Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2020
Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
From a theoretical perspective, it is well stated that the farm's decision on the use of inputs depends on the farmer's ability to make an efficient decision over time. The existing literature in performance analysis of the dairy farms based on static modeling and thus ignores the inter-temporal nature of production decisions. This paper aims to construct a dynamic stochastic production frontier incorporating the sluggish adjustment of inputs, to measure the performance of dairy farms in Norway. The empirical application focused on the farm-level analysis of the Norwegian dairy sector for 2000- 2018. The dynamic frontier estimated using the system Generalized Method of Moments estimator. The analysis shows that the static model in the previous studies underestimates the performance of the dairy farms.
Abstract
This paper analyses two strategies to reduce the use of pesticides in grain production. We study Norwegian farmers’ willingness to voluntarily forego income by reducing pesticide use as well as their responses to a doubling of the pesticide price (through increased pesticide taxes). We use mixed methods including an experiment, a survey and focus group discussions. The experiment shows that most farmers are willing to sacrifice some income to reduce environmental risks by using less pesticide. According to the survey, they are, at the same time, relatively insensitive to a 100% price increase on herbicides and fungicides. While the response to the price increase probably would have been stronger if differentiated between chemicals, our research indicates potential benefits from supporting voluntary action. Value orientations and agronomic conditions influence the stated responses in both circumstances. Respondents emphasizing environmental values are more willing to voluntarily reduce pesticide use and show a greater response to the economic incentive than farmers emphasizing economic outcome and issues such as clean fields. A hypothesized willingness to reduce pesticide use voluntarily to strengthen the reputation of the sector was, however, rejected. Farmers appear to have few alternatives to pesticides, but increased knowledge about the alternatives that do exist, seems able to promote some change. Our findings suggest that the extension service should put greater emphasis on these options, even if they may have negative effects on income.
Authors
Tor J. Johansen Anne-Marie Cortesero Michael T. Gaffney Richard Meadow Quentin Schorpp Rosemary CollierAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Phosphorus retention and bank erosion was investigated in two types of buffer zones in cereal fields in Norway: zones used for grass production and zones with natural vegetation. Farmers’ views on the two types of buffer zones were collected through questionnaires and indepth interviews. Our results indicate that the grassed buffer zones had higher levels of plant-available phosphorus and lower infiltration rates than the natural ones. Bank erosion was higher in zones with grass production than those with trees. Interviews with farmers revealed diverging opinions on the zones. Most farmers were sceptical to natural vegetation with trees, whereas farmers who had already planted trees in the riparian zones were generally satisfied. Buffer zones can have many different functions, and we conclude that a holistic approach is needed when assessing the usefulness of this measure, taking into account water quality, biodiversity and the production of food, fodder and biomass.
Authors
Ranjana Pathak Åshild Ergon Arne Stensvand Hans Ragnar Gislerød Knut Asbjørn Solhaug Lance Cadle-Davidson Aruppillai SuthaparanAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
David M. Geiser Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi Takayuki Aoki Tsutomu Arie Virgilio Balmas Irene Barnes Gary C. Bergstrom Madan K. Bhattacharyya Cheryl L. Blomquist Robert L. Bowden Balázs Brankovics Daren W. Brown Lester W. Burgess Kathryn Bushley Mark Busman José F. Cano-Lira Joseph D. Carrillo Hao-Xun Chang Chi-Yu Chen Wanquan Chen Martin Chilvers Sofia Chulze Jeffrey J. Coleman Christina A. Cuomo Z. Wilhelm De Beer G. Sybren de Hoog Johanna Del Castillo-Múnera Emerson M. Del Ponte Javier Diéguez-Uribeondo Antonio Di Pietro Véronique Edel-Hermann Wade H. Elmer Lynn Epstein Akif Eskalen Maria Carmela Esposto Kathryne L. Everts Sylvia P. Fernández-Pavía Gilvan Ferreira da Silva Nora A. Foroud Gerda Fourie Rasmus J. N. Frandsen Stanley Freeman Michael Freitag Omer Frenkel Kevin K. Fuller Tatiana Gagkaeva Donald M. Gardiner Anthony E. Glenn Scott E. Gold Thomas R. Gordon Nancy F. Gregory Marieka Gryzenhout Josep Guarro Beth K. Gugino Santiago Gutierrez Kim E. Hammond-Kosack Linda J. Harris Mónika Homa Cheng-Fang Hong László Hornok Jenn-Wen Huang Macit Ilkit Adriaana Jacobs Karin Jacobs Cong Jiang María del Mar Jiménez-Gasco Seogchan Kang Matthew T. Kasson Kemal Kazan John C. Kennell Hye-Seon Kim H. Corby Kistler Gretchen A. Kuldau Tomasz Kulik Oliver Kurzai Imane Laraba Matthew H. Laurence Theresa Lee Yin-won Lee Yong-Hwan Lee John F. Leslie Edward C.Y. Liew Lily W. Lofton Antonio F. Logrieco Manuel S. López-Berges Alicia G. Luque Erik Lysøe Li-Jun Ma Robert E. Marra Frank N. Martin Sara R. May Susan P. McCormick Chyanna McGee Jacques F. Meis Quirico Migheli N. M. I. Mohamed Nor Michel Monod Antonio Moretti Diane Mostert Giuseppina Mulè Françoise Munaut Gary P. Munkvold Paul Nicholson Marcio Nucci Kerry O’Donnell Matias Pasquali Ludwig H. Pfenning Anna Prigitano Robert H. Proctor Stéphane Ranque Stephen A. Rehner Martijn Rep Gerardo Rodríguez-Alvarado Lindy Joy Rose Mitchell G. Roth Carmen Ruiz-Roldan Amgad A. Saleh Baharuddin Salleh Hyunkyu Sang María Mercedes Scandiani Jonathan Scauflaire David G. Schmale III Dylan P. G. Short Adnan Šišić Jason A. Smith Christopher W. Smyth Hokyoung Son Ellie Spahr Jason E. Stajich Emma T. Steenkamp Christian Steinberg Rajagopal Subramaniam Haruhisa Suga Brett A. Summerell Antonella Susca Cassandra L. Swett Christopher Toomajian Terry J. Torres-Cruz Anna M. Tortorano Martin Urban Lisa J. Vaillancourt Gary E. Vallad Theo A. J. van der Lee Dan Vanderpool Anne D. van Diepeningen Martha M. Vaughan Eduard Venter Marcele Vermeulen Paul E. Verweij Altus Viljoen Cees Waalwijk Emma C. Wallace Grit Walther Jie Wang Todd J. Ward Brian L. Wickes Nathan P. Wiederhold Michael J. Wingfield Ana K. M. Wood Jin-Rong Xu Xiao-Bing Yang Tapani Yli-Mattila Sung-Hwan Yun Latiffah Zakaria Hao Zhang Ning Zhang Sean X. Zhang Xue ZhangAbstract
Scientific communication is facilitated by a data-driven, scientifically sound taxonomy that considers the end-user's needs and established successful practice. Previously (Geiser et al. 2013; Phytopathology 103:400-408. 2013), the Fusarium community voiced near unanimous support for a concept of Fusarium that represented a clade comprising all agriculturally and clinically important Fusarium species, including the F. solani Species Complex (FSSC). Subsequently, this concept was challenged by one research group (Lombard et al. 2015 Studies in Mycology 80: 189-245) who proposed dividing Fusarium into seven genera, including the FSSC as the genus Neocosmospora, with subsequent justification based on claims that the Geiser et al. (2013) concept of Fusarium is polyphyletic (Sandoval-Denis et al. 2018; Persoonia 41:109-129). Here we test this claim, and provide a phylogeny based on exonic nucleotide sequences of 19 orthologous protein-coding genes that strongly support the monophyly of Fusarium including the FSSC. We reassert the practical and scientific argument in support of a Fusarium that includes the FSSC and several other basal lineages, consistent with the longstanding use of this name among plant pathologists, medical mycologists, quarantine officials, regulatory agencies, students and researchers with a stake in its taxonomy. In recognition of this monophyly, 40 species recently described as Neocosmospora were recombined in Fusarium, and nine others were renamed Fusarium. Here the global Fusarium community voices strong support for the inclusion of the FSSC in Fusarium, as it remains the best scientific, nomenclatural and practical taxonomic option available.
Authors
Arne StensvandAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Sharad Mohan K. Kiran Kumar Vivek Sutar Supradip Saha Janet Rowe Keith DaviesAbstract
Phytonematodes are globally important functional components of the belowground ecology in both natural and agricultural soils; they are a diverse group of which some species are economically important pests, and environmentally benign control strategies are being sought to control them. Using eco-evolutionary theory, we test the hypothesis that root-exudates of host plants will increase the ability of a hyperparasitic bacteria, Pasteuria penetrans and other closely related bacteria, to infect their homologous pest nematodes, whereas non-host root exudates will not. Plant root-exudates from good hosts, poor hosts and non-hosts were characterized by gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC/MS) and we explore their interaction on the attachment of the hyperparasitic bacterial endospores to homologous and heterologous pest nematode cuticles. Although GC/MS did not identify any individual compounds as responsible for changes in cuticle susceptibility to endospore adhesion, standardized spore binding assays showed that Pasteuria endospore adhesion decreased with nematode age, and that infective juveniles pre-treated with homologous host root-exudates reduced the aging process and increased attachment of endospores to the nematode cuticle, whereas non-host root-exudates did not. We develop a working model in which plant root exudates manipulate the nematode cuticle aging process, and thereby, through increased bacterial endospore attachment, increase bacterial infection of pest nematodes. This we suggest would lead to a reduction of plant-parasitic nematode burden on the roots and increases plant fitness. Therefore, by the judicious manipulation of environmental factors produced by the plant root and by careful crop rotation this knowledge can help in the development of environmentally benign control strategies.
Authors
Nobertas Uselis Jonas Viškelis Juozas Lanauskas Mindaugas Liaudanskas Valdimaras Janulis Darius KviklysAbstract
A study on the influence of planting distances on the growth, productivity and fruit quality of dwarf apple trees in a 15- to 18-year-old orchard was carried out at the Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry. Trees of the apple (Malus × domestica Borkh) cultivar ‘Auksis’ on rootstock P 60 were planted at distances of 3 × 1.5, 3 × 1.25, 3 × 1.00 m and 3 × 0.75 m. With increasing density of fruit trees, single-tree growth, generative development and yield were significantly reduced. The opposite results were obtained when these parameters were evaluated per unit area. Yield and fruit quality measurements were made at two canopy heights: 0–1.5 and 1.5–2.5 m. In the upper part of the fruit tree canopy, fruit average weight and diameter were higher, while the colour was more intense and less dependent on the planting density of fruit trees. In the lower part of the canopy, fruit quality was inferior and with increasing fruit tree density it further deteriorated. Planting distances had a significant effect on the accumulation of sugar, soluble solids and dry matter content: greater planting distances resulted in increased sugar content from 10.97% to 11.90%, soluble solids – from 12.30% to 13.17% and dry matter content – from 13.80% to 14.80%. Conversely, higher accumulation of phenolic and triterpenic compounds in apple fruits was found with decreasing planting distances. A significant increase of phenolic compounds from 2.91 up to 4.03 mg g-1 DW (dry weight) was recorded at the upper part of the canopy, while an increase of triterpens from 12.9 up to 16.07 mg g-1 DW – at the lower part of the canopy. The best productivity and fruit quality of ‘Auksis’ apple trees on P 60 rootstock at the full bearing stage were obtained, when fruit trees had been spaced at 3 × 1.25 m. Key words: fruit biochemical composition, fruit colour, Malus × domestica, planting system.