19722015
  • Authors:
    • Lovato, P.
    • Lana, M.
    • Fayad, J.
    • Comin, J.
    • Kieling, A.
  • Source: Ciencia Rural
  • Volume: 39
  • Issue: 7
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: To eliminate herbicide use in no-tillage tomato production, an experiment was carried out to evaluate the best combination of winter cover crops for weed control and tomato production at the Ituporanga Experimental Station in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Oat ( Avena strigosa [ Avena nuda]), vetch ( Vicia villosa) and fodder radish ( Raphanus sativus) were grown in monoculture and in mixes. The tomato cv. Marcia-EPAGRI was stake-trained and grown under fertigation. The highest values in above-ground dry biomass were obtained by oat+vetch and oat monoculture, followed by vetch+radish, oat+radish, and oat+vetch+radish. Treatments with oats had the best performances in controlling resident vegetation, while vetch was associated with the worst performances. There were no significant differences between the treatments for total yield and marketable fruit production.
  • Authors:
    • Jauhiainen, L.
    • Peltonen-Sainio, P.
    • Kirkkari, A.
  • Source: Journal of Agricultural Science
  • Volume: 147
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: The oat kernel, caryopsis or groat, is generally covered with fine silky hairs termed trichomes. The trichomes of naked oat are partly lost during threshing and handling of grains when the lemma and palea are removed and the surface of the grain is exposed. Trichomes can cause itchiness and more serious reactions in those handling the grains. Trichomes also accumulate and form fine dust and can block up machinery. Trichomes are clearly problematic and growers of naked oat are eager to have oat cultivars with reduced numbers of trichomes. Experiments compared the differences in trichome numbers of naked-oat cultivars and threshing settings. The cultivars differed considerably in pubescence. Cultivars Lisbeth and NK 00117 had most trichomes and cv. Bullion the fewest. Completely bare or polished grains were not observed. Pubescence was not associated with grain weight or test weight. However, grains from the lowermost spikelets of the panicle had fewer trichomes than those from the uppermost spikelets. For cv. Bullion, some threshing settings, including increased cylinder speed, slightly increased grain polishing such that grains had some areas completely free of trichomes. Reduction of the concave clearance in the combine harvester had a similar effect. However, threshing settings did not affect the trichomes of cv. Lisbeth. Adjusting threshing machinery settings was generally not an efficient means of solving the problems associated with naked-oat trichomes, but cultivar differences existed and further efforts in breeding to reduce trichome numbers are required.
  • Authors:
    • Bellinder, R.
    • Brainard, D.
    • Kumar, V.
  • Source: Hortscience
  • Volume: 44
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: Hairy galinsoga [ Galinsoga ciliata (Raf.) Blake] has become a troublesome weed in vegetable crops. Field studies were conducted in 2006 and 2007 in central New York to determine the effects of: (1) spring-sown cover crops on hairy galinsoga growth and seed production during cover crop growth grown before subsequent short duration vegetable crops; and (2) cover crop residues on establishment of hairy galinsoga and four short-duration vegetable crops planted after cover crop incorporation. The cover crops [buckwheat ( Fagopyrum esculentum Moench), brown mustard ( Brassica juncea L.), yellow mustard ( Sinapis alba L.), and oats ( Avena sativa L.)] were planted in May and incorporated in early July. Lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.) and Swiss chard [ Beta vulgaris var. cicla (L.) K. Koch] were transplanted and pea ( Pisum sativum L.) and snap bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were sown directly into freshly incorporated residues. Aboveground dry biomass produced by the cover crops was 4.2, 6.4, 6.8, and 9.7 mg.ha -1 for buckwheat, brown mustard, yellow mustard, and oats, respectively. Cover crops alone reduced the dry weight (90% to 99%) and seed production of hairy galinsoga (98%) during the cover crop-growing season compared with weedy controls. In 2006, only yellow mustard residue suppressed hairy galinsoga emergence (53%). However, in 2007, all cover crop residues reduced hairy galinsoga emergence (38% to 62%) and biomass production (25% to 60%) compared with bare soil, with yellow mustard providing the greatest suppression. Cover crop residues did not affect snap bean emergence, but reduced pea emergence 25% to 75%. All vegetable crops were suppressed by all cover crop residues with crops ranked as: pea > Swiss chard ≥ lettuce > snap bean in terms of sensitivity. The C:N ratios were 8.5, 18.3, 22.9, and 24.8 for buckwheat, brown mustard, yellow mustard, and oat residues, respectively. Decomposition rate and nitrogen release of brown mustard and buckwheat residues was rapid; it was slow for oats and yellow mustard residues. Spring-sown cover crops can contribute to weed management by reducing seed production, emergence, and growth of hairy galinsoga in subsequent crops, but crop emergence and growth may be compromised. Yellow mustard and buckwheat sown before late-planted snap beans deserve further testing as part of an integrated strategy for managing weeds while building soil health.
  • Authors:
    • Kuszewska, K.
    • Korniak, T.
  • Source: Herba Polonica
  • Volume: 55
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: The Avena genus covers nine species in Poland, including farmed common oat ( Avena sativa), wild oat ( A. fatua) - a dangerous spring cereal weed, and bristle (or black) oat ( A. strigosa Schreb.), a forgotten species. Bristle oat was a valuable component of common oat yield growing on the weakest soils, and it had a status of a crop plant in Poland and in many European countries till 1950s. Chemical analyses of bristle oat caryopses validated the high nutritive value of this species, which had been previously noted by the farmers of the Podhale region. On average, bristle oat contains 27-52% more protein, 14-27% more fat and 38-72% more sugars than common oat. It is good for human consumption in the form of flakes, flour and boiled grains. Bristle oat is witnessing a revival as a valuable farming species, and its crops are subsidized.
  • Authors:
    • Liatukas, Z.
    • Leistrumaite, A.
    • Razbadauskiene, K.
  • Source: Agronomy Research
  • Volume: 7
  • Issue: Special Issue
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: Investigation on 12 spring barley and 7 oat genotypes under organic growing system during 2007-2008 revealed that mean yield of oats was 3.3 t ha -1, whereas barley yielded on average 2.3 t ha -1. Also, oats were found to be more resistant to leaf diseases. Oats were severely infected by leaf rust in 2007, but the disease did not correlate ( r=-0.17) with yield. The majority of barley genotypes were infected with powdery mildew in both years and with leaf spotting diseases in 2007. Leaf spotting diseases negatively influenced ( r=-0.53*) yield. Oats possessing higher vegetative growth rate, higher plant height, large and prostrate leaves, and larger stems were superior to barley by canopy traits during the growing season.
  • Authors:
    • Migliorini, P.
    • Mazzoncini, M.
    • Bigongiali, F.
    • Antichi, D.
    • Lenzi, A.
    • Tesi, R.
  • Source: Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems
  • Volume: 24
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: When animal husbandry is not included in organic farming systems, green manure may be crucial to preserve or increase soil organic matter content and to ensure an adequate N supply to crops. Different species, both legumes and nonlegumes, may be used as cover crops. The present research was carried out to investigate the effect of different green manure crops [oats and barley mixture ( Avena sativa L. and Hordeum vulgare L.), rye ( Secale cereale L.), brown mustard ( Brassica juncea L.), flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.), pigeon bean ( Vicia faba L. var. minor)] on the production of the following tomato crop. A field trial was conducted for two cropping seasons (2003-2004 and 2004-2005) in a commercial organic farm. The yield of tomato crop was positively affected by pigeon bean, although statistically significant differences in comparison with the other treatments were observed only in 2004-2005, when the experiment was conducted in a less fertile soil. This was probably due mainly to the effect of the pigeon bean cover crop on N availability. In fact, this species, in spite of a lower biomass production than the other cover crops considered in the study, provided the highest N supply and a more evident increase of soil N-NO 3. Also, cover crop efficiency, evaluated using the N recovery index, reached higher values in pigeon bean, especially in the second year. The quality of tomato fruits was little influenced by the preceding cover crops. Nevertheless, when tomato followed pigeon bean, fruits showed a lower firmness compared to other cover crops, and in the second year this was associated with a higher fruit N content.
  • Authors:
    • Logsdon, G.
  • Source: Small-scale grain raising
  • Issue: Ed.2
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: This book (12 chapters) discusses the basics of the organic farming and processing of whole grains (specifically maize, wheat, sorghum, oats, dry beans, rye and barley, buckwheat and millet, rice, some uncommon grains, and legumes) for home gardeners and small-scale farmers. Topics covered include planting; pest, weed and disease management; harvesting; and processing, storing and using whole grains. Some recipes are also included.
  • Authors:
    • Fabian, E.
    • Vazquez, E.
    • Barbosa, F.
    • Bertol, I.
    • Luciano, R.
  • Source: REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIA DO SOLO
  • Volume: 33
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: The sowing direction influences soil surface roughness, which, combined with rainfall and other variables, e.g., canopy cover, affects soil water erosion. Using a rotating-boom rainfall simulator, five tests of simulated rainfall were applied to black oat (Avena strigosa), and vetch (Vicia sativa), at a constant intensity of 64 mm h -1, between August and November 2006, to assess water and soil loss in the following treatment: mechanized seeding of oats in downslope rows; mechanized seeding of oats along contour lines; mechanized seeding of vetch in downslope rows, and mechanized seeding of vetch along contour lines. The experiment was conducted in two replications on an Inceptisol, with a mean slope of 0.119 m m -1. The canopy cover was greater in oat than vetch until rainfall test 2 and higher in vetch in the tests 3 and 4, with no variation due to the sowing direction of the crops and increasing from the beginning to the end of the growth period. The time until the water started to run off was longer in the treatments with seeding along contour lines than downslope, in both crops; the maximum runoff rate along the contour lines was lower and the time until maximum runoff rate longer. The sediment concentration in runoff decreased over the rainfall tests; it was lower in oat than vetch, and 52% lower in contour than downslope sowing. Soil loss decreased over the rainfall tests; these losses were 12% lower in oat and 56% lower in vetch contour than downslope sowing; the water loss had the same performance as soil loss, although with lower magnitudes. The accumulated soil losses increased with accumulated rain volume (VR) and rain erosivity (EI 30), between the first and fourth test, according to the equations: SL=0.859 (1-e -0.0059VR) (R 2=0.99) and SL=0.832 (1-e-0.0004EI 30) (R 2=0.99).
  • Authors:
    • Isk, D.
    • Ngouajio, M.
    • Mennan, H.
    • Kaya, E.
  • Source: PHYTOPARASITICA
  • Volume: 37
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: Weed control is a major concern for organic farmers around the world and non-chemical weed control methods are now the subject of many investigations. Field studies were conducted in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) from 2004 to 2006 at the Black Sea Agricultural Research Institute experiment field to determine the weed suppressive effects of winter cover crops. Treatments consisted of ryegrass ( Lolium multiflorum L.), oat ( Avena sativa L.), rye ( Secale cereale L.), wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), gelemen clover ( Trifolium meneghinianum Clem.), Egyptian clover ( Trifolium alexandrinum L.), common vetch ( Vicia sativa L.), hairy vetch ( Vicia villosa Roth.) and a control with no cover crop. Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. To determine the weed suppressive effects of the cover crops, weed density and total weed dry biomass were assessed at 14, 28, and 56 days after termination (DAT) of the cover crops from all plots using a 50*50 cm quadrat placed randomly in each plot. After cover crop kill and incorporation into soil, tomato seedlings variety 'H2274' were transplanted. Broadleaved weed species were the most prominent species in both years. Total weed biomass measured just prior to cover crop incorporation into the soil was significantly lower in S. cereale plots than in the others. The number of weed species was lowest at 14 DAT and later increased at 28 and 56 DAT, and subsequently remained constant during harvest. This research indicates that cover crops such as L. multiflorum, S. cereale, V. sativa and V. villosa could be used in integrated weed management programs to manage some weeds in the early growth stages of organic tomato.
  • Authors:
    • Camara, F.
    • Mogor, A.
  • Source: ACTA SCIENTIARUM-AGRONOMY
  • Volume: 31
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2009
  • Summary: The goal of this research was to evaluate the effect of soil covering with black oat straw, as well as soil covered with black plastic, on the production of biomass and levels of Mn and Zn in lettuce produced in an organic system, over two consecutive years. Five treatments were used: soil without cover, covered with black plastic, covered with laying oats, covered with harvested oats, and covered with oat straw in natural form, for growing three cultivars of lettuce. A randomized blocks design was used in a split-plot system, with four replications. It was concluded that soil covered with oat straw promoted satisfactory lettuce production, as well as adequate Mn and Zn content in plants, equivalent to those found in studies conducted under different growing systems; the soil covered with black plastic promoted satisfactory production and higher Zn content after the first year, and lower Mn content after the second year.