• Agribusiness and Information Management
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

Introduction: To analyze the impact of marketing losses on efficiency in transacting banana in Kurnool district of SRZ in Andhra Pradesh and to assess the opinions of the farmers on the constraints in transacting banana. Research back ground, Materials and Methods: The study relies exclusively on primary information obtained from the banana farmers of Kurnool District. Purposive sampling procedure was followed for the selection of the study area. Top two mandals in the district and top two villages in each mandal are selected in accordance with the area under cultivation of banana. Probability proportion to size was followed regarding the selection of sample farmers and accordingly 60 marginal, 37 small and 23 other farmers were selected and thereby, the total sample size was 120. Result and Discussion: Three marketing channels were identified in the marketing of banana in Kurnool district viz., Producer ${\rightarrow}$ Local-exporter ${\rightarrow}$ Wholesaler ${\rightarrow}$ Retailer ${\rightarrow}$ Consumer (Channel-I), Producer ${\rightarrow}$ Wholesaler ${\rightarrow}$ Cart-vendor ${\rightarrow}$ Consumer (Channel-II) and Producer ${\rightarrow}$ Juice-holder ${\rightarrow}$ Consumer (Channel-III). With the inclusion of marketing losses in the price spread analysis of banana in all the three channels, the marketing costs of all the intermediaries were increased and thereby, the farmer's share in consumer's rupee and Net Marketing Margins of the agencies are on the decline. So, without inclusion of marketing losses, the farmer's share in consumer's rupee and Net Marketing Margins of all the agencies are overvalued. The higher the marketing losses, the more is the negative impact on farmer's net selling price, net marketing margins of the intermediaries and marketing efficiency. The sample farmers are facing major problems in marketing of banana like frequent price fluctuations, unorganized marketing and lack of transportation facilities on priority basis. Suggestions: It is suggested to educate the farmers regarding the optimum maturity index for harvest, use of mechanical harvesters, proper placement of fruits during storage and ripening, better packaging and cushioning technologies to absorb shocks during transportation, strengthening of storage facilities and transport facilities, encourage co-operative marketing etc., to promote marketing efficiency of banana in the study area.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.30-35
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• 2016

Rice cultivation in paddy field affects the global balance of methane ($CH_4$) as a key greenhouse gas. To evaluate a potential use of by-product gypsum fertilizer (BGF) in reducing $CH_4$ emission from paddy soil, $CH_4$ fluxes from a paddy soil applied with BGF different levels (0, 2, 4 and $8Mg\;ha^{-1}$) were investigated by closed-chamber method during rice cultivation period. $CH_4$ flux significantly decreased (p<0.05) with increasing level of BGF application. $8Mg\;ha^{-1}$ of BGF addition in soil reduced $CH_4$ flux by 60.6% compared to control. Decreased soil redox potential (Eh) resulted in increasing $CH_4$ emission through a $CO_2$ reduction reaction. The concentrations of dissolved calcium (Ca) and sulfate ion (${SO_4}^{2-}$) in soil pore water were significantly increased as the application rate of BGF increased and showed negatively correlations with $CH_4$ flux. Decreased $CH_4$ flux with BGF application implied that ${SO_4}^{2-}$ ion led to decreases in electron availability for methanogen and precipitation reaction of Ca ion with inorganic carbon including carbonate and bicarbonate as a source of $CH_4$ formation under anoxic condition. BGF application also increased rice grain yield by 16% at $8Mg\;ha^{-1}$ of BGF addition. Therefore, our results suggest that BGF application can be a good soil management practice to reduce $CH_4$ emission from paddy soil and to increase rice yield.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2004

The changes of microflora and chemical characteristics during fermentation process of cotton waste for oyster mushroom cultivation were investigated with 5 l bench-scale reactors placed in an incubator at different temperatures ($40,\;50\;and\;60^{\circ}C$). Cotton waste was wetted to 70% moisture, and air flow rates to the substrate were 50, 100 and 300 cc/min. In processing of composting, the mesophilic bacterial population decreased sharply but thermophilic bacterial population increased. In case of fungi, both mesophilic and thermophilic population decreased. The daily $CO_2$ evolution showed little difference in all treatments, while $NH_3$ dropped sharply after 3 days. The desirable composting temperature and air flow based on the mycelial growth of oyster mushroom were $50^{\circ}C$ and 100 cc/min, respectively.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.51-55
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• 2010

A lactic acid bacterial strain showing fast growth and high acid production in Korean pear puree was isolated from Kimchi. This strain was analyzed by API 50 CHL kit and 16S rRNA sequencing analysis and identified as Leuconostoc (Ln.) mesenteroides KACC 91495P. Korean pear puree was fermented using Ln. mesenteroides KACC 91495P strain at $30^{\circ}C$ for 18 h. The changes of pH, titratable acidity and viable cell number during fermentation were investigated. The pH and titratable acidity were reached to pH 3.86 and 1.09% after 18 h fermentation, respectively. The viable cell population of Ln. mesenteroides KACC 91495P was rapidly increased to $2.0{\times}10^9\;CFU/g$ during the 9 h of cultivation. The contents of lactic acid, acetic acid and malic acid were determined to be 0.213, 0.259, and 0.217% after 18 h fermentation, respectively. The content of polyphenolic compounds, known as antioxidants, in pear puree were enhanced by Ln. mesenteroides KACC 91495P cultivation. The level of total polyphenolic compounds was increased to around 140% of initial concentration. When the fermented pear puree was kept at $4^{\circ}C$, pH, titratable acidity and number of viable cells population were nearly maintained for 13 days.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.27 no.6 s.93
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• pp.378-382
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• 1999

This study was carried out to improve an artificial culture techniques and antioxidative activity of the crude extract isolated from sclerotia of Poria cocos(Fr.) Wolf. In the test of different spawns and inoculation method, the sclerotia formation, number of sclerotia and production yield were excellent in the both sides inoculation method of log spawn, whereas the both side inoculation method of sawdust spawn was poor in sclerotia formation and yield. The optimal spawn and inoculation method for the quality and productivity of P. cocos was in the order of log spawn (both sides inoculation > log spawn(cutting section inoculation) > sclerotia (both sides inoculation) > sawdust spawn (both sides inoculation). The physiological activity substance, crude extract content of P. cocos NIAST 13007 was about 83%. As the concentration of crude extracts increased, the relative viscosity tended to be increased. However, as the concentration of sodium chloride increased, the relative viscosity did not affected. In antioxidative activities, electron donating ability (EDA) of P. cocos was about 10% of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value was similar to that of the vitamin C, however the peroxide value (POV) was lower than those of BHT and vitamin C.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2015

Thirty one of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from perilla leaf cultivation areas in Miryang were investigated on the characteristics, such as enterotoxin genes and antibiotic susceptibility. Five toxin genes (sea, seb, sec, sed, and see) were examined by PCR method. Disc diffusion method was used to examine the antibiotic susceptibility of S. aureus by using 18 types of antibiotic discs with different concentrations. Among enterotoxin-encoding genes, sea and sed genes were co-detected from 4 isolates (12.9%), sed gene was founded in 9 isolates (29.0%), and see gene was founded in 1 isolate (3.2%). However seb and sec and tsst were not detected in any isolates. As a result of antibiotic susceptibility test, 7 isolates (22.6%) were resistant to 12 antibiotics (penicillin, ampicillin, oxacillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cefazolin, cephalothin, imipenem, gentamicin, tetracycline, ofloxacin, norfloxacin, and erythromycin). 2 isolates (6.5%) were resistant to 5 antibiotics (penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, gentamycin, and telithromycin). MRSA (Methicilline Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) was founded in packing vinyl, hands, and perilla leaves.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bio-Environment Control Conference
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• 1996.05a
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• pp.91-115
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• 1996

In the recent years, protected horticultural facilities have been modernized and glasshouses are also propagating in Korea, even most vegetables production are conducted in the traditional plastic houses covered with, for example, PVC film for just temperature keeping. It would limit the productivity and competitivity of the vegetable production industry without automatization and high quality year round production. A plant factory, aimed to produce vegetables in the limited areas, was initiated in Christensen farm, Denmark in 1957, and widely propagated in some developed countries. As it has the automatized system which enables to keep optimized environment conditions, it will be the best facility for high quality products as well as year round planned production. However, we have not even started the plant factory production. Since the plant factory is requiring lots of resources, besides plant cultivation technologies, such as environment control, automatic engineering and robotics, our approach to the development of plant factories should be minded on Practical Plant Factories considering our current farming practices and least capital needs rather than blindly employing the advanced technologies from developed countries. Thus, Korean plant factory development can be initiated with year round leaf vegetables production in NFT or DFT cultivation system instead of the moval bed system, in which aerial environment factors such as light, temperature, humidity and CO$_2$ concentration and root environment ones such as solution concentration, temperature, pH and water soluble oxygen shall be automatically controlled. And the seeding, seedling and transplanting operations shall be accomplished in the house entrance, and the harvesting and grading opreations shall be conducted in the house exit. For practical plant factories, environment control technologies including artificial light source, illumination and air conditioning, automatic management for nutrient solution and automatic production line of moval bed system, transplanting and harvest should be developed along with researches on the cost reduction of factory building construction.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.82-88
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• 2005

This study was carried out to investigate on the change of NaCl content during the food waste composting and on the safety of food waste compost(FWC) manufactured by the non-stirrer sealed fermenter. Plant culture test with pepper crop was also performed to see the effect of FWC, which was produced by the G co. ltd., on the growth of peper and migration of NaCl in soil. The culture test was performed at the farmland in Chungnam National University. The results were as follows; the NaCl content was gradually accumulated during food waste composting process, probably through water evaporation. Sodium concentration was, however, remarkably decreased at the final stage due to the desalting effect by water which was concentrated on the ceil of the fermentor. The analysis of chemical properties and humidity parameters on the food waste compost revealed that the product is quite a good qualified one. More than 0.5 tons of FWC application on red pepper cultivation caused diminished effect on the yield and the accumulation of salts on soil.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.829-835
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• 2012

The cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops has increased due to their economic and agronomic advantages. Before commercialization of GM crops, however, we must assess the potential risks of GM crops on human health and environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible impact of Bt rice on the soil microbial community. Microbial communities were isolated from the rhizosphere soil cultivated with Bt rice and Nakdong, parental cultivar and were subjected to be analyzed using both culture-dependent and molecular methods. The total counts of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes in the rhizosphere of transgenic and conventional rice were not significantly different. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes revealed that the bacterial community structures during cultural periods were very similar each other. Analysis of dominant isolates in the rhizosphere cultivated with Bt and Nakdong rice showed that the dominant isolates from the soil of Bt rice and Nakdong belonged to the Proteobacteria, Cloroflexi, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Acidobacteria. These results indicate that the Bt rice has no significant impact on the soil microbial communities during cultivation period. Further study remains to be investigated whether the residue of Bt rice effect on the soil environment.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.341-351
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• 2019

Gynura procumbens (Family Asteraceae) is a medicinal plant commonly found in tropical Asia countries such as China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Traditionally, it is widely used in many different countries for the treatment of a wide variety of health ailments such as kidney discomfort, rheumatism, diabetes mellitus, constipation, and hypertension. The objective of this study was to select the natural growth media for hydroponic cultivation of Gynura procumbens. The commercially available thirty four different organic nutrient solutions were analyzed for growing Gynura procumbens. After analysis, two organic nutrient solution were selected, mixed (pH 5.5~6.5 / EC 0.5~1.0 ds/m) and then used as organic fertilizers. Thirty day old seedlings were planted and the environmental conditions of the rhizosphere were also examined to select the natural media composition. The minimum temperature of rhizosphere by type of natural media was highest in cocopeat media and lowest in perlite media. Furthermore, plant growth was examined from 50 days old seedlings, and vermiculite was observed to be most effective and perlite was the least effective component as natural media. The total polyphenol content of the studied plant material was also higher in vermiculite in comparison to other growth media. The Gynura procumbens yields were also higher in vermiculite in comparison to other growth media. Thus, vermiculite can be used to improve Gynura procumbens plant growth as a natural growth media.