Large amounts of phosphorus (P) are lost from the arable land due to water erosion. Both phosphorus attached to particles and dissolved phosphorus (mainly phosphate) are transported away with drainage-water and surface runoff. Good soil structure is important in minimizing these losses. In this study, soils from 50 fields were analysed with respect to aggregate stability as measured by dispersion of clay together with the content of total phosphorus (TotP), particulate phosphorus (PP) and phosphate phosphorus (PO4P) in the water phase. All soils were clay soils with clay content varying between 21 and 54%.

Abstract In order to make the modern agriculture less dependent on non-renewable external inputs, it has to rely more on ecosystem services. The agricultural system produce not only food, fiber and fuel, it also generates other ecosystem services such as e.g. photosynthesis, recycling of nutrients, influencing local microclimate, pollination, biological control and detoxification of noxious chemicals. This study is an attempt to get a better understanding about the interaction among different ecosystem services and different habitats capacity to generate them. An evaluation of eight different methods is done. The ecosystem services studied are the ability to absorb solar energy, biomass production, botanical diversity, decomposition and natural predation of aphids.

The requirements of good quality and appetizing fast food increases continuously as a consequence of a community where food is always available. The crispiness of French fries is an issue that must be considered in this context, since it tends to decrease and give the fries a soft surface not appreciated by the consumer. To prolong the crispiness, the fries can be coated by a batter, a mix of starches. The batters used often consists of modified starches, e.g. cross-linked, acetylated and dextrinizated to increase and prolong crispiness, flour to stabilize the batter and sodium bicarbonate to make the batter ?rise?.The cross-linked starch keeps the granules in a swelled state and prevents them from breaking when exposed to heat or processing: therefore, it delays the gelatinization and decreases the stickiness of the batter.

Various Fusarium species causes some of the most common cereal diseases worldwide. Besides the yield losses that can be a result of these diseases, strains from several Fusarium species can produce mycotoxins, some very toxic. The aim of this study was to investigate which Fusarium species and how many that occurred in winter wheat grains from Mälardalen and Kalmar län, if there was any difference in the distribution of Fusarium fungi between the regions and the potential within species to produce mycotoxins belonging to the group trichothecenes. Winter wheat grains collected in 2009 from ten fields (unsprayed plots) in the two regions were analysed for Fusarium species. PCR was used to amplify the TEF region where after the samples were sequenced.

Emissions of radionuclides to the atmosphere can lead to wet deposition on plants in theevent of rainfall. An increased level of radioactivity in the plants may occur due tointerception and retention of the radionuclides. If the content of the plants is above thethreshold limit value, entire yields may have to be destroyed. In order to preventcontamination or decrease the content countermeasures can be taken. The impact of thebiomass, leaf area index (LAI) and growth stage of the plant on the interception andretention is important to know in order to decide which countermeasures to use.Weather may also be an important factor.In this work the interception and retention of 134Cs and 85Sr by spring wheat, ley andspring oil-seed rape was studied.

This rapport handles the presence of two kinds of watermills in the Swedish landscape. The first is a small type with a horizontal shovel blade and the other a bigger kind with a vertical standing shovel scoop. The rapport seeks for information of their capacity and how long they existed as flour producing units. A important issue is how small can a brook be and still run a mill. Finally the reasons for their disappearance in one selected parish is shown..

Fusarium graminearum causes reduction in both yield and quality in cereal grain worldwide. One of the diseases it can cause is Fusarium Head Blight (FHB). Both sexually and asexually produced spores can infect living plants. Asexual conidia are produced in the mycelium while sexual ascospores form in asci in perithecia on debris. In biological control, living organsims are used to control pests and diseases.

The aim of this study was to detect antibodies in swine serum against proteins in soy beans, wheat, oat and barley. Two methods were used: agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGID), and SDS-PAGE followed by immunoblotting. The sera examined originated (I) from piglets younger than one week (negative control), (II) pigs from a feed trial with soy bean in a herd with PMWS, and (III) pigs inoculated with Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and Escherichia coli after being fed with soy. The AGID-test was negative concerning all examined sera which were analysed against proteins in soy bean, wheat, oat and barley. In the experiment based on immunoblot antibodies were demonstrated within all three groups of examined pigs.

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.

We have been looking at three different types of agriculture in Södermanland, in the middle east of Sweden. We call the different types for Intensive, Extensive and Mix. The purpose is to get an economic defensible plan for how to run different farm sizes. We also have been looking at the working hours and how many hours the different types will give. We have a farm called Taxinge Gods as our pilot farm. Taxinge Gods grow 407 ha land and is located 60 km southwest from Stockholm.

The quality of bread wheat is a large subject to study. The quality rests on two legs. The first one is the inheritance of specific characters, which can be influenced through plant breeding and type of cultivar. The other one is the environmental influences, such as crop rotation, nutrition, harvest and storage. The latter factors are possibly to affect through cultivation practices, while other factors are not possible to influence on for the grower, such as seasonal changes of weather and the soil content.

Wheat yield depends on the number of ears per m2, the number of kernels per ear and the kernel weight. By knowing the ability of different cultivars to compensate for the different yield components and knowing which yield component that is the most important for the final yield, the farmer can match the cultivar and management to the location. The objective of the study was to investigate how the yield components of winter wheat vary depending on genotype, environment, sowing density and date of sowing.Seven varieties were grown in four locations in Sweden with three different sowing densities and with an early and a late sowing date. On each experimental site, the surviving plants after winter were counted, as well as the number of shoots at early and late spring and the number of ears. Ten ears from each site were cut at three different occasions, starting from the time of blooming, with 200 day degrees between each cut.

Trade is important for every country in the world. Commodities are transported between rich and poor countries everyday. Some of the trading partners are EU and Ethiopia, this because of less expensive commodities from EU than they are in Ethiopia. The most important agricultural commodity is wheat. Ethiopia is a poor country, whose inhabitants mostly are living on agriculture.

Crop efficiency in utilizing available nutrients is an important factor in increasing produc-tivity and reducing the environmental impact of agriculture. Nitrogen is the nutrient that plants need in the largest quantity and wheat, along with maize and rice, is the world's most cultivated crop. In this work, the Nitrogen Use Efficiency, NUE, during the major growth period, HTP, of twelve different spring wheat varieties, were examined. The NUE was calculated as the product of uptake efficiency of nitrogen, UN, and the conversion effi-ciency of nitrogen to biomass, EN. The purpose of this work was to find if there are varietal differences in NUE and its components among the twelve varieties and to link a high NUE to specific characteristics of the varieties.

Emissions of radionuclides to the atmosphere can lead to wet deposition on plants in the event of rainfall. An increased level of radioactivity in the plants may occur due to interception and retention of the radionuclides. If the content of the plants is above the threshold limit value, entire yields may have to be destroyed. In order to prevent contamination or decrease the content countermeasures can be taken. The impact of the biomass, leaf area index (LAI) and growth stage of the plant on the interception and retention is important to know in order to decide which countermeasures to use. Weather may also be an important factor. In this work the interception and retention of 134Cs and 85Sr by spring wheat, ley and spring oil-seed rape was studied.