Due to recent legal enactments regarding carbon dioxide emissions, the car industry is facing higher demands. An effective way of reducing these emissions is to minimize the weight of the vehicle. This thesis constitutes a feasibility study on whether or not it is applicable for the car industry to utilize an inner floor structure comprising composite materials. The principal was the projectSåNätt, in which the main participant was Volvo Cars Corp. In consultation with a reference group, consisting of delegates from the industry and KTH, a specification of requirements was produced.

Broad beans are becoming a larger crop in Sweden. This is probably due to the current discussion about the cultivation of soya beans that are imported to be used as protein fodder. Broad beans are a good break crop in a small grain intensive crop rotation and works as a protein source for animals together with for example ley. At present little research has been done on broad beans and more knowledge is needed. This study is about fungal communities and diseases on broad beans and the impact of these fungi on seed germination.

It is important for today?s farmers to minimize the costs for crop establishment, because of decreased prices and support from the EU. Farmers, who plow in autumn on heavy clay soil, often do some kind of tillage in autumn to get better soil structure before spring seeding. This is especially important when growing small seed crop, e.g. sugar beet and oil plants.

The economic prerequisite to many farmers in Sweden after the EU membership and the new agriculture policy has generated large demands on the farm management. Until year 2004 you got a grant based on what you had produced and not on consumer demand. In 2005 a new economic aid (Mid Term Revue) was introduced and the conditions has changed again. Due to this I have chosen to do a cost-benefit analysis on a case, to investigate if the present production is sustainable in the future. My conclusion is that the profitability is acceptable even if the farm has a high debt. But to make the production more profitable the products produced should be refined as much as possible at the farm, to get maximum economic return.

Due to recent legal enactments regarding carbon dioxide emissions, the car industry is facing higher demands. An effective way of reducing these emissions is to minimize the weight of the vehicle. This thesis constitutes a feasibility study on whether or not it is applicable for the car industry to utilize an inner floor structure comprising composite materials. The principal was the projectSåNätt, in which the main participant was Volvo Cars Corp. In consultation with a reference group, consisting of delegates from the industry and KTH, a specification of requirements was produced.

The goal of this master thesis project was to develop computer models of some plausiblepretreatment techniques and to assess the potential benefits/costs of using pretreatment andanaerobic digestion for waste management of organic waste from a system perspective. Forthis purpose a computer program called ORWARE has been used. ORWARE (organic wasteresearch) is a program for making life cycle assessments of waste management. As the mainpart of the project work the ORWARE system has been provided with three new models ofpretreatment techniques. The additions consist of: One model of pretreatment with ultrasound,one model of thermal hydrolysis and one model of a screw press.

Fusarium head blight is a large problem world wide which reduces the yields and the quality of small grains. Shrunken kernels with decreased thousand kernel weight as an effect and pro-duction of mycotoxins are some of the problems caused by infection of Fusarium spp. To avoid toxin contaminated bulks to enter the food and feed chain it is important to have tools for prediction and analysis of the fungi and toxins. Good prediction methods are also impor-tant in the breeding industry since early identification in trials of lines with high resistance or susceptibility simplify the work. To compare different techniques for these objectives this project was initiated.

During the cultivation season there are a several cropping activities to carry out. At what time these activities are carried out is affecting the result and also on the economy of the crop production. As the production costs are high in potato production, it is important to keep an eye on the economy. Profitability is the most important factor in most crop production systems. If the costs are not covered, it is difficult to justify the production.

During the cultivation season there are a several cropping activities to carry out. At what time these activities are carried out is affecting the result and also on the economy of the crop production. As the production costs are high in potato production, it is important to keep an eye on the economy. Profitability is the most important factor in most crop production systems. If the costs are not covered, it is difficult to justify the production.

Fusarium head blight is a large problem world wide which reduces the yields and the quality of small grains. Shrunken kernels with decreased thousand kernel weight as an effect and pro-duction of mycotoxins are some of the problems caused by infection of Fusarium spp. To avoid toxin contaminated bulks to enter the food and feed chain it is important to have tools for prediction and analysis of the fungi and toxins. Good prediction methods are also impor-tant in the breeding industry since early identification in trials of lines with high resistance or susceptibility simplify the work. To compare different techniques for these objectives this project was initiated.

Various electromagnetic (EM) treatments has been investigated for their potential in improving crop productivity over the past century. There is today an increasing amount of scientists advocating EM treatments as an organically compatible method for improving plant growth and yield. However, failure to produce repeatable effects and defining causal mechanisms has made it a study of much controversy and debate. The subject requires indepth interdisciplinary knowledge, making it inaccessible for the majority of biologists, horticulturists and growers. In this combined literature review and pilot study, these issues are addressed by providing a comprehensive introductory review of the topic plant bioelectromagnetics and its potential horticultural usability.

Oilseed rape is an important crop in Sweden and is grown on about 90000 ha today. The interest in oil seed pro-duction is increasing because of growing demand and high prices for oil seed both in Sweden and Europe. However, an increased intensity in the oil seed production can bring higher risk of yield losses due to fungal diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate what different fungi are associated with oilseed rape under field conditions and if their incidence is correlated to crop establishment problems. This study was carried out in three parts: 1) investigations on fungal community structure in roots and rhizosphere soils from young spring- and winter rape plants sampled in failed respectively good establishment patches in four fields, 2) investigations on the pathogenicity of fungi isolated from oilseed rape in controlled environment and 3) investigations on the effect of different fungicide seed treatments on germination and early plant development in a field soil naturally infested with damping off- and Verticillium wilt pathogens. The studies on community structure using a combined approach of standard fungal isolation techniques and DNA based methods revealed a high fungal diversity in three out of four studied fields of spring rape and winter rape. For some unknown reason, very few fungal species were identified from the fourth field.

There are a great possibility to shorten the time between mowing and preservation by spreading of ley crops in connection to the conditioning. In this case the cellular respiration (the plants breeding that consume sugar until the crop is ensiled) should not continue as long and the forage will perhaps get a higher nutritional value. The capacity of the next machine could also be higher because the rake gives swaths with a lot of material. There is also a possibility that spreading of ley crops gives the material a more homogeneous content of dry matter and that gives a reduced growth of clostridium. This is particularly important when the method of harvest doesn?t include any mixing of the material like it does with a round baler or silagewagon.

The last decades the populations of wild boar (Sus scrofa) has increased rapidly over the species? entire European range, including Sweden. This is followed by increasing human-wildlife conflicts as a result of the wild boar foraging behavior, causing damage to agricultural crop fields due to trampling and feeding. To be able to minimize damage we need more knowledge of where in the fields the risk of damage is high and what features in the landscape that affect this risk. I analyzed damage distribution in relation to the distance to six different landscape features; forest, road, ditch, building, game field and bait station, in the study area, the Island Mörkö in eastern central Sweden.

1. Reaction on burial depth and nitrogen availability and placement in competition with a crop In this trial it was investigated how couch grass (Elymus repens) changes its ability to compete in stands of wheat and barley with different burial depth and different amounts and placement of nitrogen. More knowledge in this area can be valuable in the attempt to decrease the use of herbicides and still keep the weeds under control. The trial was carried out in the summer of 2004 as an outdoor pot experiment. The pots contained 15 litres of soil with a surface of 0,06 m2.