The first study was conducted to evaluate the dietary inclusion of effective microorganisms (EM) on body weight (BW), feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and mortality of broilers, which had been either challenged or non-challenged with Clostridium perfringens (1mL of 1 x 108 CFU/mL orally). Six hundred and forty day-old Ross 788 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to thirty-two pens in groups of twenty birds per pen, giving a stocking density of ±18 birds per square meter from zero to forty days of age. The facility consisted of two rooms with sixteen pens per room. All the chicks were fed on a commercial maize-soya type diet, including a mash starter and a mash grower/finisher feed. At two weeks of age 320 chicks were inoculated with Clostridium perfringens type A through oral administration. The study had a randomised block design with four replicates and four treatments as: 1) Control-unmedicated; 2) antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) added to feed at 33g/kg; 3) EM added to feed and water at 50g/kg and 50mL/L respectively; and 4) AGP in feed at 33g/kg and EM (50g/kg) in feed and water (50mL/L). The inclusion of EM negatively affected water palatability that resulted in reduced water intake and increased FCR for the non-challenged broilers at 21 days of age. However, because feed intake was not affected, it was suggested that EM should rather be supplemented through the feed rather than through the water. The use of AGP alone or in combination with EM proved (P<0.05) broiler production performance. The cumulative feed intake, BW, FCR, average daily gain (ADG), cumulative water intake and production efficiency factor (PEF) of challenged broilers were not different (P>0.05) at 40 days of age. In this study the incidence of mortality was low (2.2%) and examination of livers and intestines showed only mild necrotic enteritis lesions. In conclusion, the findings of this study showed that EM under the current dosage failed to improve broiler production performance. A second experiment was conducted as a follow-up study to evaluate the effect of EM on broiler performance when supplemented through the feed only. Cloacal swabs were taken from all day-old chicks and a day after inoculation with Clostridium perfringens for laboratory analysis of the microorganisms in the gut. All the chicks were fed on a commercial two-phase maize-soya type diet consisting of a mash starter and a mash grower/finisher feed with additional fishmeal. The chicks from one room were inoculated orally with Clostridium perfringens, while the chicks from the other room remained unchallenged. The challenged group was inoculated orally with 1 mL (1 x 108 CFU/mL) of Clostridium perfringens as a single dose on day 14. The EM was supplemented to the broilers from day one through the feed. The supplementation of EM through the feed showed a poor performance for non-challenged whilst for the challenged showed an improved performance at 3 weeks. Both non-challenged and challenged broilers given EM had a poor performance at 6 weeks of age, and this showed inconsistent results throughout the experiment. However, it was found that the combination of both AGP and EM had a better performance than EM alone. It is noted when the results of broilers nonchallenged versus challenged control groups were compared, the challenged ones showed a better performance. The broilers showed a low mortality of 1.3% and the causes were not related to the incidence of necrotic enteritis. The gross examination of the broilers inoculated orally with Clostridium perfringens showed mild intestinal lesions. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc(Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Animal and Wildlife Sciences / unrestricted

In the Central Valley of Costa Rica in the Department of Heredia, I investigated the soil chemical properties and microbial communities under four native shade tree species in a coffee agroforestry system. In the second year of the study, Effective Microorganisms, a microbial inoculant, was applied to examine its effect on soil chemistry. The shade tree species included in this study were Anonna muricata L., Diphysa americana Mill., Persea americana Mill., and Quercus spp. L. Plots measured 20 by 30 meters and were replicated three times for each shade tree species except for Quercus spp., which only had two replications. Twelve composite soil samples were collected from each plot in 2008 and again in 2009, and twelve composite foliar samples were taken from the coffee plants in each plot in 2008. The results of this study indicated that the species of native shade tree had a significant effect on soil ammonium-N, nitrate-N, total dissolved nitrogen and magnesium. Sun or shade position had a significant effect on dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon. The species of native shade tree also had a significant effect on the composition of soil microbial communities. PLFA analysis revealed a significant difference in soil fungi abundance in soil samples from Annona plots relative to those from Persea plots. Effective microorganisms in combination with the tree species, as well as in combination with species and sun or shade position, had a significant interaction effect on soil ammonium-N, with the EM-treated plots showing higher concentrations of soil ammonium-N. There was a significant positive correlation between soil pH and foliar calcium, as well as soil dissolved organic nitrogen and foliar %N, at p< 0.01. This study suggests that Quercus spp. is a tree species that may help to regulate the cycling of nitrogen in the coffee agroecosystem. Annona muricata appears to inhibit the action of some fungal species and may reduce the occurrence of fungal pathogens in the soil, although the present study did not explore this issue. Although Diphysa americana is a legume, it does not appear to increase the amount of soil nitrogen in the vicinity of the coffee plants themselves. All four tree species in this study improve coffee soils by increasing soil concentrations of dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon. Coffee yield data and long term observations on the health of the coffee plants would clarify whether one of these species is particularly beneficial, from an agronomic perspective, for the productivity of this coffee agroecosystem.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:35:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2000-06-01Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:05:00Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 verzignassi_jr_dr_botfca.pdf: 678064 bytes, checksum: 1a9c22b2b6f4814a330b0bfcccb5c204 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Com o objetivo da redução da aplicação de fungicidas na produção de alho, foram estudados os efeitos dos Microrganismos Eficazes (E.M.-4 e E.M.-5) sobre o controle da mancha púrpura, a produção da cultura e as propriedades físicas, químicas e biológicas do solo. Os experimentos foram conduzidos, em condições de campo, por dois e três anos, na Fazenda de Ensino, Pesquisa e Produção da Unesp em São Manuel, SP. O E.M. foi aplicado nos bulbilhos de alho antes do plantio, adicionado ao material orgânico incorporado ao solo e pulverizado nas plantas após incubação ou não com melaço. A utilização do E.M. + melaço (não incubado) não proporcionou controle da doença nos experimentos. No entanto, com a incubação do E.M. + melaço houve redução na severidade da mancha púrpura em um experimento e incremento na emergência e número de folhas verdes por planta em ambos os experimentos. A altura das plantas, superbrotamento, produção, bulbos de maior valor comercial (classes 5+6+7) e as propriedades físicas (densidade do solo, condutividade hidráulica, estabilidade dos agregados, resistência à penetração e infiltração de tinta), químicas e biológicas do solo (conteúdo de polissacarídeos, carbono da biomassa microbiana do solo e atividade da desidrogenase) não foram alteradas pela utilização do E.M. A adição de material orgânico ao solo promoveu maior agregação do solo (estabilidade dos agregados), independentemente dos tratamentos empregados. No entanto, a densidade do solo, a condutividade hidráulica e a resistência à penetração não sofreram alterações com a adição do material orgânico. / With the purpose to reduce fungicides application for garlic production, the effects of Effective Microorganisms (E.M.-4 and E.M.-5) were studied on the control of garlic purple blotch, garlic yield and physical, chemical and biological properties of the utilized planting soil. Experiments were carried out under field conditions, for two and three years, an experimental farm, belonging to São Paulo State University, located in São Manuel, São Paulo, Brazil. E.M. was applied on garlic cloves before planting, additioned to the incorporated organic matter and sprayed on garlic aerial part after incubation or not with molasse. When E.M. plus molasse (not incubated) was utilized the control of purple blotch was not observed in two experiments. However, with the incubation of E.M. with molasse, the results showed a reduction of purple blotch severity in one experiment as well as an increment of seedling emergency and number of green leaves per plant in two experiments. Plant height, bulbil sprouting, yield, bulbs with higher market grades (classes 5+6+7) and soil physical (bulk density, hidraulic conductivity, stable soil aggregates, resistance to soil penetration and tint infiltration) chemical and biological (polyssacharides, carbon of microbial biomass and dehydrogenase content) proprieties were not affected by E.M. utilization. Organic matter addition promoted soil agreggation in all treatments, however, soil bulk density, hidraulic conductivity and resistance to soil penetration was not changed by organic matter addition.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Horticulture)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most popular and widely consumed vegetable crops all over the world. They play a vital role in human diet and good sources of vitamins and minerals. However, low soil fertility is a major challenge to vegetable crops production for growers in Africa. Soils in the arid and semi-arid regions like South Africa have little nutrient and mineral contents, which adversely affect plant growth and quality. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to determine the effects of sole and combined applications of Effective Microorganisms enriched compost, broiler manure and inorganic (NPK) fertiliser applications, on growth and yield of three tomato varieties and to assess the influence of the applied fertiliser on nutritional composition of three tomato varieties. Field experiments were conducted at Horticultural skill centre, University of Limpopo (Mankweng), and at Mphebatho farm, Apel, Limpopo province, South Africa. The experiment was laid out in a 7 x 3 split-plot design. Recommended amount of organic and inorganic fertilisers was used. The treatments were: control (without fertiliser application), NPK (2:3:4(30) at a rate of 200 N ha-1, 260 P ha-1 and 257 K ha-1, applied as N from Urea, P from superphosphate and K from potassium chloride (KCl), mineralised broiler manure (10 000 kg ha-1), ½ NPK + ½ broiler manure rates, EM enriched compost (14 m3 ha-1), ½ EM compost + ½ NPK rates, and ½ EM compost + ½ broiler manure rates. Three tomato varieties (Floradade, Roma and Moneymaker) seedlings were transplanted using standard spacing of 30 x 60 cm. Chlorophyll contents of leaves, biomass production, plant height, fruit number, stem diameter and branch number were determined after six weeks of transplanting and fortnightly thereafter. The interactions between tomato varieties and fertiliser materials with regard to plant height were not significant (P ≤ 0.05) at both sites (Apel and Mankweng). Average plant height (63.75 cm) obtained in Moneymaker grown in EM compost treatment was significantly highest at Apel, for Floradade (42.25 cm) in broiler manure treatment while that of Roma variety (39.63 cm) was found in ½ EM compost + ½ NPK treatment at 8 WAT. Similar trend was also recorded at 10 WAT. For Mankweng the significantly (P ≤ 0.05) highest average plant height at 8 WAT (66.63 cm) was obtained in Moneymaker grown in ½ broiler manure + ½ NPK treatment for Floradade (45.63 cm) obtained in broiler manure treatment, and 44.50 cm recorded for Roma in broiler manure treatment. Similar trend was also followed at 10 WAT. At vi Apel, significantly highest average number of tomato fruits at 8, 10 and 12 WAT were recorded in treatment with ½ EM + ½ NPK while the least values were found in control. Whereas at Mankweng the variation in number of tomato fruits under different fertiliser treatments were not significant. Similar, non-significant interactions (V x F) for tomato shoot nutritional composition were found in tomato grown at both sites (Apel and Mankweng) in relation to fertiliser treatments. At Apel however, comparing the fertiliser treatments, tomato grown in soil treated with ½ broiler manure + ½ NPK had the significantly highest average (3.01 %) K content while the least value (2.65 %) was obtained in the control. Similarly, significantly highest mean (44.33 mg kg-1) Zn was found in crops grown in the same treatment, but the lowest significant value (36.50 mg kg-1) was obtained in ½ EM + ½ NPK treatment. For Mn and Fe contents in tomato significantly highest mean values (150.17 mg kg-1 and 2381 mg kg-1) for Mn and Fe respectively were found in sole broiler manure treatment while the least values 114.83 mg kg-1 and 1357.6 mg kg-1 for Mn and Fe respectively were found in ½ EM + ½ NPK and sole NPK treatments respectively. It may be concluded that in tomato production, combined application of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients can be more beneficial and can be adopted by smallholder farmers with limited resources. / DAFF Zero hunger

Resumo: Com o objetivo da redução da aplicação de fungicidas na produção de alho, foram estudados os efeitos dos Microrganismos Eficazes (E.M.-4 e E.M.-5) sobre o controle da mancha púrpura, a produção da cultura e as propriedades físicas, químicas e biológicas do solo. Os experimentos foram conduzidos, em condições de campo, por dois e três anos, na Fazenda de Ensino, Pesquisa e Produção da Unesp em São Manuel, SP. O E.M. foi aplicado nos bulbilhos de alho antes do plantio, adicionado ao material orgânico incorporado ao solo e pulverizado nas plantas após incubação ou não com melaço. A utilização do E.M. + melaço (não incubado) não proporcionou controle da doença nos experimentos. No entanto, com a incubação do E.M. + melaço houve redução na severidade da mancha púrpura em um experimento e incremento na emergência e número de folhas verdes por planta em ambos os experimentos. A altura das plantas, superbrotamento, produção, bulbos de maior valor comercial (classes 5+6+7) e as propriedades físicas (densidade do solo, condutividade hidráulica, estabilidade dos agregados, resistência à penetração e infiltração de tinta), químicas e biológicas do solo (conteúdo de polissacarídeos, carbono da biomassa microbiana do solo e atividade da desidrogenase) não foram alteradas pela utilização do E.M. A adição de material orgânico ao solo promoveu maior agregação do solo (estabilidade dos agregados), independentemente dos tratamentos empregados. No entanto, a densidade do solo, a condutividade hidráulica e a resistência à penetração não sofreram alterações com a adição do material orgânico. / Abstract: With the purpose to reduce fungicides application for garlic production, the effects of Effective Microorganisms (E.M.-4 and E.M.-5) were studied on the control of garlic purple blotch, garlic yield and physical, chemical and biological properties of the utilized planting soil. Experiments were carried out under field conditions, for two and three years, an experimental farm, belonging to São Paulo State University, located in São Manuel, São Paulo, Brazil. E.M. was applied on garlic cloves before planting, additioned to the incorporated organic matter and sprayed on garlic aerial part after incubation or not with molasse. When E.M. plus molasse (not incubated) was utilized the control of purple blotch was not observed in two experiments. However, with the incubation of E.M. with molasse, the results showed a reduction of purple blotch severity in one experiment as well as an increment of seedling emergency and number of green leaves per plant in two experiments. Plant height, bulbil sprouting, yield, bulbs with higher market grades (classes 5+6+7) and soil physical (bulk density, hidraulic conductivity, stable soil aggregates, resistance to soil penetration and tint infiltration) chemical and biological (polyssacharides, carbon of microbial biomass and dehydrogenase content) proprieties were not affected by E.M. utilization. Organic matter addition promoted soil agreggation in all treatments, however, soil bulk density, hidraulic conductivity and resistance to soil penetration was not changed by organic matter addition. / Orientador: Chukichi Kurozawa / Coorientador: Roberto Lyra Villas-Bôas / Banca: Chukichi Kurozawa / Banca: Julio Nakagawa / Banca: Rumy Goto / João Batista Vida / Hasime Tokeshi / Doutor