Three experiments were carried out to evaluate the applicability of the intensive management system to barley production in Quebec. In the first experiment, the effects of three levels of nitrogen fertilizer and ethephon (Cerone) on the performance of cultivars were tested. The aim of the second experiment was to test the effects of fungicide application and row width. In the third experiment, conventional and intensive management techniques were tested on three soil types. / High levels of nitrogen increased the grain protein content and thus improved the feed quality of spring barley. Application of ethephon reduced plant height but also reduced the number of grains per head. A fungicide by row width interaction resulted in a reduced seed size and weight in the narrow rows. The effects of intensive management on yield were inconsistent and were influenced to a large extent by the prevailing weather and soil conditions.

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High-temperature processing of rice needs close attention due to the susceptibility of rice grains to fissures. The present study was carried out to redress the lack of information on the quality of rice dried at high-temperatures using a range of drying air temperatures from 160 - 200??C and grain moisture contents varying from 27 to 33%wb. A laboratory type high temperature dryer-oven was developed and constructed, and the performance was compared with commercial fluidized-bed and spouted-bed dryers. The new column type treatment plant, targeted at small-scale rice farmers was designed to reduce milling breakages was tested for high-temperature treatments. Short term drying (160 ??? 180 seconds) of high moisture rough rice at high-temperatures such as 160 - 200??C increased head rice yield by 5 - 8% in long grain rice and 7 - 11% in medium grain rice. The head rice yield increase achieved was very close to the highest potential head rice recovery possible for a given sample. The head rice yield increase was mainly due to a hardened surface layer of the rice kernel, formed by two effects, a surface fusion and surface gelatinization during high-temperature treatment. This stress protection layer is only effective for a short period (1 - 2 minutes) at high temperatures. Tempering of treated grains, either by storing in gunny bags or rapid cooling, can secure the grains to some extent from grain breakage. The highest head rice yield increase was obtained by ceasing the high-temperature effect at the grain moisture level of 24 - 25%wb. The colour and appearance of high-temperature treated grains were closer to those of untreated grains with the toughness closer to that of parboiled rice. The setback values of high-temperature treated rice measured by RVA, which is a preferred character by consumers, were closer to aged rice. High-temperature treatments did not affect the cooking qualities except a slight increase in water absorption. The alterations in the grain due to high-temperature treatment are limited to only for 8 - 9% of the total volume (mainly outer region) of the rice grain, preserving more than 90% of the grain with raw-rice quality. Structural changes such as complexing of amylose ??? lipid, amylose -protein and denaturation of protein play a dominant role on quality changes than gelatinization. A new method introduced to measure the degree of gelatinization of pre-gelatinized rice, using hot paste viscosity by rapid visco analyser (RVA), was successful. The peak viscosity parameter in the RVA was more suitable for measuring the chemical changes in high-temperature treated rice. Spouted-bed drying technology is not suitable for high-temperature treatment due to the unfavourable conditions for the formation of a hardened layer under intermittent heating and cooling. Fluidized-bed dryers could be used for high-temperature drying, but is not cost effective for the small-scale farmer level. The novel type treatment plant was successful in reducing the amount of broken grains to almost zero, increasing the head rice yield by 50 - 120kg per 1000kg of rough rice. It was also effective as a germination arrester, inhibiting the germination ability within a very short period such as 30 - 60 seconds. This equipment is more effective as a treatment Plant as it reduces moisture by only 1.5 - 2.0% at highest head rice yield recovery. An empirical model was successfully established (R2 = 0.99) for grain moisture content (db) and drying temperature during high-temperature processing. In model validation process, a good agreement was found between predicted and experimental data. The modelling between head rice yield and high-temperature drying was unsuccessful (R2 = 0.89) mainly due the interference from other factors such as initial moisture stress due to re-wetting and uncontrolled post treatment drying environment conditions. The study revealed some breakthrough for the rice industry in addition to its quantitative evaluation of increase in head rice yield. 1. Ability to produce grains with twice the toughness of milled untreated rice, without losing colour and appearance. 2. Fissured grains, previously weakened due to moisture-stress (considered as a loss), can be successfully recovered by treating this high-temperature technique. Currently there is no method available to increase the head rice yield of this type of fissured grains except parboiling, which is not widely accepted among consumers. 3. Drying at 200??C drying temperature completely destroyed the viability of seeds within 40 -60 seconds, hence providing a remedy for germination problems in wet harvests. 4. Since high-temperature drying needs wet rough rice, early harvesting can be done which will reduce shattering losses. This enable the farmers to use the field for an inter-seasonal crop which can utilise higher residual soil moisture in the paddy fields compared to other crops.

Photocopy of typescript / v, 182 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Organic Chemistry, 1981

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Organic Chemistry, 1981. / Photocopy of typescript.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nebraska, 1925. / Cover title. Published also without thesis note. By Frank C. Jean and John E. Weaver. Bibliography: p. 66.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008. / Title from title screen (site viewed Feb. 17, 2009). PDF text: 196 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 2 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3324854. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Early yield prediction of a maize crop is important for planning and policy decisions. Many countries, including South Africa use the conventional techniques of data collection for maize crop monitoring and yield estimation which are based on ground-based visits and reports. These methods are subjective, very costly and time consuming. Empirical models have been developed using weather data. These are also associated with a number of problems due to the limited spatial distribution of weather stations. Efforts are being made to improve the accuracy and timeliness of yield prediction methods. With the launching of satellites, satellite data are being used for maize crop monitoring and yield prediction. Many studies have revealed that there is a correlation between remotely sensed data (vegetation indices) and crop yields. The satellite based approaches are less expensive, save time, data acquisition covers large areas and can be used to estimate maize grain yields before harvest. This study applied Landsat 8 satellite based vegetation indices, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) and Moisture Stress Index (MSI) to predict maize crop yield. These vegetation indices were derived at different growth stages. The investigation was carried out in the Kopanong Local Municipality of the Free State Province, South Africa. Ground-based data (actual harvested maize yields) was collected from Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). Satellite images were acquired from Geoterra Image (Pty) Ltd and weather data was from the South African Weather Service (SAWS). Multilinear regression approaches were used to relate yields to the remotely sensed indices and meteorological data was used during the development of yield estimation models. The results showed that there are significant correlations between remotely sensed vegetation indices and maize grain yield; up to 63 percent maize yield was predicted from vegetation indices. The study also revealed that NDVI and SAVI are better yield predictors at reproductive growth stages of maize and MSI is a better index to estimate maize yield at both vegetative and reproductive growth stages. The results obtained in this study indicated that maize grain yields can be estimated using satellite indices at different maize growth stages.

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