Twenty-year-old "Chemlali" olive trees trained to vase and rainfed were investigated in either "on" (2004) or "off" (2003) year. A randomized block design with three blocks and three treatments was used and each experimental plot consisted of nine olive trees. Three treatments were applied: (1) rainfed conditions (RF, used as control treatment); (2) irrigation with well water (WW); and (3) irri...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the FAO-AquaCrop model in winter wheat in the southern Loess Plateau of China. Multi-year field experimental data from 2004 and 2011 were used to calibrate and validate the model for simulating biomass, canopy cover (CC), soil water content, and grain yield under rainfed conditions. The model performance was evaluated using root mea...

BACKGROUND Preliminary studies indicated decreased glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity in blood of ewes on scrapie-afflicted farms. Other studies have shown decreased GPX activity in brain of prion-infected mice and in prion-infected cells in vitro. The aim of this study was to examine the GPX activity in blood as well as the distribution of GPX-activity levels from ewes on farms in scrapie-a...

Every poultry farm has its own risk profile for the introduction of pathogens, subsequent development of disease, and spread of pathogens to other farms. This risk profile is determined by a complex interaction between the levels of infection in an area, the measures implemented on the farm to prevent disease, and other factors including the density of farms in the area and linkages with other ...

BACKGROUND The intensive use of anthelmintics for the control of helminthic infections has resulted in the development of anthelmintic resistance, which has become a major practical problem in many countries. A variety of tests are available to monitor anthelmintic resistance but most of them are expensive, laborious and time consuming and therefore unpractical for large field surveys. The main...

On 1,374 food-producing animal farms in 2001-2004, we investigated the influence of antimicrobial usage within 6 months before a survey conducted on antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter. Tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones were used for therapeutic purposes on 107 and 21 farms, respectively. Oxytetracycline-resistant C. jejuni and C. coli were found in 57.1% (8/14) and 92.5% (37/40) of the ...

A total of 16 organic dairy farms were surveyed for 12 months and data were collected on prevention and treatment of clinical cases of mastitis. Comparative data from seven matched conventional farms were also collected. Organic regulations prevent organic dairy farmers from using antibiotic dry cow therapy, and milk withdrawal periods after antibiotic therapy during lactation are prolonged und...

Genotype by environment interaction (GxE) influences and complicates the selection of superior genotypes in trials by confounding the determination of true genetic values. Trials therefore need to be planted over several locations and seasons. The South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI) operates seven regional breeding programmes representing the major agro-climatic regions of the su...

Delay of leaf senescence through genetic modification can potentially improve crop yield, through maintenance of photosynthetically active leaves for a longer period. Plant growth hormones such as cytokinin regulate and delay leaf senescence. Here, the structural gene (IPT) encoding the cytokinin biosynthetic enzyme isopentenyltransferase was fused to a functionally active fragment of the AtMYB...

Genetic analyses and association mapping were performed on a winter wheat core collection of 96 accessions sampled from a variety of geographic origins. Twenty-four agronomic traits were evaluated over 3 years under fully irrigated, rainfed and drought treatments. Grain yield was the most sensitive trait to water deficit and was highly correlated with above-ground biomass per plant and number o...