Bush Crops Research Articles

Pesticide emission modelling and freshwater ecotoxicity assessment for Grapevine LCA: adaptation of PestLCI 2.0 to viticulture

Consumption of high quantities of pesticides in viticulture emphasizes the importance of including pesticide emissions and impacts hereof in viticulture LCAs. This paper addresses the lack of inventory models and characterization factors suited for the quantification of emissions and ecotoxicological impacts of pesticides applied to viticulture. The paper presents (i) a tailored version of PestLCI 2.0, (ii) corresponding characterization factors for freshwater ecotoxicity characterization and (iii) result comparison with other inventory approaches. The purpose of this paper is hence to present a viticulture customized version of PestLCI 2.0 and illustrate the application of this customized version on a viticulture case study. The customization of the PestLCI 2.0 model for viticulture includes (i) addition of 29 pesticide active ingredients commonly used in vineyards, (ii) addition of 9 viticulture type specific spraying equipment and accounting the number of rows treated in one pass, and (iii) accounting for mixed canopy (vine/cover crop) pesticide interception. Applying USEtox™, the PestLCI 2.0 customization is further supported by the calculation of freshwater ecotoxicity characterization factors for active ingredients relevant for viticulture. Case studies on three different vineyard technical management routes illustrate the application of the inventory model. The inventory and freshwater ecotoxicity results are compared to two existing simplified emission modelling approaches. The assessment results show considerably different emission fractions, quantities emitted and freshwater ecotoxicity impacts between the different active ingredient applications. Three out of 21 active ingredients dominate the overall freshwater ecotoxicity: Aclonifen, Fluopicolide and Cymoxanil. The comparison with two simplified emission modelling approaches, considering field soil and air as part of the ecosphere, shows that PestLCI 2.0 yields considerable lower emissions and, consequently, lower freshwater ecotoxicity. The sensitivity analyses reveal the importance of soil and climate characteristics, canopies (vine and cover crop) development and sprayer type on the emission results. These parameters should therefore be obtained with site-specific data, while literature or generic data that are acceptable inputs for parameters whose uncertainties have less influence on the result. Important specificities of viticulture have been added to the state-of-the-art inventory model PestLCI 2.0. They cover vertically trained vineyards, the most common vineyard training form; they are relevant for other perennial or bush crops provided equipment, shape of the canopy and pesticide active ingredients stay in the range of available options. A similar and compatible model is needed for inorganic pesticide active ingredients emission quantification, especially for organic viticulture impacts accounting.

Biomechanical evaluation of postures assumed when harvesting from bush crops

The objectives of this research were to explore the changes in the low back biomechanical responses during a harvesting task as a function of different harvesting techniques/postures and to explore the effects of an ergonomic intervention designed to reduce the low back stress during this work activity. Nine participants performed a series of simulated harvesting activities in a laboratory setting using four different harvesting techniques: full kneeling posture, squatting posture, stooping posture and kneeling on a knee support device (the intervention). As they performed these tasks the activity of muscles of the torso and thighs was captured using electromyography and trunk kinematics were captured using the lumbar motion monitor and a magnetic field-based motion tracking system. The results showed that (1) three postures – knee support, squatting, and stooping – required high flexion of low back (more than 60°) and (2) squatting and stooping postures showed significantly higher passive tissue moment compared with two kneeling postures. The results also indicate that the beneficial aspects of the knee support intervention appear to be outweighed by reduced productivity and the high degree of trunk flexion and that the current strategy used by these workers of alternating between the various harvesting postures may be the best strategy available. Relevance to industry Understanding how changes in harvesting technique affect lumbar biomechanics can help ergonomists design effective interventions for the prevention of back injury in farm workers.

A SYSTEM TO ASSESS THE MASS BALANCE OF SPRAY APPLIED TO TREE CROPS

The measurement of pesticide spray losses from air blast sprayers as they apply to tree crops is required to providethe industry with information on sprayer efficiency. Spray loss, however, is often difficult to measure using currentstandardized methods. Test procedures are often time consuming and too costly to be extensively used. To facilitate samplingof spray losses during application to tree crops, a device consisting of an adjustable metal frame and a grid has beendeveloped. The grid supports artificial targets. The frame stands in the vineyard or orchard over two adjacent rows, allowingthe sprayer to pass below the structure, while applying a predetermined spray volume rate. Spray deposit on the collectorsenables assessment of the amount of spray droplets dispersed in the atmosphere around the plant target. On one hand, thesystem aims to develop an alternative procedure to the presently proposed ISO methodology (DIS 22369.2) for classificationof orchard/vineyard sprayers according to drift risk. On the other hand, it could facilitate the study of the spray mass balancedischarged to target plants, ground, and atmosphere, integrating ISO standard CD 22522 concerning field measurement ofspray distribution in tree and bush crops. This article reports the first experimental results related to the use of the device.

Agricultural Use of Municipal Solid Waste on Tree and Bush Crops

The effects are evaluated of agricultural applications of compost from municipald solid waste (MSW) to tree and bush crops. Eight experimental plots were established in 1993 and 1994 on agricultural soils of Cordoba in South West Spain. The crops included in this study were vines and olive (rainfed), and citrus (irrigated). Preliminary results of this study showed that application of MSW improved the fertility of the soil. In the case of olive plantations there was an average increase in yield of around 50%, but oil yield (%) and olive fruit mass were not affected. The application of compost to vine in doses of 30t/ha produced an average increase in yield of 30%, with no change in Baumé degree. The increase in yield of citrus fruits was around 17%. Leaf analysis was used to study the nutritive condition of the crops, and significant differences were found in olive and vine leaves in the year following application of MSW to the soil. Drought, which has been suffered for the last few years, may have influenced the results, together with the usual slow response of woody crops to fertilizers.

Reviews Section: The Motax 33 -- motorized, portable, air- assisted, CDA sprayer

The Motax 33, a portable air-assisted controlled droplet application (CDA) sprayer, offers a new approach to the application of pesticides within coffee and other bush crops. It uses a rotary atomizer to produce small, uniformly sized droplets which are propelled into the crop foliage by a wide and turbulent air blast, allowing the use of low spray volumes. Compared with traditional high-volume techniques the sprayer offers the possibility of improved spray coverage and penetration at low spray volumes, typically 30--70 l ha−1, allowing more timely spray treatments with the potential to adopt more responsive integrated insect pest and disease management strategies

Detection of genetic diversity and selective gene introgression in coffee using RAPD markers

RAPD (randomly amplified polymorphic DNA) markers generated by arbitary decamers have been successfully employed to detect genetic polymorphisms between coffee species and between Coffea arabica genotypes. The RAPD profiles were used to construct dendrograms and these were consistent with the known history and evolution of Coffea arabica. Material originating from Ethiopia and the arabica sub-groups - C. arabica var. typica and C. arabica var. bourbon - were clearly distinguished. RAPD analysis therefore reflects morphological differences between the sub-groups and the geographical origin of the coffee material. Species-specific amplification products were also identified, but, more importantly, amplification products specific to C. canephora were identified in two C. arabica genotypes, Rume Sudan and Catimor 5175. This diagnostic product is therefore indicative of interspecific gene flow in coffee and has biological implications for selective introgressive hybridisation in coffee. Our study demonstrates the power of the polymerase chain reaction technology for the generation of genetic markers for long-lived perennial tree and bush crops.

CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS IN AGRICULTURE: AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON

Capital requirements may be expressed in various ways but when comparisons are to be made between situations of great variety it is best to express them per unit of annual product. The definition of product also raises difficulties. Here it is measured net of agricultural inputs but still gross of industrial inputs. The study approaches the problem by first considering the capital requirements of the simplest types of agriculture and then moving up the scale towards the more advanced. Simple forms of crop culture using hand tools may require only 0.1 to 0.2 of a year's product in the form of capital. These requirements increase when livestock are added, either for draught power or for their products. Increases also occur when tree and bush crops are introduced. In the less favourable climates, capital is also needed for the provision of shelter. When comparisons are possible between farms of different sizes, the greater capital requirements per unit of product for the smaller farms are clearly to be seen. In general the amount of capital per unit of product in agriculture is tending to fall, both through improvements in techniques and through an increase in the average size of holding.

Land Reform in Southern Italy

In the first place, we must examine the background on which the land reform work is functioning. The ten-year plan, which is being planned and organized by a special government authority known as the Cassa per ii Mezzogiorno, is to involve a sum of about two billion dollars. Almost all of this is to be devoted to irrigation and land transformation, mountain conservation and afforestation, agrarian reform, road construction, and the provision of public water supply. The jurisdiction of the Cassa extends over 112 reclamation districts (comprensori di bonifica), covering 4 million hectares, and 235 mountain basins, covering 4.2 million hectares. At the end of the decade, 2 million hectares will be improved (bonificati) and 1.6 million hectares will be afforested. About 360,000 hectares will be irrigated and over 500,000 hectares in bush crops. It was estimated at the outset that the whole program will increase the agricultural yield of 3.5 million hectares threefold and increase labor consumption from 20 to 40 work days per hectare to 80--120 work days per hectare-i.e. about one million man-units. A more recent statement envisages the employment of 360,000 additional man-units in agriculture. The reclamation districts noted above are associations of proprietors in specific areas, formed in accordance with the law of integral land reclamation of 1933. These associations are responsible for the preparation and execution of plans of regional development, the costs of which are carried partly by a levy on the proprietors, but mainly (over 87 per cent) by the State. Once a district is formed, it is incumbent on all proprietormembers to carry out its prescribed reforms. Such organizations cover a large part of Italy and in 1948 the government decided to concentrate on those that offered the best prospect of speedy completion and substantial returns towards the solution of the country's economic and demographic problem. These selected districts fall into three categories (Fig. 1). The socalled acceleration districts, that are first priority, are those in which only 30 to 50 per cent of the works had been carried out in 1948. They offered the main possibilities of increased production and labor absorption. With the