Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.) is a major problem in gardenpea cultivations contracted by Findus AB, a Swedish food processing company. The main problem is that the nightshade berries contain solanin and, thus, are not tolerated in the marketed product, which is fresh frozen Peas. In addition, berries have the same size and color as the Peas and cannot be separated at the factory. Black nightshades have the last ten years become a more common weed in field grown vegetables in the southern parts of Sweden. This MSc thesis presents an experiment conducted in 2005, aiming at developing a tool for predicting the need for control of black nightshade in Peas.

AbstractAn approaching overproduction of cereals and a future uncertain supply of non genetic modified vegetable protein feedstuffs have increased the interest in an expansion of the domestic production of protein feedstuffs in Norway. Besides rapeseed (Brassica campestris), Peas (Pisum sativum) may be the most suitable crop for this purpose. Peas are characterized by having a relatively high content of crude protein, ranging between 20-26%, a high content of starch, 42-51%, and a low content of fat. In general, the energy value for Peas is higher than for barley but lower than for rapeseed and soybean meal.Pea protein consists of albumins and globulins to 85-100%, which leads to the fact that a large part of the pea protein is soluble and degradable in the rumen. Starch in Peas is on the other hand to a large extent resistant to rumen degradation compared to starch from other starch rich feedstuffs.

There is a shortage of locally produced high quality protein concentrates in Europe andSweden. Local production would decrease the dependency on imported soybean and meet thedemand for organically grown feedstuff from ecological dairy farmers. Field bean (Viciafaba), Peas (Pisum sativum) and sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) are good alternatives tosoybean, but contain anti-nutritional substances (ANS) that could reduce their use as proteinconcentrates in dairy cow diets. The aim of this literature study was to review which ANSfield bean, Peas and sweet lupin contain and whether they affect dairy cows negatively.Trypsin inhibitors and Chymotrypsin inhibitors (TI) were present in all three crops. TI couldbecome inactivated and degraded in the rumen, but due to the high passage speed of thedigesta, most TI left the rumen in an active state.

The Swedish processor Findus contracts approximately 500 pea producers annually to secure the company?s supply of green Peas for human consumption. A production contract, which has had roughly the same design for decades, regulates the relation between Findus and the pea producers. Agriculture is typically a risky business. The main sources of risk in agricultural production are production risk and price risk.

Findus Sverige AB, referred to asFindus from now on, harvests Peas during a period ofaround 50 days during the summer. The harvest generates about 30 000 tonnes of Peas which gives around 40 000 pallets to distribute to the warehouses which Findus uses for final storage. Three hours after the Peas are picked in the fields, they have to be frozen to keep their good taste and quality. Because of this the pallets are marked with a preliminary label with quality classification of the content. The Findus quality department then has one day to determine the correct quality of each pallet.

There is an uncertainty in the market for grain forcing the meat/milk producers to review alternative feeds to a larger extent, in order to get control over the feed costs. This has led to that the meat/milk producers need to have a good knowledge regarding how the different feeds influences the animals and which technical equipment to use for handling. For those that produce their own feedmix, there is a need to put interest in new crops and their characteristics to be able to get the knowledge of what is required for their own production. It is beneficial to keep an open dialogue with advisors to be updated in new crops and new technology for feeding. When mixing feed at farm level, the legislation is not very clear since it the target group is large scale mixing plants. We have brought up the most important rules and regulations from the EU parliament Council as well as the ones from the Swedish Board of Agriculture (SJV), regarding feed mixing on farm and factory level. We have studied beans and pea at two different moisture levels, in order to evaluate how the moisture level affects the distribution of particles when milling with a plaitmill and a hammermill.

Organic layers and broilers will according to (EEG) no 2092/91 be fed 100 % organic feeds in year 2012, which is expected to present problems associated with the specific protein requirements of poultry. This document aims at describing the feedstuffs that possibly may constitute a part of the solution to these problems. Peas, field beans, naked oats, canola, hempseed and sunflower come out as interesting feedstuffs. Biproducts from the milling and dairy industry together with marine protein supplements may be brought to the fore, provided that the demand for organic products will rise further..

At seed-growing the aim is to produce a commodity with high germination capacity, good soundness and purity, and also slight admixture of seeds from other species. The capacity of germination and the vigour of the seeds may become impaired in consequence of mechanical damage, infection of diseases, growth of mould, attacks of vermin, high drying temperature, secret germination, sprouting in the ears etc. The germ belongs to the outer and most unprotected parts of the seed, and consequently this is much exposed. Even quite sound seeds can instantaneously have low capability of germination. It can be due to the fact that the seeds are in rest of germination, i.e.

The margin in crop production is more and more less and it forces the producer to check out how to reduce the cost of establishment of new crop. One way to reduce the cost in establishment is to begin with plough less farming. It saves money and time compares to conventional soil preparation with plough and harrow. Not all soil types are god for plough less farming and should be continued with ploughing (mainly light soil), but other soil types working very well with plough free farming. If you want to success with plough less farming you have to think in new lanes. One of the things you have to think about is to not grow too much cereal after cereal. Low stubble is important when you harvest the crop and also to spread and chop the straw well. I have in this work interviewed some farmers and farm advisers in Östergötland to see which thoughts they have about plough less farming.

This literature review examines different forages which are well suited for suckle cow production in Sweden today. They should also be possible to cultivate in Sweden under the current circumstances. Crops suitable for grazing in Swedish climate but not used in Sweden today, but which may be relevant for Swedish conditions are also mentioned. In Sweden today, mainly grass silage, straw and hay are used as forage, but also wholecrop silage is used to some extent. However, concentrates are not used to a greater extent, since it contains too much energy.

The production of oilseed rape is an important issue in Sweden and those who never have grown oilseed rape (OSR) are now willing to try. It is always a risk to grow oilseed rape, specially winter OSR, because of outwintering. This risk increases as you go north and therefore establishment and autumn growth is very important. These are some of the reasons that I have chosen to write about the establishment of winter oilseed rape in Middle Sweden. There are many factors that influence the outcome of the establishment, e. g.

Soybean meal from South America is the most common protein feed used for animal production in Sweden. Production of soybean has negative effects on the environment and the transports from South America to Sweden causes considerable CO2 emissions. Therefore it is a growing interest in locally produced protein feed in Sweden. Protein feeds that are possible to grow in Sweden are rapeseed, Peas, faba beans and lupins. Those are adapted to the Nordic climate and are perfect to grow in cereal rotations.

The aim of this paperisto find out which plants the Cistercian monks might have cultivated in Sweden during the Middle Ages and which types of plants it would have been practical to grow inside or outside of the Cistercian monastery precinct. Archaeologicaland archaeobotanical studies have been consulted to find out which plants were available in Sweden during the Middle Ages. Examples, mainly from Scandinavia, but also from the continent, are used to show that the monasteries were large institutionsthat had to feed a large number of people and that there would not have been enough space to cultivate everything needed within the monastery precinct.Secondary sources have in the main been used to gather this information, except in the case of the Swedish monastery of Nydala where F-Topo, a database developed by the County Museum of Jönköping,has been used to analyse the amount of land and the types of properties owned by the monastery.The conclusion is that for practical reasons the monks would have cultivated plants that needed to be close at hand, that were rare or delicate, that could not be stored for long periods and that were used in small quantities within the monastery precinct. This would include medicinal plants, herbs for cooking and some vegetables like lettuce, spinach,and similar,that do not keep well. Most other items, grains, cabbages, root vegetables, Peas and beans could equally well be cultivated outside the walls.

As for today, a large quantity of protein feeds is imported from other countries to be used in the Swedish dairy production. The main import is soya from Brazil. The soya-production in Brazil results in negative consequences for the natural environment in the area, and the long transport of the feeds requires a lot of energy. The organic dairy production in Sweden is, with the highest probability going to be forced to use 100 % organic feed to the cows in the year 2005, due to new EU-rules. These are some of the causes why there are reasons to look closer at the possibilities to feed Swedish cows with only Swedish feeds. In this study, I have looked at the KRAV-rules for organic feeding, where the goal is feeding with only KRAV-approved feeds.

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.