Cattle Fodder Research Articles

High density plantation in degraded lands for resource conservation and diversifying farm income under rainfed ecosystem

A model of high density plantation was developed and tested in two 0.5 ha fields each of land capability Class IIIes and IVe, at Johranpur Watershed in Solan District of Himachal Pradesh. The system comprised of Mango (Dashehari) at 9m x 9m spacing interspaced with early bearing Mango (Amrapali) at 4.5m x 4.5m. In between these two Mango cultivars, Papaya was sown at 2.25 m x 2.25 m. Inter row space was used for growing different annual crops like Tomato, Moong, Kulthi, Toria, Radish, Onion, Capsicum and Bottle Guard. In situ budded Aonla (var. NA-7) was planted on the periphery of field. Prior to the plantation, terraces were constructed on land to cut the degree of slope and Hybrid Napier was planted on terrace risers to provide strength to bund and green fodder for cattle. Survival percentage in the range of 70 to 89 for different fruit species was similar in both the marginal (LCC IIIes) and severely (LCC IVe) degraded lands. Comparatively healthier land facilitated 46 and 40 percent higher height and 112 and 89 percent higher basal girth in Mango Amrapali and Dashehari cultivars, respectively. Mango started yielding in 3rd year only on less degraded land. On the Class IIIes land, gross returns from various components were Rs 27,760, 65,175 and 71,200 per hectare during 1st, 2nd and 3rd year of plantation, respectively. These worked out to be Rs 54,715 per hectare per year in the pre-bearing stage and are much higher than gross return of Rs 47,634 under traditional Maize-Wheat rotation in similar type of degraded with two supplemental irrigations from harvested rainwater in the same watershed.

Effects of heavy metal contamination from anthropogenic sources on Dasarahalli tank, India

AbstractThis study examines the concentrations of various heavy metals, and their distribution in a hyper‐eutrophic urban Dasarahalli tank system, which is being polluted from industrial, domestic and sewage effluents. The concentration of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in water, plant (Alternanthera philoxeroides) and sediment samples was determined. The water‐soluble (bioavailable) fractions of heavy metals correlated positively with their total concentration, exhibiting the following sequence of bioavailability: Zn > Cd > Ni > Fe > Cu > Pb > Cr. A. philoxeroides exhibited a maximum bioaccumulation factor for cadmium (3913). The mean values of all types of collected samples were correlated with the corresponding mean values in a control tank (Vasanthapura tank). The sequence of the order of the concentrations of the metals in water, plant and sediment samples exhibiting higher values than those observed in the control tank was as follows: Cr > Ni > Pb > Cu > Fe > Zn, Cd > Cr > Fe ≈ Zn ≈ Cu ≈ Pb and Pb > Cu ≈ Cr > Zn ≈ Ni > Fe, respectively. The geoaccumulation indices of the heavy metals revealed that the tank is moderately contaminated. As A. philoxeroides is extensively used for human consumption and also as cattle fodder, there is a growing health risk that these metals could find their way into the human food chain.

Comparing Norse Animal Husbandry Practices: Paleoethnobotanical Analyses from Iceland and Greenland

The popular view of the Norse settlement across the North Atlantic describes colonies with similar subsistence practices being established from the Faroe Islands in the west to L'Anse aux Meadows in the east. The importance of plant resources to the Norse animal husbandry strategies implemented by settlers upon arrival are not well established, nor are the changes these strategies underwent, eventually resulting in different cultural solutions to varying environmental and social factors. This paper compares archaeobotanical samples from two Icelandic archaeological sites, Svalbarð and Gjögur, and one Greenlandic site, Gården Under Sandet (GUS). Results of this comparison suggest that heathland shrubs were an important fodder resource for caprines in both Iceland and Greenland while apophytes ("weedy taxa") were part of the cattle fodder in Greenland. Further, the results indicate that mucking out of cattle barns to provide fertilizer was likely practiced at the GUS site in the Western Norse settlement of Greenland.

POTENSI JERAMI PADI SEBAGAI PAKAN SAPI POTONG DI KABUPATEN REMBANG

The availability and quality of fodder resources is the principal constraint to cow cattle production. The fodder available usually include grasses, legumes and crops residues such as straw of paddy rice. The objective for the observation research is to study the production and potency of paddy rice straw as beef cattle fodder, using survey method, in Rernbang Regency: Data were col.lected through interviewing using structured questionnaires with 66 respondents in 3 district: Kragan, Pamotan and Surnber, for 6 months. Data of production and potency of paddy rice straw were analyzed by usual method. The result showed that population of cow cattle inyear2004 was 95.288 head, which increased in the first 3 months of2005 co be IO 1.634 head. The potency of the paddy rice straw for beef cattle fodder was 46,23% in 2004, whereas in 2005 was 43,02%. As conclusion, the availability and quality of cow canle fodder which is very low in the dry season will affect the productivity of cow cattle.

Analysing ethnobotanical and fishery-related importance of mangroves of the East-Godavari Delta (Andhra Pradesh, India) for conservation and management purposes.

Mangrove forests, though essentially common and wide-spread, are highly threatened. Local societies along with their knowledge about the mangrove also are endangered, while they are still underrepresented as scientific research topics. With the present study we document local utilization patterns, and perception of ecosystem change. We illustrate how information generated by ethnobiological research can be used to strengthen the management of the ecosystem. This study was conducted in the Godavari mangrove forest located in the East-Godavari District of the state Andhra Pradesh in India, where mangroves have been degrading due to over-exploitation, extensive development of aquaculture, and pollution from rural and urbanized areas (Kakinada).One hundred interviews were carried out among the fisherfolk population present in two mangrove zones in the study area, a wildlife sanctuary with strong conservation status and an adjacent zone. Results from the interviews indicated that Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Vierh., a dominant species in the Godavari mangroves, is used most frequently as firewood and for construction. Multiple products of the mangrove included the bark of Ceriops decandra (Griff.) Ding Hou to dye the fishing nets and improve their durability, the bark of Aegiceras corniculatum (L.) Blanco to poison and catch fish, and the leaves of Avicennia spp. and Excoecaria agallocha L. as fodder for cattle. No medicinal uses of true mangrove species were reported, but there were a few traditional uses for mangrove associates. Utilization patterns varied in the two zones that we investigated, most likely due to differences in their ecology and legal status. The findings are discussed in relation with the demographic and socio-economic traits of the fisherfolk communities of the Godavari mangroves and indicate a clear dependency of their livelihood on the mangrove forest.Reported changes in the Godavari mangrove cover also differed in the two zones, with significantly less perceptions of a decrease in the protected area, as compared to the adjacent non-protected area. A posteriori comparisons between sequential satellite imagery (retrospective till 1977) and respondents that were at least 15 years back then, revealed a mangrove decrease which was however perceived to different extents depending on the area with which the fishermen were familiar. While local needs had not been incorporated in the existing policy, we created a framework on how data on ethnobotanical traditions, fishery-related activities and local people's perceptions of change can be incorporated into management strategies.

First record of Phytophthora tropicalis causing leaf blight and fruit rot on breadfruit in Brazil

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) has its centre of origin in Malaysia and was introduced by the Portuguese to Brazil, where it is grown mainly in the northeastern states. Its fruit can be used as food, its leaves as cattle fodder and the latex extracted from the fruits and trunk as raw material to produce glue. In 2005, brown necrotic lesions were observed on leaves and fruits of breadfruit grown in the municipality of Itubera, Bahia State, northeast Brazil. A Phytophthora species was isolated from diseased leaf samples on selective medium PARPH (Kanmwischer & Mitchell, 1978). Analyses of morphological characteristics of 5-day-old cultures grown on carrot agar showed a petaloid and sparse aerial mycelium. Observations and measurement of 50 sporangia revealed that they were ellipsoid, 37 µm ± 0·69 (standard error of the mean) × 23·8 µm ± 0·40, caducous with pedicels measuring 61 µm ± 3·08, with a length/width ratio of 1·9:1, mean depth of papillae 4·6 µm ± 0·13, and pore exit of 6·4 µm ± 0·20. Physiological tests showed that the isolate was heterothallic, mating type A1, forming amphigynous antheridia. The isolate was deposited in the Brazilian collection of Phytophthora species under accession number CBP 546. The gene sequences obtained for ITS (accession number AM040496), translation and elongation factor 1α (accession number AM040497) and β-tubulin (accession number AM040498) for isolate CBP 546 showed 99·8, 99·4 and 99·8% identity, respectively, when compared with sequences AJ299733, AY564103 and AY564046, respectively, of P. tropicalis. Pathogenicity tests were performed by inoculating green fruits of breadfruit with 5 mm mycelial discs of 5-day-old cultures of isolates CBP 546 from breadfruit, P. tropicalis CBS 434.91 from macadamia and P. palmivora CBP 232 from cocoa. Inoculated fruits were incubated at 25°C in a humid chamber and lesions were observed 5 days later. The results showed that only P. tropicalis was pathogenic to fruits of breadfruit. This pathogen was reisolated from the lesions onto PARPH medium. These results confirm the identity of isolate CPB 546 as P. tropicalis. Previously P. palmivora was identified as the agent of fruit rot on breadfruit in Micronesia, Western Samoa and India (Trujillo, 1970; Erwin & Ribeiro, 1996). As P. tropicalis was proposed recently as a new species to regroup the isolates of ‘P. palmivora MF4’ (= P. capsici) (Aragaki & Uchida, 2001), it is possible that the pathogen reported by these authors was P. tropicalis. This hypothesis is supported by our pathogenicity tests. This is the first report of P. tropicalis as a pathogen of breadfruit in Brazil.

Fenología productiva y nutricional de maíz para la producción de forraje.

The purpose of this study was to determine the yield of biomass of corn in different stages of growth, cultivated in the higlands of Costa Rica as fodder for dairy cattle. It was carried out at the Alfredo Volio Mata Experimental Station of the University of Costa Rica. The first sampling was carried out after 37 days and every two weeks threafter through 149 days. Dry matter, crude protein, ashes, neutro detergent fiber (NDF), acld detergent fiber (ADF) and the lignin were analyzed. The value of hemicellulose and cellulose were calculate. The yield of green and dry biomass in the stems, leaves, flowers and fruit of the plant was measured at different stages of growth. Before 65 days, the yield of dry mateiral in the leaves was superior to that in the stems. Later the accumulation of dry matter in the stems was around three times greater then that in the leaves. The first blossoming occurred after three months. Two weeks later the first ears of corn were collected, thir highest yield occuring at four months. After 65 days, the relation leaves:stems was less than 1, predominating the accumulation of stems. This relationship slowly decresed as the plants became older. The concentration of dry matter in the stems was less than in the leaves at all growth stages. The content of crude protein (CP) in the stem was higher (18%) during the first 50 days, decresing to 11% at 80 days and threafter remined between 6.5% and 7.5%.

Effect of Drought on Nutritional Status of Rural Community in Karnataka

The State of Karnataka experienced drought during the year 2002, resulting fall in agricultural production, food insecurity, acute shortage of drinking water and fodder for cattle, reduced employme...

Discrimination among host plants (Leucaena species and accessions) by the psyllid pest Heteropsylla cubana and implications for understanding resistance

Abstract 1 The herbivorous bug Heteropsylla cubana Crawford (Homoptera: Psyllidae) is a pest of the cattle fodder crop Leucaena (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae). The interaction between the psyllid and three varieties of its Leucaena host plant was investigated in relation to the apparent resistance of some Leucaena varieties (Leucaena leucocephala, Leucaena pallida and their hybrids) to attack.2 Field trials demonstrated that adult psyllids distinguished among the different varieties of Leucaena over a distance, and were attracted to L. leucocephala in significantly higher numbers than to L. pallida or to the hybrid. Pesticide treatment increased the attractiveness of Leucaena plants, even of those deemed to be psyllid resistant. Numbers of psyllid eggs and nymphs, sampled in the field, reflect the arrival rates of adults at the three plant varieties.3 Wavelength reflectance data of the three Leucaena varieties were not significantly different from one another, suggesting that psyllids cannot discriminate among the three plants using brightness or wavelength cues. There was a differential release of caryophyllene among the three varieties. Release of caryophyllene in L. leucocephala and the hybrid appeared to be influenced by environmental conditions.4 Experiments demonstrated that caryophyllene (at least on its own) did not influence the behaviour of leucaena psyllids in relation to leucaena plants.5 The results suggest that host plant volatiles cannot be dismissed as significant in the interaction between the leucaena psyllid and its Leucaena host plants. Further avenues for investigation are recommended and these are related to novel ways of understanding resistance in insect plant inter‐relationships.

BEAMGAA: A chance for high precision analysis of big samples

In activation analysis of traces in small samples, the non-equivalence of the activating radiation doses of sample and calibration material gives rise to sometimes tolerable systematic errors. Conversely, analysis of major components usually demands high trueness and precision. To meet this, beam geometry activation analysis (BEAMGAA) procedures have been developed for instrumental photon (IPAA) and neutron activation analysis (INAA) in which the activating neutron/photon beam exhibits broad, flat-topped characteristics. This results in a very low lateral activating flux gradient compared to known radiation facilities, however, at significantly lower flux density. The axial flux gradient can be accounted for by a monitor-sample-monitor assembly. As a first approach, major components were determined in high purity substances as well as selenium in a cattle fodder additive.

Effect of planting date on incidence and severity of leaf smut of cowpea in northern Nigeria

The effect of planting leaf smut-susceptible cowpea cultivars in Kano, Nigeria at 2-weeks intervals from July to August under rain-fed conditions on incidence and severity of the disease was investigated. Time of planting played a major role on incidence of leaf smut as cowpea planted around 5-13 August had a low disease incidence. Observations showed that leaf smut appeared early in the season when there was rain and progressed rapidly under conditions of relative humidity (35-54%) and rainfall (5.6-103.0mm). It is suggested that planting of cowpea in this location should be restricted to this specific period to obtain maximum cowpea production especially in the case of vegetable cultivars that are used as fodder for cattle. The effect of delayed planting on grain yield and other agronomic parameters needs to be investigated further. Key Words: Cowpea; leaf smut; planting dates; vigna unguiculata Moor J. Agric. Res. Vol.4(1) 2003: 106-110

Prickly Pear Cactus and Pastoralism in Southwest Madagascar

Madagascar's Mahafale cattle raisers have adopted several species of the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia) into their subsistence patterns. Their use of Opuntia has had the economic effects of both sedentary and transhumant intensification. It lengthens the stay of pastoralists at their villages and structures the timing of their seasonal migration to distant pastures. (Cactus-plant cattle fodder, pastoralism, sedentarization, Mahafale, Madagascar) This article explains how several thousand Mahafale pastoralists in southwestern Madagascar have incorporated prickly pear (Opuntia) into their pastoral economy, which depends on assisting their cattle through the dry season, when grass and water are scarce. Rather than relying on nomadism in the pursuit of water and pasture for their livestock, the pastoralists have turned to cactus to keep stock alive. So pivotal is Opuntia in the cattle diet that they categorize it as sakafon-drano (water-food). This plant-human relationship, therefore, is central to an understanding of Mahafale economic life. Prickly pear, a cactus of the genus Opuntia, recognized by its characteristic thorned, flattened segments, has thrived in places far from its original New World homelands. In the Mediterranean region, people have cooked with fresh, broad, flat, segmented Opuntia stems (called nopalitos in Spanish) and its ripe, fleshy pears (L'Allemand 1958:113). In Sicily, varieties of the tree-shaped Opuntia ficus-indica, which can grow to a height of twenty feet or more and forms a woody trunk at the base, have been valued for their fruit as well their hedging, foraging, and wind-breaking (Barbera, Inglese, and Pimienta-Barrios 1995:18). Cactus pears have been a principal fruit crop of North African nomads, who also boiled down the fruit juice, which is rich in vitamins, as a molasses substitute (Meyer and McLaughlin 1981:108). Outside of rice-growing areas in India, farmers have maintained large hedges of thorny O. dillenii (Donkin 1977:44). O. hernandezii has been grown in Senegal for hedging, opposing the expansion of sand, and for its fruit (Chevalier 1947:453). Agriculturalists in North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya) have lined their cropped land, roads, and camel trails with cactus fencing (Monjauze and Le Houerou 1965). Sheep and cattle ranchers in Australia have colonized dry lands by feeding prickly pear to their stock (Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board 1925; Dodd 1940). Pastoralists have used cacti as cattle fodder in Sicily, Tunisia, South Africa, and Madagascar (Monjauze and Le Houerou 1965:104). THE CACTUS REGION IN MADAGASCAR Prickly pear has affected the Mahafale pastoralist way of life, particularly in terms of mobility, diet, and gender relations. Women harvest cactus, collecting tuna, the prickly pear fruit, for their families to eat. They also sell the surplus as a cash crop. Male herders work cactus as a vegetable crop for cattle. They singe truncated cactus nopales, the fleshy leaf pads, over a fire to remove the thorns before feeding the succulent fodder to their cattle. For these benefits, pastoralists sow, prune, and shape prickly pear into living fences, plantations, enclosures, and even mazes of fences within fences, around their corrals, hamlets, and villages. In doing so, these herders have become cactus cultivators, and reduced their mobility. In addition to increasing sedentarization, Opuntia also has affected the timing of Mahafale transhumance. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Among the conditions affecting pastoralist peoples around the world, scholars have pointed to failures at the state level to keep mobile pastoralists viable as encapsulated groups (Ellwood 1995; Hiatt 1984; Mohamed Salih 1990; Olson 1990). Others have emphasized how some states have followed colonialist agendas by relocating, training, or pressuring pastoralists to sedentarize by implementing policies that favor farming rather than herding activities (Galaty and Johnson 1990; Hinderink and Sterkenburg 1987; Khogali 1981; Silitshena 1990). …

The impact of altered management on long-term agricultural soil carbon stocks – a Swedish case study

Land use in general and particularly agricultural practices can significantly influence soil carbon storage. In this paper, we investigate the long-term effects of management changes on soil carbon stock dynamics on a Swedish farm where C concentrations were measured in 1956 at 124 points in a regular grid. The soil was re-sampled at 65 points in 1984 and at all grid points in 2001. Before 1956 most of the fodder for dairy cattle was produced on the farm and crop rotations were dominated by perennial grass leys and spring cereals with manure addition. In 1956 all animals were sold; crop rotations were thereafter dominated by wheat, barley and rapeseed. Spatial variation in topsoil C concentration decreased significantly between 1956 and 2001. C stocks declined in fields with initially large C stocks but did not change significantly in fields with moderate C stocks. In the latter fields, soil C concentrations declined from 1956 to 1984, but increased slightly thereafter according to both measurements and simulations. Thus, the decline in C input due to the altered management in 1956 was partly compensated for by increasing crop yields and management changes, resulting in increased C input during the last 20 years. A soil carbon balance model (ICBM) was used to describe carbon dynamics during 45 years. Yield records were transformed to soil carbon input using allometric functions. Topsoil C concentrations ranging between 1.8 and 2.4% (depending on individual field properties) seemed to be in dynamic equilibrium with C input under recent farming and climatic conditions. Subsoil C concentrations seemed to be unaffected by the management changes.

The germinable soil seedbank of Eucalyptus victrix grassy woodlands at Roy Hill station, Pilbara district, Western Australia

The paper reports soil seedbank species composition, of Eucalyptus victrix grassy woodlands, of the upper Fortescue River in the Pilbara District, Western Australia. In this study, our objectives were to investigate germinable soil seedbanks and species composition in response to three simulated seasons, using emergence. Variation in seed density from three depths was tested. Four field sites were sampled. Thirty samples were collected in late spring, after seed rain and before summer rainfall. From each sample spot, three soil depths (surface, 1–5, and 6–10 cm) were segregated from beneath surface areas of 100 cm2. Samples were later incubated in a glasshouse to simulate three different seasonal conditions (autumn, winter and spring). Germinating seedlings were recorded on emergence and grown until identified. Forty-one species germinated, comprising 11 grasses (7 annuals and 4 perennials), 25 annual herbs and 5 perennial herbs. Distribution patterns of germinable seed in both the important annual grass Eragrostis japonica and the perennial Eragrostis setifolia (a preferred cattle fodder species), suggest that seedbank accumulation differs among species and between sites. In part, this may be associated with the absence of grazing. Species with most total germinable seed were E. japonica (Poaceae; 603/m2), and the annual herbs Calotis multicaulis (Asteraceae; 346/m2), and Mimulus gracilis (Scrophulariaceae; 168/m2). Perennial grass seed was sparse. Spring simulation gave most germination (1059), followed by autumn (892) and winter (376) sets. Greatest species diversity was produced from the spring simulation (33 species), followed by autumn (26), and winter (22). Of the total germination, 92% came from 17 species that were represented in all three simulations. Of the 1227 grass seedlings counted, most were recruited from the surface soil (735), followed by the 5 (310) and 10 (182) cm depths. Marginally more grass seedlings germinated from the spring simulation (558) than the autumn set (523). Only 11.9% of grass germinants came from the winter simulation. All grass species recruited from the soil seedbanks had a C4 photosynthetic pathway. Except for Cenchrus ciliaris all grass species are native to Australia. Of the four sites sampled, one fenced to exclude cattle five years earlier had significantly more germination than the three unfenced sites. Seedbank sampling produced several new records for plants in the areas sampled.

"Payneham Vale": integrated whole farm Planning

IN 1908, Ron's grandfather, Issac Gray, took up an uncleared block of land 15 km north of Frankland in the south-west of Western Australia (see Fig. 1, Hobbs 2003). During that time he ran a few cattle in the bush and clearing of the native woodlands of Wandoo (white gum) Eucalyptus wandoo, J arrah E. marginata and Marri (Redgum) E. calophylla was slow and tedious. Ron's parents took over the farm in 1947, and with the advent of the bulldozer, clearing of Watkin's property and surrounding district began in earnest during the 1950s. Clearing continued as fast "as money permitted", until almost the last natural vegetation was knocked down in 1978 (Fig. 1). Annual pastures with some cropping (for supplementary feed) were the main source of fodder for sheep and cattle.

'San Zanobi' and 'Plinio' Elm Trees

Additional index words. tree breeding, Ulmus, Dutch Elm Disease diam.), covered by only 3–4 perules; dark brown (RHS 200/b); rounded at the base of the long shoot and in the short shoot. The apical bud of the short shoot is larger than the subdominant buds and it is typically oblique and inward-folded. Corky wings are absent. Flowering starts late, only from the fifth year of age on selfrooted trees. Fruits are ovateroundish sessile samara measuring 1.5 × 1.8 cm. Flushing occurs at the same time or only slightly later than in Ulmus minor Mill.. The name ‘San Zanobi’ comes from the reported prodigious flushing of a dead elm, acknowledgement of the passage of the relics of the saint bishop St. Zenobius, coming from outside town to the Florence (Italy) Cathedral during the year 429 C.E.; the event is commemorated by a marble stele flanking the Baptistry. ‘Plinio’ grows rapidly, although slightly slower than ‘San Zanobi’, roughly similar to that of fast-growing benchmark ‘Lobel’ (Table 1). It adapts readily to Mediterranean mountainous climates of Northern Italy (unpub. data). ‘Plinio’ is used as an ornamental shade tree (Fig. 2). The crown is about oval in 5-year-old trees. In isolated trees, the width of the crown can be up to 70% of its height. The trunk is straight, at times slightly sinuous, short. Branching begins at a height of 2–3 m. The bark is grey-green (RHS 198/ a) and is still smooth in 5-year-old trees. Leaves are alternating and deciduous, remaining green and active on the tree longer than is usual in other elms. The leaf blade is glabrous on both surfaces. Tertiary venation is rare. The leaf has a biserrate margin; an acute apex, and a noticeably asymmetric base. Color = yellowish green (RHS 147/a). The second leaf of the short shoot is broadly elliptic or oval. The petiole is glabrous and 6– 9 mm long. The branches are rather slender; the glabrous twig is grey-green in color (RHS 197/a). Vegetative buds are fairly large (2–3 mm diam.), ovoid, with a non-pointed tip, and dark brown in color (RHS 200/a). The apical bud of the short branch is inwardfolded. Corky wings are absent. Flowering starts early, from the third year of age and is abundant. Fruits are ovate-roundish sessile samara with central seed measuring 2 × 2 cm. Flushing occurs a few days after that of Ulmus minor. Elm (Ulmus L.) has been utilized by humans since prehistoric times for food, medicine, fiber, fodder for cattle, timber for construction, firewood, and [in the Mediterranean Basin from ancient Roman times (Columella ≈60 C.E.) to the mid-20th century] as a living support for grapevine. In the last three centuries, elm has also been widely used as an ornamental tree to embellish the avenues and gardens of Europe, North America, and China. However, during the past century, this tree suffered major losses, with near-total disappearance of adult trees in some areas of the world as a result of two epidemic outbreaks of Dutch Elm Disease (DED), caused by two ascomycetes, Ophiostoma ulmi (Buisman) Nannf. and Ophiostoma novo-ulmi Brasier. The European elm species, U. glabra Huds., U. laevis Pall., U. procera Salisb. and U. minor Mill., are generally susceptible, although rare individuals of the last species and its hybrid U. ×hollandica Mill. showed enough resistance to form the main basis of a breeding program (Heybroek, 1993). Ulmus pumila L., an Asian species introduced as an ornamental tree in the Mediterranean areas, proved to be moderately to highly resistant. Another source of genes for resistance to the fungus that causes DED has been found in several species growing in central-eastern Asia, one of the most important centers of genetic diversity of Ulmus (Smalley and Guries, 1993). Unfortunately, the Asian species do not always meet ornamental and production requirements, or do not adapt easily to different environmental conditions. Consequently, the main breeding programs set up in Europe and in North America to develop DED-resistant trees involve cross-breeding of Asian with other indigenous species in order to produce individuals that combine the disease resistance of Asian elm with the growth characteristics and higher degree of environmental adaptability of European elm. ‘San Zanobi’ and ‘Plinio’ are two recent results of such research.

Cattle Grazing in the Conifer Forests of Bhutan

Abstract Cattle grazing, although widely practiced in Himalayan conifer forests, is perceived to be harmful to the environment. The present article summarizes experiences in Bhutan where grazing in the forest remains the single, most important source of cattle fodder. The ongoing debate about the effect of cattle grazing is often based on speculation and driven by conflicting interests. With a few exceptions, descriptive observations consider grazing as harmful to the forest and the environment. Quantitative observations, however, do not support these assertions. Removal of herbaceous biomass by grazing enhances regeneration of conifer species and reduces damage done by small rodents. Grazing, however, diminishes the number and the density of broadleaved species. Through livestock grazing, plant nutrients are transferred from the forest to the agricultural systems. This may result in a gradual decline in the fertility of forest soils. The nutrients, especially P, are of utmost importance to agricultural p...

Ustilago kamerunensis on Napier grass in Kenya

Napier or elephant grass, Pennisetum purpureum Schum., is the major source of fodder for stall-fed dairy cattle in Kenya. In the early 1990s, a new disease, caused by Utilago kamerunensis P. & H. Sydow was reported on the grass. Since there was a lack of information on the general pest and disease status of Napier grass in Kenya, a survey was carried out. The survey confirmed that U. kamerunensis was the major pest and disease threat to Napier grass production in the country, having spread to four districts and occurring in 27% of farm plots sampled. The existence of disease hotspots suggests that the main means of spread is through transport of infected planting material, and that the severity of the disease in Kenya compared with other countries results from an increase in the cultivation of Napier grass over the past decade.

Uses of Opuntia Species and the Potential Impact of Cactoblastis cactorum (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Mexico

In Mexico, cactus pears (Opuntia spp.) are regarded as very important plants, especially in semi-arid and arid regions where few crops can be cultivated. Historically, Mexicans have used cactus pears for food, as fodder for cattle, for medicinal purposes, in cosmetics, to produce dyes, and as natural fences. Cactus pears are also an important component of native ecosystems. Central Mexico is considered to be one of the main centers of cactus diversity. Approximately 200 species of Opuntia are recognized worldwide, 114 of which occur in Mexico. Because most Opuntia species are thought to be susceptible to attack by the cactus moth, Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg), spread of this moth into Mexico would likely have significant economic and social impacts. A number of the most widely used and/or distributed species, including O. compressa Macbride, O. ficus-indica (L.) Miller, O. megacantha Salm-Dyck, O. stricta (Haw.) Haworth and O. tomentosa Salm-Dyck, are known hosts of the cactus moth.

Wachstum, Schlachtleistung und Schlachtkörperqualität von Weidemastkälbern aus der Mutterkuhhaltung mit Fleischrindrassen

Abstract. Title of the paper: Growth, slaughter Performance and meat quality of pasture fattening calves raised on cattle out of the mother cows with beef cattle The production of calves raised on cattle depends on mother cows and the direct market. The calves mainly live on mother's milk, some cattle fodder and a little grain from the farm. Out of this reason and because of the high quality of the product it has a high reputation for the consumer. Some other advantages are for the method, the producer and the national economy because animals are used very young and though they decrease the mass of beef. The animals are slaughtered when they are dismissed. That's why pre-ripped breeds and their cross-breeding like Angus and Limousin are very suitable. The result of experiments shows that already with a slaughter age of seven–eight months you can reach a weight of 230–300 kg. With a slaughter yield of 56–58 % means this a warm weight of 140–180 kg. The valuable parts were 60–64 %. The good quality of the beef can be increased by a two weeks ripening of the meat. The consumers have a tends meat rich in protein and with a low fat content.