Phosphorus availability and farm structural factors: examining scarcity and oversupply in north‐east Germany

Assessing factors influencing phosphorus (P) availability in soils is important in preventing its overexploitation and excessive application in agricultural systems. Despite high historical P applications in the federal state of Brandenburg (Germany), county data on soil test P (STP) reveal considerable disparities in soil available P. In addition, negative soil balances as a result of small mineral P and manure inputs have been observed, raising questions about the factors leading to this situation. Our work focused on identifying possible causes operating at the farm management level by conducting a letter survey in two administrative districts of Brandenburg, the counties Barnim and Uckermark, linking farm management factors (ownership type, farm size, land tenure, animal husbandry with or without grassland and its intensity, presence of a biogas plant and organic production) to farmers’ self‐indicated levels of STP. Small‐ to medium‐sized individual farms tended to have (very) high STP, while large partnership farms and companies/cooperatives were sensitive to factors resulting in low STP. Farms with low shares of land ownership, the presence of grassland, extensive cattle farming and stockless organic farming had lower STP. On the other hand, biogas plants, partly in combination with intensive livestock (cattle) farming, were associated with larger STP. It was concluded that more care should be devoted to the design of agricultural policies and that further (inter‐ and transdisciplinary) research on this topic is needed.     

Comparison of Salt and Drought‐Stress Effects on Maize Growth and Yield Formation with Regard to Acid Invertase Activity in the Kernels

The long‐term effects of salt stress (11 dS m^?1) and drought stress (35 % WHC) were investigated for two maize genotypes, focusing on the relation between metabolic changes around the time of pollination and the impact on yield determinants at maturity. The relatively salt‐resistant hybrid Pioneer 3906 and the relatively drought‐resistant hybrid Fabregas were compared. The experiments were conducted in large plastic containers in a vegetation hall in two consecutive years (2011 and 2012). Plant height and leaf area were significantly reduced under both stress conditions. The transpiration rate was only slightly reduced under drought stress; but under salt stress, a significant reduction occurred 40–53 days after sowing. As a significant increase in sucrose concentrations was observed in the salt‐treated maize kernels 2 days after pollination, the availability of assimilates was not limiting and the plants could afford to save water by reduced stomatal opening. Although under both stress conditions the soluble acid invertase activity was reduced 2 days after pollination, concomitantly, an increase in hexose concentrations was observed. Thus, in these experiments, the delivery of hexoses by acid invertase activity did not limit kernel development. Differences in grain yield at maturity between salt and drought stress were most likely caused by salt‐specific effects (Na⁺ toxicity), Fabregas being more affected than Pioneer 3906.     

绍兴黄酒陶坛氧传递速率研究

传统绍兴黄酒贮存于陶坛,因陶坛透气,进入陶坛的氧气可促进黄酒成熟,并影响黄酒的颜色、风味和稳定性。为研究黄酒贮存过程中陶坛的氧传递速率,以Fe~(2+)溶液为还原剂,绍兴黄酒密封于陶坛贮存30d后,进入陶坛的O_2会将Fe~(2+)氧化为Fe~(3+),采用硫氰酸钾比色法测定Fe~(3+)质量浓度,可估算出贮存期进入陶坛的氧气量及氧传递速率。结果表明,传统陶坛的日均氧传递速率(OTR)为0.106mg/L,为设计带有微氧化装置的黄酒专用大型不锈钢贮酒罐提供理论依据。     

Performance evaluation of venturi aeration system

The venturi aeration is an effective practice to increase the dissolved oxygen accessibility in the water bodies. This study aims to optimize the various geometrical parameters of the venturi aeration system. A non-dimensional technique was applied to find the optimum performance of various geometric parameters i.e. throat lengths (t_l), number of air holes (N), and converging and diverging angles (α and β). These experiments have been carried out using 1124 L capacity of tank having dimensions of 105 cm long, 105 cm wide and 102 cm deep. The experiments were conducted at a constant flow velocity of water (1.096 m/s) with varying throat length (t_l = 20–100 mm keeping 20 mm as interval between two consecutive length), number of air holes (N = 1–17 at an equal hole to hole distance of 5 mm between them), and converging and diverging angles (α and β = 10°, 15°, 20° and 25°). Multiple non-linear regression equations were also developed from the linear relation with the dependent variable (Non-dimensional form of standard aeration efficiency, NDSAE) and independent variables (t_l and N). With the geometrically optimized venturi aerator the optimum performance was found for t_l =100 mm, N = 17, and α and β = 15°. The maximum value of standard oxygen transfer rate (SOTR) and standard aeration efficiency (SAE) obtained was 0.0216 kgO₂/h and 0.611 kgO₂/kWh respectively. From the non-dimensional study, it was found that the NDSAE is the function Reynolds number (Re) and Froude number (Fr). The simulation equations were developed on the basis of Re and Fr for NDSAE, and subjected to 7.378 × 10⁻⁶ < Re < 3.689 × 10^-5 and 0.163 < Fr < 0.817, respectively.     

Effects of organic matter addition on phosphorus availability to flooded and nonflooded rice in a P‐deficient tropical soil: a greenhouse study

Addition of organic matter (OM) to flooded soils stimulates reductive dissolution of Fe(III) minerals, thereby mobilizing associated phosphate (P). Hence, OM management has the potential to overcome P deficiency. This study assessed if OM applications increases soil or mineral fertilizer P availability to rice under anaerobic (flooded) condition and if that effect is different relative to that in aerobic (nonflooded) soils. Rice was grown in P‐deficient soil treated with combinations of addition of mineral P (0, 26 mg P/kg), OM (0, ~9 g OM/kg as rice straw + cattle manure) and water treatments (flooded vs nonflooded) in a factorial pot experiment. The OM was either freshly added just before flooding or incubated moist in soil for 6 months prior to flooding; blanket N and K was added in all treatments. Fresh addition of OM promoted reductive dissolution of Fe(III) minerals in flooded soils, whereas no such effect was found when OM had been incubated for 6 months before flooding. Yield and shoot P uptake largely increased with mineral P addition in all soils, whereas OM addition increased yield and P uptake only in flooded soils following fresh OM addition. The combination of mineral P and OM gave the largest yield and P uptake. Addition of OM just prior to soil flooding increased P uptake but was insufficient to overcome P deficiency in the absence of mineral P. Larger applications of OM are unlikely to be more successful in flooded soils due to side effects, such as Fe toxicity.     

Contribution of incident solar radiation on leaves and pods to soybean seed weight and composition

The weight and composition of soybean seeds (Glycine Max L. Merrill) depend on changes in carbon and nitrogen assimilate supply during grain filling. Soybean pods and seeds are green, evidencing their capacity to capture light. However, the current physiological knowledge does not consider any effect of incident solar radiation reaching the pods on seed weight and composition. The objective of this work was to investigate the response of seed weight and composition to changes in assimilate supply from leaves, to the incident solar radiation reaching the pods and to the combination of both, changes in assimilate supply from the leaves and incident solar radiation on pods of soybean plants. Field experiments were performed during two growing seasons at Balcarce, Argentina. Treatments modified the amount of assimilates supplied by the leaves (plant shading, defoliation), the solar radiation reaching the pods (pod shading) or both (defoliation and pod shading) during seed filling. Plant shading and defoliation reduced seed weight, oil concentration and oil and protein content and increased the concentration of saturated and poli-unsaturated fatty acids while reduced oleic acid percentage. Pod shading increased the concentration of stearic acid and reduced the concentration of linolenic acid. When pods were shaded on defoliated plants, seed weight and oil and protein content decreased while fatty acid composition was similar to values obtained under defoliation treatment. Based on these results, a conceptual model that considers photoheterotrophic nature of reproductive structures of soybean is proposed. Seed weight, oil and protein content and oil fatty acid composition depended on assimilate availability for the seeds. The response of oil and protein content to assimilate supply depended on whether leaves were present or not. The effect of solar radiation incident on pods depended on the amount of assimilates available for the seeds: (i) when carbon allocated was low (defoliation treatments), pods contributed to seed carbon economy but solar radiation incident on them did not affect fatty acid composition; (ii) when carbon allocated to the seeds was high (intact plants), contribution of pods to seed carbon economy was not significant, but the amount of solar radiation incident on pods produced significant changes in fatty acid composition.     

A Study on the Method of Time-Resource Optimization of Engineering Projects

This paper investigates the coordinated operation of the progress planning with the resource planning when carrying out engineering projects and puts forward a method of "RSM" under the resource limit conditions. Then, the "RSM" was improved to avoid complicated calculation. This method not only reduces the calculating work by hand but saves computer's memory as well, making the time-resource optimization work more quick and convenient.     

The effect of salinity on corn yield using the CERES-maize model

In most cases, when calculating soil water availability, only thewater content is considered. The effect of salinity on the wiltingpoint is neglected. The objective of this work is to use asimulation model (CERES-maize) in order to predict cornyields as a function of water salinity under severalenvironmental, agrotechnical, and plant characteristics. A modelis presented in which the wilting point is a function of the soilsalt content. At high salinity, the water content at wilting pointis higher than at low salinity, resulting in an insufficient amountof available water and, therefore, a reduced yield. The modelwas used to simulate several theoretical and experimentalsituations for forage corn and grain corn. Simulation resultsshowed that nitrogen fertilization increases the salinity thresholdvalue and the yield sensitivity (rate of yield reduction per unitof salinity). The also showed that forage corn is more sensitiveto salinity than grain corn. If the soil is not leached, a heaviersoil texture has a higher salinity threshold value. On the otherhand, if the soil is leached, the soil texture has no influence onthe salinity threshold value and the yield is less sensitive tosalinity in sandy soils. The determination coefficient (r²= 0.75) indicated that the results of the simulations were in goodagreement with the field data.     

改性木质素对砖红壤磷素有效性的影响

磷肥施入砖土壤后，土壤速效磷随着时间的推移，呈现下降的趋势。利用改性木质素缓释磷铵，可以有效地络合土壤活性钵，降低其活性，从而阻止土壤速效磷被固定，使土壤磷素维持在较高的水平。土壤中交换性钙和交换性镁对土壤速效磷的影响不大。     

碳酸铵对意大利青霉的作用机制及对不同柑橘果实品质的影响

为了寻求一种安全有效的方法防治由意大利青霉（Penicillium italicum）引起的柑橘青霉病,该研究分析了碳酸铵作为通常认为安全的药剂抑制意大利青霉生长的可能作用机制及对脐橙、皇帝柑、沃柑3种不同类型柑橘贮藏品质的影响。结果表明,碳酸铵能抑制意大利青霉孢子萌发和菌丝生长,且呈现剂量依赖效应,在质量浓度分别为 0.4 g/L和0.8 g/L时可完全抑制孢子萌发和菌丝生长。结构观察表明,碳酸铵引起菌丝生长节点稀疏和分支减少;超微结构观察发现菌丝严重皱缩,菌丝线粒体结构异常。生理生化分析表明,碳酸铵处理,引起线粒体的钠/钾离子ATP酶（Na+/ K+-ATPase）、钙离子ATP酶（Ca2+-ATPase）和镁离子ATP酶（Mg2+-ATPase）活性下降,导致还原型谷胱甘肽（Reduced Glutathione,GSH）含量及谷胱甘肽还原酶（Glutathione Reductase,GR）活性降低,活性氧清除体系超氧化物歧化酶（Superoxide Dismutase,SOD）、过氧化氢酶（Catalase,CAT）、过氧化物酶（Peroxidase,POD）活性紊乱,促进H2O2积累。添加活性氧清除剂半胱氨酸（Cysteine,Cys）能部分恢复碳酸铵处理的病菌孢子萌发。活体接种表明,16 g/L碳酸铵处理显著减小了柑橘果实接种意大利青霉的病斑直径（P<0.05）,减轻果实发病。碳酸铵处理能降低3种类型柑橘果实自然发病率,且对果实失重率、色泽、可溶性固形物、可滴定酸、维生素C、还原糖含量无不良影响。结果表明,碳酸铵通过损伤意大利青霉菌丝线粒体结构和功能,促进活性氧积累来发挥抗真菌活性,碳酸铵可以作为杀菌剂的绿色有效替代方法,研究结果为碳酸铵防治柑橘果实采后腐烂提供参考。