Assessment of Opportunities for Burundian Small-Scale Potato Farmers to Increase Productivity and Income

From 2014 through 2016, on-farm experiments were carried out in three provinces surrounding Bujumbura town in Burundi to improve the low potato (Solanum tuberosum) yields, which currently stand at about 6 t ha^?1. It was hypothesised that in rain-fed conditions, improved varieties, healthier seed tubers, pre-sprouting in light, proper fertilisation and protection from late blight attack would improve yield and quality, such as tuber weight, tuber size and lower brown rot incidence. The treatments in the on-farm trials at five farms in each of three sites (15 replicates) were applied in two seasons, giving 30 replicates in 580 plots. The following treatments were compared with growers’ current practices: introduction of two new varieties, use of early generation seed from a rapid multiplication scheme, earlier harvesting of a seed crop, seed storage in a diffused light store, and research-based timing and dose rate of fertilisers and fungicides. Marginal rates of return on investments were calculated at farm level and current and tested alternative technologies were compared. Costs and benefits of applying such techniques were calculated. An improved variety contributed up to 20% yield increase and healthier seed 80%. Early harvesting reduced yield by 30% and reduced incidence of brown rot in the current season, but increased it (from 21 to 39%) in the following season when tubers were replanted. Diffused light storage, alternating contact and systemic fungicide application, and application of chemical fertilisers resulted in 30, 50 and 60% yield increases, respectively. It was shown that it is possible to double yields and economic returns (marginal rates of return) under the growing conditions in Burundi when growers plant healthy pre-sprouted seed of a new variety and apply chemical fertilisers and fungicides.     

Production of Energy and Biofertilizer from Cattle Wastewater in Farms with Intensive Cattle Breeding

This study evaluates the treatment efficacy and biogas yield of an integrated system composed of a plug-flow biodigester (with sludge recirculation) followed by polishing in a stabilization pond. The system was operated in real scale for 12 months at ambient temperature and under continuous flow. The volumetric yields of biogas varied according to the organic loads applied, between 114 and 294 Kg COD day^?1, reaching levels of 0.026 to 0.173 m³ m^?3 day^?1, with concentrations of CH₄ between 56 and 70%. The monthly biogas productions were between 378.5 and 2186.1 m³ month^?1 equal to an energy potential of approximately 2070 to 19,168 KWh month^?1.The average yearly removals of BOD_5,20 and COD by the integrated treatment system were 70 and 86%, respectively. The average annual removals of NH₄ and TKN were 88.5 and 85.5%, respectively. The pH values were always near neutral, and the alkalinity was in ranges propitious for anaerobic digestion. The results of this study indicate good efficacy in terms of removal of organic matter and nitrogen compounds, with the added benefits of generation of energy and use of the treated effluent as biofertilizer, enabling significant cost reductions to cattle farmers.     

Conventional fractionated radiotherapy outcomes for young dogs with nephroblastoma of the spinal cord: 5 cases

Published radiotherapy results for spinal nephroblastomas in dogs are limited. In this retrospective longitudinal study (1/2007–1/2022), five dogs with a median age of 2.8 years received post-operative 3D conformal, conventional fractionated radiotherapy (CFRT) with 2–4 fields (parallel-opposed with or without two hinge-angle fields), for an incompletely resected nephroblastoma. Clinical findings prior to surgery included one or more of the following: pelvic limb paresis (5), faecal incontinence (2), flaccid tail (1), non-ambulatory (2) and deep pain loss (1). All masses were located between T11 and L3 and surgically removed via hemilaminectomy. Dogs received 45–50 Gray (Gy) in 18–20 fractions, and no dogs received chemotherapy post-radiation. At analysis, all dogs were deceased, with none lost to follow-up. The median overall survival (OS) from first treatment to death of any cause was 3.4 years (1234 days; 95% CI 68 days-upper limit not reached; range: 68–3607 days). The median planning target volume was 51.3 cc, with a median PTV dose of 51.4 Gy and median D98 = 48.3 Gy. Late complications or recurrence was difficult to fully determine in this small dataset; however, some degree of ataxia persisted throughout life in all dogs. This study provides preliminary evidence that post-operative radiotherapy may result in prolonged survival times dogs with spinal nephroblastomas.     

Quantification of Common Wheat Adulteration of Durum Wheat Pasta Using Real‐Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Common wheat adulteration of durum wheat pasta was quantified using real‐time duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The total DNA content of pasta was determined by amplifying part of a wheat gene encoding a lipid transfer protein, and common wheat DNA was quantified by amplifying part of the puroindoline‐b gene. Under the conditions defined by this study, for pasta with a theoretical adulteration of 3%, the experimentally determined mean value was 2.6–3.4%, depending on drying temperature. Pure durum wheat pastas were distinguished from adulterated pastas without ambiguity. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using real‐time duplex PCR to quantify common wheat adulteration of pasta dried at high temperature, quantification that was impossible with the French official peroxidase‐marker method.     

Multi-carbohydrase enzymes improve feed energy in broiler diets containing standard or low crude protein

This study evaluated the effect of multi-carbohydrase (MC) on energy and nitrogen (N) balance and gene expression in broilers fed diets with different crude protein (CP) contents. The study employed a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. The factors were presence or absence of MC, and standard (SCP) or low (LCP) dietary CP concentration. A 3-phase feeding program was used, including starter (0 to 7 d), grower (8 to 17 d) and finisher (18 to 28 d) phases. The study was undertaken in closed calorimetry chambers. Each of the 4 dietary treatments was replicated 8 times in total across 2 runs, with 2 birds per replicate (n = 64). Data for energy partitioning and N balance were collected from d 25 to 28. On d 28, birds were euthanized to collect muscle and intestinal tissue samples for gene expression. The results showed that the MC increased apparent metabolizable energy (AME, P < 0.01) and net energy (NE, P < 0.05), and reduced the feed conversion ratio (FCR, P < 0.01) in all diets. The proportion of energy retained as fat per total energy retention (REf/RE) was positively correlated with feed AME and NE (r = 0.541, P < 0.01 and r = 0.665, P < 0.001, respectively), suggesting that feed energy augmented with increased fat gain. Muscle ATP synthase subunit alpha (ATP5A1W) gene expression had a positive correlation with REf/RE and feed NE (r = 0.587, P < 0.001 and r = 0.430, P < 0.05, respectively). Similarly, muscle peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1A) expression was negatively correlated with weight gain and positively correlated with FCR (r = −0.451, P < 0.05 and r = 0.359, P < 0.05, respectively). These correlations show that over-expressions of muscle genes related to energy production reduce bird performance. This study demonstrated that MC increase dietary energy utilization, regardless of dietary CP concentration. However, the energy released by the enzymes increases feed energy-to-CP ratio, meaning there is excess energy that is then deposited as body fat. This suggests that supplemental MC in broiler feeds is beneficial if diets are formulated to contain marginal energy levels.     

Hand-feel soil texture observations to evaluate the accuracy of digital soil maps for local prediction of soil particle size distribution: A case study in Central France

Digital maps of soil properties are now widely available. End-users now can access several digital soil mapping (DSM) products of soil properties, produced using different models, calibration/training data, and covariates at various spatial scales from global to local. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide easy-to-understand tools to communicate map uncertainty and help end-users assess the reliability of DSM products for use at local scales. In this study, we used a large amount of hand-feel soil texture (HFST) data to assess the performance of various published DSM products on the prediction of soil particle size distribution in Central France. We tested four DSM products for soil texture prediction developed at various scales (global, continental, national, and regional) by comparing their predictions with approximately 3 200 HFST observations realized on a 1:50 000 soil survey conducted after release of these DSM products. We used both visual comparisons and quantitative indicators to match the DSM predictions and HFST observations. The comparison between the low-cost HFST observations and DSM predictions clearly showed the applicability of various DSM products, with the prediction accuracy increasing from global to regional predictions. This simple evaluation can determine which products can be used at the local scale and if more accurate DSM products are required.