Browsing by master's degree program "Master's Programme in Agricultural Sciences"

Työn tavoitteena oli selvittää polttoöljyn suorapolton soveltuvuutta viljankuivaukseen tarkastelemalla kansallista lainsäädäntöä, paloturvallisuusmääräyksiä, elintarvikevaatimuksia, sekä polttotekniikkaa ja palamistulosta. Lisäksi toteutettiin käytännön kuivauskoe tekniikan toimivuuden, sekä mahdollisten haitallisten viljan kontaminaatioiden selvittämiseksi. Suorapolttoinen uuni on rakenteeltaan yksinkertaisempi ja hyötysuhteeltaan lämmönvaihtimella varustettua uunia parempi. Suorapolttoisia uuneja on käytössä viljankuivauksessa Suomessa jo maa- ja nestekaasukäyttöisinä. Lisäksi muualla Euroopassa käytetään suorapolttoisia öljyuuneja. Kirjallisuuden perusteella suorapoltto saattaa kohottaa kuivattavan viljan PAH- ja raskasmetallipitoisuuksia, jos poltin on säädetty ali-ilmalle. Suomen lainsäädännöstä ei löytynyt estettä öljyn suorapolton käytölle. Kuivauskokeessa todettiin tekniikan toimivan hyvin. Koe toteutettiin sekä polttimen optimisäädöillä, että ali-ilmalle säädetyllä polttimella. Vertailuksi otettiin näytteet myös lämmönvaihdinta käyttäen kuivatusta erästä. Viljanäytteistä analysoitiin PAH4-, lyijy- ja kadmiumpitoisuudet. Näytteistä ei havaittu haitallisia määriä edellä mainittuja yhdisteitä. Tutkimuksessa ei löytynyt suorapolton käyttöä estäviä tekijöitä. Tutkimuksen perusteella suorapolttoa voidaan pitää yhtenä vaihtoehtona viljankuivauksen lämmönlähdettä valittaessa myös Suomessa.

Vapaaporsitus kiinnostaa emakoiden paremman hyvinvoinnin vuoksi, mutta häkkiporsitus on silti tällä hetkellä maailmanlaajuisesti yleisin porsimistapa. Vapaaporsituksen esteenä voivat olla rakenteelliset ongelmat, sillä se vaatii tilaa ja vanhoista sikaloista sitä ei välttämättä löydy. Vapaaporsimiseen liittyy myös epäilyksiä suuremmasta porsaskuolleisuudesta, mutta tästä huolimatta esimerkiksi Ruotsi, Norja ja Sveitsi ovat kieltäneet häkkiporsituksen kokonaan, pois lukien erikoistilanteet, jotka vaativat emakoiden hetkellisen häkissä pitämisen. Tutkimus oli osa A-tuottajien Vapaaporsituksella parempaa hyvinvointia -hanketta ja se suoritettiin kolmella sikatilalla 14.9.2020-16.1.2021 välisellä ajalla. Tutkimuksen tiloilla oli käytössä vapaaporsitus ja sama sikarotu. Tiloilla tutkittiin kolmen eri vapaaporsituskäytännön vaikutusta. Tiloilla A ja C seurattiin emakoiden syömiskäyttäytymistä videoinnin avulla, mitattiin emakoiden silavan paksuudet sekä tarkkailtiin emakoiden syömän rehun määrää. Tilalla B suoritettiin emakoiden käyttäytymisen seuranta videoinnilla. Tilalla A videoinnissa oli 36 ja rehun syönnin seurannassa 52 emakkoa. Tilalla C videoinnissa oli 43 ja rehun syönnin seurannassa 47 emakkoa. Tilalla B käyttäytymisen seurannassa oli 54 emakkoa. Emakoiden syömän rehun määrää seurattiin kolmena porsimisen jälkeisenä viikkona: syöntiviikko 1, syöntiviikko 2 ja syöntiviikko 3. Tilalla A porsimiskäytännöllä, silavan paksuudella ja silavan paksuuden muutoksella ei ollut yhteyttä rehunsyöntiin tai syömiskäyttäytymiseen syöntiviikoilla 1, 2 tai 3. Syöntiviikolla 2 vapaaporsituksessa olevilla emakoilla silavan paksuus kuitenkin väheni 0,84 mm ja hyvinvointikorvauksen mukaisessa porsituksessa olevilla emakoilla 1,29 mm. Ero ei kuitenkaan ollut tilastollisesti merkitsevä. Porsaiden kolmen eri punnituskerran painot korreloivat emakon syöntiviikon 2 kanssa. Tilalla C emakoiden silavan paksuuden muutoksella (mm) oli positiivinen tendenssi emakon syöntiviikoilla 1 ja 2, mutta ei syöntiviikolla 3. Silavan paksuus ei korreloinut syöntiviikkojen kanssa eikä syöntiviikolla ollut yhteyttä pahnueiden päiväkasvuihin. Emakoiden syöntiviikoilla 1, 2 ja 3, tai porsimistavalla ei ollut yhteyttä emakoiden rehusyönnin määrään. Emakoiden syöntiviikolla 1 ja 3 ei ollut yhteyttä emakoiden syömiskäyttäytymiseen ennen porsimista, mutta syöntiviikolla 2 oli positiivinen tendenssi emakoiden syömiskäyttäytymisen kanssa. Porsimisen jälkeen syöntiviikot 1, 2 ja 3 eivät olleet yhteydessä emakoiden syömiskäyttäytymiseen. Porsimistavalla ja syöntiviikolla voi olla yhteyttä emakoiden syömisaktiivisuuteen ja rehunsyöntiin, mutta näihin vaikuttavat myös ympäristötekijät ja emakoiden yksilölliset luonne-erot, jotka tässä tutkimuksessa jätettiin huomioimatta.

More than 75% of global food production benefits from insect pollinators. As the number of pollinators is declining, food security may be at risk. Bees are commonly considered as the most efficient pollinators, and this is reflected in the number of studies on crop pollination by bees. However, other taxa also visit crop flowers and may have a significant role in pollination. Ants are known to visit flowers for many different reasons, but their contribution to pollination is not clear. Raspberry is an economically important crop which highly benefits from animal pollination. The aim of this study was to examine the potential contribution of ants to raspberry pollination, in Coffs Harbour, Australia. The contribution of ants to pollination was evaluated in a bagging experiment comparing fruits from open pollination, ant-only visitation pollination, and exclusion of all pollinators, by recording ants’ abundance and diversity on raspberry flowers by transect walks and examining pollen carried on their bodies by inspecting swab samples under the microscope. The open pollination treatment had significantly higher numbers of drupelets and fruit weight than the pollinator exclusion treatment. The ant pollination treatment resulted in higher numbers of drupelets and fruit weight compared to the pollinator exclusion treatment. The abundance of ants varied considerably in different locations. Ants were the most abundant visitors in half of the studied locations. Ants were more active in the morning, while the proportion of honey bees and stingless bees increased after 11 a.m. compared to ants. Ten different ant species were found to visit raspberry flowers and raspberry pollen was found on ants’ bodies. This study shows the importance of ants in the pollination of raspberry flowers and their influence on raspberry fruit formation. All flower visitors should be studied to establish their relative contribution to crop pollination to ensure growers can plan the pollinator management for each crop and environment separately. This study shows that the role of the ants in crop pollination may have been underestimated.

The natural carbon cycle is affected by human activity. Terrestrial carbon stocks have been decreasing as at the same time carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased causing climate change. The Paris Agreement sets the target to limit climate change to 1.5°C and to reach that goal, all possible mitigation practises should be included into global framework to avoid the most serious consequences of warming. Carbon sequestration into natural soil and biomass could be one mitigation practice. To enhance carbon sequestration activities and to include natural carbon stocks into to the EU climate policy, it would be necessary to quantify stock sizes and changes in those stocks. For developing carbon trading markets, the quantification methods should provide accurate results and at the same time be practical and financially achievable. Used research method in this thesis was comparatively literature survey and aim was to gather and compere information about currently used carbon stock quantification methods against developing carbon trading markets. Soil carbon stocks can be quantified with direct soil sampling, spectroscopic sensing methods or by mathematical models. Biomass carbon stocks can be quantified with inventory-based field measurements and modelling and by remote sensing. The full carbon budget on the ecosystem level can be achieved with carbon flux measurements. Quantification of different terrestrial carbon stocks and their changes is not a simple task. There is a lot of variation between different stocks and in some cases, the stock changes occur slow. Cost of carbon stock quantification depends on the accuracy, size of the area under focus and frequency of the measures. Methods for terrestrial carbon stock quantification are dependent on high quality data and there is demand for research considering carbon sequestration. For carbon offsetting purposes of developing carbon markets, the modelling approach is achievable, cost efficient, repeatable and transparent. There is no perfect model or one universal model that would fit to every situation and thus the differences must be known. At this stage, this approach could be one possibility to include small scale projects and enhance climate actions. Different quantification methods provide information which can be used to different method developments and to increase accuracies. It’s important to know, how all information can be effectively utilized.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a grain legume crop, its seeds are a generous source of plant protein for both food and feed. In addition to having a high nutritional value, faba beans are an essential part of a sustainable cropping system. Faba bean increases the biodiversity of crop rotation, and due to its' superior symbiotic nitrogen fixation, it reduces the need for chemical nitrogen fertilizers. Due to climate change, drought is predicted to increase during the growing season, especially in middle and high latitudes. Drought limits the growth of crops and reduces both grain and straw yields. Faba bean is a cool-season crop, and it has adapted to cool and moist conditions and has a low tolerance to water deficit. The main aim of this study is to determine whether Rhizobium leguminosarum inoculation improves adaptation of faba bean to water deficit. In addition, the study analyzes the effect of chemical nitrogen fertilizer on adaptation to water deficit and compares these results. The research was conducted under controlled greenhouse conditions and field experiment. In the greenhouse experiment, the effect of three different moisture treatments with field capacities of 100%, 45%, and 20% was compared on the growth between three different faba bean varieties. The genotypes used in the greenhouse experiment were Aurora, which is sensitive to water deficit; Mélodie, which has an efficient water absorption capacity; and Vire. Plants received three different nitrogen treatments: rhizobial inoculation, synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, and control that was not given nitrogen treatment. In the field experiment, a Finnish genotype, Sampo, was used, and the effects of four different nitrogen treatments on its growth were compared. The nitrogen treatments were inoculation, synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, a combination of these, and an untreated control. In the greenhouse experiment, water deficit and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer significantly reduced the number of active root nodules of the faba bean, while rhizobial inoculation increased the number of root nodules even under dry conditions. At 20% field capacity, inoculation increased shoot dry weight by 38%, while synthetic nitrogen fertilizer increased shoot dry weight by 26%. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, on the other hand, increased leaf area and SPAD results more than rhizobial inoculation. Leaf temperature raised as the stomatal conductance decreased under water deficit. Increasing the amount of nitrogen either by inoculating with rhizobia or synthetic nitrogen fertilizer promotes the growth of faba bean under water deficit conditions. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer increases the adaptation of faba bean to water deficit slightly more than inoculation. Inoculation can ensure the formation of root nodules and efficient nitrogen fixation under water deficit.

The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between nutritional factors and the incidence of peripheral caries and other oral diseases in Finnish horses. Peripheral caries was chosen as the main subject of this study because of its wide prevalence in horse population. Peripheral caries is also a risk factor for other oral diseases, and it is thought to express well the effects of feeding to teeth. The aim of this study was also to find out how the Finnish horse population is fed. The study was carried out as questionnaire at Porvoon Hevosklinikka. Horse owners filled the questionnaire according to the information from oral exam done by veterinarians. Oral exams were carried out by two Specialists in Veterinary Medicine, Equine Diseases. Of the 94 horses included in this study, 79% (n=74) had been diagnosed with peripheral caries by a veterinarian. The incidence of peripheral caries was significantly associated with breed and use of hay net. All (n=12) of the warmblood trotters in this study had peripheral caries. Most of the horses (95 %, n=22) that ate their roughage from hay net had peripheral caries. Only 35 % of the horse owners had access to feed analysis of roughages fed to their horses. As much as 85 % of the horses whose owners did not have access to feed analysis had peripheral caries. Some symptoms in eating behavior and riding or driving behavior have been connected to pain at cheek teeth. In this study 37 % of owners reported that horses did not have any of these symptoms. Most (83 %, n=29) of these horses however had peripheral caries. Because of the small sampling and reference group more study of this subject is needed. According to this study most of the Finnish horse owners do not have feed analysis of their roughage and therefore they cannot plan the feeding based on the analysis. Despite this almost all (96%) of the horses in this study had their feeding supplemented with concentrates.

Tutkielman tavoitteina oli selvittää maatalouden aurinkosähköjärjestelmän (Agrivoltaic System) mahdollisuuksia Suomen olosuhteissa ja niiden vaikutuksia kasvinviljelyyn. Tutkielman toisena tavoitteena oli arvioida sopivien viljelykasvien valintaa tutkimusta varten määrittämällä mahdollisimman pienen vuosittaisen satovaihtelun omaava viljelykasvi aurinkosähköjärjestelmän yhteyteen Suomessa. Aurinkosähköjärjestelmien vahvuuksia, haittoja, mahdollisuuksia sekä uhkia vertailtiin, jotta voidaan arvioida, mikä järjestelmistä olisi Suomen olosuhteisiin sopivin. Kasvinviljelyn mahdollisuuksia vertailtiin ja tutkittiin variaatiokertoimen avulla. Variaatiokerroin antaa hajontaa kuvaavan tunnusluvun, jonka avulla voi verrata eri kasvien satotasojen vaihtelua toisiinsa. Variaatiokertoimella pyrittiin vertailemaan eri kasvien sadon vaihtelevuutta vuosien ja alueiden välillä, jonka avulla pyrittiin selvittämään niiden herkkyyttä olosuhteiden vaihtelulle. Laskennan tulokset osoittivat suurta vaihtelua härkäpavulla ja syysvehnällä. Näitä kyseisiä kasveja ei siis olisi suositeltavaa viljellä tutkimuksen yhteydessä, sillä olosuhteiden vaikutukset viljelytuloksiin saattaisivat olla merkittävät. Vähiten olosuhteiden vaihtelu vaikutti kevätvehnään, rypsiin sekä säilörehuun. Säilörehun matalaa variaatiokerrointa saattaa selittää sen monivuotisuus sekä -satoisuus, joka saattaa kompensoida olosuhdevaihteluita. Tutkielmassa vertailtiin kattavasti interspace ja overhead järjestelmien soveltuvuutta Suomen olosuhteisiin. Järjestelmissä nousi ilmi hyvin erilaisia etuuksia ja haittoja järjestelmien välillä. Tutkielman johtopäätökseksi saatiin, että maatalouden aurinkosähköjärjestelmillä olisi hyvä potentiaali Suomessa. Järjestelmien välisessä vertailussa ei tullut mitään yksiselitteistä vastausta, mikä järjestelmistä olisi selkeästi soveltuvin Suomalaisiin olosuhteisiin. Tästä olisi hyvä toteuttaa tulevaisuudessa käytännön tutkimus, jonka avulla pystyttäisiin vertailemaan järjestelmien välisiä eroja. Tässä saattaisi paljastua uusia muuttujia, joita ei ulkomaisissa tutkimuksissa olla huomattu, sillä järjestelmät ovat toteutettu täysin erilaiseen ympäristöön.

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are one of the most important food crops in the world. Long supply chains force producers to harvest the fruit before ripening. Ripening then happens in super markets or at the end–consumer. Partly due to the early harvest, tomatoes are perceived flavorless, especially in the wintertime. In addition to a demand for more flavorful produce, consumers are also increasingly interested in healthy food and are looking at the nutritional value of their food before the price tag. As tomatoes are a major crop, they could potentially also contribute to the daily nutrient intake of consumers, such as lycopene, which is i.e. suggested to have preventative qualities towards cancer. Several studies have been conducted to find out how light emitting diodes (LED –lights) could influence the plant and its compounds during growth, but post-harvest research to a lesser extent. Research on post-harvest LED–lighting suggests that quality attributes could also be influenced post-harvest. Important parameters to look at are color and firmness, as they are what buying decisions are primarily based on. Further, lycopene, but also total soluble sugars (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA), and especially their ratio, which defines how tomato flavor is perceived, are worth studying. Therefore, this study aimed to find out, how LED–light treatments could be used to steer the post-harvest quality of tomatoes. Three continuous light treatments were used; Blue, far-red, a standard growing light with high red to far-red ratio and dark as control. The study was done on two cultivars by measuring TSS, TA, lycopene, vitamin C and firmness of the tomatoes every fourth day for 12 and 15 days. Additionally, a set of tomatoes was analyzed for changes in weight and color. The results suggest that LED-lights do influence the quality characteristics of tomato fruit. Blue light seemed to decrease firmness, but to increase lycopene. Lycopene accumulation was also enhanced by a high red to far-red ratio, whereas far-red had a reversing effect. Both blue and high red to far-red ratio treatments increased the chroma values, making the tomatoes brighter in color. Far-red seemed to enhance red color development and to retain firmness, but to decrease lycopene accumulation and to make the color duller. Tomatoes kept in the dark had low lycopene content and a dull coloration. Results on TSS and TA indicate differences in genotype responses, which further underlines the need for further research on the topic and especially the effect of cultivar. The results of the study indicate that tomatoes should not be kept in the dark during storage, as then the full potential of their external and internal quality will not be reached. High red:far-red ratio lighting increases lycopene and brightens the coloration, and could be considered to be used during storage. However, other external factors affecting quality, such as ethylene and temperature, should be included in the future research to study their effect and correlation with light in regard to tomato fruit quality.

Modern agricultural tractors produce a large amount of information for controlling various functions of the tractor and farming implements. By including location data to the measurements, the data obtained can be used, for example, to study the conditions in the field or the tractor's work cycle. The development of telematics systems should aim at completely automated solutions. ISO 11783 defines the transmission of data both within the tractor and between the tractor and the implement, implemented using the CAN (Controller Area Network). It is also possible to monitor the desired information such as fuel consumption and engine load, as well as the needed draft force. Farming implements and tractors whose data transfer complies with an international standard are called ISOBUS machines. The aim of the study was to develop a cost-effective telematics system that can be used to monitor and record arable farming activities in real time. In accordance with the objectives, the requirements of the measuring equipment were determined for decoding and recording the messages of the CAN bus of the tractor. The tractor's CAN bus data was recorded using a Raspberry Pi microcomputer with CAN bus and GNSS measurement cards. The system was used to collect predefined tractor data from the bus, which was sent with location data in real time over the mobile phone network to a server computer. The measurement hardware and the server computer were programmed using the Node-RED programming tool. The information received on the server computer was stored in a MySQL database. Node-RED was also used to create a graphical user interface, from which any user could monitor the tractor's functions and location in real time and control the storage of data in the database. Testing of the measurement system was carried out at the Viikki research farm of University of Helsinki during the summer of 2023. The implemented measurement system successfully collected data on two tractors for different work tasks during silage harvesting. Retrieving and analysing the collected data from the database was easy, as the CAN messages were in a decoded format. The transfer of data between the measuring device and the server computer took place without any major delays. The telematics system could also be used for automatic real-time data analysis. Research shows that the CAN bus is a good way to gather information about farming field operations. In the future, the exploitation of measured data will be an essential part of agricultural practice, which aims both to improve the profitability of agriculture and to reduce its environmental impact.

The legalization and evolving laws around the world regarding to cultivation of Cannabis sativa L. have led to a growing demand for optimized methods of mass propagation of cannabis plants. A micropropagation is a vital tool in this context, as it offers advantages such as rapid multiplication of elite clones, reduced space requirements, and produces clean plant material minimizing risks with diseases and pests. With micropropagation, the cannabis industry can ensure consistent quality and higher yields. Micropropagation methods for cannabis have been developed in numerous research, but the effect of light on the success of micropropagation has been studied fairly little. Using specially tailored LED lighting in cannabis production has proven to increase yield, cannabinoid content and affect the plant morphology. Thus, there is reason to believe that the effect of light intensity and spectra could have the same effect also in vitro. This research aimed to compare the effects of three different spectra and intensity levels on the multiplication rate and rooting of Cannabis sativa L. in vitro. Using hemp type cultivar Carmagnola, three different spectra: sunlike NS12, red and blue dominant AP67, and their combination AP67NS12 (C65, Valoya Oy, Helsinki, Finland) and three different intensity levels 30, 70, and 170 μmol m-2 s-1. Results of this study show that intensity has a significant effect on the formation of shoots, shoot height, number of leaves, and number of rooted plants. The lower intensity of 30 μmol m-2 s-1 results to more desirable morphological characteristics in all cases than the high intensity of 170 μmol m-2 s-1. Spectrum had significant effects on the number of shoots, number of leaves, and number of rooted plants. Treatment with spectrum NS12 resulted into the highest number of shoots, leaves, and tallest shoots. Treatment with spectrum AP67 can increase the number of rooting plants. This study gives encouraging results that optimizing light quality and quantity can have a positive effect on the desired morphological traits in the micropropagation of cannabis.