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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 2
Written by Gheorghița HOZA, Maria DINU, Alexandra Dida BECHERESCU, Mariana NEAGU

Research was made in Lunguletu, Dâmbovita County, an area in Romania with tradition in early potato culture. The biological material used was the Carrera variety, with tubers of two size categories (35-45 mm and 45-55 mm) and tuber fractions with 2-3 buds, cultivated in three culture systems (unprotected, protected with agril on the soil and protected with a tunnel made of agril), both sprouted and unsprouted. The results showed that the 35-45 mm tubers formed shorter stems compared to the 45-55 mm tubers and fractions, the plants’ growth being influenced also by the protection system. Thus, at the beginning, the plants protected by the agril tunnel recorded heights between 12.7 cm and 24.9cm, followed by the ones protected with agril on the soil, between 7.1 cm and 22 cm, while for the unprotected ones the height of the stems had values between 4 cm and 10.6 cm. The number of tubers per nest was larger for the 45- 55 mm tubers for all culture variants, having values between 12 and 14.6. The tuber production was influenced by the tuber preparation method and the culture system, the best results being obtained for the sprouted tubers for all studied variants, with values between 3919 g for the unsprouted tubers protected with agril on the soil and 8848 g for the sprouted tuber fractions protected with the agril tunnel.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 2
Written by Aurel CĂLINA, Jenica CĂLINA, Ion STAN

The work was performed based on the research undertaken over a period of more than 20 years on the activity of agritourism and rural tourism in Oltenia, aimed at the touristic and agritourist potential of the neighbouring and protected area of Cozia National Park. Through careful research and SWOT analysis, it was concluded that the studied area possesses a very rich and valuable touristic and anthropic potential, which presently has not been sufficiently utilized. Furthermore, a veritable capacity of attracting tourists was discovered through large quasi-virgin areas, of great originality and variability, which have suffered almost no human intervention. These areas enjoy a rich flora and fauna with unique species in Europe and a relatively large number of touristic attractions and monuments of nature, included on the list of UNESCO world heritage. The research clearly underlines the impact of industrial tourism over time, on the natural and anthropic environment, realising that almost all of its components have been reversibly or irreversibly affected. The final conclusion is that the only viable option of agritourism and tourism that can be practiced in the area of National Parks is based on the principle of ecologic sustainability, which would not damage the natural and built environment and would have a favourable impact on the economic and social-cultural life. In this paper, a series of general recommendations are clearly formulated, on the implementation, strategies, policies, directions and objectives of development of this form of tourism.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 2
Written by Veronica TĂNASE, Nicoleta VRÎNCEANU, Mihaela PREDA, Dumitru Marian MOTELICA

Composting municipal sludge is an ecological and economic efficient technology to exploit such residual organic products in order to increase agricultural yields and soil fertility. This study aimed to determine the improve of some chemical characteristics of soil after fertilization with composted sewage sludge associated or not with mineral fertilization after two years of application and the yields recorded after the first two years of treatment. The experimental field was organized using subdivided parcels method, studying two gradients: organic and mineral fertilization. Before application on land as organic fertilizer, chemical characteristics of compost were analyzed in laboratory. Also it was made a characterization of soil from experimental field before and after compost fertilization. In the first year of experimentation the highest soybean yield were recorded in variants with maximum dose of mineral fertilizer. The highest maize yield was obtained in the most intensive fertilization treatment of our experiment which consist of doses of compost equivalent to a nitrogen rate of 400 kg/ ha and mineral fertilization (N100P100). In the second year of experimentation we recorded significant increase yields at oat crops in variants with fertilization in maximum doses. Related to soybean crops, in this second year, the values of yields were increased only in organic or mineral fertilization, but not in association of them. Fertilizing with sewage sludge does not replace the chemical fertilization, but is used in association with it in order to satisfy the necessity of crops for the nutrients.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 1
Written by Ely ZAYOVA, Philip PHILIPOV, Trendafil NEDEV, Daniela STOEVA

Salinity and drought are some of the major abiotic stresses that adversely affect eggplant productivity and quality. The response of in vitro cultivated plants of three eggplant cultivars - Lagra Negra (LN), China-A2 (CH) and Black Beauty (BB) to sodium chloride (NaCl) and polyethylene glycol (PEG8000) induced stress was studied. The Murashige and Skoog, 1962 nutrient medium (MS + 1% sucrose and 0.8% agar) supplemented with NaCl (0; 50; 100; 150 and 200 mM) or PEG (0; 3; 8 and 10%) was used. The survival rate, percentage of rooted plants, plant height and root length were recorded after three weeks of cultivation. The addition of 50 mM NaCl to the MS culture medium influenced positively the plants growth, development and rooting. The survival percentage significantly decreased while increasing salt concentration in the culture medium, especialy at 100 mM NaCl. Concentration of 150 mM NaCl was toxic for the plants of all studied cultivars. The in vitro response of eggplant to drought stress was tested as well. The percentage of surviving plants also decreased while increasing PEG concentration in the culture medium. The appropriate concentrations of the abiotic agent (100 mM NaCl for salinity and 8% PEG for drought) for in vitro selection of tolerant eggplant plants were established. Salinity and drought due to NaCl and PEG respectively resulted in higher and more pronounced levels of proline in the cultivar LN plants, probably due to their better adaptation to abiotic stress.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 3, Number 2
Written by Delia DIMITRIU

However, part of the soil is contaminated with heavy metals, particularly in C-E Europe, due to previous heavy industry. Therefore, the restoration action is necessary, to reclaim the contaminated land for agricultural purposes. Soil contamination by heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd), copper and mercury has become a big concern particularly in metal plating plants, mining sites and surrounding areas as well as residential area and farmlands in the river downstream region neighbouring these facilities. In some cases, heavy metals in soils leach into river water and then diffuse onto farmlands with irrigation, resulting in relatively low levels of heavy metals being spread into wider areas rather than being localized in high concentrations. Therefore, a remediation process is necessary. Thus, recently, weed species, possessing high adaptability to environment, have been pointed out as a suitable plant for soil remediation. Although research on phyto-remediation using weeds has just begun and there are many issues which need to be resolved, this remediation technique is expected to become a valuable technology for the alleviation of heavy metal contaminated soils in the near future. The paper will present a remediation plan, taken Camelina sativa as an example of selected weed, and as case-studies, Rovinari and Copsa-Mica, two heavily polluted areas in Romania. The proposed plan involves 5 steps which includes heavy metals accumulation abilities of weeds, goal and approach for the restoration of metal pollution soils by use of weeds/camelina, cleean up the remediation area: control the introduced weeds before re-using the area as a farmland. The work has started in 2013 and the research is still on going, as part of ITAKA project. This paper will present preliminary results based on selected plan. The paper concludes with an invitation to our colleagues from USAMV - Faculty of Land Reclamation and Environmental Engineering to join our research for a smart agriculture management.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 5, Number 2
Written by Georgeta DICU, Viorel ION, Daniela HORHOCEA, Daniel STATE, Nicoleta ION

Maize (Zea mays L.) is important for supplying biomass to be used as substrate for biogas production either as energy crop or as crop residues. As energy crop for producing biomass, maize is recognized as being one of the most used crops. Maize as energy crop need a specific crop technology, with specific technological features among which there are counting the using of the suitable plant density and row spacing. From this perspective, the aim of the present paper is to present the results we have obtained regarding the biomass yield at several maize hybrids studied under different plant density and row spacing conditions. In this respect, four maize hybrids (H1, H2, Cera 400, and Cera 430) were studied at different plant densities (70,000; 80,000; 90,000; 100,000; 110,000; 120,000 and 125,000 plants.ha-1) and at two row spacing conditions (75 cm and 37.5 cm). Researches were performed in a field experiment in the year 2015, under rainfed conditions. The field experiment was located in South Romania, respectively at Fundulea, Calarasi County (44°28’ N latitude and 26°28’ E longitude). The biomass determinations were performed in the early dough - dough plant growth stages, with the purpose to calculate the yields of above-ground biomass (expressed in tons.ha-1) in the growth stages of the maize plants when the biomass could be used as raw material for biogas production, but also as fodder (silo) for animals. In our field experiment, increasing in plant density was associated with an increase of above-ground biomass yield up to a threshold beyond which the biomass yield is decreasing, this threshold being different according to row spacing. Smaller plant densities favoured the biomass yields at wide rows (row spacing of 75 cm), while higher plant densities favoured the biomass yields at narrow rows (row spacing of 37.5 cm). The biomass yields registered higher values at row spacing of 37.5 cm than at row spacing of 75 cm.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 2
Written by Mihaela GHIDURUȘ, Leonard ILIE, Mioara VARGA, Mircea MIHALACHE

Lipid oxidation prejudices meat quality by degrading polyunsaturated fatty acids to volatile short chain compounds that are the source of undesirable flavours and odours which reduce the appeal of products to consumers. The current review is a comprehensive study dealing with the effect the way tocopherol is absorbed by direct incorporation into diet in the intestine and then transported to the liver and distributed throughout the body, reaching out the highest amount in microsomes and mitochondria. Cumulative results of previous studies and experiments indicates that the susceptibility of meat to lipid oxidation is influenced by the α-tocopherol content of meat and PUFA content of the membrane phospholipids. Within the frame of the review we provide confirmation of the positive effect of dietary vitamin E levels on lipid oxidation by studying and analyzing published experiments where lipid oxidation was measured and where vitamin E accumulation was evaluated, established a quantitative relationship between dietary vitamin E alone and in conjunction with other antioxidants and its effects on pork meat quality.

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Published in Scientific Papers. Series "AgroLife Journal", Vol. 4 ISSUE 1
Written by Mircea MIHALACHE, Leonard ILIE, Doru Ioan MARIN

After nearly three years of intensive consultations, 2015 has been declared the International Year of Soils by the 68th UN General Assembly (A/RES/68/232). The International Years of Soil is to be a major platform for raising awareness of the importance of soils for food security and nutrition and essential eco-system functions. Key objectives of the International Years of Soil have been identified as follows: to create full awareness of all stakeholders about the fundamental roles of soils for human life; to achieve full recognition of the prominent contributions of soils to food security and nutrition, climate change adaptation and mitigation, essential ecosystem services, poverty alleviation and sustainable development; to promote effective policies and actions for the sustainable management and protection of soil resources; to sensitize decision-makers about the need for robust investment in sustainable soil management activities, to ensure healthy soils for different land users and population groups; to catalyze initiatives in connection with the Sustainable Development Goal process and Post-2015 agenda; to advocate rapid enhancement of capacities and systems for soil information collection and monitoring at all levels (global, regional and national) (http://www.fao.org/soils-2015). Applying a proper management of the recovery and conservation of soil resources is a major goal for every nation. The development of a country depends on the production potential of own soil resources. Soil degradation is a serious problem in Europe an also in Romania. It is caused or exacerbated by human activity such as inadequate agricultural and forestry practices, industrial activities, tourism, urban and industrial expansion etc. Soil Quality Monitoring in Romania revealed a number of problems concerning land use in Romania following the manifestation of one or more limiting factors such as: moisture deficit, salinization and alkalization, soil erosion, waterlogging, reduced organic matter content soil acidity, compaction, pollution, reduced edaphic volume etc.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 1
Written by Arina Oana ANTOCE, George Adrian COJOCARU

The present work aims to determine in which way the sensory profiles of the Feteasca regala white wines are affected by treatments with various antioxidants under normal wine cellar conditions and whether the changes induced are perceivable by tasters. The tested antioxidants were the reduced glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (AA), both added during the fermentation of Feteasca regala musts, and also catechinic tannin and carbon dioxide added in the young wines during bottling. The GSH in doses of 0, 20 and 40 mg/l was added in the must just before fermentation, with or without an addition of 50 mg/l AA. The following 50 l variants were thus obtained: G0, G20, G20A50, G40 and G40A50. The young wines were then racked and bottled, adding in each variant during the bottling process either 0 or 20 mg/l catechinic tannin (T0 and T20) and using or not carbon dioxide for protection against oxygen. The main sensory parameters of wines were analyzed by using a protocol developed in our laboratory and also ranked by using the OIV-UIO score sheet for wine contests. Sensory profiles for each variant were obtained and discussed. The parameters which affected the sensory profiles of the wines were statistically analyzed for groups of samples containing the same type of treatment, to determine the treatments with significant influences on the sensory parameters. It was observed that in normal cellar conditions, where protection against oxygen is difficult to maintain in all winemaking stages, the GSH did not improve the aroma intensity and the floral scent perceived in the wines treated, the control wines scoring better for these parameters. The dose of 40 mg/l GSH improved both parameters as compared to the dose of 20 mg/l, but they were still under the values of the control samples. Also, the GSH used without AA increased the perception of bitterness, while in the presence of AA the bitterness induced by GSH was diminished. The tannin did not change the bitterness or the intensity of aroma, but influenced the floral scent, which was better perceived in the samples treated with it. Carbon dioxide treatments during bottling did not have a significant influence on any of the tested parameters.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 2
Written by Olga VIZITIU, Irina CALCIU, Cătălin SIMOTA

Tensile strength is a dynamic property and is sensitive to soil structure because it is related to the presence of air-filled pores, the occurrence of micro-cracks and the strength of inter-granular bonds within and between micro-cracks. Moreover, the tensile strength of soil is much affected by the soil water content and processes which change pore characteristics and/or the cementation between structural units. A friability index has been proposed that is based on measurements of tensile strength of different sized aggregates. The main objectives of the present paper were to measure the mechanical properties (tensile strength and friability) of soil aggregates collected from three agricultural soils, and to explore the relationships between mechanical and basic physical properties of the investigated soils. Soils used in these investigations can be described as “friable” according to the classification used for friability index, F1, values. Soil aggregates of the sandy soil from Grădiștea had the smallest values of tensile strength. The highest values of tensile strength were recorded in case of clayey soil, whereas the loamy soil had values between the sandy and clayey soils. Increasing organic matter content decreased the values of tensile strength for soil aggregates from all soils. High values of clay content in case of loamy and clayey soils increased the values of tensile strength. Increasing amount of clay in sandy soil has been shown to increase the tensile strength of this soil. This may be due to clay particles acting as cementing materials between large particles. Higher amounts of clay in sandy soils provide more opportunities for interparticle contact. Small size classes of aggregates presented higher values of tensile strength as compared with larger size classes of aggregates when the volume dependence method was used. In case of sandy and clayey soils were found underestimates and respectively overestimates of F2 values. As for the loamy soil, the volume dependence method (F2) gave similar values when compared to the coefficient of variation method (F1). The coefficient of variation method is recommended as standard method for measuring soil friability.

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