Productivity of crops grown for human consumption is at risk due to the incidence of pests, especially weeds, pathogens and animal pests. Crop losses due to these harmful organisms can be substantial and may be prevented, or reduced, by crop protection measures. An overview is given on different types of crop losses as well as on various methods of pest control developed during the last century.

Estimates on potential and actual losses despite the current crop protection practices are given for wheat, rice, maize, potatoes, soybeans, and cotton for the period 2001–03 on a regional basis (19 regions) as well as for the global total. Among crops, the total global potential loss due to pests varied from about 50% in wheat to more than 80% in cotton production. The responses are estimated as losses of 26–29% for soybean, wheat and cotton, and 31, 37 and 40% for maize, rice and potatoes, respectively. Overall, weeds produced the highest potential loss (34%), with animal pests and pathogens being less important (losses of 18 and 16%). The efficacy of crop protection was higher in cash crops than in food crops. Weed control can be managed mechanically or chemically, therefore worldwide efficacy was considerably higher than for the control of animal pests or diseases, which rely heavily on synthetic chemicals. Regional differences in efficacy are outlined. Despite a clear increase in pesticide use, crop losses have not significantly decreased during the last 40 years. However, pesticide use has enabled farmers to modify production systems and to increase crop productivity without sustaining the higher losses likely to occur from an increased susceptibility to the damaging effect of pests.

The concept of integrated pest/crop management includes a threshold concept for the application of pest control measures and reduction in the amount/frequency of pesticides applied to an economically and ecologically acceptable level. Often minor crop losses are economically acceptable; however, an increase in crop productivity without adequate crop protection does not make sense, because an increase in attainable yields is often associated with an increased vulnerability to damage inflicted by pests.

A method is proposed for estimating the percentage of dietary protein that is degraded by microbial action in the rumen when protein supplement is added to a specified ration. The potential degradability, p, is measured by incubating the supplement in artificial-fibre bags in the rumen and is related to incubation time, t, by the equation p = a+b(1 – e-ct). The rate constant k, measuring the passage of the supplement from the rumen to the abomasum, is obtained in a separate experiment in which the supplement is combined with a chromium marker which renders it completely indigestible. The effective percentage degradation, p, of the supplement, allowing for rate of passage, is shown to be p = a+[bc/(c+k)] (1-e-(e+k)t) by time, t, after feeding. As t increases, this tends to the asymptotic value a+bc/(c+k), which therefore provides an estimate of the degradability of the protein supplement under the specified feeding conditions.

The method is illustrated by results obtained with soya-bean meal fed as a supplement to a dried-grass diet for sheep. The incubation measurements showed that 89% of the soya-bean protein disappeared within 24 h and indicated that it was all ultimately degradable with this diet.

When the dried grass was given at a restricted level of feeding the allowance for time of retention in the rumen reduced the estimate of final degradability to 71% (69% within 24 h). With ad libitum feeding there was a faster rate of passage and the final degradability was estimated to be 66% (65% within 24 h).

§ 34. 1. The permeability and capillarity constants of soil have been defined.

2. The movements of air and water through three types of soil have been measured and shewn to conform to equations connecting the rate of motion with the above constants.

3. It is suggested that the measurement of S, Pα, Pω and K is of more importance than, and should replace, the determination of the sizes of the soil particles as in the usual “mechanical analysis” of soils.

In conclusion, we have to acknowledge our indebtedness to Professors T. R. Lyle and R. J. A. Barnard for valuable advice and suggestions and to the Victorian Government for financial assistance towards the expenses of this research.

A rapid and accurate atomic absorption method for the determination of chromium in faeces samples from pasture experiments using chromic oxide ‘markers’ is described. Of the elements present after ashing and digesting the samples in a phosphoric acid—manganese sulphate—potassium bromate solution silicate, aluminium, calcium and magnesium were found to interfere in the determination. The effects of these interferences were overcome by the addition of calcium to the test solution and by the addition of silicate to the standards, which were prepared in ‘blank’ solutions.

The sensitivities of a number of alternate chromium resonance lines relative to that of Cr 3578·7 Å. are given. These lines may be used to increase the concentration range of the analysis.

The results of a comparison of the atomic absorption method with a chemical method are given.

A rapid method for measuring gas production during incubation of feedingstuffs with rumen liquor in vitro is described. Gas production in 24 h from 200 mg feed dry matter was well correlated with digestibility of organic matter, determined in vivo with sheep. Multiple regression analysis, when it included data from proximate analysis, resulted in an equation (R = 0·98) for prediction of metabolizable energy content, based on 30 experiments with rations varying in protein and crude fibre content, and 59 other experiments with concentrates. Energy content was in the range of 7·7–13·2 MJ ME/kg D.M. (± S.D. = 11·17 ± 1·08). The residual standard deviation of the equation was 0·25 MJ. Gas production was measured in calibrated syringes. The only chemical determinations needed are dry matter, protein and fat. Differences in activity between batches of rumen liquor are corrected by reference to gas production with standard feedingstuffs (hay meal and maize starch).

1. The reliability of the Kjeldahl method for the determination of nitrogen in soils has been investigated using a range of soils containing from 0·03 to 2·7% nitrogen.

2. The same result was obtained when soil was analysed by a variety of Kjeldahl procedures which included methods known to recover various forms of nitrogen not determined by Kjeldahl procedures commonly employed for soil analysis. From this and other evidence presented it is concluded that very little, if any, of the nitrogen in the soils examined was in the form of highly refractory nitrogen compounds or of compounds containing N—N or N—O linkages.

3. Results by the method of determining nitrogen in soils recommended by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists were 10–37% lower than those obtained by other methods tested. Satisfactory results were obtained by this method when the period of digestion recommended was increased.

4. Ammonium-N fixed by clay minerals is determined by the Kjeldahl method.

5. Selenium and mercury are considerably more effective than copper for catalysis of Kjeldahl digestion of soil. Conditions leading to loss of nitrogen using selenium are defined, and difficulties encountered using mercury are discussed.

6. The most important factor in Kjeldahl analysis is the temperature of digestion with sulphuric acid, which is controlled largely by the amount of potassium (or sodium) sulphate used for digestion.

7. The period of digestion required for Kjeldahl analysis of soil depends on the concentration of potassium sulphate in the digest. When the concentration is low (e.g. 0·3 g./ml. sulphuric acid) it is necessary to digest for several hours; when it is high (e.g. 1·0 g./ml. sulphuric acid) short periods of digestion are adequate. Catalysts greatly affect the rate of digestion when the salt concentration is low, but have little effect when the salt concentration is high.

8. Nitrogen is lost during Kjeldahl analysis when the temperature of digestion exceeds about 400° C.

9. Determinations of the amounts of sulphuric acid consumed by various mineral and organic soils during Kjeldahl digestion showed that there is little risk of loss of nitrogen under the conditions usually employed for Kjeldahl digestion of soil. Acid consumption values for various soil constituents are given, from which the amounts of sulphuric acid likely to be consumed during Kjeldahl digestion of different types of soil can be calculated.

10. Semi-micro Kjeldahl methods of determining soil nitrogen gave the same results as macro-Kjeldahl methods.

11. The use of the Hoskins apparatus for the determination of ammonium is described.

12. It is concluded that the Kjeldahl method is satisfactory for the determination of nitrogen in soils provided a few simple precautions are observed. The merits and defects of different Kjeldahl procedures are discussed.

Subjectively assessed body condition scores, determined on the live animal, were related to the percentages of chemical fat in the fleece-free empty bodies of 30 adult Scottish Blackface ewes. The results show that body condition scores can provide an acceptable and useful estimate of the proportion of fat in the live animal, and that the level of prediction is superior to that afforded by live weight.

A recapitulation of the main features of the moisture distribution in an ideal soil is given in order to emphasise a point previously neglected, namely, that the changes are not in the main strictly reversible, but fall into two series corresponding to the two directions of moisture change. The cellular nature of the soil pore space imposes a quantum character on the moisture changes over a great part of the higher moisture range. The individual cell does not fill or empty by smooth reversible changes but shows two unstable stages at which filling or emptying is completed at a bound. For falling moisture the suction level is that at which a meniscus can invade a cell through one of its narrow entries, which gives a value in the neighbourhood of 12 T/r for close packing. For rising moisture the suction level is that for which water returns to the cell by the collapse of a bubble in it, giving a lower value in the neighbourhood of 6·9 T/r. A still lower value of 4·5 T/r can be reached for a particular type of distribution confined to the lower moisture range.

All the above suction values are closely verified by measurements made with bronze balls and paraffin oil. A detailed exploration of the case for glistening dew and water has been made, which verifies the theory while illustrating more nearly the behaviour of an irregular soil. The two values which rule the two halves of the “hysteresis loop” for this case of natural or common packing are 6·0 T/r for falling moisture and 4·0 T/r for rising.

The new considerations resolve the differences of opinion raised by R. A. Fisher. It appears that the author has throughout supported a case which belongs correctly to the falling moisture series. Fisher considered a very limited series for the rising moisture case and a hypothetical reversible series, and has been in error in so far as his treatment was regarded as exclusive.

The number of kernels per m2 (K) in well managed and watered wheat crops was studied using results of experiments in Mexico and Australia in which short spring wheat cultivars were subjected to independent variation in radiation, largely via artificial shading, and in temperature. Also crops subjected to differences in weather (year), sowing date and location within Mexico, revealed responses to the natural and simultaneous variation which occurs in radiation and temperature. Responses in K were interpreted in terms of spike dry weight at anthesis (g/m2) and number of kernels per unit of spike weight.

K was linearly and most closely related to incident solar radiation in the 30 days or so preceding anthesis, herein termed the spike growth period; for the cultivar Yecora 70 with full ground cover the slope was 19 kernels/MJ. This response seemed largely due to a linear response of crop growth rate to intercepted solar radiation. The proportion of dry weight increase partitioned to the spike increased somewhat with reduced radiation. Also increasing temperature in the range 14–22 °C during this period reduced K (slope approximately 4% per CC at 15 °C). The cause appeared to be lower spike dry weight due to accelerated development. The number of kernels per unit spike weight at anthesis was little affected by radiation or temperature, and averaged 78±2/g for the cultivar Yecora 70.

With natural variation in radiation and temperature, K was closely and linearly correlated with the ratio of mean daily incident or intercepted radiation to mean temperature above 4·5 °C in the 30 days preceding anthesis. As this ratio, termed the photothermal quotient, increased from 0·5 to 2·0 MJ/m2/day/degree, K increased from 70 to 196 × 102/m2. These responses of K to weather, sowing date and location were closely associated with variation in spike dry weight.

It was concluded that the ratio of solar radiation to temperature could be very useful for estimating K in wheat crop models. Also the analysis of K determination in terms of spike dry weight appeared promising, and suggests that wheat physiologists should place greater emphasis on the growth period immediately before anthesis.

Experiments were carried out to assess the increase in yield potential of winter wheat in the U.K. due to variety improvement since the early years of this century. The effects of other genetic changes were minimized by applying fungicide to control eyespot and foliar diseases, and by using nets to prevent lodging. The experiments were carried out in 1978 at Cambridge. One, on soil of high fertility in Camp Field, received 104 kg N/ha and the other, on soil of lower fertility in Paternoster Field, received 38 kg N/ha. Twelve genotypes were tested. Eight were varieties which formed a chronological series beginning with Little Joss, introduced in 1908. The remaining genotypes were recently developed selections from the Plant Breeding Institute and a line bred by the French breeders, Benoist.

The average yield of the 12 varieties and lines tested was 3·96 t/ha in Paternoster Field and 6·40 t/ha in Camp Field. In both fields the two highest yielding entries, Hobbit and the advanced breeding line 989/10, outyielded Little Joss by close to 40%. Benoist 10483 was the only entry for which the percentage yield advantage depended on high soil fertility.

The newer, high yielding, varieties were shorter and reached anthesis earlier than the older varieties. They had lower stem weights/m2 than the older varieties but similar maximum leaf area indices and leaf weights/m2. Within each experiment the total dry-matter production of the varieties was similar, the increase in grain yield due to variety improvement being associated mainly with greater harvest index (ratio of grain yield to grain + straw yield).

It is argued that by a continuation of the trend towards reduced stem length, with no change in above-ground biomass, breeders may be able to increase harvest index, from the present value of about 50% to about 60%, achieving a genetic gain in yield of some 25%. As the limit to harvest index is approached, genetic gain in yield will depend on detecting and exploiting genetic variation in biomass production.

The present study employed the Heckman sample selection model to analyse the two- step process of adaptation to climate change, which initially requires farmers' perception that climate is changing prior to responding to changes through adaptation. Farmers' perception of climate change was significantly related to the age of the head of the household, wealth, knowledge of climate change, social capital and agro-ecological settings. Factors significantly affecting adaptation to climate change were: education of the head of the household, household size, whether the head of the household was male, whether livestock were owned, the use of extension services on crop and livestock production, the availability of credit and the environmental temperature.

Estimates of the degradability of protein in the rumen are essential for the application of new systems which have been suggested for the evaluation of the protein requirements of ruminants (Agricultural Research Council, 1980). The effective percentage degradability (P) of protein supplements in the rumen is dependent not only on the course of degradation of the protein particles in the rumen, but also on the time distribution of their stay in the rumen, and will decrease if there is an increase in the rate of passage of the particles. It was shown by Ørskov & McDonald (1979) that if the percentage protein disappearance (p) from samples incubated for time t is described by the equation and if k is the fractional rate of passage from the rumen, then the effective degradability can be calculated as . The calculation depends on the equation for p remaining valid from t =0 (time of ingestion) until a time when all the particles have passed beyond the rumen. It has been found that for some protein supplements, linseed meal for example, the equation for p does not hold true for low values of t. The present note proposes a modification to the formula for effective degradability so that it may remain valid under these circumstances.

1. The omission of the tension in the air-water interface has introduced an erroneous factor into Haines’ formulae; certain additional factors have also crept into his expressions for average stress.

2. With these corrections, the stress due to moisture varies comparatively little with changing water content, though falling slightly throughout the range. The energy needed to cause rupture rises continuously in a manner not unlike Haines’ measurements, and should more probably be associated with them than should the tensile stress.

3. The geometrical approximation used by Haines gives a close geometrical representation of the figure, but a mechanical approximation which is less satisfactory. Since neither the formulae connected with the true curve, nor the tables needed to use them, are readily, accessible, sufficiently exact numerical data have been here put on record.

The recovery in the faeces of the n-alkanes of herbage (odd-chain, C27–C35) and of dosed artificial alkanes (even-chain, C28 and C32) was studied in twelve 4-month-old castrated male lambs. The lambs received three levels of cut, fresh perennial ryegrass or a mixed diet of perennial ryegrass (0·70) and a barley-based concentrate (0·30) (500–900 g D.M./day). C28 and C32 n-alkanes (130 mg each), absorbed onto shredded paper, were given once daily for 17 days to test whether the recoveries of herbage and dosed alkanes were similar to enable their use as markers for determining the herbage intake of grazing sheep. Stearic and palmitic acids (130 mg each) were given with the dosed alkanes to half of the animals with the objective of facilitating emulsification of the dosed alkanes within the digestive tract.

With the exception of C27 n-alkane, the faecal recoveries of all alkanes were unaffected by diet, feeding level or emulsifying agent. Faecal recovery of odd- chain herbage n-alkanes increased with increasing C-chain length. The recovery of the dosed C28 n-alkane was slightly greater than the recoveries of both C27, and C29 n-alkanes of herbage. The recoveries of the dosed C32 n-alkane and the herbage C33-alkane were the same.

The mean herbage intake estimated using C33 and C32 n-alkanes was identical to the actual herbage intake. Other alkane pairs gave slight underestimates of herbage intake ranging from 3·5% for the C28–C29 pair to 7·6% for the C27–C28 pair. No cyclical pattern of n-alkane excretion throughout the day was observed. Examination of daily variations in faecal alkane concentrations indicated that the start of alkane dosing should precede the sampling of faeces by at least 6 days.

These results suggest that accurate estimation of herbage intake in grazing sheep is possible from the simultaneous use of dosed C32 and herbage C33 n-alkanes as markers.

The method may be particularly useful in enabling unbiased estimates of herbage intake to be made in animals receiving supplementary feed.

The artificial fibre bag technique was evaluated for assessing the proportions of dietary D. M. and N which disappear in the rumen. The most important factor determining the variability in disappearance from bags incubated together was the sample size in relation to bag size. For incubation of 5 g air dry feed, a bag size of 17 ✗ 9 cm was found to be adequate. There were also variations in substrate disappearance between animals and between days of incubation. It was estimated that three sheep and the measurement of substrate disappearance twice were necessary in order to obtain acceptable repeatability.

The technique was found to be satisfactory as a simple and rapid guide for measuring nutrients disappearance in the rumen such as protein degradation and carbohydrate fermentation. It has been used in subsequent work to measure the effect of features of the rumen environment, such as pH and NH3 concentration, on rate of fermentation.

When a set of experiments involving the same or similar treatments is carried out at a number of places, or in a number of years, the results usually require comprehensive examination and summary. In general, each set of results must be considered on its merits, and it is not possible to lay down rules of procedure that will be applicable in all cases, but there are certain preliminary steps in the analysis which can be dealt with in general terms. These are discussed in the present paper and illustrated by actual examples. It is pointed out that the ordinary analysis of variance procedure suitable for dealing with the results of a single experiment may require modification, owing to lack of equality in the errors of the different experiments, and owing to non-homogeneity of the components of the interaction of treatments with places and times.

This review compares and contrasts postharvest food losses (PHLs) and waste in developed countries (especially the USA and the UK) with those in less developed countries (LDCs), especially the case of cereals in sub-Saharan Africa. Reducing food losses offers an important way of increasing food availability without requiring additional production resources, and in LDCs it can contribute to rural development and poverty reduction by improving agribusiness livelihoods. The critical factors governing PHLs and food waste are mostly after the farm gate in developed countries but before the farm gate in LDCs. In the foreseeable future (e.g. up to 2030), the main drivers for reducing PHLs differ: in the developed world, they include consumer education campaigns, carefully targeted taxation and private and public sector partnerships sharing the responsibility for loss reduction. The LDCs’ drivers include more widespread education of farmers in the causes of PHLs; better infrastructure to connect smallholders to markets; more effective value chains that provide sufficient financial incentives at the producer level; opportunities to adopt collective marketing and better technologies supported by access to microcredit; and the public and private sectors sharing the investment costs and risks in market-orientated interventions.

It is shown that the permeability of a water-saturated sand or fine powder can be calculated with considerable accuracy, if the porosity and the specific surface are known. In particular, the Kozeny theory here discussed leads to a very useful relationship between permeability and porosity. It is shown that clays do not conform to the theory in its simple form, but that it may be modified to give a satisfactory representation of the data available. The physical grounds for this modified theory are discussed in some detail, and it is shown that, while it is open to criticism, it is at least in harmony with our present knowledge of clays.

An important deduction which follows from the modified theory is that clays may have zero permeability at quite considerable porosities, e.g. at ∈ = 0·207 for a clay soil, and ∈ = 0·355 for a plastic clay.

The dependence of the coefficient of diffusion, D, upon the porosity, S, of a granular solid is investigated experimentally. For steady state conditions, using carbon disulphide and acetone vapours, it is shown that a curve connecting D/D0 and S can be drawn which is independent of the nature of the solid, its moisture content and, within limits, its texture. For a limited range of values of S (0·0 < S < 0·7) a good approximation is D/D0 = 0·66S and over this range the diffusion coefficients are larger than those found by Buckingham for carbon dioxide.

Investigation of the non-steady state shows that in soils the attainment of pressure equilibrium is retarded by adsorption, and it is suggested that Buckingham's low values for steady-state conditions can be attributed to premature observations of the diffusion rates; the steady state had probably not been attained when his measurements were made.

The analysis of series of crop variety trials has a long history with the earliest approaches being based on ANOVA methods. Kempton (1984) discussed the inadequacies of this approach, summarized the alternatives available at that time and noted that all of these approaches could be classified as multiplicative models. Recently, mixed model approaches have become popular for the analysis of series of variety trials. There are numerous reasons for their use, including the ease with which incomplete data (not all varieties in all trials) can be handled and the ability to appropriately model within-trial error variation. Currently, the most common mixed model approaches for series of variety trials are mixed model versions of the methods summarized by Kempton (1984). In the present paper a general formulation that encompasses all of these methods is described, then individual methods are considered in detail.