Effect of fertilizer application on winter wheat productivity under precision agriculture in Kazakhstan

Baimuratov, A, Bastaubayeva S, Arslan M, Yeraliyeva Z. 2021. Effect of fertilizer application on winter wheat productivity under precision agriculture in Kazakhstan. Biodiversitas 22: 1558-1563. The effect of mineral fertilization of light chestnut soils of Almalybak, Kazakhstan on the three winter wheat varieties grain yields and NDVI was carried out in 2017/18, 2018/2019 as well as 2019/2020 growing seasons using precision agriculture technologies. The experiments were set up in an incomplete factorial design with rates of NPK N90P60K45, N120P90K60, and N150P120K90. Agrochemical cartograms were ordered for the substance of effectively hydrolyzable nitrogen, extractable phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium. The total variation of NDVI was from 0.62 in the minimum (Bezostaya 100 variety, 2017/18) to 0.88 in the maximum (Aliya variety, 2019/20) in the flowering phase of wheat plants. The highest index of NDVI was observed in the N150P120K90 in the three winter wheat varieties for the three seasons. Studies directed in multivariate analyses built up the connection between fertilizer application, soil fruitfulness, and grain yield. As per the genuine heterogeneity of the fields, standards were determined and differential use of the fundamental phosphorus fertilizer was completed. The yield for the winter wheat varieties varied between 5.6-5.9 t/ha for Aliya variety, 6.5-7.0 t/ha for Grom, and 6.2- 6.7 t/ha for Bezostaya 100, which presents that P120 doses were more suitable in experimental plots for winter wheat varieties. The grain yield on mineral fertilization of NPK for the studied varieties varied from 4.2 to 7.6 t/ha for Aliya variety, from 4.0 to 6.8 t/ha for the Bezostaya 100, and from 4.5 to 7.9 t/ha for Grom. The highest grain yield was observed in the N150P120K90 for three winter wheat varieties in all three seasons.

Advances in Breeding for Mixed Cropping – Incomplete Factorials and the Producer/Associate Concept

Mixed cropping has been suggested as a resource-efficient approach to meet high produce demands while maintaining biodiversity and minimizing environmental impact. Current breeding programs do not select for enhanced general mixing ability (GMA) and neglect biological interactions within species mixtures. Clear concepts and efficient experimental designs, adapted to breeding for mixed cropping and encoded into appropriate statistical models, are lacking. Thus, a model framework for GMA and SMA (specific mixing ability) was established. Results of a simulation study showed that an incomplete factorial design combines advantages of two commonly used full factorials, and enables to estimate GMA, SMA, and their variances in a resource-efficient way. This model was extended to the Producer (Pr) and Associate (As) concept to exploit additional information based on fraction yields. It was shown that the Pr/As concept allows to characterize genotypes for their contribution to total mixture yield, and, when relating to plant traits, allows to describe biological interaction functions (BIF) in a mixed crop. Incomplete factorial designs show the potential to drastically improve genetic gain by testing an increased number of genotypes using the same amount of resources. The Pr/As concept can further be employed to maximize GMA in an informed and efficient way. The BIF of a trait can be used to optimize species ratios at harvest as well as to extend our understanding of competitive and facilitative interactions in a mixed plant community. This study provides an integrative methodological framework to promote breeding for mixed cropping.

Impact of dry sludges and sludge biochar on height and dry matter of Solanum lycopersicum L.

The generation of sludge as anthropic waste is a fundamental pollution problem. However, its conversion to biochar can be an alternative to conventional fertilization for its management and use in agriculture. In this research, we evaluated the effect of the application of different doses of dry sludge (DS) and biochar of pyrolyzed sludge (PS) on the height and dry matter of a tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) crop and the nutrient content in the substrate. The biochar was made by rapid pyrolysis, and the substrate and the dry matter of plants were analyzed by different physical and chemical methods. An evaluation of 11 treatments was carried out in allometric measurements of plants and foliar dry matter, in three replicates with two materials (DS and PS) added to the substrate at different levels. The plant height and dry weight were evaluated using an incomplete factorial design in a completely randomized arrangement by performing statistical analysis of multivariate variance. An increase in plant height and dry weight was observed when the doses of DS and PS were increased; however, there were no statistical differences between the two materials. The amount of carbon, organic matter, and Ca concentrations in the dry leaf weight were increased with the addition of DS and PS. Likewise, the use of these materials as conditioners or amendments to agricultural soil at doses of 10-15 t ha-1 may be viable and can contribute to reducing environmental externalities through the use of these anthropic waste materials.

Adsorption of natural surface active compounds obtained from corn on human hair

In this work, an aqueous solution containing surface-active compounds, extracted from corn steep liquor (CSL), was added to human hair and its adsorption was studied by applying an incomplete factorial design.

Building Data Fusion Surrogate Models for Spacecraft Aerodynamic Problems with Incomplete Factorial Design of Experiments

This work concerns a construction of surrogate models for a specific aerodynamic data base. This data base is generally available from wind tunnel testing or from CFD aerodynamic simulations and contains aerodynamic coefficients for different flight conditions and configurations (such as Mach number, angle-of-attack, vehicle configuration angle) encountered over different space vehicles mission. The main peculiarity of aerodynamic data base is a specific design of experiment which is a union of grids of low and high fidelity data with considerably different sizes. Universal algorithms can’t approximate accurately such significantly non-uniform data. In this work a fast and accurate algorithm was developed which takes into account different fidelity of the data and special design of experiments.

Beef quality grades as determined by Korean and Australian consumers

Consumer responses were examined in an incomplete factorial design where Australian consumers evaluated 216 beef samples derived from 18 cattle killed in Australia and Korean consumers evaluated 216 samples from the same 18 cattle, plus 216 similar samples from 18 Korean cattle. Samples of the Mm. triceps brachii, longissimus dorsi and semimembranosus were cooked using grill and Korean barbeque methods. Each sample was sensory tested by 10 consumers, who scored it for tenderness, juiciness, like flavour, and overall liking. Consumers then graded each sample as either unsatisfactory (2 star), good every day (3 star), better than every day (4 star), or premium (5 star) quality. For those samples assessed by both Australian and Korean consumers, the Korean consumers graded a higher proportion of samples ‘unsatisfactory’ and a lower proportion of samples ‘premium’ grade product than Australian consumers. Using a composite meat quality score (MQ4) to predict grade, a discriminant analysis showed that the Korean consumers had boundary cut-offs for the lower grades, which were ~4–10 palatability units higher than the Australian consumers. Analysis of the residuals between actual and predicted palatability scores showed that the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading model produced relatively unbiased estimates within ±2 MQ4 units for the different consumer groups, muscle and carcass suspension treatments, with the exception of the M. semimembranosus samples. Implications of the results for both Korean and Australian beef markets through the use of an empirical grading model to predict palatability are discussed.

The influence of system of production on the performance and meat quality of entire, castrated and female lambs

The purpose of this experiment was to quantify the seasonal variations in lamb meat quality and identify the contributory factors associated with the various production systems used in the UK. The approach taken was therefore largely a systems one, with the various production systems used in the project mimicking those typical of the British sheep industry supplying lambs onto the market from April to January.Material and methods 504 spring-born lambs [equal numbers of entire male (E), castrated male (C) and female (F)] which were the twin-reared progeny of Mule ewes (Bluefaced Leicester x Swaledale) and Suffolk rams were allocated to one of 7 finishing systems (n=72 per system). These were combinations of 4 diets and 4 slaughter periods (at 2 monthly intervals between June 1992 and January 1993) in an incomplete factorial design: concentrates (CS1), grass (GRI, GR2), silage (SL2, SL3) and roots (RT3, RT4); all but the grass diet were fed indoors.