Powdery mildew is a serious problem in both field and greenhouse cucumber production and can cause serious infection and radically reduced yields. Today, powdery mildew is the main disease in greenhouse produced cucumber. Disease control should preferably be both efficient and environmentally friendly, which is not easy to achieve at all times. Alternatives to chemical control of powdery mildews are biological control, physical control, non-fungicide control and cultivation of resistant or tolerant varieties. Biological control can be described as the suppression of damaging activities inflicted of a harmful organism by one or more other organisms, which are called antagonists or natural enemies. In Sweden, there are currently no registered biological control products available to control cucumber powdery mildew. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two biological control products in order to evaluate their ability to prevent or reduce powdery mildew infection to an acceptable level in greenhouse produced cucumber. In the experiments, different application regimes were also studied.

Nitrogen deposition leads to environmental damage in areas where the nitrogen deposition is high. Southwest Sweden receives an annual nitrogen deposition of up to 20 kg N/ha. Nitrogen that is not assimilated by the vegetation is accumulated in the soil, which may lead to nitrogen saturation and an elevated risk of nitrogen leaching. Nitrogen leaching from forest areas in southern Sweden has proven to be higher than from agricultural areas, which have been thought to be the main contributors to elevated nitrogen levels in rivers and lakes. The amount of nitrogen that leaches depends on the fraction of the total nitrogen in the soil that consists of nitrate, since nitrate is easily transported through the soil.

After the last is age there was a long period when there was no shortage of forest for peoples needs. People living in Sweden could use the forest resources at their will. Around 4000 years BC the inhabitants of southern Sweden started to use the agricultural system and people become more stationary. The farms were located together in groups and together they formed a social association, the village. Successively the population grew and in some areas the forest started to become a finite resource.

Evaluation of machinery costs is necessary for selecting appropriate farm machinery. Timeliness cost due to untimely operations is an important component of machinery costs. Timeliness costs can be high for crop sprayers, since pesticide application must be carried out within a short time interval. This Master thesis investigated the timeliness cost and the probability of a suitable workday for spraying. Timeliness factors were estimated for four different crops (oats, spring wheat, winter wheat and barley) using historical weed trial data.

Det är mycket viktigt att förhindra att bekämpningsmedelsubstanser läcker ut i miljön och orsakar skada. Lagstiftningen kräver därför att läckaget av bekämpningsmedel från odlad mark minskas. Olika myndigheter och organisationer har olika ansvarsområden beträffande bekämpningsmedel. Bekämpningsmedelssubstanser kan, om de inte hanteras rätt, vara skadliga och därför finns det tydliga bestämmelser om hur dessa substanser ska hanteras. Många oberoende undersökningar visar tydligt på att det förekommer läckage av bekämpningsmedel i samband med att de används i behandlingar av odlad mark. Undersökningar har pågått under lång tid både i Sverige och i andra länder. Ett flertal åtgärder och metoder mot läckage av bekämpningsmedel från odlad mark har framtagits och utvecklats som radikalt kan minska läckaget av bekämpningsmedel.

This paper constitutes graduate work at the landscape architecture program at the Department of Urban and Rural Development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala. The main purpose of this paper is to create a project from an idea to reality. The place for the project is the environment of Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi in the north of Sweden. Icehotel is a unique hotel concept and each winter a hotel, a church and a bar is built at the area of only ice and snow, and each spring it all melts down and returns to the Torne river. During the project a plan for the environment, in ice and snow, will be made and then a part of it will be built in January 2010. The purpose is to improve the outdoor environment with landscape architecture to enhance the experience of Icehotel and create an exciting entrance to the area.

The research group Soil and Water Management at the department of Soil and Environment at theSwedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala are studying greenhouse gas emissions fromcultivated peat soils. To measure carbon dioxide emissions from peat soils in the field the researchgroup are now using two portable carbon dioxide meters (Vaisala GMP343). For practical reasons,they plan to acquire a new type of automated field meter. The aim of this study is to evaluate thepresent meters to see how environmental conditions and instrument settings affect the results,which is meant to facilitate the introduction of the new field meter when the meters needs to becompared. As a part of the study the relationship between groundwater level and carbon dioxideemissions from peat soils will be investigated.The evaluation of the two carbon dioxide meters was made by connecting them to one single airtightsystem, with the aim of creating identical measurement environments.

This study is commissioned by the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU - Department of Forest Resource Management) in coorporation with Sveaskog and Vilhelmina Norra Sami reindeer herding community. The purpose of this study is to analyse movement patterns and habitat use of reindeers during two winter seasons (2005/2006 and 2006/2007) in areas affected by forestry activities such as clearcutting. This study examines the possibilities of analysing information from Reindeer husbandry plans and forest variable data from kNN and SMD, in relation to GPS collar points from reindeers by using Geographical Information System (GIS). Lack of knowledge and understanding between the reindeer industry and the timber industry has often led to heated debates. The possibilities of using this type of technique are very interesting and could increase knowledge concerning land-use issues to different resource users. The main results from analyses comparing SMD, kNN, data about clearcuts, and GPS collar points from reindeers indicates that clearcut areas, younger forest, coniferous forest on lichen-dominated areas and areas dominated by pine was preferred by reindeers during the winter period.

Ungulates are causing conflicts between stakeholders due to browsing damage on forests and agricultural crops. At the same time there is a big demand of keeping high ungulate densities for sports hunting and recreational purposes. Movement patterns of ungulates are strongly correlated with forage availability. Therefore, measures affecting forage quantity and distribution might be a tool to reduce the economical losses in forestry without decreasing the ungulate densities and thereby decrease the conflict between different interest groups.This study investigated the potential biomass production and utilisation of marrow-stem kale (Brassica oleracea var. medullosa), at game fields in Misterhult, Sweden, as well as browsing effects on adjacent forests.

Herbicide resistance is the result of an evolutionary process where a population gradually changes from being susceptible to being resistant to an herbicide. The resistance mechanism is usually a change in the biochemistry of the weed, but in some cases changes in morphology or growth rhythm. The change is caused by random mutations. Two resistance mechanisms are found in black-grass; target site resistance and metabolic resistance.Black-grass is a tufty, winter annual grass weed, which is mainly found in milder climates. Black-grass is a big problem in Southern Europe.

Within the near future Sweden will be facing a large number of successions of ownership  within the agriculture and forestry sector, which is why it is important to acknowledge the question of alternatives for transfer of ownership. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to analyze the existing law as well as the various options for how to transfer the ownership concerning succession of ownership within family-owned agriculture and forestry businesses. This thesis pays particular attention to the complexity of problems that refer to joint ownerships and the great importance of the emotional questions that arise when a succession of ownership is being implemented.A succession of ownership can be planned as well as unplanned. When implemented through inheritance the transfer to the younger generation is unplanned. There are several effects of an unplanned succession of ownership and these effects can be harmful for the company as well as the family.

Time studies in dairy production are an essential tool when deciding about level of mechanisation and automatisation both in investment situation and improving efficiency in existing operations. In previous investigations such studies have been carried out during normal barn conditions during winter. Since there is a compulsory to have dairy cows grazing 3 to 5 months during summer time in Sweden time studies during this season is important to have a full picture of needed working time. During grazing season time studies was carried out at 14 dairy farms representing herd sizes from 66 to 450 dairy cows of which 6 farms with AMS. 8 farms were the same as studied during winter season.

Mäkitalo, Sara. (2010). Flickors sociala skolmiljö på naturbruksprogrammets hästinriktning. (The social school environment for girls attending agricultural school with horse profile). Skolutveckling och Ledarskap (SOL), Lärarutbildningen, Malmö Högskola. Syftet var att studera flickors sociala skolmiljö på naturbruksgymnasiets hästinriktning.

The survey describes a number of risks that Swedish farming companies are exposed to. The risk areas covered by the survey are currency risks, price risks and financial risks. The survey further describes why these risks have a great impact on the future development of the farming companies. The survey highlights the interrelation between the risks and the measures which can be used to minimize the risks, so-called financial instruments. The aim of the survey is to put focus on above mentioned risks and describe how these risks can be reduced to prevent the Swedish farming industry from stagnating in the future. The survey is a secondary survey whereby existing knowledge about risks and risk management is applied to farming companies. The written information on price risks and hedging is primarily derived from foreign sources.

Älvkarleby, landscape character and design proposal is a Graduated Thesis (30 ECCcredtis), in the subject of landscape planning at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the Department of Rural and Urban Development. This thesis is a study and implement of the method "Landscape Character Assessment" (LCA), developed in England and Scotland as tool to analyse and highlight the landscape in different planning processes. The purpose of LCA is to increase the understanding and strengthen the role of the landscape. The thesis consists of three main parts: landscape characterization, guidelines and a design proposal. The landscape characterization emphasizes the values of the landscape in different types of planning processes, a documentation to base estimations on in any kind of change in the area. Theese estimations have resulted in guidelines that give proposals to the development of the landcape, focusing at the desingproposal.