Vol 44, No 3 (2018)

The article makes an effort to assess ten varieties of winter wheat and select the ones most adapted to the conditions of the study region, which would combine a significant yield potential with high quality grains and possess a complex of important economic traits. It has been determined that yield performance of the studied varieties ranges from of 4.78 t/ha in variety Pamyati Fedina to 6.02 t/ha in variety Nemchinovskaya 57. Varieties Nemchinovskaya 17 and Nemchinovskaya 57 have been found to produce a significantly higher yield than standard variety Moskovskaya 39, that is, by 1.03 and 1.16 t/ha or 21.2 and 23.9%, respectively. Protein content varies within the range from 15.2 in variety Pamyati Fedina to 19.1% in variety Moskovskaya 40. This indicator is 17.5% in the standard variety. Moskovskaya 40 is also significantly distinguished by gluten content of 35.9%. In addition, the above-noted varieties reveal a significant winter survival and resistance to leaf and rot diseases. Thus, it can be concluded that Nemchinovskaya 57, Nemchinovskaya 17, and Moskovskaya 40 are the most remarkable among the varieties in the context of important economic traits, that is, yield performance, protein and gluten content, components of yield structure, and resistance to diseases.

The resistance of soybean plants to the damaging effect of pathogens with different types of trophicity is determined not only by their genetic nature but also by various physiological and biochemical mechanisms. Therefore, the study was aimed at investigating the activity of enzymes (peroxidase, catalase, and acid phosphatase) in the leaves of the soybean Garmoniya cultivar with moderate resistance, Sonata cultivar susceptible to septoriosis, and Dauriya cultivar strongly affected by peronosporosis. It was shown that the infection of soybean leaves with hemibiotroph (Septoria glycines) or biotroph (Perenospora manshurica) depends on the plant genotype and leads to an increase in peroxidase activity in moderately resistant varieties and a decrease in the activity of catalase and acid phosphatase in all cultivars studied. The causative agent of septoriosis leads to an increase in the heterogeneity of peroxidase and a decrease in the heterogeneity of catalase and acid phosphatase, while the causative agent of peronosporosis does not induce any changes in the electrophoretic spectra of catalase and acid phosphatase in soybean leaves. The data obtained indicate that the rate and direction of enzyme activity is determined by the genotype of soybean and by the type of trophicity of the pathogen.

Dependence of net photosynthesis rate in Nerium oleander L. on environmental factors, leaf temperature, transpiration, and also on the changes of these factors during vegetation has been studied under conditions of the Southern Coast of Crimea. The mapping of a photosynthesis response function onto environmental factors in a three-dimensional coordinate system represents a convex surface with the maximum at the top point. This fact makes it possible to obtain numerical coefficients for nonlinear regression equations (simulators) describing interrelations between the net photosynthesis and the main environmental factors, leaf temperature, and transpiration. The data obtained provide a possibility to interpret a photosynthesis rate as a potential ecophysiological characteristic of this species that makes it possible to compare different plant species growing under similar conditions using parameters measured by the same method. Nerium oleander L. has a high photosynthetic potential for acclimatization to high temperatures. If air temperature exceeds the optimum value, photosynthetic intensity sharply decreases. The threshold temperature for leaves is 36.5°С. After the termination of the active growth phase, the maximum net photosynthesis rate decreased during August–October by 51.73%, while transpiration intensity and leaf temperature decreased by 78 and 28.58%, respectively. Compared to August, the optimums of the air temperature, air humidity deficit, and PAR illumination in October shifted to lower values by 17, 89.14, and 31.58%, respectively.

The species composition of fungi from the genus Fusarium was studied, and the frequency of occurrence on cereals was determined. Populations of Fusarium spp. were represented by widespread species F. culmorum, F. heterosporum, F. sporotrichioides, F. oxysporum, F. nivale, F. graminearum, F. avenacеum, F. gibbosum, F. sambucinum, F. moniliforme, etc. The dynamics and frequency of occurrence of Fusarium spp. has made it possible to characterize the state of the species of fungi in a wide range of climatic areas of cereal cultivation in the Russian regions. The prevalence of the genus Fusarium was caused by the cultivars’ susceptibility to micromycetes. The frequency of occurrence of Fusarium species isolated from roots was steady, and, on the ears, it depended on the influence of weather conditions during the growing season of plants. The study of the intraspecific variability of fungi from the genus Fusarium has revealed a significant difference in signs of toxicity and pathogenicity depending on biotic and abiotic factors. More than 50% of strains from the genus Fusarium possessed low pathogenicity but had severe toxicity to wheat seedlings. Most strains of F. sporotrichiodes, F. culmorum, and F. sambucinum were highly pathogenic (from 36.4 to 55.6%) and toxic (from 55.6 to 81.3%). High adaptability to preservation in the soil and on the roots of weeds and crop residues of most crops expressing pathogenic and toxic activity was conductive to the widespread Fusarium spp.

It is shown that an increase in winter wheat on typical chernozem characterized by the acid reaction of the soil medium leads to a decrease in grain yield to 30% and straw weight to 25%. The crop reached the maximum level after introducing urea and manure wastes (the yield gain was 199% in neutral soil and 165% in acidic soil). The improvement of plant nitrogen nutrition by introducing fertilizers led to an increase in the protein content in grain by 1.2 times on both soils; at the same time, the protein content was 1.1 times lower in acidic soil than in the neutral one. The maximum content of protein in winter wheat grain accumulated after both types of fertilizers were applied on neutral soil; the use of manure wastes alone decreased the protein content in grain. It has been revealed that a decrease in the yield of grain and a decrease in the content of crude protein in this grain after acidification of typical chernozem is due to a decrease in the amount of mineral nitrogen in soil and an increase in its gaseous losses. The pattern of nitrogen transformation in soil, as well as the availability of nitrogen for the plants, varied as the reaction of the medium changed. In acidic soil, the consumption of mineral fertilizer nitrogen and manure wastes by the plants decreased by 12–13% and the consumption of soil nitrogen decreased by 45%. The effect of wastes decreased the consumption of urea nitrogen by 49% (neutral soil) and by 69% (acidic soil). The consumption of fertilizer nitrogen by the plants decreased by 12–15% after acidifying typical chernozem and by 12–17% after immobilizing this type of chernozem and increased gaseous losses by 18–81%. It has been concluded that the agrophytocenosis of winter wheat maintains the ecological balance (homeostasis) when wastes from a pig-breeding complex are used and is exposed to stress when urea is applied in acid chernozem. Soil acidification decreased the resistance of agrophytocenosis to the level that is observed when manure wastes were applied and to adaptive depletion when urea was used.

The scientifically based fertilizer system used in the 11-field grain-grass-row crop rotation promotes an increase in the lethargic respiration rate in chernozem by 20.6–22.1% and catalase activity by 21.9–27.3% with very little activity of ferric reductase. On high rice checks of meadow chernozem soils, compared to low meadow-marsh soils, the intensity of respiration increases by 18.5–22.8%, catalase activity by 15.0–28.6%, and the activity of ferric reductase decreases 21.4–41.3%. Irrespective of the agricultural use of soils, biochemical processes are more active in the 0–20 cm layer. Permanent cultivation of rice for 80 years on meadow-chernozem soil leads to a decrease in the intensity of respiration and the activity of oxidation-reduction enzymes. The ratio of the activity of ferric reductase and catalase can serve as an indicator of the oxidation-reduction state of soils and, along with iron compounds, characterize the degree of their hydromorphicity.

This paper presents the results of a study on the effects of long-term use of drip irrigation with mineralized or, in other words, saline waters on the physicochemical properties of black chernozem soils in a fruit nursery. Irrigation induced local accumulation of water-soluble salts in the main wetted zone, alkalinization of the soil, and saturation of the soil-absorbing complex with Na⁺ and Mg²⁺ cations and Ca²⁺ depletion. The introduction of phosphogypsum in a dose of 2 t/ha for chemical reclamation reduced high alkalinity of the soil and increased the content of exchangeable calcium in the soil-absorbing complex. The application of phosphogypsum seems to be an effective method to restore the fertility of chernozem soils under conditions of long-term use of drip irrigation with mineralized waters.

The copper requirements of pregnant ewes in the environment of the arid zone in the Republic of Kalmykia have been studied. The organ and tissue analyses have shown that the copper quantitative concentrations in the fetal tissues and organs tend to vary depending on its age. The maximum copper contents are recorded in the bone tissue and the skin (1839.7 and 1714.08 μg%, respectively) of the fetuses of 100 days of age and in the bone tissue and the liver (1843.08 and 1261.04 μg%, respectively) of the 145-day-old fetuses. In the bone tissue, the percentage of the element was relatively steady during the period of the prenatal development and varied in the range of 1839.7–1843.08 μg%. The blood copper level has slightly increased for the survey period; the blood mass increased 5.84-fold. The total amount of copper in the blood of the fetus at the age of 100 days was 111.21 μg%, while it increased up to 717.33 μg% in the blood of the 145-day-old fetus. For the period of the fetal development, the copper contents in the muscle tissue and the sheepskin with wool decreased from 957.06 to 52.53 μg% and 1714.08 to 170.7 μg%, respectively, while the total amount of this element in these tissues decreased from 3531.07 to 1020.5 μg and from 1458.65 to 1309.05 μg, respectively. The liver copper content elevated with the gestational age by 37.14 μg%, it comprised 1261.04 μg% up to the age of 145 days, and the total content increased 3.1 times. The relative percentage and the total content of copper in the lungs increased by 77.29 μg% and 4.3 times, respectively, between 100 and 145 days of age generally due to the increase in the organ masses. The total copper content in the 100-day-old and 145-day-old fetuses comprised 6.95 and 9.74 mg, respectively. The copper doses at the stages of early (55 days), middle (100 days), and late (145 days) gestation of the Kalmyk fat-rumped meat sheep were determined to be 12.93, 14.02, and 15.34 mg, respectively. Taking into consideration the fact that the dietary copper absorbtion rate is in the range of 71.05–73%, the fat-rumped ewes entering early, middle, and late pregnancy should intake 18.2, 19.3, and 21 mg dietary copper, respectively. The dietary copper intake norms per 1 kg dry matter intake are 11.0, 7.9, and 8.0 mg; the copper intake norms per 1 kg live weight should be 0.30, 0.32, and 0.35 mg.

This investigation aimed to evaluate the beneficial effects of garlic powder as a phytogenic supplement on broilers chickens' performance. The assumption that garlic could improve some economic and performance characteristics of broiler chickens (i.e., body weight, feed intake, water intake, feed conversion ratio, feeding cost, carcass yield, and mortality rate) was tested. A total of 400 one-day-old chicks of mixed sex (Hybrid) were weighed and randomly assigned to four treatment groups, each with four replicate pens of 25 chicks. The dietary treatments included the basal diet (control), control + 2.5 kg/ton garlic, or control + 5 kg/ton garlic or 7.5 kg/ton garlic as powder. The results of the study revealed that incorporation of garlic powder in broiler diets as feed additive significantly enhanced growth, economic and productive performance of these chickens. Physiological measurements (body weight, weight gains, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, carcass weight and internal organs) showed better performance of garlic treated chickens compared with control group under same rearing system. The results similarly showed lower susceptibility to diseases and medicament treatment consequently; lower mortality rate compared to control groups. Furthermore, blood and meat analysis showed lower cholesterol, Triglyceride, LDL, and, HDL levels compared with control group. The study concluded that garlic could be effectively used in broilers feeding to replace antibiotic as a growth promoter.

The effect of xymedon hydrochloride on the immune response of rabbits immunized with the rabies vaccine prepared from strain Shchelkovo-51 under the influence of immunosupression induced by cyclophosphamide has been studied. Xymedon hydrochloride was injected at a dose of 5 mg kg body weight in a volume of 1 cm³ twice a day in combination with the rabies vaccine. In addition, the immune response higher level of 1: 12800 was observed in the immunosupressed animals compared to 1: 6400 in the control animals immunized without the immunostimulant. At 6 months after vaccination, the antibody concentration of 1: 93.75 ± 44.68 remaining below the protective level was recorded, which indicated the weakness of the humoral link in the immune system. The counts of T- lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes, T-helpers, and T-suppressors in the blood of the immunesuppressed rabbits immunized with the rabies vaccine in combination with xymedon hydrochloride increased 3.2-fold, 1.9-fold, 7.7-fold, and 22.0-fold, respectively, when compared with the reference values. Therefore, the protective effect was followed by increasing the antigeninduced and spontaneuous lymphocyte proliferation, the numbers of T-helper cells and T lymphocytes exhibiting the cytotoxic and suppressive activity, and the virus-specific neutralizing antibody titers in cases wherein the Shchelkovo-51 vaccine in combination with xymedon hydrochloride was administered. It should be reasonable to apply the two-step rabies vaccination with the use of the immunostimulant, in particular, xymedon hydrochloride, to ensure the adequate immune response in immunodeficient animals.

Grinding of fodder grain is the most commonly used and obligatory method of preparing grain feeds. At the same time, the solid grain shell is broken, the nutrients become more accessible to digestive juices, the digestibility is accelerated, and the energy of the feed is more fully digested. In conditions of farms, it is reasonable to prepare grain feeds at the farm using their own food resources. Small-sized hammer feed grinders are widely used for this purpose. These machines have a low metal-energy intensity, simple structure, and are mobile and very cheap. Using the regression equation, the dependence of the power on the productivity, number of revolutions, and radius of the grinder are determined. The presented calculation method allows selecting the efficient parameters of the grinder providing the process quality with the minimum energy consumption.

This paper is an introduction to the methods used to measure and estimate ruminant methane emission. An understanding of these methods is very important in order to plan experiments, understand and interpret experimental results, and compare them with findings of other studies. In this review, the principles as well as the merits and demerits of known methods used in quantifying enteric methane emission from ruminants are compared. The methods include the chambers, sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) technique and the in vitro gas production technique. Newer methods such as the carbon dioxide (CO₂) are also discussed. Method of choice for estimating enteric methane emission will depend on aim, equipment, knowledge, time and money available. This paper will therefore be useful for expanding the knowledge base of researchers, farm planners, and policymakers as they work to develop and maintain sustainable environmental conditions for livestock farming system.