<p> The objective of this study was to determine the effects of propagation media containing composted material on the rooting of hardwood and softwood blueberry cuttings. The physical properties were measured at the end of the experiment. The media used were pine bark fines, composted pine bark with ammoniated nitrogen added, hardwood bark and composted chicken manure, pine bark and cotton gin waste, and control (peat moss and perlite, 1:1). All treatments resulted in a low number of rooted hardwood cuttings compared to the control. The total number of roots per cutting and alive cuttings hardwood cuttings was increased by pine bark and ammoniated nitrogen compared to the remaining treatments. The control treatment resulted in the highest number of roots per softwood cutting. None of the treatments increased the number of roots of softwood cuttings and the number of alive cuttings was increased by all treatments compared to the control.</p><p></p>

<p> Tillage is the common practice for seedbed preparation prior to early spring vegetables. To investigate the possibility of eliminating the need for spring tillage through the use of cover crops, spring seedbed characteristics after winterkilled cover crops forage radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and oat (Avena sativa L.) were monitored prior to and during growth of no-till and rototilled plantings of spinach (Spinacia oleracea var. Tyee) over four site years in Maryland's Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions. Results indicate that forage radish can facilitate no-till planting of spring vegetables in the mid-Atlantic without herbicides or fertilizer. Forage radish increases soil nitrate and sulfate in early spring and is best suited as a cover crop before the earliest planted main crops.</p>

<p> Biodegradable mulch may offer the benefits of polyethylene mulch for crop production with the added benefit of biodegradability. Four studies were carried out in Mount Vernon, WA to evaluate biodegradable mulch for tomato (<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> L.) and broccoli (<i>Brassica oleracea</i> var. <i>italica</i>) production. The first study compared four biodegradable mulch treatments: BioAgri, BioTelo, WeedGuardPlus (cellulose product), and SB-PLA-10/11/12 (experimental, non-woven fabric), to polyethylene mulch and bare ground in high tunnels and in the open field for tomato yield and fruit quality over three growing seasons. Biodegradable plastic films produced yields and fruit quality comparable to polyethylene. Moreover, high tunnels increased total and marketable fruit weight five and eight times, respectively, compared to the open field. </p><p> The second study quantified relationships among visual assessment parameters and mulch mechanical properties. Visual assessments and mechanical property tests of polyethylene, BioAgri, BioTelo, WeedGuardPlus, and SB-PLA-10/11/12, were made over three growing seasons. Regression analyses found the strongest relationship overall (<i>r</i>² = 0.41) to be between the percent of initial breaking force in the machine direction and log₁₀ of percent visual deterioration. However, evaluating mulch products individually and increasing sample frequency are recommended for future research. </p><p> The third study evaluated three biodegradable mulch products, BioAgri, Crown 1, and SB-PLA-11, after soil-incorporation. The average area of recovered mulch fragments decreased for all mulch products over time. The number of mulch fragments initially increased for all mulch products, with the greatest number of Crown 1 and BioAgri fragments recovered 132 and 299 days after incorporation, respectively. At 397 days after soil-incorporation, the total area of recovered fragments of Crown 1 and BioAgri was 0% and 34% of the theoretical maximum area, respectively. </p><p> The fourth study used the diffusion of innovations framework to study perceptions about biodegradable mulch and employed the concept of "tactile space" to create sensuously rich learning environments wherein participants could interact with each other and the environment to evaluate biodegradable plastic mulch. Participants' perceptions about biodegradable mulch and attitudes toward adoption improved. Employing tactile space as a diffusion strategy may encourage non-representational learning to supplement and reinforce the knowledge claims being made at outreach/education events.</p>

<p> As cities grew throughout the past century, the availability of locally grown food declined, mostly because urban expansion occurred at the expense of adjacent agricultural land. As a result, city dwellers turned to commercial food market systems that import food from distant production areas. Private greenspace, which is one of the largest land cover types in cities, offers the potential for substantial agricultural production. Because urban food production on private land, such as backyards, requires the willing participation of landowners, resident&rsquo;s feelings about and experience with food growing are important to understand.</p><p> This study examined the demographic differences between food growers and non-food growers with respect to their attitudes and perspectives about backyard food growing. The positive associations, the problems and barriers residents encountered, and the resources they needed to begin food gardening, were identified through questionnaires and in-depth interviews administered to study participants in Palm Beach County, Florida, U.S.A. The demographic groups that were most likely to food garden were those in long-term relationships, higher income brackets, those with college education and residents over 50 years old. Incentives and programs focused on producing more from existing gardens may be most appropriate for people in these demographic groups, while other groups will most require basic food growing information. Study participants highly valued intangible benefits of food gardening (e.g., relaxation, feelings of happiness and satisfaction), often more than the provision of food. Most barriers and problems with backyard food growing, such as a lack of space and the need for gardening information, were similar for those who food garden and those who do not.</p><p> Results from this study indicate that traditional agricultural incentives and perspectives must be rethought if they are to be applied in urban settings. The practice of backyard food gardening, which can be a significant part of sustainable urban agriculture, must be viewed and valued beyond the framework of market commodities and economics. By creating incentives and initiatives that reflect the needs and challenges faced by urban growers, urban agriculture will become an integrated part of the community, improving food quantity and quality while enriching residents&rsquo; lives.</p>

<p> As interest in new sweetpotato (<i>Ipomoea batatas</i> (L.) Lam.) markets such as starch feedstocks, anthocyanin production, chips and French fries, and other processed food products have increased, breeders have begun developing sweetpotatoes with unique compositions. This dissertation describes a three-pronged strategy to understand the genetic control of sweetpotato composition and modify it using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), quantitative inheritance studies, molecular markers, and exotic germplasm.</p><p> In our first experiment, a 5 &times; 5 NCII crossing block with 25 full-sib families was designed to study the inheritance of sweetpotato starch and anthocyanin content. Linear regression modeling was used to determine the effect of general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) on dry matter, total monomeric anthocyanin (TMA) concentration, fresh yield, and total dry matter and anthocyanin yield. All five traits were moderately to highly heritable with significant general combining abilities. Yield and dry matter yield had significant specific combining abilities and significant differences among parents were discovered for all traits. Yield, dry matter, dry matter yield, and TMA yield were significantly impacted by spatial gradients within the field, but TMA concentration was not. Phenotypic and genotypic correlations among traits indicated that many traits of interest shared either genotypic and/or phenotypic correlations.</p><p> In our second experiment, a nested crossing block was used to estimate the heritability of sweetpotato yield and storage root composition traits in a population incorporating exotic germplasm obtained from the US sweetpotato germplasm repository and a core set of elite US sweetpotato lines crossed in a modification of the NCI design. Yield traits were recorded in the field and biochemical composition was phenotyped using NIRS. Heritability was measured on a half-sib family basis and a full-sib family basis to allow comparison between the commonly used polycross nurseries and paired crossing blocks. Parent offspring regression, which has been commonly used by sweetpotato breeders, was also used to provide another heritability estimate. Starch and sugar contents had relatively high heritabilities on both a GCA (h² > 0.32) and SCA basis (h² > 0.77). Yield traits had low heritability on a GCA basis (h² &lt; 0.16), but moderate heritability on an SCA basis (h² = 0.21 &ndash; 0.51). Heritability trends suggested that polycross nurseries could be effective for modifying sweetpotato composition, while paired crosses would be more effective for the modification of sweetpotato yield. Based on the performance of a wide range of crosses between exotic and heirloom varieties, we hypothesize that the global sweetpotato germplasm base contains many useful alleles for continued sweetpotato improvement. </p><p> Our final study involved a previously described sweetpotato quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping population developed from a Tanzania x Beauregard cross (Cervantes-Flores 2006). This population was phenotyped using NIRS to identify QTL for sugar and starch content. In Beauregard, six QTL were associated with decreased starch and dry matter content and eight QTL were associated with increased sugar content. One QTL in Beauregard was associated with decreased yield. In Tanzania, two QTL were associated with increased starch and two QTL were associated with decreased starch; there were also two QTL associated with decreased sugars and one associated with increased sugar content; one QTL was associated with decreased culls. In most cases, newly identified QTL co-locate with those previously described.</p><p> Collectively, this research represents a significant effort in sweetpotato to merge molecular markers with NIRS phenotyping, and it has opened the doorway to further developments that merge these two new technologies for sweetpotato improvement.</p>

<p> Society's environmental practices often parallel those of our criminal justice system. Both embody "throw-away" cultures that often yield more complex problems than those they were attempting to solve. Programs that provide real meaning-making are necessary to achieve ecological and criminal rehabilitation. Fundamental ecological and personal transformation requires a deep sense of context, purpose, and reconnection extending beyond mere employability. In this research we explored how people come to terms with personal moral obligation, as well as how restorative ecological engagement may be transformational for humans in personal crisis. Primary field data were gathered from incarcerated men inside San Quentin State Prison participating in the Insight Garden Program (IGP), as well as men in the same unit attending other prison programming, or no programming. A mixed-method approach was used, including open-ended interviews and three multiple-choice survey instruments: a locus of control survey, an environmental literacy quiz, and a climate change opinion survey. Each survey revealed strong results (those consistent with recidivism correlations) for IGP participants, followed by those in other programs, in comparison with men in no programming. Qualitative results most strongly illustrated that prison programming, gardening and otherwise, can contribute profoundly toward transformative value reorientation, which is integral to rehabilitation.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: B, page: 6173. Adviser: Schuyler S. Korban. Includes bibliographical references. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> This project explores the phenomenon of urban agriculture and the benefits of access to horticultural space in a low income community in the city of Santa Ana, California. Based conducted over a one year period, the author utilized participant-observation, conducted 20 personal interviews, coded 120 pages of field notes, analyzed original data on plant species, used demographic data, and food distribution data at the garden. Conclusions drawn from the research include that community gardens can be utilized as spaces which promote social cohesion, a place of food distribution, a place to grow medicinal plants, and a place to grow culturally important plants. This work contributes to the literature on urban gardens by developing an original concept called cultural plant memory&mdash;a theory that treats plants as public symbols, which can enact personal and shared cultural values, memories, and customs. This thesis demonstrates the potential of these spaces and aids in the promotion of horticultural space in urban areas.</p>

<p> The effective management of submersed aquatic macrophytes depends on understanding their reproductive biology. <i>Potamogeton crispus </i> L. (curlyleaf pondweed, Potamogetonaceae) produces numerous asexual propagules that make traditional management difficult. It has spread to roughly half of the counties in California (USA) from alpine habitats such as Lake Tahoe to the tidally influenced Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Studies were conducted from May 2012 till October 2012 at the bench and mesocosm scales in Davis and Sacramento, California, to explore the effects of benthic barrier control measures on the propagules (turions) of <i>Potamogeton crispus. </i> The first study examined the effects of three benthic barrier materials (jute, polyethylene and rubber) on turion sprouting. Jute benthic barrier material allows some light and oxygen through the fabric, while polyethylene allows oxygen, but not light. Rubber barrier material blocks light and oxygen exchange. Turion viability, as determined by sprouting, was then assessed post-treatment. Results showed no significant differences at the bench-scale for the untreated control (100% sprouting, SE=0%), jute (100% sprouting, SE=0%), or polyethylene treatments (96.9%, SE=2.1%) (n=16 for all treatments, &alpha; = 0.05). Rubber treatments resulted in 48.4% sprouting (SE= 10.6%; n=16). Results for the mesocosm experiments showed significant differences between the control and the jute and polyethylene treatments (control = 98.4% sprouting, SE= 1.6%; jute = 71.9% sprouting, SE= 4.5%; polyethylene= 70.3% sprouting, SE= 4.7%, n=16 for all treatments). Jute and polyethylene treatments were not significantly different in the mesocosm experiment. The mesocosm experiment with the rubber barrier significantly reduced sprouting (29.7% sprouting, SE= 6.1%; n=16) compared to other treatments. While light had minimal impact on sprouting, anoxia appeared to be the main factor inhibiting sprouting using benthic bottom barriers. Barrier induced anoxic stress combined with herbicides may potentially offer enhanced efficacy. The second study explored enhancement of the impermeable rubber barrier material with dilute acetic acid loaded into cassava starch "pearls". Turions were exposed for two weeks and then assessed for viability via post-treatment sprouting protocol with and without hydrosoil at the bench- and mesocosm-scale. Results for the bench-scale showed that the 20.8 mmol L^&ndash;1 acetic acid treatment was not significantly different (p=.4231) compared to the untreated control (Tukey HDS; p&le;0.05). However, the 41.6 mmol L^&ndash;1 acetic acid treatment was highly significantly different from the control (p-value &lt; 0.0001) at the bench-scale, but did not completely inhibit sprouting (mean sprouting of 31.25% (<i>SE</i>= 11.97)). Complete inhibition of sprouting turions occurred for both experiments at and above acetic acid concentrations of 83.3 mmol L^&ndash;1 (SE= 0). Results showed that tapioca starch saturated with acetic acid and combined with impermeable benthic barriers may offer an effective chemical treatment for the control of <i>Potamogeton crispus.</i> The final study examined hot water exposures under the barriers to kill and inhibit sprouting in turions. Heated water circulated under an insulated benthic bottom barrier may potentially offer a simple non-chemical rapid method to target surface propagules on the sediment, subterranean propagules and young plants. Heated water was used to treat <i>P. crispus</i> turions at the bench and mesocosm scales (25&deg;C, 40&deg;C, 50&deg;C, 60&deg;, 70&deg;C and 80&deg;C exposures for 30 to 300 seconds). Heated water exposures inhibited sprouting turions at 50&deg;C and 60&deg;C at the mesocosm and the bench scales, however, did not completely inhibit sprouting for all time exposures except at the bench-scale 60&deg;C treatment for 300 seconds. For 70&deg;C and 80&deg;C treatment exposures, there was a slight difference at the 30 second exposure mark, but at 60 second and beyond, all 70&deg;C and 80&deg;C treatments provided 100% inhibition. The cost to raise the temperature 60&deg;C from ambient water temperature under the contained limited volume under insulated barriers is estimated to be approximately $2 per 9.3 m² (100 ft²) for 5 minute treatments or $3459 ha^-1 ($1400 acre^-1).</p>

<p> <b>Purpose.</b> The purpose of this research was to examine how inmate horticulture programs have emerged and have been replicated in an effort to rehabilitate individuals, curtail spending, and reduce recidivism. The research explores how food justice and drug policy intersect, examining the roles of classism and racism and taking note of factors influencing recidivism. </p><p> <b>Theoretical Framework.</b> Diffusion of innovation analyzes the adoption of a new idea, technique, product, or service, focusing on how it is communicated and adopted by a social system over a period of time. It is necessary to understand the relationship among culture, values, existing practices, and political/social/environmental climate in order to facilitate the adoption of a new innovation.</p><p> <b>Methodology.</b> The researcher employed a mixed methods research design. The researcher performed a historical review of policies and events that led to the overcrowding of prisons and the criminalization of certain substances. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 individuals involved with inmate horticulture programs. Elements included in the study are the variation between programs and their perceived efficacy, challenges, and barriers. </p><p> <b>Findings.</b> Research findings revealed inmate horticulture programs fall into different areas of focus; innovative programs have blended components to provide integrated services. Five primary archetypes were identified: rehabilitative/therapeutic, punitive/labor, vocational, cost savings, and sustainability. Collaboration was crucial in framing the conversation, determining the skillsets of those involved, and the best way to leverage resources. Challenges to diffusing therapeutic inmate horticulture programs stem from social and political inflexibility.</p><p> <b>Conclusions and Recommendations.</b> The social construction of an issue or population impacts the political response, framing of issues, and type of media attention received. The amount of public demand to address the policy issue and federal government involvement influence the adoption and diffusion of innovations. The community benefits from horticulture programs, because former inmates are less likely to commit crimes or victimize people if they have been exposed to rehabilitative programs that prepare them for job opportunities upon release. Well-rounded programs give participants an understanding of food justice, horticulture, leadership, restoration, and healing and access to wraparound services.</p>