both urease and nitrification inhibitors may have the most potential to reduce N losses and improve pasture production in intensively grazed systems.     

Influence of feeding soybean oil on conjugated linoleic acid content in beef

Forty-eight steers were used to study the influence of feeding soybean oil (SO) on the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content of beef. Steers were fed either a control diet containing 954 g/kg of dry matter (DM) corn-based concentrate (CTL) or a control diet supplemented with SO at 20 (SO2) or 40 g/kg (SO4) of diet DM for 105 days. Adipose tissue samples were collected from the M. longissimus dorsi (LD) and from the M. semitendinosus (ST) on days 0 and 63 of the experiment. Adipose and muscle tissue samples were collected from the LD and ST immediately after slaughter. Feeding 40 g/kg of DM as SO increased the proportions of trans-C(18:1) in beef lipid as compared to CTL and SO2 treatments. The C(18:2) cis-9, trans-11 isomer of CLA as a proportion of total fat was not different in adipose and muscle across treatments. Supplementing SO increased C(18:2) trans-10, cis-12 CLA in adipose tissue of the LD. Supplementing high-grain finishing diets with SO is not an effective strategy to enhance the C(18:2) cis-9, trans-11 isomer of CLA in beef.     

Constituents and cytotoxicity of Zanthoxylum rhesta stem bark

3,5-Dimethoxy-4-geranyloxycinnamyl alcohol (1), 8-methoxy-N-methylflindersine (2), xanthyletin and sesamin have been isolated from petroleum ether extract of the stem bark of Zanthoxylum rhesta. The petroleum ether extract and 8-methoxy-N-methylflindersine showed cytotoxicity on brine shrimp nauplii.