Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume:27 Issue: 2, Mar 2025

The lack of recognizing Food Valley's potential and the lack of incorporating open innovation into food industry strategies are serious obstacles that debilitate their sustainability and viability. A mixed method approach was used to answer the question of “what are the external and internal factors in a SWOT analysis to evaluate the possibility of establishment of a Food Valley in Iran”. Data was collected using structured interviews with 16 entrepreneurship and food industry experts. The SWOT matrix was based on 42 identified factors, drawn into four categories of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A total of 17 strategies were presented to establish Food Valley, including 5 offensive strategies, 5 revision strategies, 3 diversity strategies, and 4 defensive strategies. The results found that building trust, creating joint professional workgroups in food companies, having cooperation contracts for the exchange of skilful workforce, sharing information, developing continuous relationships with scientific centers and academia are among the most important strategies for establishing the Food Valley in Iran. Prioritizing alternative strategies illustrated that, since Food Valley is a critical factor in the field of food security, this study contributes to the literature on food security. Policymakers could design special plans to promote strategies for launching and establishing Food Valley and the adoption of open innovation by the agri-food industries and (Small and medium enterprises) SMEs and emphasize the effects of this paradigm to improve innovative products and services.

The fast advancement of information technology is reported to have a profound impact on various aspects of the community, including the agriculture sector. On the other hand, the millennial generation who are sensitive to technological advances are reportedly less interested in agriculture. Apart from that, millennial farmers also have not optimized the use of information technology to market their agricultural products. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that encourage millennial farmers in Central Java to use information technology in marketing agricultural products using a Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) approach. The location and samples were purposively determined in Central Java. A total of 120 millennial farmers were included in the sample population, and data analysis was conducted using the Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) method. The findings indicated that behavior intention to use information technology were influenced by performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions, then, behavior intention would influence use behavior. Based on these findings, motivation and self-confidence need to be instilled to accelerate the adoption of innovation and technology towards modern agriculture. This research will be useful for the government in creating a program or policy.

Management of rice residue is still a challenging issue and factors such as poor feed quality of rice residue, limited and timely unavailability of suitable residue handling machines, and narrow window period available prior to seeding of the next crop act as driving forces for residue burning by the farmers. In-situ management of rice crop residue can prevent ill effects of residue burning on the natural resources. In this study, three types of power-driven disc coulter i.e. serrated, plain, and toothed, with three different arrangements of residue holding device i.e. no holding wheel, single holding wheel, and twin holding wheels, with speed ratios (ratio of rotational speed of coulter and forward speed) of 5.2, 6.94, and 8.67, were evaluated in the soil bin of Soil Dynamic Research Laboratory of ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, India. Horizontal forces, vertical forces, torque, and residue cutting performance were measured with residue density ranging from 3000 to 5000 kg ha-1. The experiments (243 including replications) were conducted according to Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The mean horizontal forces, vertical forces, torques, and cutting percentage increased significantly (P< 0.05) with the increase in the number of residue holding wheel. Increasing the residue load had no effect on the cutting percentage of the residue. The results showed that the residue cutting performance of the plain coulter with twin holding wheels was nearly 100% at any combination of the selected variables. Introduction of residue holding wheels to the coulters helped in sowing successive crop (like wheat, maize, etc.) in the combine harvested rice field with heavy residue.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of Juglans regia Kernel Powder (JKP) on broiler chickens subjected to Aflatoxin (AF)-contaminated diets during a 42-day feeding trial conducted in February and March 2022. A total of 240 one-day-old broiler chickens were divided into four dietary groups: Diet 1 (Control), Diet 2 (0.5 mg kg-1 AF), Diet 3 (0.5 mg kg-1 AF+250 mg kg-1 JKP), and Diet 4 (0.5 mg kg-1 AF+500 mg kg-1 JKP). Birds on Diet 2 exhibited a significantly lower (P= 0.01) relative growth rate compared to the other diets. JKP supplementation at 250 mg kg-1 (Diet 3) and 500 mg kg-1 (Diet 4) mitigated the negative impact of AF on growth. Birds on Diet 2 showed significantly lower (P= 0.01) serum concentrations of total protein, albumin, and globulin compared to those on Diets 1, 3, and 4. Elevated levels of Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and creatinine in Diet 2 indicated liver and kidney damage. Alanine Transaminase (ALT) concentrations in Diet 2 were higher (P= 0.01) than Diets 1 and 4. Birds fed diet 2 had lower glucose levels (P= 0.01) than diets 1 and 4. IgA levels in birds fed Diet 2 were lower (P= 0.03) than those in the birds fed Diet 4. Birds fed diet 2 had considerably (P< 0.05) lower IgE and IgG levels than birds fed diets 1 and 4. Nuclear Factor Kappa B (NFK B) was higher (P= 0.01) in birds fed Diet 2 compared to other diets. Interleukin 6 (IL 6) concentration was significantly (P= 0.01) higher in the birds fed Diet 2 than in the other diets. A recommended dietary supplementation of 250 mg kg-1 JKP is suggested based on the observed ameliorative effects.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Gamma Ray irradiation (GR) at doses of 20 and 40 kGy and Microwaving (MW) at 800W for 3 and 5 minutes on ruminal degradation kinetics and in vitro digestibility of Sesame Seal (SSM). Degradability parameters of irradiated samples were measured by nylon bag technique. The amount of histidine, threonine, valine, alanine, arginine, glutamine, glycine, and serine were lower, but the amount of methionine and phenylalanine were higher in GR and MW treated samples compared to untreated ones. Irradiation reduced the fiber content of SSM and altered its chemical composition compared to the untreated SSM. Ruminal degradability of DM (Dry Matter) and CP (Crude Protein) was diminished in the treated SSM. Effective Degradability (ED) of DM and CP was found to be lower in the GR irradiated SSM compared to the MW irradiated SSM and the control. After 16 hours of ruminal incubation of the treated SSM, the degradability of isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, and threonine were lower, but those of glycine and serine were higher. The in vitro Digestibility of DM (DMD) and Organic Matter (OMD), as well as the Organic Matter in the Dry matter (DOMD) were lower and higher in GR and MW irradiated SSM, respectively, compared to unirradiated SSM. It can be concluded that irradiation of sesame meal by gamma ray irradiation was effective in protecting crude protein and some amino acids, including methionine and phenylalanine, from ruminal degradation.

Sample storage and fasting times leads to some changes of blood metabolites in broilers. Therefore, a study was conducted with the aim to assess the influence of storage and fasting times in serum and plasma fractions on glucose, total cholesterol, triacylglycerols, Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) concentrations in broilers. A total of 70 male broiler chickens fasted at 7 times (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 hours) to collect blood fractions (serum and plasma) stored at -20°C for 0, 30, and 60 days. Glucose and GGT were affected by fasting times×blood fraction. Serum glucose concentration decreased linearly (≅ 2.48 mg dL-1), whereas total cholesterol and plasma GGT increased linearly (≅ 0.92 mg dL-1 and ≅ 0.19 IU L-1, respectively) with fasting time. There was a quadratic effect on plasma glucose and serum GGT (maximum at 3.95 hours and minimum at 5.22 hours of fasting, respectively), and triacylglycerol (minimum at 8.75 hours of fasting) and ALT concentrations (maximum at 8.45 hours of fasting). Glucose, total cholesterol, AST, ALT, GGT concentrations were higher in serum, while triacylglycerol was higher in plasma. Glucose concentration had the lowest values at 30 days, while ALT was higher on day 0. However, GGT concentrations were lower on days 0 and 30. Samples of plasma for glucose, ALT, and GGT stored at -20°C for long periods should be avoided. In addition, serum samples and 6 hours fasting are recommended for the assessment of blood biochemical metabolites in broilers.

Micromorphological characteristics of seed sculpturing might be effective in circumscribing the infra-specific taxa in the genus Vicia. The present study was conducted to determine whether microstructural and seed coat texture data obtained from SEM images can serve as sufficient tools for delimiting Vicia genus. Other than visual inspections, a variety of texture-based methods, including the four conventional approaches of GLCM, LBP, LBGLCM, and SFTA, and the four pre-trained convolutional neural networks, namely, ResNet50, VGG16, VGG19, and Xception models were employed to extract features and to classify the species of Vicia genus using SEM images. In a subsequent step, the four unsupervised k-means, Mean-shift, agglomerative, and Gaussian mixture classification methods were used to group the identified Vicia spices based on the underlying features thus extracted. Moreover, the three supervised classifiers of Multilayer Perceptron Network (MLP), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) were compared in terms of capability in discriminating the different visually-identified classes. SEM results showed that three classes might be identified based on the micromorphological character-species connections and that the differences among the species in the Vicia genus and the validity of Vicia sativa could be confirmed. Regarding the performance of the classifiers, SFTA textural descriptor outperformed the GLCM, LBP, and LBGLCM algorithms, but yielded a decreased accuracy compared with deep learning models. The combined Xception model and a MLP classifier was successful to discriminate the species in the Vicia genus with the best classification performances of 99 and 96% in training and testing, respectively.

This research was carried out to reveal the effect of black lentil flour (BLF), flaxseed flour (FSF), faba bean flour (FBF), rye flour (RF) and oat flour (OF) on the physical, chemical, textural, cooking and sensory properties of lasagna noodles. Wheat flour in the lasagna noodles formulation was replaced by 20% of BLF, FSF, FBF, RF and OF, separately. Enriched lasagna noodles had higher volume increase and cooking loss values than the control samples. The protein contents of lasagna noodles containing BLF and FBF were found to be 24.6 and 21.6% higher than the control sample. Lasagna noodles containing RF revealed the highest firmness value. In lasagna noodles, the highest Total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA) were determined in the sample containing FSF, followed by the sample containing FBF and BLF, respectively. Among the lasagna noodles, the highest phytic acid content was determined in the sample containing FBF, while the control sample revealed the lowest amount of phytic acid. The use of FSF, BLF, FBF and OF in the formulation increased the Ca, Fe-Zn, Mg and Mn amounts of lasagna noodles by 1.98-, 1.5-1.7-, 1.8- and 1.8-fold, respectively. Lasagna noodles prepared using BLF had the highest total color difference value. In sensory analysis, FSF had the lowest overall acceptability value among the cooked lasagna noodle samples. The overall evaluation of all analyzed quality parameters indicates that FBF, RF, and OF can be successfully used in lasagna noodles production.

There is a growing trend towards healthy meat products containing lower fat content. The use of fat replacers can solve the quality problems of low-fat products. This study aimed to produce low-fat frankfurter sausage using a new fat replacer. Thus, in the first stage, Reconstituted Agar Hydrogel (RAH) was produced by adding water to agar cryogel after homogenization. In the second stage, RAH was used as a fat substitute in frankfurter sausage at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%. Then, the characteristics of the resulting low-fat sausage, including chemical composition, water holding capacity, cooking loss, texture characteristics, porosity, color, percentage of fat after frying, oil absorption, pH over time, and sensory evaluation were examined. Results showed that RAH could form two kinds of gel by temperature changes: a low-set gel at 55˚C and a high-set gel at 90˚C. Substitution of oil in the sausages caused an increase in moisture content, porosity, oil absorption, and cooking loss. On the other hand, this replacement reduced fat content, cutting force, water-holding capacity, fat percentage after frying, and texture properties such as hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess, and chewiness. The results of pH measurements over time showed that sulfated antimicrobial groups in the agar structure delayed the spoilage of sausages containing RAH compared to the control sample. Sensory evaluation showed that RAH-containing sausages were not significantly different from the control sample in terms of color, juiciness, and texture. However, flavor and overall acceptance increased significantly under the influence of this substitution (P< 0.05). Therefore, the consumers selected a sample with 25% replacement as the optimal sample. As a result, RAH can be successfully used as a fat replacer in low-fat products with desirable quality characteristics.

The objective of the current investigation was to examine the effects of botanically induced resistance against the Bipolaris sorokiniana causing spot blotch disease in susceptible barley cultivar (PL 426). Different concentrations of botanical extracts prepared from leaf, fruit and bark of Terminalia bellerica and Terminalia chebula were tested against B. sorokiniana using poisoned food approach. The ethanolic and aqueous fruit extracts resulted in more than 70% mycelial inhibition of B. sorokiniana. The foliar spray of promising doses of botanical extracts was done 2 days prior to inoculation under in-vivo conditions. The physiological and biochemical variations were recorded after treatments from 1 to 7 Days After Treatment (DAT). Foliar spraying of botanical extracts resulted in an increase in total phenol content in inoculated barley plants from 1 to 7 DAT. The malondialdehyde content was significantly lower in plants treated with botanicals as compared to inoculated and un-inoculated controls. The activity of peroxidase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase was significantly higher in all plants sprayed with botanical extracts as compared to the controls. Furthermore, botanicals reduced the percentage of disease severity in the treated plants while increasing the percentage of yield increase. Plants treated with T. chebula fruit extracts had the highest yield increase, followed by T. bellerica fruit extracts. From the present study, it can be concluded that the fruit extracts of T. chebula and T. bellerica are a promising approach for the eco-friendly management of spot blotch.

In this study, we examined the efficacy of the artificial microRNAs (amiRNAs) technology in targeting the HOS1 gene for the enhancement of cold stress tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana Ler-0 ecotype. The impact of athHOS1-amiRNA overexpression on the response of transgenic plants to cold stress was assessed using RT-qPCR in 3-week-old seedlings of the T3 generation. Additionally, the response of wild-type plants of the same age to cold stress (4ºC) for various durations (6, 12, 24, 48, and 96 hours) was also evaluated. Comparative analysis revealed that athHOS1-amiRNA downregulated athHOS1 in transgenic plants after prolonged exposure to low temperature (48 h and 96 h) (Pearson’s correlation coefficient of -0.407; P<0.05). Interestingly, while prolonged cold stress at 96 h led to a significant upregulation of athHOS1 in wild-type plants, the suppression of athHOS1-amiRNA in transgenic plants disrupted the expected circadian rhythm of athHOS1 by preventing its upregulation. Furthermore, T3 plants that had been cold-acclimated exhibited a 17% increase in freezing tolerance (-1 to -8°C) compared to wild-type plants, indicating the success of this approach in enhancing Arabidopsis tolerance to low temperatures, at least in the Ler-0 ecotype. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the intricate dynamics of gene/protein networking during cold acclimation and its interaction with the athHOS1-amiRNA approach, further characterization is required. This includes measuring the expression levels and half-life of athHOS1-amiRNA and HOS1 mRNA, as well as evaluating the protein level of HOS1 and its direct targets, such as ICE1, in different Arabidopsis ecotypes and at different time intervals of low temperature exposure.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae Weiser and three entomopathogenic fungi (Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschn.) Sorokin, Trichoderma harzianum Rifai, and T. viride Pers.) against the second and fourth larval instars of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith). The results showed that S. carpocapsae caused a pronounced mortality to second and fourth larval instars of S. frugiperda using a leaf dipping method at 4 days post inoculation (dpi) with LC50 values of 52.03 and 4.11 Infective Juveniles (IJs) mL-1, respectively. On the other hand, the three tested entomopathogenic fungi caused a strong toxicity on larval instars of S. frugiperda. The fungus, T. harzianum, displayed the highest insecticidal activity on the second larval instar (LC50= 1.1×107 spores mL-1) and M. anisopliae on the fourth larval instar (LC50= 1.5×107 spores mL-1) after 10 dpi. Our results showed that S. carpocapsae completely inhibited pupation and adult emergence from treated larvae at 250 IJs mL-1. The lethal effect of entomopathogenic nematode and fungi against S. frugiperda larval instars indicates that these biological control agents could be useful candidates in integrated pest management programs for this invasive insect.

Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight disease in rosaceous plants, contains type III secreted effector proteins including DspA/E, HrpN and HrpW, which are secreted into host plants during the pathogenicity stages. In order to investigate the role of these effector proteins in the interaction with the host plants, susceptible (Bartlett), tolerant (Harrow Sweet) and resistant (Dargazi) pear cultivars were inoculated with wild-type and mutant strains of E. amylovora (hrpW-, hrpN- and dspA/E-) under in vitro conditions. Based on the results, HrpW protein may be involved in pathogenicity in Dargazi cultivar. Different levels of pathogenicity were observed by dspA/E- mutant in cultivars. The results showed the key role of HrpN in the defense mechanisms of Dargazi cultivar, and its pathogenic role in Harrow Sweet and Bartlett cultivars. An increase in ferritin levels was observed in all cultivars inoculated with the wild type strain, but resistant and tolerant cultivars showed higher ferritin levels and a decrease in Fe2+ was observed only in these cultivars. The obtained data show that the HrpW protein does not affect iron homeostasis. Inoculation of Harrow Sweet and Dargazi cultivars with all strains increased ferritin, which was associated with a decrease in Fe2+. Based on the results, it is not possible to associate any of the effector proteins with changes in ferritin and Fe2+. In general, the ability of resistant pear cultivars to increase ferritin levels and regulation of iron can be one of the reasons for their resistance to fire blight. According to the results, different mechanisms are employed by pear cultivars to respond to the causative agent of fire blight.

The primary objective of this research was to reveal the effect of cryotreatment on pollen reproductive ability in vivo by monitoring pollen tube growth in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) pistils. The influence of cryotreatment was considered from the context of its interaction with pollinizer genotype, and the possibility for usage of in vivo parameters for assessment of pollen fertility. Pistils of sweet cherry cultivar ‘Regina’ were pollinated with both cryotreated and fresh pollen of ‘Kordia’ and ‘Summit’. Quantitative parameters of pollen tube growth in vivo (pollen tube number in certain pistil parts, pollen tube dynamics, and fertilization percentage) were determined using the fluorescence microscopy method, and the obtained data were analyzed together with those obtained for in vitro pollen performance and fruit set. The research indicated that: (i) Reproductive ability of cryotreated sweet cherry pollen can be estimated by analyzing parameters of its performance in vivo, which should be combined with in vitro test; (ii) Semi- or fully-compatible female recipients, whose sporophytes are supportive for male gametophytes should be used for the assessment; and (iii) The key parameters for in vivo testing are pollen tube number in the upper part of the style and in the ovary, as well as fertilization percentage, i.e. the percentage of pistils with penetration of the longest pollen tube in the nucellus of the ovary on the 10th day after pollination. Therefore, in vivo testing of the pollen reproductive ability after cryotreatment can give answers about pollen quality with valuable credibility, in a maximum of two weeks after thawing and rehydration.

In this study, the antagonistic effects of 14 Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria strains (PGPRs) against the phyto-pathogenic species Alternaria terricola Woudenb. & Crous were investigated, both in vitro and in vivo. The obtained results revealed significant inhibition effects of the 14 PGPR strains against A. terricola in both direct contact and indirect bioassays with significant variation. The dual in vitro culture tests revealed substantial inhibition rates in the growth of A. terricola strain, ranging from 25±5.41% (Pseudomonas koreensis O3RR25) to 71.87±3.12% (Bacillus megaterium FR1.11). Moreover, the indirect antagonism test showed that the volatile organic compounds produced by the 14 tested PGPR strains significantly inhibited the growth of A. terricola mycelium, with variations ranging from 36.61±0.94% (P. brassicacearum O3RR24) to 67.75±0.94% (B. megaterium FR1.11). Microscopic examination of A. terricola following exposure to the volatile compounds revealed significant structural damage, including inhibition of conidial germination, deformations, thin or fissured structures, irregular lengths, and the formation of empty segments. The in vivo application of B. megaterium FR1.11 resulted in the reduction of fungal development on detached leaves and tomato seedlings. This treatment engendered a significant increase in the levels of chlorophyll a, b and total, carotenoids, polyphenols, and proline in infected tomato seedlings compared to the control. Applying this PGPR strain to infected tomato plants allowed maintaining comparable level of malondialdehyde as the control. B. megaterium FR1.11 showed considerable in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity and could serve as a promising candidate for biological control strategies targeting phytopathogenic species of the genus Alternaria.

While there is no yellowing in the leaf veins of some watermelons during the seedling stage, veins start to turn yellow after the plant starts to grow, and veins become more yellow as the plant grows. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this yellowing of leaf veins is related to plant nutrients. The study was carried out at the Alata Horticultural Research Institute in Mersin, Turkey, during the spring and summer growing seasons of 2016 and 2018. The S24 line with yellow veins and the Crimson Sweet variety were used as controls. Samples were taken from the leaves below and above the female flower during the female flower period and from the leaves below and above the fruit when the fruits reached the size of a grapefruit. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), and Manganese (Mn) were examined in leaf analysis. When the places where the leaf samples were taken and the years were evaluated together, there was not a variety that came to the forefront in terms of N, P, K, Ca, Mn, and Zn. However, in general, Fe and Mn contents of the S24 line were found to be higher than the control. In line with these results, it is not possible to say that there is a relationship between the yellowing of leaf veins and plant nutrients.