Spatial heterogeneity in the properties of hydroponic wheat fodder and its sustainability.

This study was conducted to determine the heterogeneity of the quantitative and qualitative properties of fodder growth in cultivated hydroponic wheat fodder (HWF) in the growth tray area and to evaluate the impact on the environment. HWF was grown using nutrient film technique. Yield productivity (YP) of HWF in the growth tray area was divided into four characteristic zones (A, B, C, and D). The most fertile zone A accounted for only 22.3 ± 4.2% of the entire growth tray area, while zone B accounted for 44.7 ± 4.0%. Zones C and D, which accounted for 28.0 ± 1.3% and 5.0 ± 0.3% area, respectively, pose various problems for forage production, i.e., they negatively impact the quantity and quality of HWF, as well as the environment. If all areas in the growth tray support the highest fodder YP (zones A and B), then one kg of dry wheat grains will yield about 6-7 kg of HWF (consisting of 10.7-12.4% dry matter, 17.3-17.5% crude protein, 1.8-2.3% starch, 13.1-14.4% crude fiber, and 4.5-4.6% ether extract). Results of life cycle assessment show that HWF with YPs of 3-5 kg from one kg of dry grains (zones C and D) has the most adverse impact on the environment (150 and 220 kg CO2eq t-1). Under optimum conditions (zone A), CO2eq varied from 94 to 115 kg CO2eq t-1 of feed. Environmentally, HWF production had the most impact on marine aquatic ecotoxicity, abiotic depletion, global warming potential, and freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity.

The Influence of Bacteria-Inoculated Mineral Fertilizer on the Productivity and Profitability of Spring Barley Cultivation.

The heavy use of mineral fertilizers causes imbalances in the biological processes that take place in soil. Therefore, it is necessary to develop more effective fertilizers or fertilizer complexes that ensure agricultural productivity and soil conservation. There is currently a lack of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of biologically enriched, complex mineral fertilizers for spring barley fertilization. The hypothesis of this study was that bacteria-enriched (Paenibacillus azotofixans, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus mucilaginosus, and Bacillus mycoides), complex mineral fertilizers (N5P20.5K36) have significant impacts on the yield and potential for economic use of spring barley. Experimental studies were carried out for three years (2020-2022) with sandy loam soil in southern Lithuania. Four different spring barley fertilization scenarios (SCs) were investigated. In SC-1 (control), complex mineral fertilizer (N5P20.5K36) was not applied. In the other SCs, spring barley was sown with a drill and fertilizers were incorporated locally during the sowing operation: fertilization scenario SC-2 used 300 kg ha-1, SC-3 used 150 kg ha-1 preceded by a bacteria-inoculated complex mineral fertilizer (N5P20.5K36), and SC-4 used 300 kg ha-1 with the same bacterial complex. The results showed that the bacterial inoculant increased the efficiency of the mineral fertilizer and had an effect on plant growth in barley. For three consecutive years in the same plots, the bacterial inoculant showed significant positive effects on grain yield (changes of 8.1% in 2020, 6.8% in 2021, and 17.3% in 2022 between SC-2 and SC-4). Comparing the several different fertilizer scenarios from an economic point of view, it was observed that the highest profit per hectare was obtained with SC-4 in all three years of the study. Comparing SC-4 and SC-2, an increase of 13.7% was observed in 2020, followed by 9.1% and 41.9% in 2021 and in 2022, respectively. This study will be useful for farmers, biological inoculant manufacturers, and scientists researching the effectiveness of biological inoculants for growing agricultural crops. We found that it is possible to increase the yield of barley (7-17%) using the same rate of mineral fertilization by enriching it with bacterial inoculants. Further studies should be conducted to determine the effects of the bacterial inoculant on crop yield and soil over a period longer than 3 years.

Comparative analysis of the environmental impact of conventional and precision spring wheat fertilization under various meteorological conditions.

Precision farming is being approached with hopes of discovering new decisions that could aid in managing and reducing the environmental impact of farming systems with increasing frequency. Analysis of the results obtained from a five-year research period has revealed no significant difference in the amount of produce received, irrespective of the fertilization technology (variable-rate fertilization (VRF) or conventional fertilization (CF)) used on spring wheat crops. However, in VRF, nitrogen fertilizer consumption was approximately 19% lower, and the fertilizer use efficiency was higher. The energy assessment of the fertilization technology indicated that the application of the VRF technology reduced the indirect energy inputs by 12.3%, which compared to CF, resulted in an approximately 9% higher energy efficiency and productivity. Meteorological conditions significantly affected not only the spring wheat yield, but also the nitrogen fertilizer consumption, efficiency, and energy indicators such as energy efficiency and productivity. The environmental assessment of these technologies also showed that nitrogen fertilizer accounted for about half of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, the evaluation of these results obtained over the entire five-year research period indicated that when VRF was used, GHG emissions were 9.4% lower than when CF was used.

Application of rape pod sealants to reduce adverse environmental impacts.

BACKGROUND: Rape (Brassica napus L.) is a major global oilseed crop characterized by its high potential as an alimentary oil and in biodiesel production. The two most popular pod sealants (PS) used to reduce rape pod shattering are products in the pinolene range (di-1-p-menthene) and latex polymer products. Reports on the effective preservation of seed yield by these products are fairly contradictory. With this in mind, an experimental PS (PS4) that contained the active agents acrylic and trisiloxane was developed. RESULTS: Comparative experimental trials of the developed PS4 and three other PS (PS1, PS2 and PS3) containing active agents that are generally used for sealant production were conducted. The studies showed that the static and dynamic surface tension of PS4 was the lowest at the same concentration (2.0 g kg-1 ), consequently demonstrating the lowest spray drift. The chemical substances from PS had not penetrated the rape seeds in any of the PSs. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that treatment with PS4 exerts a beneficial effect in reducing rape seed yield loss (68-104 kg ha-1 in 2014 and 194-305 kg ha-1 in 2015) compared to other investigated PS. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Preventive measures reducing superficial mycobiotic contamination of grain.

Search for the preventive measures reducing the accumulation of mycotoxin producers in food raw material was carried out. Active ventilation was used; the impact of the electro-chemically activated air (ozone) and electro-chemically activated water (anolyte) on the micromycetes prevailing in grain raw material for food (GRMF) was determined. The GRMF was dried by active ventilation using the ozone-air mixture. Ozone (concentration 1250 ppb) disinfects the surface of the raw material and creates conditions unfavourable for the increase of mycobiotic contamination in drying upper layers of the grain mound. Within 8 days the contamination of GRMF in a mound decreased by 50%, while in its lower layers - more than 3 times. Ventilation of the mound with the above-mentioned concentration of the ozone-air mixture has ceased the active functioning of Fusarium avenaceum, F. graminearum, F. poae, F. solani, F. tricinctum F. sporotrichioides micromycetes and has considerably retarded the development of Alternaria alternata and other fungi. Anolyte (0.05% of chlorine concentration) reduced the mycobiotic contamination of GRMF by almost 2.5 times. The optimal treatment duration is from 0.5 to 1 hour. The optimal technical parameters, allowing the use of these measures for the preparation of grain food safety technologies, were elaborated; they are designed for more efficient protection of human health against micromycetes and their toxic metabolites, which are abundantly produced and released into the environment.

Application of ozone for reduction of mycological infection in wheat grain.

In 2004-2005 means were sought to clean grain from microbiological contamination during transportation and storage. For this purpose, grains with a moisture content of 23.2 % of the "Tauras" variety were selected and ventilated daily for 8 hours until grain wetness was reduced to 14.0 %. The effect of ventilation duration and ozone impact was evaluated according to the changes in grain contamination with micromycetes propagules (cfu x g (-1)), and alternation of micromycetes species on the grain surface. At drying grains by active ventilation with an ozone--air mixture, at O (3) concentration of 700 ppb, the drying period was reduced by about 20 %, and mycological contamination depends on initial grain moisture content (w): when w=15.2 %, contamination was reduced by up to 2.2 times, and when w=22.0 %--up to 3 times. At the same time, the composition of micromycetes species on the grain surface changed significantly: in non-ventilated grain there were detected micromycetes of 26 species, and in ventilated grain--of 11 species. Efficient ozone impact was established only when the mound of wet (w>18.0 %) grains was exposed to ozone.