Fruit split is the most important physiological disorder in pomegranate production, causing devastating crop losses worldwide. Foliar nutrient applications have been used experimentally to mitigate pomegranate fruit split but none have been conducted using the industry standard cultivar, Wonderful, and little is known about the effects of foliar nutrient applications on pomegranate. Additionally, investigations into putative health benefits of pomegranate fruit have increased interest in its production but limited evidence exists regarding effects of agricultural practices such as foliar fertilizer applications on internal fruit quality. ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate trees at 2 commercial orchards were treated with foliar applications of ZnSO4 (3000 mg∙L-1, 4000 mg∙L-1, or 5000 mg∙L-1), MgSO4 (1%, 2%, or 3%), KNO3 (1%, 2%, or 3%), or deionized (DI) water (control). Fruit were analyzed for fruit split incidence, yield, fruit number per tree, fruit diameter, fruit mass, mass of all arils in fruit, mass of 100 arils, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), antioxidant activity (AA), total phenolics (TP), and mineral nutrient concentrations of leaves and fruit. Foliar applications of MgSO4 and ZnSO4 resulted in significantly lower fruit split incidence. Treatments had no significant effect on fruit number per tree, fruit diameter, and mass, mass of all arils in fruit, or mass of 100 arils. Leaf N, K, S, Mn, and Zn were significantly affected by the treatments. TSS and TA were not affected significantly by treatments. AA ranged from 77.8-84.3 percent inhibition of 2,2’-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and TP ranged from 2489-3046 mg·L-1 gallic acid equivalents, with some KNO3 treatments significantly affecting these parameters. Fruit mineral nutrient concentrations were characterized and Zn-treated trees had greater fruit Zn concentrations. The results suggest that foliar ZnSO4 or MgSO4 could be used to decrease fruit split incidence and increase nutritional content of ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate and any of the three tested foliar nutrients could be applied as a foliar fertilizer without negatively impacting fruit yield, size, internal quality, bioactivity, or mineral nutrient concentration.

Soils provide many essential functions that support the world. With a decline in soil health, these functions also decrease in efficiency, and can threaten the health of billions of people around the world. Typically, soil health tests do not use biological indicators, however microbes drive and perform vital functions to increase soil health. One way to increase soil health is through the use of cover crops to reduce soil erosion during fallow periods, increasing soil organic matter, as well as collecting nutrients from soil into their biomass. These cover crops are then terminated through various methods such as herbicides, disk tillage, or no tillage. The termination method can have an impact on soil health, by chemically affecting soil microbes with herbicides, disturbing soil, microbial communities, and fungi with tillage, or creating residue barriers on the surface of soil such as with using roller crimping (no tillage). Fertilization can also affect soil health, controlling rates of nutrient turnover and decomposition through the needs of microbes for carbon and nitrogen. This study quantifies the effects of four termination methods and four fertilization treatments on soil biological indicators during one growing season of sweet corn. Plots that were not tilled and terminated using roller crimping showed highest rates of decomposition, as well as increased labile carbon pools to feed microbes slowly throughout the growing season. Microbial activity was also observed to respond to fertilization, as patterns in activity spiked directly after fertilization. This study informs agricultural land management by the usage of biological indicators to further support the use of cover crops to increase soil health along with using no-till termination methods. Root biomass contributions toward soil health was also investigated, and how they may be affected by tillage.

No description available.

Improved management strategies are needed to increase yield production and quality. The study aimed to determine suitable cultural practices for improved corn production. Experiments were set up at Verona and Stoneville, Mississippi, from 2020 to 2022. Treatments included row configurations (single and twin-row), plant populations (79,000 and 99,000 seeds ha-1), and six combinations of nutrients with or without fungicide. The nutrients evaluated were two nitrogen rates 235 and 314 kg N ha-1, phosphorus 45 kg P ha-1, potassium 112 kg K ha-1, sulfur 22 kg S ha-1, and zinc 11 kg Zn ha-1, and fungicide at 272 ml ha-1. In trial 1 (Addition), nutrients were added incrementally, whereas in trial 2 (Deletion) nutrients were withheld in a stepwise manner. Within nutrient treatments, results were erratic among years and sites. Overall, producers must find a balance in terms of yield and profit by taking soil testing and fertilizer prices into consideration.

Mississippi ranks among the leading states in sweetpotato production in the US. However, managing weeds in sweetpotato fields presents a significant challenge, and the limited availability of herbicides labeled for use in sweetpotato makes it even more challenging. The widespread and repeated use of herbicides has led to the development of weed resistance. In addition, herbicides are incompatible with the organic production system. Finding sustainable weed management strategies to provide weed control options for organic cultivation and detain the development of herbicide-resistant weeds under conventional crop production is imperative. The natural chemicals released by the plants, also called allelochemicals, can potentially suppress weeds and be used for weed management under conventional and organic cultivation systems. The current study aimed to 1) screen the sweetpotato varieties for their weed-suppressing effect on the growth of weeds in controlled conditions using a stair-step structure, 2) evaluate the allelopathic suppression of selected sweetpotato varieties under field conditions, and 3) identify and quantify allelochemicals released by the roots of seventeen sweetpotato varieties. Results of the current study on the availability of allelopathic sweetpotato varieties will benefit organic producers by enhancing crop productivity. They will decrease reliance on synthetic herbicides in conventional farming systems. Identifying and quantifying allelochemicals will also improve our knowledge of allelopathy and provide valuable information for developing allelopathic sweetpotato varieties.

This thesis explores the historical practice of managing lakes and other bodies of water with the idea to create good fishing waters for fishers and anglers. The starting point for the thesis is the use of rotenone as a piscicide to exterminate the fish populations in Swedish lakes between 1950-1970. Rotenone was used to create empty waters for the purpose of fish stocking with species of fish that were seen as more valuable for recreational fishermen. The study analyzes the use of rotenone as a method for controlling parts of nature for human profit and use. From a perspective of conservation, fishers advocated for the use of rotenone as a way to ensure the success of the fish stocking practices. I show that how metaphors connected to gardening and farming was used during the legitimization of the rotenone method to describe the species of fish which were the targets for eradication. The fish deemed unvaluable were described as weeds or trash which connected to the idea of extermination of those species. Furthermore, the treatment with rotenone was part of a bigger project in Sweden, for the establishment of public areas in nature in which citizens could practice outdoor recreation. With a framework of more- than-human entanglements I analyze the rotenone project as acts of domestication of water and fish, which additionally connected to the idea that humans should be in control of nature. The question of animal agency entered the discourse surrounding rotenone, because of the weed- fish’s tendency to return to the treated waters. The fish’s agency and intentionality were most often referred to through an anthropomorphic lens, and they were thus attributed with a human understanding of intent. I argue that the inability to see the fish’s own agency and the desire to control nature through separation were contributing factors in the failure of the rotenone project.

The effects of managing soil with organic amendments were examined with respect to soil microbial community dynamics, macroaggregate formation, and plant physio-genetic responses. The objective was to examine the possibility of managing soil microbial communities via soil management, such that the microbial community would provide agronomic benefits. In part one of this research, effects of three amendments (hairy vetch residue, manure, compost) on soil chemical and microbial properties were examined relative to formation of large macroaggregates in three different soils. Vetch and manure promoted fungal proliferation (measured via two biomarkers: fatty acid methyl ester 18:2ω6c and ergosterol) and also stimulated the greatest macroaggregate formation. In part two of this research, effects of soil management (same amendments as above, inorganic N fertilization, organic production) on soil chemical and microbial properties were examined relative to the expression of nitrogen assimilation and defense response genes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Soil management affected expression of a nitrogen assimilation gene (GS1, glutamine synthetase) and several defense-related genes. The GS1 gene was downregulated with inorganic N fertilization, expression of the pathogenesis-related PR1b gene (which codes for the pathogenesis-related PR1b protein) was increased in plants grown in soil amended with compost, vetch, and N fertilizer, and expression of three other defense-related genes coding for chitinase (ChiB), osmotin (Osm), and β-1,3-glucanase (GluA) were decreased in plants from soil amended with manure and in plants from the organically managed soil. Differential expression of defense-related genes was inversely related to the relative abundance of Gram-negative bacteria. The relative abundance of the 18:1ω7c Gram‑negative bacterial biomarker was greatest in manure treated soil and in organically managed soil (which recieves seasonal manure applications). These treatments also had the lowest expression of ChiB, Osm, and GluA, leading to speculation that manure, through increases in Gram-negative bacteria, may have suppressed populations of soil organisms that induce a defense response in plants, possibly allowing for less-stressed plants. Outcomes of this research may be useful for those interested in developing management strategies for maintaining or improving soil structure as well as those interested in understanding management effects plant physio-genetic responses.

Dominant market theories analyze markets as ahistorical entities without the need for professional groups that manage crucial functions within them. This thesis, in contrast, approaches markets as historical systems that develop over time and that can be constituted in many different ways because of different historical trajectories. Different professional groups managing market routines, further, are seen as a crucial part of markets. Two concepts are introduced: “market architecture”, the specific way a market is constituted at a given time; and “market technocrats”, the seemingly disinterested third party functionaries that manage routines in markets and advocate changes in market architecture. The thesis argues that market technocrats exist because of uncertainty and lack of trust between market actors, and that they are an important part of how market architectures develop over time. It presents an analytical framework for understanding market technocrats and how they interact with and develop markets. Four different aspects of market technocrats are explored: the process of establishing market technocrats in market routines; the capture of the authority of market technocrats by other market actors; the expansionistic behavior of market technocrats; and the way changes in economic theory, as an important part of how economists with technocratic authority advocate market change, can help to explain changes in markets. These aspects are explored through four empirical papers: The Market Technocracy of Import Substitution: The Role of Asymmetric Information and The Swedish Seed Association 1880–1935; Limits of Market Technocracy: Swedish Fertilizer Research and the Crisis of Objectivity 1945–1960; Central Banks, and the Pursuit of Influence, Prestige, and Legitimacy: The Creation of the Nobel Memorial Prize; and From Market Engineering to Institutional Engineering: Reform Economics in Sweden 1950–2000. The results of the papers form the basis of a hypothetical narrative of how the role of market technocrats has changed during the 20th century. This provides a roadmap for further research in the development of markets and the role of market technocrats.

Submitted by Sandra Pereira (srpereira@ufrrj.br) on 2017-03-17T13:02:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Lana Claudia Barros Bezerra.pdf: 1532524 bytes, checksum: 3c10f97f96f82861ffd6b1d6d91cc04f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-17T13:02:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Lana Claudia Barros Bezerra.pdf: 1532524 bytes, checksum: 3c10f97f96f82861ffd6b1d6d91cc04f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-05 / This dissertation it is based in research quali-quantitative which focused on graduates of Veterinary Medicine perception, course egress of Agricultural Science Graduation (ASG) of Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) who carried out the academic degree in the period of 2010.1 to 2013.2. The theoretical and empirical research identify the contributions of docent formation brought to academic and professional life in view of the influence of humanistic, pedagogical and environmental design a degree course in agrarian area should promote those who resort to this. Interested in this research to investigate the ASG course contributions to the veterinarian in order to understand the expectations and conceptions of licensed graduates on the teaching profession. The subjects were twenty-one licensed veterinarians and two coordinators. Our problem raised concerns about the training that the said course enabled the students of Agricultural Sciences, focusing on Veterinary Medical of UFRPE. Data collection was carried out in four stages: bibliographical survey of theorists who elaborates on the theme; documentary consulting the files of graduates; consultation with the Political Pedagogical Project ASG and resolutions UFRPE with application of questionnaires to thirty-four semi-structured interviews with graduates and three subjects surveyed. These tools made it possible to quantify and identify the profile of graduates, seizing their perception of the current proposal with the triangulation of the looks of the students as respondents, the coordinators as informants and the researcher. The research allowed important contributions and intentions were identified in the proposal of the Pedagogic Political Project of the degree that guide to building a practice based on humanistic relations for the performance of these graduates in their various contexts / Esta disserta??o se fundamenta em uma pesquisa de abordagem quali-quantitativa que voltou-se para conhecer a vis?o dos graduados em Medicina Veterin?ria, egressos do Curso de Licenciatura em Ci?ncias Agr?colas - LCA, da Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), que realizaram a forma??o acad?mica na licenciatura no per?odo de 2010.1 a 2013.2. A pesquisa te?rico-emp?rica identificou a contribui??o que a forma??o docente trouxe para a vida acad?mica e profissional tendo em vista as influ?ncias da concep??o humanista, pedag?gica e socioambiental que um curso de Licenciatura na ?rea agr?ria deve promover aqueles que recorrem a este. Interessou a presente pesquisa investigar as contribui??es do curso LCA para o m?dico veterin?rio, de forma a compreender as expectativas e concep??es dos egressos licenciado sobre a profiss?o docente. Os sujeitos desta pesquisa foram vinte e um m?dicos veterin?rios licenciados e dois Coordenadores. Nossa problem?tica suscitou inquieta??es a respeito da forma??o que o citado curso possibilitou aos alunos das Ci?ncias Agr?rias, com foco nos M?dicos Veterin?rios da UFRPE. A coleta de dados foi realizada em quatro momentos: Levantamento bibliogr?fico dos te?ricos que discorre sobre a tem?tica, consulta documental aos dossi?s dos egressos, consulta ao Projeto Pol?tico Pedag?gico do LCA e resolu??es da UFRPE, aplica??o dos question?rios a trinta e quatro egressos, entrevistas semi-estruturada com tr?s sujeitos pesquisados. Esses instrumentos possibilitaram quantificar e identificar o perfil dos egressos, apreendendo sua percep??o em rela??o a proposta do curso com a triangula??o dos olhares dos discentes como respondentes, os coordenadores como informantes e o pesquisador. A pesquisa permitiu que fossem identificadas importantes contribui??es e inten??es contidas na proposta do Projeto Pol?tico Pedag?gico da Licenciatura que orientam para a constru??o de uma pr?tica pautada em rela??es humanista para a atua??o desses licenciados em seus diversos contextos

A flavonol specific glucosyltransferase cloned from Citrus paradisi has strict substrate and regio-specificity (Cp3OGT). The amino acid sequence of Cp3OGT was aligned with sequences of an anthocyanidin UDP- dependant glucosyltransferase (UGT) from Clitorea ternatea and a UGT from Vitis vinifera that can glucosylate both flavonols and anthocyanidins. Using homology modeling to identify candidate regions followed by site directed mutagenesis, three double mutations were constructed and biochemically characterized. S20G+T21S mutant protein retained activity with flavonols similar to the wildtype Cp3OGT but the mutant had optimum activity at 60°C and broadened substrate acceptance to include the flavanone naringenin. S290C+S319A mutant protein retained 40% activity with quercetin relative to WT, and had an optimum pH shift. H154Y+Q87I mutant protein was only 10% active with quercetin relative to WT. Docking analysis revealed that H154, Q87 and S20 could be involved in orienting the acceptor molecules within the acceptor binding site whereas S319 and S290 residues are involved in maintaining the active site conformation.