Critical Plant Densities for Resowing of Sugar Beet

In cases of poor crop establishment of sugar beet, the grower may consider resowing. In these considerations, the differences between the actual and the optimal plant densities and their effects on yield and quality must play an important role, A module to describe these effects is presented. The later in the growing season the decision has to be taken, the lower the plant densities for which resowing is profitable.     

Prediction of Various Effects of Harvest Date in Sugar Beet Growing

One crucial decision in sugar beet growing is determining harvest date. This paper focuses on some aspects associated with harvest date which have to be included in a decision support system for sugar beet growing.
Firstly, a module was created for dirt and crown tare, mainly based on lutum (or clay) and soil moisture contents. An independent test of the module showed poor results, because fine tuning of harvest machinery has an overriding effect. Secondly, the variation in weather conditions during autumn in Wageningen over a period of 38 years was analysed. The ranges of future root and sugar production appeared to be so wide that early predictions of the day on which the sugar quota are exceeded will not be very reliable. Thirdly, risks of severe frost or heavy rainfall in autumn were assessed, based on the same 38 year data set. The risk of frost damage to unharvested beets proved to be negligible when the crop was harvested before November 10, as advised by the sugar industry.
The work described in this study makes the model PIEteR (a field specific bio-economic production model for sugar beet, developed for decision support at field and farm level) more applicable by using its potential to analyse the effects of different years and quota options.     

Nutrition management of cedar and hemlock plantations in coastal British Columbia

Recent re-measurements of silvicultural trials in conifer plantations on nutrient-poor cedar-hemlock (CH) cutovers on northern Vancouver Island have confirmed co-limitation by nitrogen and phosphorus. Repeated fertilization increased volumes of both cedar and hemlock on CH sites (at 2,500 stems ha^?1) by about 100 m³ ha^?1 relative to unfertilized plots 22 years following initial fertilization, and increased the productivity of regenerating conifers to a level approximating that of neighbouring hemlock-amabilis fir (HA) sites. More surprising was the response to fertilization on the more-productive HA sites. After 22 years, cedar in fertilized HA plots had produced an extra 180 m³ ha^?1 compared to unfertilized HA plots, while hemlock had produced an extra 250 m³ ha^?1 in fertilized plots (at 2,500 stems ha^?1). Thus, contrary to expectations, the greatest volume responses of both hemlock and cedar to fertilization occurred on the good (HA) sites rather than on the poor (CH) sites. Ecological studies of CH and HA sites supported the hypothesis that the poor nutrient supply and productivity of CH sites is a long-term consequence of excessive moisture, and that the two site types bracket a critical ecological threshold of moisture, aeration and redox.     

Pollination dynamics in a Douglas-fir seed orchard as revealed by pedigree reconstruction

• ? Pollination dynamics was studied in a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) seed orchard using 8 nuclear microsatellite markers and pedigree reconstruction.
• ? The seed orchard consisted of 49 parents (clones). Cone-crop management included bloom delay and supplemental mass pollination (SMP) using 12 internal and 4 external pollen donors.
• ? A random sample of 801 bulk seeds was genotyped for both haploid megagametophyte and corresponding diploid embryo.
• ? Using the parental population’s multilocus genotypes, full pedigree reconstruction generated all the information needed to estimate the maternal, paternal, and parental reproductive success, selfing, pollen contamination, and pollination success of the 4 external pollen donors.
• ? Maternal, paternal, and parental reproductive success varied with 80% of gametes being produced by 23, 45, and 37% of the orchard’s parents, respectively, resulting in a drastically reduced effective population size as compared to the census number (14 vs. 53).
• ? Selfing, pollen contamination, and aggregate SMP success (internal and external) were estimated to be 15.2, 10.4, and 15.0%, respectively.
• ? Full pedigree reconstruction was effective in unraveling the orchard’s pollination dynamics and both female and male reproductive success.