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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 1
Written by Cristina Bianca POCOL, Călin MOLDOVAN-TESELIOS, Daniele CAVICCHIOLI, Mirela Irina CORDEA

The aim of the research was to evaluate the effects of projects developed by Local Action Groups (LAGs) on the economic development of rural areas in two development regions of Romania: North-West and North-East. Using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) we have compared communes belonging and not belonging to a LAG having similar characteristics, observing their differences in terms of outcome variables (turnover, number and employees in non-agricultural firms). Results show that there is not a statistically significant difference in change (2011-2015) of outcome variables between the two groups, both in the whole sample and in each region. This points to a lack of effectiveness of LAGs projects in promoting non-agricultural rural development. Furthermore, according to regression results, the outcome indicators are significantly affected by the degree of socio-economic development at the beginning of the examined period.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 5, Number 1
Written by Lia ION, Iuliana IONASCU, Cárol GARCİA de JOZ, Irene CERRADA, Alin BIRTOIU, Eduardo HUGUET

Amniotic membrane transplantation is used in both human and veterinary ophthalmology for ocular surface reconstruction after certain ocular diseases in order to regain corneal transparency and to improve visual outcome. Feline corneal sequestrum is a disease unique to the cat, characterized by the presence of an area of corneal necrosis, brown coloured, sometimes accompanied by vascularization and edema, usually located in the center of the cornea. Depending on the stage of the disease, treatment can be medical or surgical. This pilot study aims to evaluate the clinical outcome after lamellar keratectomy and amniotic membrane transplantation in cases of feline corneal sequestrum. The study was conducted in the Opthalmology Department of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest and in Oftalmovet Private Practice in Valencia for a period of two years. During this time, six cats with corneal sequestrum underwent superficial keratectomy associated with human amniotic membrane transplantation fixed with OcuSeal Liquid Ocular BandageTM (Beaver Visitec). In all the cases, a third eyelid flap was used to protect the graft. Good corneal clarity and improved vision was obtained in all the cases. Amniotic membrane transplantation after lamellar keratectomy was an optimal choice for the treatment of corneal sequestrum in cats. There was no recurrence of the disease in our follow-up period (3-15 months).

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 2
Written by Esmeralda CHIORESCU, Dan CHIORESCU, Feodor FILIPOV

In the technical literature, based on certain simplifying hypotheses, there were presented explicit analytical expressions for the curves of infiltration through earth massifs, under non-permanent conditions. We found that the accuracy of the models that lead to the determination of such curves of infiltration is strongly dependent on the accuracy of approximating the flood hydrographs with analytical functions. From authors experience in the area of flood waves mitigation, remarkable results were obtained when the flood hydrographs were approximated with cubic spline functions. Therefore we intended to extend this type of approximation to the hydraulic models that determine the curves of infiltration through massive chunks of earth. For the purpose of developing such hydraulic models, more easily exploitable in expedite applications, we appealed also to flood hydrograph approximations with unique polynomial functions of 1st and 3rd degree. After reviewing the methodologies used to develop the hydraulic models from recent technical literature, in a consistent manner, we designed an original general algorithm - applicable to any approximating analytical function for flood hydrographs. For validation, this new algorithm was first tested on the cases already treated in topical works - which led to similar results. Then, with the same new algorithm, have been addressed also the new proposed issues. The results for all representative specific cases considered, were consistent with those obtained by numerical simulation, using appropriate software and based on hydrodynamic models well established in the field

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 2
Written by Cosmin SĂLĂȘAN, Sebastian MOISA, Isidora RADULOV

The paper targets the observations over the impact of consultancy and advisory work performed at the scale of a rural micro-region in terms of present choices for the future development by implementation of different possible projects, mostly with public cofinancing. The choice of area and previous activities leads to one Local Action Group active in the previous programming period with specific knowledge and accumulated experience. The preparation for the current programming period creates the opportunity to analyse the directions and the volumes of the future intentions of projects in a sort of project pipelining during the information and animation meetings in the future Local Action Group. The observations collected by a structured questionnaire are further analysed to extract the facts and findings related to different types of actions, investment levels and co-financing readiness. The findings are further compared to the respondents' profile, the earlier achievements and the current reality and realism in order to understand the impact of the specific inputs from consultancy during the animation sessions. The consultancy and the content delivery of the advisory sessions are comparable for the purpose of this analysis as both preparation phases for the two programming periods were covered by the same consultant. The findings lead to solid grounds for the conclusions linking the content and the consultancy interventions to the realistic options of the local actors closely correlated to the vocation of the rural micro-region and the logic of earlier interventions by projects.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 1
Written by Diana VASILE, Lucian DINCĂ, Cristian Mihai ENESCU

Mushrooms from spontaneous flora are among the most important non-wood forest products, more than 3000 species being consumed worldwide and more than 100 being of great importance in medicine, fighting against several diseases. In Romania, there is a long tradition of collecting/picking edible mushrooms from the spontaneous flora, but concrete data regarding the impact of mushrooms collecting on forest ecosystems is lacking. For estimating the quantities of edible mushrooms that could be harvest from spontaneous forest flora managed by the National Forest Administration in 2016, the following were taken into account: the reports recently done by the specialists of National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Drăcea”-INCDS; the database of INCDS regarding the non-wood forest products; the current forest fund administrated by the National Forest Administration; the information contained in scientific papers or resulted from research projects. The largest amounts of edible mushrooms that are harvested from the Forestry Departments managed by National Forest Administration belong to the following species: Boletus sp., Cantharellus cibarius Fr. (chanterelle) and Armillaria mellea (Vahl) P. Kumm. (honey fungus). The most significant impact of mushrooms collecting occurs in the terrestrial flora and fauna. In order to assure a low impact on environment, the activity of harvesting edible mushrooms will have to respect the principle of sustainable management of forestry resources, i.e. the harvesting should be made so as not to disturb the regenerative capacity and biodiversity especially in the case of endangered species or in fragile ecosystems. If the activity of harvesting edible mushrooms is supervised by the forest authorities who have experience in organizing such activities and in compliance with all the recommendations, there is no possibility of occurrence of situations with negative effects on biodiversity or on the abundance of mushroom species.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 2
Written by Safieh VATANDOOST, Gholamhossein DAVARYNEJAD, Ali TEHRANIFAR

Kaolin application became a common treatment in orchards against different pests like psyllid. After kaolin application a thick powdery layer covers both sides of each leaf. It is a major concern that how much this layer affect light absorbance of leaves and net plant production, although light interception can be altered by changing spacing, tree height, tree shape and/or row orientation. In order to investigate the effect of kaolin spray on light extinction coefficient and radiation use efficiency of pistachio, an experiment conducted on a commercial orchard in khorasan razavi province. Three concentrations (0%, 3% and 6%) of processed Kaolin particle film sprayed on four varieties (Ohadi, Sepid, Kalehghoochi and Akbari) of pistachio as a liquid suspension, which evaporates, leaving white colour powdery film on the surfaces of leaves, stems and fruits. Treatments arranged in a randomized block design with 3 replications. Imaging softwares used to extract canopy structure and light transmission factor. In this case that we could not measure total plant production, only dried fruit production of each tree was used to estimate RUE (Radiation Use Efficiency). The results showed that kaolin film decreased single-leaf light absorbance and increased total light absorbance of pistachio tree. K, the Light extinction coefficient was not significantly different in different concentration of kaolin treatments.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 7, Number 1
Written by Alina SIMON, Teodor RUSU, Felicia CHETAN, Cornel CHETAN, Paula Ioana MORARU

Climate change is one of the most important factors influencing agricultural production, by natural energy flows blocking the work of the plant systems. Human activity, primarily the use of fossil fuels as the main energy source, contributes with over 40% increase greenhouse gas emissions. The principles of conservation agriculture include practices that retain soil undisturbed, conservation of soil fertility, minimum loss of organic matter and reduce the amount of water lost from the soil, conservation and use of water by plants spread throughout the growing season. The purpose of this paper is researching the influence of the minimum tillage systems application and climate conditions on the momentary soil moisture reserves and yield in the case of pea crops. The experimental factors were: factor A - tillage system, a1 = classical tillage system (with plowing), a2 = minimum tillage system (chisel variant), a3 = no-tillage system (direct sowing); factor B - experimental years, b1 = 2014, b2 = 2015, b3 = 2016. The afila pea variety cultivated was Tudor. Momentary soil moisture reserves were determined by the oven drying method. The average annual temperature increased during 2014-2016 by 0.9-2.0°C from the annual average of the past 59 years of 9.1°C recorded at the Meteorological Station Turda. Rainfall monthly registered over the three years were higher than the average on 59 years by 127.6 mm in 2015, 227.9 mm in 2014 and 303.2 mm in 2016. Soil reserve moisture determined between March and July at pea crop was higher in 2016 both the depth of 0-20 cm and 0-50 cm, the pea yield was 4210 kg/ha, compared to 2015 when the moisture reserve was close to the minimum limit and the yield obtained was 2360 kg/ha. Momentary soil moisture reserves calculated on 0-20 cm and 0-50 cm of depths were influenced by the soil tillage processing, in the minimum tillage systems and no-tillage the momentary soil moisture reserves are preserved better than in the classical tillage system. Reserve momentary soil moisture and pea yield are influenced by climate conditions and the processing of soil.

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Published in Scientific Papers. Series "AgroLife Journal", Vol. 4 ISSUE 1
Written by Muzaffer DENLI

The contamination of foods and feeds is a significant problem in worldwide. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi, particularly by many species of Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, Claviceps and Alternaria in many agricultural crops, especially in cereals and most oilseeds. Aflatoxins, ochratoxins, trichothecenes, zearelenone and fumonisins are the mycotoxins of greatest agro-economic importance. Mycotoxins have various acute and chronic effects on animals (especially monogastrics) depending on species and susceptibility of an animal within a species. The most applied method to prevent mycotoxicosis in animals involves the addition to the diet of additives with the ability to bind or metabolize mycotoxin in the gastrointestinal digesta, aluminosilicates, activated charcoal, yeast and several polymers have been tested regarding the adsorption of mycotoxins in the gastrointestinal tract of different species. The efficiency of mycotoxin binders, however, differs considerably depending mainly on the chemical structure of both the adsorbent and the toxin. This review describes the most implications of mycotoxins in livestock feeds

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 3, Number 2
Written by Sebastian MUSTATA, Dragos DRACEA, Augustina TRONAC

Interlocking residential, administrative and production areas in urban development is accompanied by a decrease in population comfort caused by industry sound pollution. Verification of compliance of acoustic pressure and noise limits is done by direct measurements. This approach is used for assessing the noise level of a treatment plant of industrial wastewater resulting from a meat processing factory, having a technological chain comprising mechanical, chemical and biological phases. The interpretation of recorded values leads to a solution proposal aimedr to preserve the operation staff health and to improve the acoustic conditions of the surrounding areas.

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Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 2
Written by Nicoleta Olimpia VRÎNCEANU, Dumitru Marian MOTELICĂ, Ilie CALCIU, Veronica TĂNASE, Mihaela PREDA, Georgiana PLOPEANU, Iuliana IVANA

Using organic or inorganic amendments to immobilize the heavy metals in soils is a cost-effective remediation technique for contaminated soils. The aim of study was to assess the efficiency of 4 amendments to immobilize cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in soil and reduce their phyto availabilty. An experimental field was set-up in Copșa Mica area and four amendments were applied: Na-bentonite, dolomite, natural zeolite and manure. Following the application of the amendments, a mix of perennial grasses and straw cereals, belonging to the family of Gramineae, were sown. The efficiency of in situ immobilization of heavy metals was assessed using DTPA extraction of metals and plant uptake. All treatments produced significant increases of pH values in soil. The mean soil pH of the control plots was 5.18. Comparing the effects of treatments on soil reaction, the best results were observed after applications of bentonite or dolomite. The highest mean value of pH was measured in plots treated with Na-bentonite (pH 7.16). The bioavailability of metals is related to soil pH. Therefore the effects of treatments on pH are reflected on metals bioavailability assessed by DTPA-extractable metal fractions. All amendments caused a reduction of heavy metal (Cu, Cd, Pb or Zn) mobility compared to the control but the magnitude of effects depends on metal and amendment. For copper and zinc, addition of Na-bentonite reduces statistically significant the mobile forms in soil from 13.6 mg•kg-1 Cu (control) to 9.4 mg•kg-1 Cu and from 327 mg•kg-1 Zn (control) to 143 mg•kg-1 Zn. By using the natural zeolite the values of heavy metal contents in mobile forms in soil decreased significantly comparing with control. The results demonstrate the high potential of studied amendments for immobilization of heavy metals in contaminated agricultural soils.

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