Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2016
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Large areas of cultivated grassland are annually abandoned and no longer used for production in Norway. Such areas will over time be encroached by shrubs and trees, which is regarded as undesirable. We assessed plant community development, pasture production, herbage quality and pasture utilization by sheep and heifers of a grassland that has been unmanaged for 12 years. e experiment was run for two consecutive years. Sheep grazed the whole area for one month in spring and autumn. During the summer, the area was assigned to three replicated treatments: (1) control with no management; (2) grazing heifers; and (3) grazing sheep with offspring. The stocking rate was 1.8 LU ha-1, in both b and c, for a duration of one month. The area was left resting for a month aer treatment and before autumn sheep grazing. Pasture production and herbage intake was estimated using grazing exclosure cages. Herbage consumed during summer period was on average 211 g DM m-2 and the pasture utilization was 55%. The annual consumption and utilization was 336 g DM m-2 and 62% in the grazed treatments and 28 g DM m-2 and 15% in the control, respectively. Total annual pasture production was on average 72% higher in the grazed treatments compared to the control. Tere was no difference between the grazed treatments on annual production, herbage intake or pasture utilization. Grazing stimulated herbage production, and such abandoned grasslands are valuable forage resources.
Abstract
Large areas of cultivated grassland are annually abandoned and no longer used for production in Norway. Such areas will over time be encroached by shrubs and trees, which is regarded as undesirable. We assessed plant community development, pasture production, herbage quality and pasture utilization by sheep and heifers of a grassland that has been unmanaged for 12 years. e experiment was run for two consecutive years. Sheep grazed the whole area for one month in spring and autumn. During the summer, the area was assigned to three replicated treatments: (1) control with no management; (2) grazing heifers; and (3) grazing sheep with offspring. The stocking rate was 1.8 LU ha-1, in both b and c, for a duration of one month. The area was left resting for a month aer treatment and before autumn sheep grazing. Pasture production and herbage intake was estimated using grazing exclosure cages. Herbage consumed during summer period was on average 211 g DM m-2 and the pasture utilization was 55%. The annual consumption and utilization was 336 g DM m-2 and 62% in the grazed treatments and 28 g DM m-2 and 15% in the control, respectively. Total annual pasture production was on average 72% higher in the grazed treatments compared to the control. Tere was no difference between the grazed treatments on annual production, herbage intake or pasture utilization. Grazing stimulated herbage production, and such abandoned grasslands are valuable forage resources.
Abstract
This Biosafety Report intends to contribute to ongoing efforts to translate the criteria concerning sustainability, ethical justifiability and social utility in the Norwegian Gene Technology Act into more concrete terms. It does so by presenting ten assessment questions that are important to consider when assessing whether late blight resistant (LBR) genetically modified (GM) potato contributes to sustainability, benefits society and is ethically justifiable in a Norwegian agricultural context. Late blight is the most devastating disease on potatoes globally. Current control measures in conventional potato production are largely based on chemical treatment with fungicides that is costly, both for potato producers and the environment. If successful, cultivating LBR GM potato may result in a reduction of fungicide applications to control the late blight disease in potato production. Hence, LBR GM potato is claimed to be one of the first GM plants that have the potential to solve a serious problem for Norwegian and European farmers.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Four field trials (spring wheat and oats) were conducted (one on clay soil, one on loam soil and two on silt soil) for three years in important cereal growing districts, to investigate the influence of tillage regimes (ploughing versus reduced tillage in either autumn or spring) and straw management (removed and retained) on plant residue amounts, weed populations, soil structural parameters and cereal yields. The effect of tillage on soil structure varied, mainly due to the short trial period. In general, the amount of small soil aggregates increased with tillage intensity. Reduced soil tillage, and in some cases spring ploughing, gave significantly higher aggregate stability than autumn ploughing, thus providing protection against erosion. However, decreasing tillage intensity increased the amounts of weeds, particularly of Poa annua on silt soil. Straw treatment only slightly affected yields, while effects of tillage varied between both year and location. Reduced tillage, compared to ploughing, gave only small yield differences on loam soil, while it was superior on clay soil and inferior on silt soil. Our results suggest that shallow spring ploughing is a good alternative to autumn ploughing, since it gave comparable yields, better protection against erosion and was nearly as effective against weeds.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The aim of the article is to identify and analyse public-private incentives for the development and marketing of new animal vaccines within a real options methodological framework, and to investigate how real options methodology can be utilized to support economic incentives for vaccine development in a cost-effective way. The development of a vaccine against Campylobacter jejuni in poultry is applied as a case study. Employing the real options methodology, the net present value of the vaccine R&D project becomes larger than a purely probabilistic expected present value throughout the different stages of the project − and the net present value becomes larger, when more types of real options are taken into consideration. The insight from the real options analysis reveals opportunities for new policies to promote the development of animal vaccines. One such approach might be to develop schemes combining stage-by-stage optimized subsidies in the individual development stages, with proper account taken of investors’/developers' economic incentives to proceed, sell or cancel the project in the respective stages. Another way of using the real options approach to support the development of desirable animal vaccines could be to issue put options for the vaccine candidate, enabling vaccine developers to hedge against the economic risk from market volatility.
Abstract
Denmark is one of the EU countries with a highly recognised agricultural sector, a high level of animal health and one of the lowest medication usages. In this article we aim to provide an overview of both private and public animal health incentives nested in the cattle and pig production industry that influence the decisions and behaviours of farmers in prevention of livestock disease epidemics. Not only do individual Danish pig and cattle farmers aim at highly efficient animal production, they are also involved in collective marketing and contracting which can enhance social capital, peer pressure and instill a greater sense of ownership of disease control prevention. Public incentives including rules on how animals should be transported within Denmark, SPF certification requirements and rules on farm biosecurity further improve farmer incentives to prevent animal diseases. However, Danish pig and cattle farmers’ incentives could be further improved by specifying consequences for not following requirements such as failure to make a compulsory biosecurity plan. The relatively high compensation in case of a disease outbreak provides a safety net for farmers, encourages them to quickly report suspected notifiable diseases but it could also reduce incentives for disease prevention due to the relatively high amounts of compensation.