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THINNING THE
EMERGED LETTUCE PLANTS
Lettuce seed is
planted 2 to 3 inches apart, to insure a stand. When plants
emerge, laborers
hand-hoe each row. Discarded plants go in the furrow.
Final spacing is
at eleven inches between lettuce plants.
“Pork Industry Objective Unaffected”
Officials at the National Pork Board say Secretary Vilsack’s
announcement that he is eliminating the National Animal identification
System does not change the objective pursued by the Pork Board, which is
for pork producers to have timely disease surveillance and protection
for the U.S. swine herd.
Also, it does not change the Checkoff's reliance on a
voluntary premises identification program as an integral part of swine
health initiatives. Dr. Paul Sundberg, vice president of science and
technology at the National Pork Board, says - premises identification is
the cornerstone of animal health and disease surveillance - and we
remain - committed to these critical efforts.
According to USDA data, the U.S. swine industry already has more than
90-percent of its farms identified through premises identification. The
Checkoff's swine health committee, and the Committee's Animal ID Working
Group, had supported the NAIS and incorporated elements of the program
as a requirement in the industry's Pork Quality Assurance Plus® program.
4-H'ERS CARRY TORCH FOR 2010 OLYMPIC
GAMES
Source: National 4-H news release
4-H'ers Kelcie Thomas and Laura Webber
were given the opportunity of a lifetime on Jan. 18. The two were
selected to participate in the Olympic Torch Relay for the 2010 Olympic
Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada.
"It was an amazing, incredible experience," said Thomas. "You can't take
your eyes off the flame. It's really emotional and makes you want to
cry."
They were among eight other youth, several Coca-Cola employees and
Olympic athletes who were all selected by Coca-Cola to be Torchbearers
based on their community involvement.
They each carried the flame 300 meters in Calgary, Canada. The morning
of the relay, Thomas and Webber practiced the "kiss of the flame," the
moment when the flame is passed from one person's torch to the next.
Thomas decided to carry the torch in a unique style, running, skipping
and dancing down the road.
Her project, "Creating a Healthier You," helped educate over 245,000
elementary school children about healthy eating and exercise habits.
Relay organizers planned the course so that her relay segment extended
an additional 100 meters in front of an elementary school, where many
children watched the ceremony.
Webber was selected for her role in founding the 4-H Million Trees
Project, which inspires 4-H youth members to plant trees to help combat
global climate change. To date, over 25,000 participants in 42 U.S.
states and Canadian provinces have planted over 70,000 trees.
When they weren't carrying the torch, Thomas and Webber spent time with
other Coca-Cola torchbearers, including Olympic gold medalists Steven
Lopez and Shawn Johnson.
The Olympic Torch Relay, will last for 106 days, cover more than 27,000
miles and link together more than 1,000 communities and places of
interest throughout Canada.
The Olympic Winter Games begin Feb. 12.
“Economist Sees Momentum for Biodiesel”
Prominent economist and futures forecaster Don Reynolds
says 2010 will be a year of recovery and renewed momentum for the
biodiesel industry. During his keynote speech to the 2010 Biodiesel
Conference & Expo in Grapevine, Texas, Reynolds said - the biodiesel
industry was sold on the premise that it's good for a green economy. But
it's actually much more than that. He said - I'm bullish on biodiesel
because it's important to our national security. Biodiesel is critical
to cutting into our trade deficit by lowering our dependence on foreign
oil.
As for the general economy, Reynolds
expects, - despite the recovery, the next decade will produce less than
average growth, due to structural problems and the bad choices made with
personal and government debt. He believes 2010 will be characterized by
rising long-term interest rates as inflationary forces grow, due to the
global economic recovery and a weak U.S. dollar driving commodity prices
higher.
Syngenta
Seeds Receives Mexican Import Approval
for Corn Grown from Hybrids with
the Agrisure Viptera™ Trait
Syngenta Seeds,
Inc., today announced it received import approval from the National
Commission for Sanitary Risks of the Mexican Ministry of Health (COFEPRIS)
for genetically modified corn event MIR162, also known as the Agrisure
Viptera trait. Upon receipt of remaining regulatory stack approvals,
this import approval will allow U.S. corn growers to export corn grown
from hybrids containing the Agrisure Viptera trait to Mexico for food or
feed use.
“It is a
significant achievement that Mexico, one of the largest importers of
U.S. corn, has approved the Agrisure Viptera trait,” said David Morgan,
president of Syngenta Seeds. “This is an important milestone for
American corn growers as it will help them combat the multi-pest complex
and provides a readily available market to sell corn grown from hybrids
with the Agrisure Viptera trait once it receives USDA approval for
cultivation in the U.S.”
COFEPRIS also
granted import approval for COT102, the Vip3A component of Syngenta’s
VipCot™ transgenic cotton.
While Syngenta does not sell cotton seed, the company is committed to
providing cotton producers with yield-preserving technologies including
traits, seed care products and crop protection products.
The Agrisure
Viptera trait, like the COT102 event, expresses the Vip3A protein,
the market’s first non-Cry insect control protein. Vip3A
is a breakthrough technology that provides broad spectrum control of
lepidopteran pests and creates new options for insect resistance
management (IRM).
The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently reviewing the Agrisure
Viptera trait and another component of VipCot cotton varieties for
deregulation. The MIR162 corn trait, trait stacks with it and VipCot
cotton varieties have already received approval from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and have completed the regulatory
process at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, the
MIR162 corn trait has been approved for cultivation in Brazil.
The Agrisure
Viptera trait has been shown to control damaging insects which make-up
the multi-pest complex, including corn earworm, fall armyworm, Western
bean cutworm, black cutworm, dingy cutworm, stalk borer and sugarcane
borer. Collectively, the multi-pest complex damages 238 million bushels
of corn each year and costs U.S. corn growers $1.1 billion annually in
lost yield and grain quality1. These pests are unpredictable,
time-consuming and difficult to scout, which makes them difficult to
treat effectively with conventional insecticides. Corn earworm, in
particular, historically has had no viable control solution.
In addition, the
damage from the multi-pest complex causes stress and injury to plant
tissue, which allows spores from fungi to gain access, proliferate and
produce mycotoxins. These mycotoxins have the potential to cause health
problems in animals and humans when found in grain at concentrations
above acceptable thresholds. The Agrisure Viptera trait demonstrated an
ability to significantly reduce development of molds and mycotoxins, in
research conducted by Texas A&M University and Syngenta2.
For more
information on the multi-pest complex, visit
www.multipestcomplex.com
LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY
NEWS
|
Jolley: USDA
Tries
Mouth-To-Mouth
On NAIS
|
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The Associated Press
misreported this
morning that "The
USDA Abandons
Stalled Animal ID
Program."A press
release issued last
Friday by the USDA
hints at another
fate.
Agriculture
Secretary Vilsack
announced that USDA
will develop a new,
flexible framework
for animal disease
traceability in the
United States, and
undertake several
other actions to
further strengthen
its disease
prevention and
response
capabilities.
More...
|
|
Animal
Agriculture
Responds To
Antibiotics
Challenge
|
|
 |
|
With CBS Evening
News delaying its
broadcast segment on
antibiotic use in
food-animal
production, national
pork and beef
producer groups are
not wasting time.
"You need to contact
your lawmakers and
urge them not to
support H.R. 1549/S.
619," the National
Pork Producers
Council told its
members.
More...
|
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Schwieterman:
Limited Snow
Allows Cattle
Feedlots To Have
Aggressive
Placements
|
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 |
|
Live cattle futures
finished the week
with gains of 1.20
basis the April
contract. Most of
the gains came at
week's end, with
short covering being
the key on Friday,
dropping open
interest by more
than 7,000
contracts.
More...
|
|
AMI Sets The
Record Straight
On Carcass
Irradiation
Petition
|
|
 |
|
"The U.S. Department
of Agriculture
(USDA) should move
forward with
rulemaking in
response to a
petition filed more
than four years ago
by the American Meat
Institute (AMI),
which asks USDA to
recognize carcass
surface irradiation
as a processing aid.
By initiating a
rulemaking process
that involves all
stakeholders, any
questions, concerns
and data can be
addressed in an open
and transparent
manner," said
American Meat
Institute Executive
Vice President James
H. Hodges.
More...
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Jolley: Five
Minutes With The
Yellow Tail Fiasco
Saturday,
February 6th
Question:
After their recent
poorly considered
donation of $100,000 to
HSUS, will Yellow Tail
have to high tail it out
of the American wine
market?
Answer: If the merciless
beating they took on
social media has any
impact, yes.
Full Story...
USDA
Announces New
Framework For Animal
Disease Traceability
Agriculture Secretary
Vilsack announced today
that USDA will develop a
new, flexible framework
for animal disease
traceability in the
United States, and
undertake several other
actions to further
strengthen its disease
prevention and response
capabilities.
Full Story...
Video:
USDA's Corbitt Wall
- National Feeder
Cattle Report
Click Here
To Watch Report...
BeefTalk: We
Want To Avoid The
Word 'Baffling' For
Good Reason
The science and art of
livestock selection can
be baffling. If one does
a quick check on the
Internet for the meaning
of baffling, one finds
it means "to frustrate
or check (a person) as
by confusing or
perplexing."
That is a very relevant
point. The art of
livestock selection
started centuries ago
when producers realized
that if they kept back a
particular animal, the
progeny of that animal
tended to look like that
animal. If both the sire
and dam of the progeny
were of a desirable
type, then the offspring
tended to be even more
desirable.
Full Story...
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DTN
AG NEWSWIRE
TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY 9th, 2010
The idea of awarding
performers a gold record for a big selling performance dates back to
this week in 1942. During a live radio broadcast, surprised band leader
Glenn Miller was given the first gold record for his million selling
hit, "Chattanooga Choo Choo." The award wasn't revived until 1958, for
Perry Como's single "Catch a Falling Star." The first award for an album
was the cast recording of the musical "Oklahoma." The best selling album
of the 20th century, with over 26 million copies, was the Eagles' Their
Greatest Hits(1971-1975)." Even with the increasing popularity of
downloading music, Americans still spend over $8.5 billion a year on
physical recordings, mostly CDs.
.http://www.census.gov
****************************************************

THANK YOU FOR
SUPPORTING U.S. AGRICULTURE.
WANT ONE OR
MORE???? CONTACT:
ggatley@sprynet.com
****************************************************
RESEARCH
IN AGRICULTURE

ARS computational molecular
biologist Brian Scheffler is heading
an effort to create a genomics
toolkit to help plant breeders
develop new varieties of sweetpotato,
the world's seventh most important
food crop. Click the image for
more information about it. |
Sweetpotatoes
Get High-Tech Help
An
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
computational molecular biologist in
Mississippi is launching a project to create
a genomics toolkit to help plant breeders
develop new varieties of sweetpotato.
Brian Scheffler and his colleagues will
use the state-of-the-art equipment at the
ARS
Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit
in Stoneville, Miss., to develop and locate
DNA markers on the 90 chromosomes of
sweetpotato.
Sweetpotato, the world’s seventh most
important food crop, is extremely important
to global food security, according to
Scheffler. Yet very little genomics
information is available in a form that
sweetpotato breeders can use to develop new
varieties for enhanced nutrition or improved
resistance to stresses brought about by
climate change, adverse environmental
conditions, or pests and diseases.
Scheffler will receive $120,000 in funding
through the agency’s 2010 T.W. Edminster
Award to pay for a two-year postdoctoral
research associate to work with him on the
sweetpotato project. The award, named for a
former ARS administrator, enables
postdoctoral researchers to work closely
with experienced scientists in their fields
of interest, as well as conduct
high-priority research on pressing
agricultural issues. The Edminster Award is
presented to the highest-ranked research
proposal among 50 proposals selected for
funding through ARS’ annual Postdoctoral
Research Associates Program. ARS scientists
submitted 450 proposals to this year’s
program.
In
addition to creating genetic maps of
sweetpotato, Scheffler and his postdoctoral
associate will use a high-throughput DNA
sequencer to develop a sweetpotato
microarray for studying where, when and how
certain genes are expressed. Of particular
interest are genes affecting rhizome
(underground stem) production in sweetpotato,
especially during stress related to
environmental factors such as drought.
The
markers, microarrays and gene expression
data will constitute the “tools” in the
genomics toolkit, and should enable
sweetpotato breeders to speed their
identification and integration of important
new traits into their elite breeding lines.
In
addition to providing funding for
Scheffler’s project, this year’s ARS
Postdoctoral Research Associates Program
will fund projects on assessing host
specificity in aphid parasitoids, developing
novel controls for stable flies, and
improving drought tolerance in wheat.
ARS is
the principal intramural scientific research
agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The sweetpotato project supports the USDA
research priority of ensuring international
food security.
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ARS fish physiologist Rick
Barrows and Montana
Microbial Products have
developed a barley protein
concentrate that could
replace fishmeal to make a
less expensive feed for
trout and other commercially
produced fish. |
Barley
Protein Concentrate
Could
Replace Fishmeal in Aquaculture
Feeds
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
scientists and Montana Microbial
Products (MMP) of Butte, Mont., have
developed a barley protein
concentrate that could be fed to
trout and other commercially
produced fish.
Physiologist
Rick Barrows at the ARS
Small Grains and Potato Germplasm
Research Unit in Aberdeen,
Idaho, teamed with MMP to apply for
a patent on a new enzymatic method
that concentrates barley protein and
produces raw material for another
valuable commodity—ethanol. This
process provides a high-protein
ingredient that may replace other,
more expensive protein sources like
fishmeal and soy protein concentrate
in commercial fish feed.
Currently there is no commercial
production of barley protein
concentrate, but MMP is producing
small quantities for fish-feeding
studies with trout, salmon and other
species. MMP projects that the
concentrate will sell for $700 to
$1,200 per ton. Since fishmeal costs
about $1,200 per ton, the projected
costs of barley protein concentrate
compare favorably.
Feeding trials conducted by the
Aberdeen researchers and MMP show
that barley protein concentrate
successfully replaced both fishmeal
and soy protein concentrates in fish
feed, meeting the fishes’ protein
requirements. Barrows and other
researchers in the ARS unit also are
examining the genetics of barley to
modify the grain for improved
protein yield and nutritional
composition.
According to Barrows, feed is part
of a complex interplay of genetics,
nutrition and economics in fish
production. Barley protein
concentrate could completely replace
fishmeal in fish feed if other
essential nutrients are provided as
supplements.
Using barley protein instead of
fishmeal in commercial fish feed
could help reduce the demand for
millions of tons of fish taken from
the ocean each year to produce
fishmeal.
ARS is the principal intramural
scientific research agency of the
U.S.
Department of Agriculture
(USDA). This research supports the
USDA priorities of promoting
international food security and
developing new sources of bioenergy.
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ARS plant pathologist Martin
Carson is using genes from a
wild oat, considered by some
to be a noxious weed, to
help combat crown rust, the
most damaging fungal disease
of oats worldwide. ARS
photo. |
ARS
Scientists Turn to a Wild Oat to
Combat Crown Rust
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) scientists are tapping into
the DNA of a wild oat, considered by
some to be a noxious weed, to see if
it can help combat crown rust, the
most damaging fungal disease of oats
worldwide.
Crown rust reduces oat yields up to
40 percent and shows a remarkable
ability to adapt to varieties bred
to genetically resist it. ARS
researchers and colleagues have
inserted individual resistance genes
into oat varieties that produce
proteins believed to recognize
strains of crown rust and trigger a
defense response against them.
“Multiline” cultivars with several
resistance genes also have been
developed.
Crown rust is caused by Puccinia
coronata, a fungus that
reproduces both sexually and
asexually and has enough genetic
flexibility to overcome resistance
genes, usually in about five years,
according to
Martin L. Carson, research
leader at the ARS
Cereal Disease Laboratory in St.
Paul, Minn. His analysis also shows
crown rust is increasing in
virulence throughout North America.
Carson has turned to a wild
variety, Avena barbata, for
new genes with effective resistance.
The slender oat, listed as a noxious
weed in Missouri and classified as
moderately invasive in California,
grows wild in South Asia, much of
Europe and around the Mediterranean
region.
Carson inoculated A. barbata
seedlings with crown rust. After
several crosses, he found seedlings
highly resistant to a variety of
crown rust strains. In ongoing
studies, he is crossing them with
the domestic oat, A. sativa,
to try to develop the right blend of
resistance and desirable traits,
such as high yield and drought
tolerance. The goal is new plant
lines that will effectively fight
off crown rust for many years.
The research, which supports the
U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
priority of promoting international
food security, was published in the
journal
Plant Disease.
Read more about this research in
the February 2010 issue of
Agricultural Research magazine.
ARS is USDA’s principal intramural
scientific research agency.
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ARS chemist Mark Schmitt is
discovering what
happens—biochemically—inside
malting barley grains as
they sprout, so that plant
breeders will have a better
basis for developing
superior varieties. |
Secrets
to Superb Malting Barleys
Explored by ARS Researchers
Many favorite breakfast cereals,
candies, beers, and other foods and
beverages owe much of their smooth,
delicious flavor to malt. Malting
barleys—the source of that malt—are
the focus of studies at the
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) malting barley laboratory in
Madison, Wis., part of the agency's
Cereal Crops Research Unit.
There, chemist
Mark Schmitt and plant
physiologist
Allen Budde are discovering more
about what goes on inside barley
grains as they germinate, or sprout,
in the malt house. Sprouting is one
of many steps that go into making
malt.
Findings from the scientists' basic
and applied research help plant
breeders develop even better malting
barleys for tomorrow. Of particular
interest to Schmitt are the
specialized enzymes that the grain
creates while it is sprouting. These
enzymes, for example, convert the
grain's stored proteins into their
component amino acids, and convert
the stored carbohydrates into what
are known as "simple sugars."
Schmitt is also interested in the
balance of this breaking down of
proteins and carbs. That balance can
affect the malt's flavor and other
qualities.
Some of the team's current research
into barley enzymes follows up on
studies they reported several years
ago. In one investigation, Schmitt
found that enzymes called
serine-class proteases, which break
down proteins in the sprouting
grain, can also break down
beta-amylase, an important enzyme
for converting carbs to simple
sugars.
The study, a scientific first, was
reported in a 2008 issue of the
Journal of Cereal Science.
The finding might help explain one
of the patterns found in an earlier
study, published in a 2007 issue of
the journal
Cereal Chemistry. In
that analysis of more than 2,000
North American malting barleys,
Schmitt and Budde found that high
levels of a desirable,
beta-amylase-associated attribute in
the barleys correlated to low levels
of the serine-class proteases.
ARS is the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's
principal intramural scientific
research agency.
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ARS scientists have
developed an efficient,
cost-effective way to speed
up the breeding of barley
that is resistant to scab,
one of the most devastating
wheat and barley diseases
worldwide. Click the
image for more information
about it. |
ARS
Researchers Develop Method
to
Speed Up Breeding of Scab-Resistant
Barley Cultivars
Agricultural Research
Service
(ARS) scientists have developed an
efficient and cost-effective method
to speed up the breeding of
scab-resistant barley cultivars,
thus improving crop quality for
small-grain breeders in the Northern
Plains.
Shiaoman Chao,
a molecular geneticist at the ARS
Cereal Crops Research Unit in
Fargo, N.D., collaborated with
scientists from
North
Dakota State University and the
University of Minnesota in the
study.
Chao used genomics information
provided by the breeders to develop
DNA markers tagged to important
agronomic traits. Once appropriate
markers were identified that tagged
the useful genes, the markers were
used in breeding populations to
increase the efficiency of
selection. The Fargo lab also
developed procedures to speed up
marker-assisted breeding.
Marker-assisted breeding is the
process used to select plants
carrying a trait of interest, such
as resistance to scab (Fusarium head
blight), which has cost U.S. farmers
more than $3 billion since 1990.
This work would not be possible
without the cooperation of the
breeders, who collected barley
samples for the Fargo lab to
analyze.
Read more about this and other ARS
barley and oats research in the
February 2010 issue of
Agricultural Research
magazine.
ARS is the principal intramural
scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This research is part of the
U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab
Initiative and supports the USDA
priority of promoting international
food security.
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ARS chemist Mitchell Wise is
studying environmental
factors that influence how
oats produce avenanthramide,
a potent antioxidant that is
part of what gives oats a
reputation for health
benefits. Click the image
for more information about
it. |
Studies
Provide Insight into Key Oat
Chemical
Studies conducted by
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) scientists are helping to
increase understanding about the
environmental factors that regulate
avenanthramide (Avn) production in
oat grain.
Avns, metabolites with potent
antioxidant properties, are one
reason oats have been widely touted
for their many health benefits. The
specific purpose of Avns inside the
oat plant is still largely unknown,
but previous studies have found an
increased production of Avns in oat
leaves when the plant is attacked by
a fungus. This finding leads
researchers to believe that Avns
help oat plants fight off these
fungi.
Chemist
Mitchell Wise with the ARS
Cereal Crops Research Unit in
Madison, Wis., teamed up with fellow
chemist
Doug Doehlert with the ARS
Red River Valley Agricultural
Research Center in Fargo, N.D.,
to examine the correlation between
disease pressure and Avn
concentration in the oat grain.
The scientists tested 16 oat
cultivars and two breeding lines at
three locations in North Dakota over
a two- year period. They found that
oat plants with the strongest crown
rust resistance typically had the
highest Avn concentrations in
environments where crown rust
occurred. They also found that Avn
production is likely influenced by
additional environmental factors,
because not all cultivars with
strong crown rust resistance
produced high Avn concentrations.
Details of this study can be found
in the scientific journal
Cereal Chemistry.
Still, according to Wise, the
results suggest that oat
breeders—taking into account crown
rust pressure during growth—can
select certain cultivars for
enhanced production of Avns.
Wise is also further researching the
biosynthesis of Avns in the
laboratory. He developed a
suspension culture system from oat
shoot tissue in which Avns are
produced in response to a chemical
that mimics fungal infection. This
useful tool can be used for more
detailed investigation into how
certain Avns are produced.
Read more
about this research in the February
2010 issue of Agricultural
Research magazine.
ARS is the principal intramural
scientific research agency of the
U.S.
Department of Agriculture
(USDA). This research supports the
USDA priorities of improving
nutrition and health and promoting
international food security.
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Micrograph of orange rust
pushing out of a sugarcane
leaf. Photo courtesy of
Linley Dixon and David Farr,
ARS. |
ARS scientists have analyzed
rust fungi from more than
160 sugarcane samples from
25 countries to help
breeders and pathologists
looking for genetic
resistance to rusts,
especially the deadly
newcomer orange rust.
Click the image for more
information about it. |
ARS
Genetic Analysis Helps Spot
Sugarcane Rusts
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
scientists have analyzed rust fungi
from more than 160 sugarcane samples
from 25 countries to provide a
valuable resource for plant breeders
and pathologists who are searching
for genetic resistance to the deadly
orange and brown rusts.
These diseases are a major concern
for the sugarcane industry, so
correctly diagnosing which rust is
present is key, according to
Lisa Castlebury, a mycologist at
the ARS
Systematic Mycology and Microbiology
Laboratory in Beltsville, Md.
Accurately distinguishing rust
isolates by appearance alone is
difficult, since their form and
structure are very similar.
The rust known as “orange rust,”
different from the standard “brown
rust” that is common in U.S.
sugarcane production, was found in
Florida in 2007. With orange rust, a
minimum of three fungicide
applications are needed to still
achieve acceptable yields, and those
applications cost growers an
estimated $40 million annually in
Florida, the only U.S.
cane-producing state that has this
rust so far.
The study started as a simple
request to Castlebury from ARS
research plant pathologist
Jack Comstock in Canal Point,
Fla. Castlebury led a scientific
team to genetically analyze and
compare DNA sequences from sugarcane
rust fungi. In the study, now in its
third year, samples have been also
been analyzed with light microscopy
to spot the subtle differences
between the two rusts. Postdoctoral
research associate Linley Dixon at
the Beltsville lab also participated
in the study.
Castlebury and
APHIS mycologist John McKemy
identified the new orange rust found
in a sugarcane-growing area in
Florida, the first find in the
Western Hemisphere. Now the study
has turned into a global analysis of
rust fungi affecting sugarcane
cultivars, in collaboration with
Comstock and ARS research molecular
biologist
Neil Glynn in Canal Point. The
majority of the sugarcane samples
Castlebury receives come from the
Americas, Asia, Australia, and, to a
lesser extent, Africa.
The results of the scientific team’s
genetic sequences have been added to
GenBank, the
National Institutes of Health’s
genetic sequence database, for use
by plant pathologists and plant
breeders.
ARS is the chief intramural
scientific research agency of the
U.S.
Department of Agriculture. This
research supports the USDA priority
of promoting international food
security.
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Bamboo Sur introduces a New Bamboo
Hybrid
that can be the solution for biomass
power plants and worldwide
deforestation
(MMD Newswire) February 2, 2010 - -
Bamboo Sur introduces a new,
thick-walled hybrid bamboo clone for
biomass plantations. This fast
growing bamboo tree can be
cultivated on non-arable land to
produce sustainable, cost effective
biomass energy crop.
Scientists have conducted several
biotechnology research and plant
breeding in bamboo which led to the
development of a hybrid bamboo that
will be the solution for energy,
paper pulp and bamboo charcoal
production. The hybrid bamboo plant
is not a genetically modified
organism; rather it is a product of
conventional breeding. Hybrid
bamboo can grow in all types of
soil. The preferred soil is light
soil, loamy soil, red soil and sandy
loam soil.
Just after a three year gestation
period, a one acre yield will be an
amazing 40 m tons, with 8-10%
moisture and less than 1% ash
content. A well-grown hybrid bamboo
plantation is able to sequester
close to 60 tons of carbon-dioxide
in every acre annually which is 80
CER of carbon trading. Lacking
thorns, it's easy to cultivate and
harvest.
Hybrid Bamboo properties include:
Drilling a well for drip irrigation
- Thorn-less
- Thick-walled
- Disease free
- Non-flowering, sterile
- Grows 1 ½ to 3 Ft per day
- Moisture content is 10-18%
- Ash Content less than 1%
- Cultivation on non-arable land
- Perennial, replanting not
necessary
- Each acre absorbs 80 tons of
carbon-dioxide per year
Extremely high biomass yield
Under intensive cultivation with the
population of 1000 plants per
acre (2.471 plants per hectare), the
biomass yield starts from:
- 2nd year @ 30.3 tons per acre (75
tons per hectare)
- 3rd year @ 40.5 tons per acre (100
tons per hectare)
- 4th year @ 50.5 tons per acre (125
tons per hectare)
- 5th year + @ 60.5 tons per acre
(150 tons per hectare)
- 8th year + @ 64.5 tons per acre
(160 tons per hectare)
About Bamboo Sur:
Bamboo Sur specializes in
alternative fuel methods. They are
experts in developing and managing
bamboo plantations,
consulting on mass propagation of
bamboos and advising state
governments and farmers for
development of bamboo on a mega
scale.
Bamboo Sur has contractually secured
up to 1000 hectares of
farmland in India, South Europe and
Africa to plant this new hybrid
bamboo.
Contact information:
J. Van de Ven
Phone: + 32 492 76 7416
Email: info@bamboo-plants.eu
Website:
www.bamboo-plants.eu and
www.biomass-bamboo.com
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