Lemhi Russet: A new high yielding potato variety with wide adaptation,attractive tubers,and high internal quality

Lemhi Russet, a new oblong, russet-skinned potato variety, was released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Idaho, Oregon, California, Washington, and North Dakota on September 23, 1980. The tubers of Lemhi Russet have been blockier, larger, 6% higher in solids, 50% lower in reducing sugars, and 25% higher in vitamin C than those of Russet Burbank. Lemhi Russet has averaged 34% more U.S. No. 1 tubers than Russet Burbank in 6 years of trials in five states. It was superior to Norgold Russet in yield and specific gravity in early harvest trials. In pilot plant and laboratory trials, Lemhi Russet made excellent french fries, baked well with a mealy texture, but sloughed when boiled. Lemhi Russet has a high degree of resistance to scab and net necrosis, but is susceptible to potato viruses S, X, Y, and to the leafroll virus. It is also susceptible to bruising and blackspot.     

Defender: A high-yielding, processing potato cultivar with foliar and tuber resistance to late blight

The potato cultivar Defender is high-yielding, white-skinned, and notable for having foliar and tuber resistance to late blight infection caused byPhytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary. It was released in 2004 by the USDA-ARS and the agricultural experiment stations of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Defender is suitable for processing into french fries and other frozen potato products directly from the field or from storage. Defender also may be used for fresh markets in regions such as California, where cultivars with long tubers and white skin are traditionally grown. Resistances to late blight and other potato diseases make Defender an ideal candidate for organic potato production. Defender consistently produced greater total and U.S. No. 1 yields than ‘Russet Burbank’ in Idaho trials. In early harvest trials conducted in the western U.S., average total yields of Defender were 17% and 23% greater than yields for ‘Ranger Russet’ and ‘Shepody’, respectively. In full-season trials conducted in the western U.S., Defender averaged 10% and 15% higher yields than Ranger Russet and Russet Burbank, respectively. Specific gravity of Defender is consistently high, with values comparable to those of Ranger Russet; tuber ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) levels are also high. In addition to late blight, Defender also is resistant to tuber early blight (Alternaria solani, (Ellis & G. Martin), L.R. Jones & Grout), potato virus X, and net necrosis; it has moderate levels of resistance to Verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae, Kleb), pink rot, foliar early blight, corky ringspot, and Erwinia soft rot. Defender is susceptible to scab (common and powdery) and potato leafroll virus; it has moderate susceptibility to dry rot (Fusarium spp.) and potato virus Y. Susceptibilities to internal necrosis, tuber greening, and blackspot bruise also have been noted, but may be minimized through cultural and harvest practices.     

Ranger Russet: A long Russet potato variety for processing and fresh market with improved quality,disease resistance,and yield

Ranger Russet, a new full-season potato variety, was jointly released to growers by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado on May 14, 1991. Ranger Russet was tested in irrigated performance trials in the Western U.S. since 1979. It produces a large yield of high quality, long, russet-skinned tubers that are well suited for baking and processing into french fries. Ranger Russet is more resistant than Russet Burbank to Verticillium wilt, viruses X and Y, leafroll net necrosis, and Fusarium dry rot. It is highly resistant to hollow heart.     

Pollutant Loads Returned to the Lower Murray River from Flood-Irrigated Agriculture

Pollutant concentrations and loads returned to the lower Murray River (South Australia) from flood-irrigated agriculture were monitored over a period of 2 years at six locations. This monitoring programme was designed to provide a baseline prior to environmental improvements being undertaken to reduce pollutant loads returned to the river. Pollutant (Escherichia coli, total nitrogen, oxidised nitrogen, total phosphorus, filtered reactive phosphorus and total organic carbon) concentrations were significantly (p?<?0.01) higher in the drainage water than the river water and increased during the irrigation season. Salt concentrations were also significantly (p?<?0.01) higher in the drainage water than the river inflow water but decreased during the irrigation season because of dilution of the saline groundwater inputs. Pollutant loads exported to the river were significantly higher (p?<?0.01–0.05) during the irrigation season for all water quality parameters except oxidised nitrogen. Levels of oxidised nitrogen, filtered reactive phosphorus and E. coli increased in the river downstream of the where the agricultural pollutant inputs begin. Load calculations indicated that this increased water pollution is likely due to the pollutant contributions from the flood-irrigated areas and biogeochemical processing of dissolved nutrients in the river.     

Fly Prepupae as a Feedstuff for Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

Fly larvae may provide an effective method to mitigate two large and growing global concerns: the use of fish meal derived from capture fisheries in aquaculture diets and manure management in livestock and poultry facilities. A 9‐wk feed trial was conducted to determine whether fly larvae could be used as a partial fish meal and fish oil replacement in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, diets. A trout diet was formulated to contain 40% crude protein and 15% fat. Sixty‐seven percent of the protein in the control diet was derived from fish meal, and all the fat was derived from fish oil. Two of the test diets included using the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, prepupae, which are 40% protein and 30% fat, as 25 and 50% replacement for the fish meal component of the control diet. The total protein derived from black soldier fly prepupae in these two test diets was 15 and 34%, respectively. A third test diet included using housefly, Musca domestica, pupae, which is 70% protein and 16% fat, as 25% replacement for the fish meal component of the control diet. Data suggest that a rainbow trout diet where black soldier fly prepupae or housefly pupae constitute 15% of the total protein has no adverse effect on the feed conversion ratio of fish over a 9‐wk feeding period. In addition, the diet with black soldier fly prepupae permitted a 38% reduction in fish oil (i.e., from 13 to 8%); however, fish fed black soldier fly diets low in fish oil had reduced levels of omega‐3 fatty acids in their muscle fillets. The findings from this study suggest that either the black soldier fly or the housefly may be a suitable feedstuff for rainbow trout diets.