The soil degradation caused by conventional tillage in rain-fed areas of northwest China is known to reduce the water-use efficiency and crop yield because of reduced soil porosity and the decreased availability of soil water and nutrients. Thus, we investigated the effects of straw incorporation on soil aggregates with different straw incorporation rates in semiarid areas of southern Ningxia f...

Crude protein (CP) content of mechanically ground rice straw into small particles by an electric grinder and reducing value (RV) and soluble protein (SP) in the culture filtrate were lower than that of the chopped straw into 5~6 cm lengths when both ground and chopped straws were fermented with Aspergillus ochraceus, A. terreus or Trichoderma koningii, at steady conditions. The reduction rate o...

Twenty Naieni breed replacement ewe lambs were used to determine the substitution effects of treated wheat straw with exogenous fiber-degrading enzymes for alfalfa hay on wool characteristics. Five treatment diets were included: 1) control (100% alfalfa hay without wheat straw), 2) 10% enzyme treated wheat straw replaced for alfalfa hay, 3) 20% enzyme treated wheat straw replaced for alfalfa ha...

Two pretreatment methods, microwave irradiation and steam explosion, were investigated in this work. The aim of the study was to investigate whether these methods would improve the biodegradability of wheat straw as a lignocellulosic feedstock. Microwave pretreatment was carried out on milled straw with an irradiation time of 15 minutes, at a temperature of either 200 or 300 °C in the oven. The...

ABD (Anaerobic Biodegradability) and BMP (Biochemical Methane Potential) of banana plant waste, canola straw, cotton stalks, rice straw, sugarcane trash and wheat straw co-digested with buffalo dung was evaluated through AMPTS (Automatic Methane Potential Test System). The substrates were analyzed for moisture, TS (Total Solids) and VS (Volatile Solids), ultimate analysis (CHONS), pH and TA (To...

We hypothesized that the development and extinction of preferences for flavored foods paired with infusions of starch depends on the delay between food ingestion and starch administration and on the frequency of starch administration. To test this hypothesis, we divided 24 lambs into three groups of 8 lambs/group. On even days, half of the lambs were offered chopped wheat straw flavored with a ...

Acrylonitrile was graft polymerized onto ground, water-washed wheat straw using Fe2 +-H 20 2 as initiator. Reaction conditions were selected to minimize homopolymer formation and ma.xi.mize the amount of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) grafted to straw. Polymerizations typically yielded straw-g-PAN containing 30-35% PAN. A two-step fractionation scheme was developed for determining the relative amounts...