The objective of this study was to assess the fermentation profile, chemical composition, aerobic stability and taxonomic diversity of corn grain silages rehydrated with water or cactus pear. Two rehydration methods were tested: corn grain silage rehydrated with water (CW) and corn grain silage rehydrated with cactus pear (CCP), each subjected to four opening times (30, 60, 90 and 120 days). The experiment employed a 2 × 4 factorial completely randomized design (two rehydration methods and four opening times) with four repetitions, units 32 experimental units. pH values were higher in water-rehydrated corn grain silage compared to cactus pear-rehydrated silage at 60 (average of 4.78 and 4.33) and 90 days (average of 4.33 and 3.83). For NH3-N, CW surpassed CCP at 30 days (average of 0.73% and 0.63%) and 60 days (average of 1.09% and 0.74%), respectively. Regarding rehydration, CCP had a higher dry matter (DM) content at 30 and 60 days, while CW showed the highest DM content at 90 and 120 days. Initially, the microbiota of CW and CCP treatments differed, primarily in the abundance of the Weissella genus, more abundant in CCP. However, from 30 to 120 days, microbiotas in all treatments became taxonomically similar, with no significant differences. Both silage experienced an increase in bacteria of the Lactobacillus genus. The use of cactus pear for rehydration in ensiling rehydrated corn grain is viable, showing superior results for fermentation profile and aerobic stability compared to water rehydration. It is recommended to open the silo after 60 days of fermentation.

Elephant grass [Cenchrus purpureus (Schum.) Morrone] is a tropical forage grass widely used in ruminant feeding in tropical and subtropical areas, mainly in cut-and-carry systems due to is high potential for herbage accumulation. However, most common genotypes (tall genotypes) generally show an early stem elongation, which contributes to a rapid decline in the forage nutritive value. Dwarf elephant grass types usually present less stem elongation and may be considered an option for the production of high nutritive value forage in cut-and-carry systems. The aims of this study were to evaluate and explain variations in herbage characteristics and kinetics of in vitro gas production of irrigated elephant grass genotypes (two tall-types – Elephant B and IRI-381 – and two dwarf-types genotypes – Mott and Taiwan A-146 2.37) under two harvest frequencies (60 and 90 days) in the dry and rainy seasons of two years. Herbage characteristics varied among genotypes, harvest frequency and seasons. Dwarf genotypes showed better in vitro fermentation parameters with the advancement of maturity compared to the tall size genotypes. Harvesting tall genotypes at a higher frequency (60-day) contributed to improving the fermentation, while dwarf elephant grass maintained greater fermentation when less frequent harvests were adopted (90-day).

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a vital legume crop with significant global importance, yet its productivity is highly sensitive to environmental variability. This study employed advanced statistical modelling to identify key environmental drivers of chickpea yield and water-use efficiency (WUE). Field trial data from 29 experiments across 10 Australian locations were analysed, focusing on 19 climatic variables across four growth stages: sowing to flowering, flowering to podding, podding to maturity and the critical period around flowering. Using correlation analysis and Exclusive LASSO regression, the study quantified relationships between environmental factors, growth stages and chickpea performance metrics. Key findings identified soil evaporation and soil moisture supply-demand ratio during the sowing-to-flowering stage, along with frost during the critical period, as significant determinants of yield. Frost negatively impacted WUE across multiple growth stages, while mean photothermal quotient during early growth positively influenced transpiration-based WUE. Predictive models developed using daily climate data demonstrated strong performance (R2 > 0.68–0.72) for yield and WUE predictions. The study provides actionable insights for optimising chickpea production under varying environmental conditions, offering practical tools for farmers and agronomists to enhance crop management strategies, supporting sustainable and profitable chickpea farming in Australia and beyond.

Soil health is essential for a resilient ecosystem. The European Union proposed a Soil Monitoring Law for a legal framework of soil health. This study proposes a way to assess the mineral soil health. A database of mineral soils containing <20% organic matter and consisting of 10 soil classes and 22 soil types was used. There were four altitudinal groups (HM [high mountains], LM [low mountains and high hills], LH [low hills], PL [low plains]), covering the vegetation/climate floors, two land uses (forestland and grassland combined and cropland) and three soil textures (coarse [CO], loamy [LO] and clayey [CL]). Both soil organic carbon (SOC)/clay ratios and observed per mean SOC (O/M SOC) ratios were calculated for 19 regions. For SOC/clay, the 1/13, 1/10 and 1/8 thresholds were used, whereas O/M SOC categories were grouped as ‘low’, ‘intermediate’, ‘high’ and ‘very high’ health. SOC/clay and O/M SOC ratios combined were used to characterize soil health. SOC sequestration depends on many factors that are specific for each pedo-climatic region and texture and so is the soil characterization as healthy or not healthy. The recommended simultaneous application of these two indicators revealed specific SOC content values as reference levels for good soil health, which decrease from the wetter climates towards the drier ones. SOC content considerably differed among pedo-climatic regions, and soil health should be compared within the same regions that have specific SOC sequestration conditions. Correlations between support points SOC values and the aridity index allow separation between ‘healthy’ and ‘non-healthy’ soil conditions for any climate, vegetation floor and land use.

This study evaluated the effects of combining Bacillus species with hydrolysed and inactive Torula yeast on rumen fermentation of tropical forages in vitro. Exp. 1 assessed different combinations of direct-fed microbials (DFM) and hydrolysed/inactive yeast on the ruminal fermentation of Urochloa brizantha hay in a randomised block design (3×3 factorial scheme). Treatments included: 1) Negative control, no DFM inclusion (NC); 2) B. subtilis and B. licheniformis (SL); 3) B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. amyloliquefaciens and B. coagulans (SLAC); 4) Hydrolysed Torula yeast (HY); 5) dry inactive Torula yeast (IY); 6) B. subtilis, B. licheniformis and dry inactive Torula yeast (SL+IY); 7) B. subtilis, B. licheniformis and hydrolysed Torula yeast (SL+HY); 8) B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. coagulans and dry inactive Torula yeast (SLAC+IY) and 9) B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. coagulans and hydrolysed Torula yeast (SLAC+HY). Bacillus and yeast interaction affected the total short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and SCFA profile. In treatments without Bacillus, IY resulted in higher isovalerate compared to treatments without yeast (NC). The no yeast treatment also had lower isovalerate concentration than other treatments (HY, IY). Exp. 2 and Exp. 3 evaluated NC, SL, SLAC, SL+HY and SLAC+IY plus SLAC+HY in low- and medium-quality forage. For low-quality forage, SLAC+IY + SLAC+HY had the highest NH3-N concentration, while SL+HY yielded the highest total SCFA. In medium-quality forage, SL+HY showed the highest total SCFA. The combination of Bacillus species and HY may enhance total SCFA and NH3-N in the rumen, improving nutrient utilisation in grazing beef cattle.

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is an important oilseed crop with notable economic and nutritional value; however, its productivity in newly reclaimed soils is hindered by nutrient deficiencies and complex soil conditions. This study examined the combined effects of magnesium (Mg) fertilisation and zinc (Zn) foliar applications on the growth, yield and oil quality of canola in newly reclaimed soils in Egypt during the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 growing seasons. A split-plot experimental design was utilised, featuring Mg rates (12, 24, 48 and 72 kg/ha) as main plots and Zn foliar applications (0, 3, 5 and 6 g/L) as sub-plots. The results indicated significant improvements in plant growth characteristics, yield components and oil parameters with elevated levels of Mg and Zn. The treatment combination of 72 kg Mg/ha and 6 g/L Zn consistently improved plant height, number of primary branches, siliques per plant and 1000-seed weight in both seasons. Seed yield increased by 71%, achieving 3.50 t/ha, while oil yield exhibited a 134.9% rise, reaching 1,377.43 kg/ha. Principal component analysis revealed that the increased application of Mg and Zn significantly enhanced agronomic performance, with the first two principal components accounting for 90.7% of the total variance. Correlation and path analyses revealed intricate interactions among traits, with the number of siliques per plant and oil content demonstrating the most significant direct effects on seed and oil yields. This study highlights the significance of balanced nutrient management for optimising canola productivity.

To manage anaerobic digestion residues (digestate) sustainably, it is important to determine their agricultural properties. In the present study, the effects of two digestate fractions (solid and liquid) on processing tomato yield parameters, quality traits, health-related compounds and some fruit physiological disorders were evaluated. The solid and liquid digestate fractions were compared with chemically fertilized and unfertilized control to evaluate the potential of the digestate as a fertilizer. A 2-year experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design, with three replications and using two tomato varieties: cv. ‘Arte F1’ and cv. ‘Zeplin F1’. The results indicated that (1) compared with chemical fertilizer, the solid digestate produced equal or even better results in terms of fruit size, yield parameters (solid digestate treatment increased the total fruit weight per plant by an average of 30.7, 8.2 and 22.4% in 2019 and 25.3, 14.2 and 17.9% in 2022 compared with control, chemical fertilizer and liquid treatments, respectively) and percentage of fruit affected by sunscald and blossom-end rot in both years; (2) use of liquid digestate led to similar or significantly higher fruit size, yield parameters and percentage of fruit affected by sunscald and blossom-end rot than control in both years and (3) use of both solid and liquid digestate fractions significantly maintained or improved fruit quality in terms of colour traits, pericarp thickness, dry matter content, total soluble solid content, titratable acidity, pH, vitamin C and antioxidant activity. However, the effects of solid and liquid digestate fractions varied with year and variety.

Cephalaria joppensis Rchb. (CJ) has recently been domesticated as a new forage crop in Israel. Feeding trials with dairy cows and sheep have shown that CJ silage can replace wheat silage for these animals. The current work tested the effect of row spacing on the growth, yield, chemical composition and digestibility of CJ for forage. Two field trials were performed at a research farm in Acre to test three row spacings: (T1) 16 cm between rows (narrow row spacing), (T2) pairs of adjacent (16 cm apart) rows with 32 cm spacing between pairs (alternated row spacing) and (T3) 32 cm between rows (wide row spacing). T1 row spacing had the advantage of a better area coverage rate, which may be beneficial at the beginning of growth, reflected by the rapid establishment of the plants in the field, as well as in the competition with weeds. The growth rate was more significant in T2 and T3 row spacings. In the first year, a higher yield was obtained for T2 and T3 row spacings; in the second year, no differences in yield were found among the row spacing treatments. Row spacing did not affect the plant’s digestibility or chemical nutrition for ruminants. There was no uniformity in plant quality among the cultivars between the two years. Thus, we should define the phenological stages of Cephalaria joppensis and their relationship to nutritional quality at different sites having different climate conditions, in both small and semi-commercial plots.

The facilities where the livestock carry their production cycle must have as their main characteristic the control of the influence of variation of environmental factors on the animals, which can be controlled through the use of different ventilation systems. In this way, the objective of this research was to evaluate the influence of different conditioning systems in the swine farrowing house. Three treatments were tested in a farrowing house located in Parana, Brazil: refrigerated ventilation (T1), forced ventilation (T2) and natural ventilation (T3), on 12 females with 11 piglets each. The climatic parameters evaluated were temperature, velocity and relative humidity of the air. For the females were analysed the parameters: surface temperature (laser thermometer and thermal image), average weight and feed conversion at the end of lactation; and for the piglets: surface temperature (thermal image), average weight and weekly feed conversion. The data were interpreted statistically by analysis of variance and Tukey’s test with 5% probability of error, using the program SAS (2008). The use of the refrigerated ventilation system decreased the temperature of the air and the superficial temperature of the females, without affecting the comfort of the piglets. There was no difference in the productive indexes of the animals, thus other aspects of the production chain could be explored to reflect a higher financial gain.

The presence of excessive arsenic (As) in paddy fields poses a significant risk to human health due to its accumulation in rice grains. However, the current level of As in Sri Lankan paddy fields remains unclear. Therefore, this research aims to assess the distribution of exchangeable As concentration and investigate the effects of agro-climatic zones (ACZs), soil orders and water sources on exchangeable As concentration in Sri Lankan paddy fields. For this purpose, 7,154 soil samples were collected from paddy fields using a stratified random sampling method representing six ACZs, six soil orders and three water sources. Arsenic extraction was made using 0.01 M CaCl2 followed by the detection with inductive coupled plasma mass spectrophotometry. The concentration of exchangeable As ranged from 0.01 to 392.9 µg/kg with an average of 24.6 µg/kg. Samples from the Low-country Wet zone exhibited higher exchangeable As levels compared to those from the Low country Dry zone (P < 0.05). Among soil orders, Histosols, Inceptisols and Ultisols showed higher exchangeable As concentrations than Alfisols and Vertisols (P < 0.05). Rainfed paddy fields had higher exchangeable As compared to the fields with access to supplementary irrigation. Additionally, exchangeable As concentration was inversely correlated with soil pH and paddy grain yield (P < 0.05). The observed variations in soil-As concentration across ACZs, soil orders and water sources highlight the need for climate, soil order and water source-specific strategies to mitigate further accumulation of As in paddy fields.

Extreme weather events caused by climate change, such as drought and heavy rainfall, will further increase in Central Europe in the near future. Resilient crop production requires in-depth knowledge of soil moisture (SM), its spatial and temporal variability and the dynamics of agriculturally used land. In the current study, different SM estimation methods, including measurement and simulation-based methods, were evaluated over a 17-ha experimental arable crop field with respect to their abilities to capture the spatial and temporal SM dynamics of within-field areas and their related uncertainty and spatial representativeness. The high-spatial resolution in-situ topsoil moisture measurements (50 m grid) were compared with the estimated SM from satellite-based remote sensing (S1ASCAT) and the simulated SM from three different crop water balance models (Agricultural Risk Information System [ARIS], AquaCrop and DSSAT). The evaluation revealed that the spatial variability in the experimental field obtained from the reference could not be captured by the alternative methods investigated because of the limitations of the grid size-related soil map information. Nevertheless, the analysis revealed a very good temporal correlation of SM dynamics with the field area average across all approaches, with AquaCrop and ARIS at a soil depth of 0–10 cm and S1ASCAT soil–water index 05 achieving a R2 and a Kling–Gupta efficiency >0.80. These results indicate the added value of complementary methods for estimating SM to reduce spatial and temporal uncertainties in the estimated topsoil water content.

Pearl millet is a vital nutri-cereal that serves as a staple food and a significant source of calories for millions of people in arid and semi-arid tropical regions. The present work aims to conduct various genetic interpretations using six generations of six crosses, which were evaluated during the South-west monsoon season 2021 and 2022 at IARI, New Delhi, India for different biochemical traits. Amylose content (AC) among all the genotypes varied from 21.3–26.4g/100g, starch content (SC) from 56.1–71.0g/100g, oil content from 5.37–13.2g/100g, total protein content from 5.7–14.7g/100g, phytic acid content from 0.86–1.01g/100g and total phenolic content (TPhC) from 0.06–0.19g/100g. Seed yield per spike (SYS) showed positive correlation with thousand seed weight (TSW) and SC while there was negative correlation with protein content. Significant variation was observed for almost all the traits except in a few cases. AC and SC were governed by both additive and dominant gene actions. However, phytic acid, TPhC, TSW and SYS exhibited a stronger bias towards dominant gene action, therefore selection can be delayed to later generations to achieve greater homozygosity and trait stability. In contrast, oil and protein content were primarily controlled by additive effects, indicating that early-generation selection may prove beneficial for identifying superior breeding lines.

The study investigated the effects of replacing maize with enzyme-supplemented Dried Date Fruit Pulp (DDFP) in the diets of broiler chickens. 576-day-old commercial broiler chicks (Arbor Acre Plus) were randomly selected and distributed into 8 treatment groups of 72 birds each. Each treatment was divided into six replicates of 12 birds on a weight-equalisation basis. The treatments consisted of 4 levels of DDFP (0, 100, 200 and 300 g/kg) and 2 levels of enzyme supplementation (with or without). The data obtained were subjected to an Analysis of Variance in a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement. Birds fed 300 g/kg DDFP recorded the least weight gain (971 g) and final weight (1013 g) across the treatments at the starter phase, while there were no significant (P > 0.05) differences in the final weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio of birds fed with DDFP and maize-based diets at the finisher phase. DDFP inclusion reduced the experimental birds’ feeding cost (NGN/kg) and cost/kg weight gain (NGN/kg WG). Enzyme supplementation increased serum protein and glucose concentrations. Reduced (P < 0.05) EE and CF digestibility coefficients were seen in birds fed 30% DDFP at the finisher phase. Carcass indices, ileal digesta viscosity and caecal total bacteria were not negatively influenced. It was concluded that DDFP could replace up to 200 g/kg maize in broiler chicken diets at the starter phase and up to 300 g/kg at the finisher phase without any deleterious effects on health and performance.

In this study, the effects of wheat-based diets processed in a hammer mill with different sieve diameters (4000 (fine), 5000 (medium) and 6000 (coarse) µm) and enzyme addition (0 and 300 g/ton) on the performance, slaughtering characteristics, tibia properties, jejunum morphology and pancreatic enzyme secretion in broilers (1–42 days) were tested in a 3×2 factorial design. A total of 480 one-day-old chickens were randomly distributed into 6 treatment groups of 5 replicates, each containing 16 birds. The performance of broilers was not affected by particle size. Dietary enzyme supplementation improved body weight on the 1–10th day period but did not affect other performance parameters. Thigh and abdominal fat increased with fine particle size, breast weight increased with medium particle size and gizzard weight increased with coarse particle size. Enzyme addition decreased the carcass and gizzard weights. Tibia breaking strength decreased with fine particle size. Tibia wall thickness and ash increased with enzyme addition. Pancreatic enzyme secretions increased in the coarse group and with enzyme supplementation. Jejunum histomorphology worsened with coarse particle size, while enzyme inclusion improved histomorphology. The interactions affected feed consumption (25–42nd day), feed conversion ratio (11–24th day), breast weight, tibia breaking strength and ash, pancreas weight, lipase activity and villus parameters. These findings demonstrated that coarse grinding of wheat-based diets improved bone development and pancreatic enzyme activity without affecting performance while worsening jejunum morphology. Enzyme addition positively affected bone and digestive system development.

The combination of the trend of Japanese food consumption with the health benefits of black rice is in high demand for rice consumers in Thailand. For this challenge, incorporation of desirable traits from tropical indica black rice, Riceberry and temperate japonica white rice, Akitakomachi was performed by pedigree selection with maker-assisted selection (MAS). The three candidate lines showed highly favourable agronomic characteristics and a high grain yield, with short grains and good cooking quality, similar to japonica rice, in a tropical climate. In addition, these lines showed black coloration of the pericarp, indicating high nutritional value and phytochemical, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities, similar to those of the Riceberry parent. In terms of the sensory testing of unpolished rice, two breeding lines; 69-1-1 and 72-4-3 showed higher scores than their parents. However, only 69-1-1 was identified as japonica type according to its genetic background. Therefore, this breeding programme can create black short grain rice variety adapted to a tropical environment, similar to japonica-type rice.

This study investigated the effects of enzyme and/or sodium butyrate supplementation on the performance, eggshell quality, pancreatic enzyme activities and jejunum histology of laying quails-fed diets containing sunflower meal (SFM). A total of 140 24-week-old quails were randomly allocated into five experimental groups with 14 replicates each. The treatment diets were: NC (negative control without SFM), PC (positive control with 25% SFM), PC+E (PC + 500 g/tonne multi-enzyme), PC+B (PC + 1000 g/tonne sodium butyrate) and PC+EB (PC + 500 g/tonne multi-enzyme + 1000 g/tonne sodium butyrate).

As a result of this study, egg production was significantly higher in PC, PC+E and PC+EB groups compared to NC, while feed intake increased in PC but decreased with enzyme and/or sodium butyrate supplementation. Eggshell-breaking strength was highest in PC+B, whereas eggshell ratio and thickness increased across all groups compared to NC. Pancreatic lipase activity increased in PC+E and PC+B, but pancreatic amylase and protease activities decreased in all treatments compared to NC. Villus height (VH) and crypt depth (CD) improved with enzyme and/or sodium butyrate supplementation, with villus width and surface area significantly greater in PC+E and PC+EB. However, the VH/CD ratio decreased in all groups except PC+EB. In conclusion, diets containing 25% SFM did not impair performance or egg quality and improved eggshell thickness and ratio. Enzyme and/or sodium butyrate supplementation reduced feed intake enhanced pancreatic lipase activity, decreased amylase and protease activities and improved jejunum histology, with sodium butyrate notably increasing eggshell-breaking strength.

A ruminant model, MINDY, was used to explore the impact of grazing patches of tannin-containing legumes on environmental impact of cows grazing on grass-dominated rangelands swards. MINDY was initialised as a pregnant beef cow grazing on a grass (Bromus biebersteinii; meadow brome-Control), with the addition of a patch with tannin-containing legumes (Lotus corniculatus-birdsfoot trefoil-Tre, or Onobrychis viciifolia-sainfoin-Sain). Twenty-five scenarios (treatments) were established as a product of frequency (weekly, fortnightly and monthly) and dietary proportions (0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 of total forage allocation) of either Sain or Tre. Methane (CH4) production and nitrogen (N) excretion increased with legume availability. As legume proportion increased, dry matter intake (DMI), animal performance, CH4 production and urinary nitrogen (UN) excretion increased with a greater magnitude for Sain. Methane yield was lower than the Control at weekly allocation of legumes. Environmental costs in terms of CH4 emission increments per unit of production relative to Control were greater at monthly allocations when the levels of legumes in the diet were low (0.5–0.10). Legumes in the diet at 0.15–0.20 yielded the lowest costs regardless of frequency of allocation. Environmental costs in terms of UN increments per unit of production relative to Control were lowest at 0.15–0.20 of legumes in the diet regardless of frequency of allocation. This study suggests that strategic allocation of either sainfoin or birdsfoot trefoil when beef cattle graze grass-dominated rangelands swards can reduce environmental impact while increasing secondary production of the system at the same levels of resource allocation.

The objective was to evaluate the influence of supplementation of L-arginine at 10 g/kg on the performance of lactating sows and their litters by evaluating the milk amino acid composition, serum hormone levels, mammary tissue redox status indicators, mammary tissue histomorphology, and the expression of genes related to mammary gland metabolism. The study was conducted in the municipality of Oliveira, Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 2019. A total of 24 sows were selected. A completely randomized design was used in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement, with two diets (control and 10 g L-arginine/kg) and three mammary gland positions (thoracic, abdominal and inguinal), totaling six treatment groups. Each dietary treatment consisted of 12 replicates, with each replicate equivalent to one experimental unit, which was considered a sow and its litter. Females that were fed a diet supplemented with L-arginine had lower feed intake and greater weight loss. Piglets from sows that received L-arginine supplementation presented reduced weaning weight variation. L-arginine supplementation did not affect the amino acid composition of the milk, the plasma hormone levels of the sows, the oxidative stress parameters of redox, or breast tissue morphology. However, it may modulate the expression of genes important for mammary gland metabolism, such as the COX1 and SLC27A4. Piglets that suckled teats in the thoracic and abdominal positions had higher mean weights at 14 and 23 days, as well as greater daily weight gains. L-arginine supplementation to sows improves litter quality by increasing weaning weight uniformity; piglets that occupy the thoracic and abdominal positions perform better.