Vol 43, No 4 (2017)

The influence of the new generation preparations is studied: liquid multicomponent mineral fertilizers Kuprotsin, Khelatonik, Intermag Profi cereals, organic fertilizers Bioplant Flora, organomineral fertilizers Sufler, biostumulator NV-101 in the form of seed treatment, and foliar dressing for yield and grain quality of the spring barley varieties in the in the drought conditions (hydrothermal coefficient (HTC) of the vegetation period was 0.4–0.7). It is shown that the foliar dressings positively affect the productivity of the barley varieties providing sufficient nutrition to the plants. The individual reaction of Povolzhskii 65, Kazak, Volgar, and Povolzhskii 16 varieties are revealed to the productivity, physical properties, and grain quality with the use of the modern preparations. Volgar and Kazak varieties with the annual yield increase up to 25% are the most sensitive.

The results of breeding and cultivar studies of stone fruit crops (sweet cherry, cherry, plum) under conditions of the south of Russia are presented. Characteristics and properties of new-generation cultivars significant for breeding are determined, differing from those of analogues by adaptability to the stresses of the southern region, productivity, and fruit quality. The most promising cultivars of sweet cherry, cherry, and plum bred at the North Caucasus Zonal Research Institute of Horticulture and Viticulture with a set of traits economically valuable and significant for breeding are identified; they make it possible to expand the domestic assortment and create modern fruit orchards of stone fruit crops in the southern regions of the Russian Federation.

The potential of crop yields illustrates the possibilities of increasing their production in the future. Modeling of potential yield of winter wheat on the European part of Russia was conducted based on specially developed GIS and the WOFOST crop growth simulation model. It was found that the winter wheat yield for Russia in general can be increased by 70% in the modern climatic conditions. The maximal potential for yield increasing was found in the regions situated on the Northern edge of the crop cultivation. In the Northern Caucasus, real crop yield is close to the climatic maximum; however, due to large crop acreage in Krasnodar krai, Stavropol krai, and Rostov and Volgograd oblasts, wheat harvest in each region can still be increased by 1–3 mln tons in each of them.

Analogs of juvenile hormones (JHAs)—azadirachtin (NeemAzal, EC (10 g/L), fenoxycarb (Phasis, WP (250 g/kg), and pyriproxyfen (Admiral, EC (100 g/L) and Inoxyfen, EC (100 g/L)—have been tested. The effectiveness of insectoacaricide NeemAzal in regulating the population numbers of sucking insects was assessed using glasshouse cucumber in Leningrad oblast. Three applications of this product in 0.5% concentration effectively protected this culture against red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch.) and onion thrips (Thrips tabaci Lind) and, less significantly, against melon aphid (Aphis gossypii Glov). Insecticide Phasis protected vineyards against European vine moth (Lobesia botrana Den&Schiff). Juvenoid Admiral effectively decreased the number of imagoes and larvae of greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum Wsfw.) in glasshouse cucumber and tomato in different regions of Russia, while Inoxyfen protected apples against codling moth (Cydia pomonella). The tested products belong to the group of biorational pesticides that can be used in ecologically sound systems of plant protection.

It is found that a more environmentally efficient nitrogen balance on sod-podzolic soil of a slope develops after incorporation of clover biomass. Oat plants utilize 37% of clover N on the crest-close slope and 25% in its lower part; in this case, 55 and 50% N, respectively, become soil-stabilized; 8 and 25% N are lost. Minimum nitrogen quantity is used up by oats from organic sources after incorporating timothy biomass; the maximum of 69 and 59% become soil-stabilized, its highest losses reaching 14–27%.

Genotyping of the leptin gene locus (LEP) (SNP: R25C, Y7F, and A80V) has been performed in the animals from two groups in the Holstein cattle herd. Groups 1 and 2 included the fourth to seventh lactation cows and the heifers, respectively. The objective of the surveys was to study the Holstein cattle polymorphisms of the leptin gene associated with the productive longevity according to the related literature data. It has been ascertained that the LEP gene (SNP: R25C, Y7F, and A80V) polymorphism in the Holstein animals determines the certain breed characteristics that can be used for introduction to marker assisted selection. (Particularly, a low (0.04–0.15) frequency of occurrence of the F allele is typical for the LEP-Y7F SNP; as for SNP LEP-A80V, a low frequency of occurrence (0–0.14) is typical for the homozygous animals with the VV genotype when compared to a rather high frequency of occurrence (0.36–0.45) in the heterozygous animals).

The study on the cattle immune system is directed at finding out the ways to improve the breeding values of animals and to perform the timely correction of the immunopathological disorders. In an immune system imbalance, the trend toward strengthening the correlations along with complicating their structures in order to compensate the defects is recorded. Various effects on the animal organisms induce both the shift in the parameters and the change in the strength and the amount of their correlations; the functional relationships change. The correlations between the immunological parameters, which are the most significant for the adequate functions in an organism, have been ascertained. The correlation profiles of the cattle immune system have been determined.

This report analyzes some data on the effect of management of animals γ-irradiated with doses causing mild, moderate, or severe acute radiation sickness and pigs being the carriers of some virulent ASF virus pathogens of serotypes I and IV (namely, strains 0–77 and Diamang) as observed 2 h or 3 to 34 days after the irradiation procedure had started. When the animals were radiated combined with their infection with virulent ASF virus strains, a more severe course of the infection was observed, whereas the infection development with a background of radiation injury made the radiation sickness more violent. The ASF virus accumulation levels in blood, organs, and/or tissues of the irradiated animals were reliably higher (namely, by approximately 1.0 to 1.5 log HAU₅₀/cm³) than those for nonirradiated ones.

Physicochemical properties of nutritional supplements, such as apple, Jerusalem artichoke, and black currant cryogenic powder, were studied by adiabatic calorimetry in the range of 80–320 K and differential thermal analysis in the range of 80–400 K. Temperatures of relaxation transitions and influence of water on these transitions were determined. In thermograms, completely dehydrated samples demonstrated several relaxation transitions (γ-, β-, α₁ and α₂), which are caused by the presence in the studied nutritional supplements of some polysaccharides. The water has a plasticizing effect on nutritional supplements and lowers their relaxation transition temperature. By melting enthalpy of the water phase, which is insoluble in cryogenic powder, the concentration of the saturated solution of water in cryogenic powder at the melting point of water using a calorimetric method was determined (22 ± 1 mass % H₂O in cryogenic powder from apple; 19 ± 1 mass % H₂O in Jerusalem artichoke; 24.1 ± 0.1 mass % from black currant). The diagram of physical states of cryogenic powder from an apple–water system was constructed and analyzed in a wide temperature range and over the entire range of concentrations of ingredients.

It is known that brass is the construction material widely used when manufacturing agricultural equipment. An effective volatile inhibitor is offered to protect it from corrosion in the atmosphere of the livestock premises with 100% and close to it relative humidity of the air containing the stimulators of this process—CO₂, NH₃, H2S—in the concentrations that multiply exceed the background ones. A range of methods—weight corrosion tests and electrochemical measurements (potentiodynamic polarization, polarization resistance, fixed in the automatic mode)—define the conditions under which the inhibitors of the IFKHAN series multiply slow down the corrosion of brass. The general corrosion rate of L62 brass is decreased ten times in the presence of all studied inhibitors of this series in the atmosphere containing up to 20 mg/m³ of H₂S and 100% relative humidity. It is most reasonable to use the IFKHAN-112 inhibitor with the ammonia content up to 30 mg/m₃ in the maximum humid atmosphere.

The physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets dietary needs and food preferences of people for an active and healthy life is termed food security. Household food security means applying this concept to all its members without the undue risk of losing the access. This study examined the food security status of rural households in Ondo State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 72 households across 6 communities from the study area. Data were collected from respondents with the aid of a carefully designed interview guide and presented using descriptive statistics. The Household Food Security Survey Measure (HFSSM) was used to measure household food security status. The average age of the respondents was 45 years and had an average of 6 years of formal education. Average household size was 7 persons. Predominant occupation for the men was farming, while that of women was trading. The respondents' average monthly income was N 33439. The HFSSM revealed that 45.8% of the households were food insecure with severe hunger while 34.7% were with moderate hunger, 8.3% of the respondents were food insecure without hunger. Though 8.3% of the households were food secure, another 2.8% were food secure at risk. The study recommends well planned and focused food security programmes and intensification of rural empowerment schemes.