• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.7-10
• /
• 2002

The breeding data relating to Hariana herd spread over 18 years (1979-96) were analysed to estimate genetic, phenotypic and environmental changes in characters of economic importance which might have taken place during the several years of selective breeding practiced in the herd. The average genetic changes in a given character were estimated by four methods. The phenotypic trends observed for different economic traits were not significant. On changing the method of estimation, magnitude and direction of genetic trends changed. Comparison of estimates of genetic trends by different methods showed that adjustments for biases due to non-random allotment of dams with respect to their age and merit suggested by Powell and Freeman (1974) were useful for increasing the precision of the estimates. Hence, this method was found to be the best method for estimation of genetic trends. The estimate of genetic trends by this method were 4.03${\pm}$6.21 days, 3.24${\pm}$5.33 kg, 0.15${\pm}$0.43 days, 0.09${\pm}$0.59 days, 0.01${\pm}$0.02 kg and 0.01${\pm}$0.01 kg for age at first calving, first lactation milk yield, first lactation length, first calving interval, first lactation milk yield per day lactation length and first lactation milk yield per day of calving interval, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.8
• /
• pp.1088-1096
• /
• 2008

Data from milk performance testing were used to analyze genetic and environmental trends for purebred Tsigai, Improved Valachian and Lacaune sheep. 103,715 (Tsigai), 212,962 (Improved Valachian) and 2,196 (Lacaune) test-day records gathered by the State Breeding Institute of the Slovak Republic entered the analyses. The respective pedigree data comprised 23,724 (Tsigai), 51,401 (Improved Valachian) and 438 (Lacaune) records. The multiple-trait, mixed model methodology was used to predict the breeding values for daily milk yield, fat and protein content and to estimate the fixed and remaining random effects assumed to affect the above mentioned traits, separately for each breed. The breeding values for daily milk yield were adjusted for 150-day standardized lactation length by multiplying with the constant 150, as the breeding goal of the selection scheme in Slovakian sheep is to increase 150-day milk production and constant heritability throughout the whole lactation is assumed. The genetic trends were expressed as changes in averages of breeding values across birth years of animals. For Tsigai and Lacaune breeds, cumulative genetic changes over the analyzed period were 3.8 and 5.1 kg for 150-day milk, 0 and -0.16% for fat content and 0 and -0.12% for protein content. For Improved Valachian breed, either a low (1.6 kg for 150-day milk yield) or zero (fat and protein content) cumulative genetic change was found. The environmental trends were calculated as averages of solutions for flock-test day effect across years and months in which measurements were taken. A distinctive cyclical pattern which reflected short-time variation in milk production traits was found. Possible explanations for this phenomenon are given and discussed.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.233-239
• /
• 2013

Understanding the temporal variability of agricultural parameters derived from historical climate data is important for planning in agriculture. Therefore, this study assessed the magnitude and recent trends of the transpiration ratio defined as the crop water use per harvested yield for the period from 1980 to 2010. The crop water use was estimated using the Food and Agriculture Organization's Crop Wat model for eight administrative provinces in Korea. The temporal trends and spatial uncertainty were explored using the Mann-Kendall and Theil Sen's methods. The regional average rice yield was $6.31t\;ha^{-1}$(range 5.9 to $6.9t\;ha^{-1}$). The results showed that the rice yield in Korea increased by $26kg\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$. Overall, the regional average transpiration ratio was $1,298m^3t^{-1}$ (range 1,162 to $1,470m^3t^{-1}$). From 1980 to 2010, the transpiration ratio decreased by $8.2m^3t^{-1}$ (range 2.7 to $14.4m^3t^{-1}$), largely as a result of the increasing yield. The statistical approach to historical data used in this study also provides a basis for simulating the future transpiration ratio.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.614-621
• /
• 2012

Although there is a broad dispute over genetically modified foods on safety, the worldwide adoption of transgenic crops is rapidly increasing. The objectives of this study were to identify trends in the effects of transgenic on crop yields and examine the effect of agricultural variables including crop type, biotech trait, tillage system, and yield environment on corn and soybean yield. A meta-analysis from the 34 peer-reviewed scientific literatures was conducted to compare the crop yield between transgenic crops and conventional varieties. Results showed that the yield of transgenic corn and soybean was strongly dependent on growing conditions. Transgenic hybrids had higher yield potential in the low crop yield environments such as high weeds and/or insect infestation, low soil water, and cool temperature conditions, while transgenic crops did not have yield advantages in high yield environments. The results from this study suggest that producers should consider the potential yield environmental conditions and possible yield reductions when producers choose crop hybrids in their fields.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.611-617
• /
• 2009

This study was aimed at a genetic evaluation of Iranian Holstein cattle for milk and fat yields and calculating daughter yield deviation (DYD) of bulls. The data file that was used in this research included 367,943 first three lactation records of 186,064 Holstein cows which calved between 1983 and 2006 in 11,806 herd-year-season groups. The model included herd-year-season of calving and age at calving as fixed effects and animal and permanent environment as random effects. Mean breeding values of cows for each year were regressed on birth year to estimate genetic trends. Genetic trends in milk and fat yields were greater for cows born after 1997 (59.38 kg/yr and 1.11 kg/yr for milk yield and fat yield, respectively). Animal evaluations were partitioned into contribution from parent average, yield deviation (YD) and progeny. DYD of bulls was calculated as described by VanRaden and Wiggans (1991). DYD provides an indication of the performance of the daughters of a bull without consideration of his parents or sons. Variance of bull DYD was greater than variance of their predicted transmitting ability (PTA). Correlation of bull DYD and PTA was dependent on the number of daughters and when this increased, the correlation of DYD and PTA was increased. Also as lactation number of daughters increased, the correlation of bull DYD and PTA was increased.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.25 no.10
• /
• pp.1433-1444
• /
• 2016

South Korea is a maritime nation, surrounded by water on three sides; hence, it is important to preserve in a sustainable manner. Most areas, especially those bordering the East Sea, have been suffering from severe coastal erosion. Information on the sediment yield of a river basin is an important requirement for water resources development and management. In Korea, data on suspended sediment yield are limited owing to a lack of logistic support for systematic sediment sampling activities. This paper presents an integrated approach to estimate the sediment yield for ungauged coastal basins by using a soil erosion model and a sediment delivery rate model in a geographic information system (GIS)-based platform. For applying the sediment yield model, a basin specific parameter was validated on the basis of field data, that, ranging from 0.6 to 1.2 for the 19 gauging stations. The calculated specific sediment yield ranged from 17 to $181t/km^2.yr$ in the various basin sizes of Korea. We obtained reasonable sediment yield values when comparing the measured data trends around the world with those in Korean basins.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.290-297
• /
• 2015

This paper presents the evaluation of the impact of climate change on water resources and yield capacity of Asa and Kampe reservoirs. Trend analysis of mean temperature, runoff, rainfall and evapotranspiration was carried out using Mann Kendall and Sen's slope, while runoff was modeled as a function of temperature, rainfall and evapotranspiration using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Rainfall and runoff exhibited positive trends at the two dam sites and their upstream while forecasted ten-year runoff displayed increasing positive trend which indicates high reservoir inflow. The reservoir yield capacity estimated with the ANN forecasted runoff was higher by about 38% and 17% compared to that obtained with historical runoff at Asa and Kampe respectively. This is an indication that there is tendency for water resources of the reservoir to increase and thus more water will be available for water supply and irrigation to ensure food security.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.16 no.9
• /
• pp.1239-1241
• /
• 2003

Korean cattle breeders have shown interest in genetic improvement of milking ability because poor milking ability and short suckling period of Korean cattle is a hindrance to growth of calves. In this study, daily milk yields by period in Korean cattle were analyzed with an animal model. The milk yields were actually measured at sequential intervals from 1 to 4 months after calving: daily milk yields from delivery to 1 month (DMY1), from 1 to 2 months (DMY2), from 2 to 3 months (DMY3), and from 3 to 4 months (DMY4). Genetic variance estimates gradually increased by the periods while environmental variance estimates gradually decreased. This resulted in a dramatic increase in the heritability by periods: 0.02 for DMY1, 0.11 for DMY2, 0.16 for DMY3, and 0.42 for DMY4. In multi-trait analyses with daily milk yield and body weight of calf, genetic correlation estimates between milk yield and body weight were quite small (-0.08 to 0.02 for birth weight and -0.10 to 0.00 for weaning weight). The trends of the heritability estimated in this study showed that the genetic effects were more influential when the milking period was longer, suggesting genetic evaluations with daily milk yield collected at a longer period.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.264-270
• /
• 1994

This experiment was undertaken to determine the effect of pasture ages on the total production and seasonal yield trends, botanical composition and forage quality of pasture mixtures. This experiment was conducted at the Livestock Experiment Station, RDA, Suweon. The results obtained were as follows : 1. Total dry matterDM) yield of pasture mixtures was the highest in the first year, and thereafter no significant reduction in the 2nd through the 4th year, but decreased by 30% in the 5th year. 2. The 34.4% of total DM yield was produced at the first cut, and decreased from then on. Total DM yield of pasture mixtures varied by year and climatic facton. In 1992, Total DM and TDN yields of pasture mixtures were 13.4 and 8.5 IvlT/ha, respectively. 3. The content of crude protein(CP), in virro DM digestibility(IVDMD) and TDN of pasture mixtures were 12-14, 70-80, and 62-65%, respectively. The highest forage quality was obtained at the 4th cutting. 4. The botanical compositions of legumes and weeds were increased as the year of establishment advanced, and highly increased at the 3rd cut after summer growth. 5. Based on the results of this study it appears that economic forage production could be expended to the 4th year with proper management, and the special renovation techniques may be needed for maintenance of pasture yield from the 5th year.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2017.05a
• /
• pp.199-199
• /
• 2017

Sustainable wheat production is of paramount importance for attaining/maintaining the food self-sufficiency status of the rapidly growing nation of Pakistan. However, the average wheat yield per unit area has been dwindling in recent years and the climate-induced variations in rainfall patterns and temperature regimes, during the wheat growth period, are believed to be the reason behind this decline. Crop growth simulation models are powerful tools capable of playing pivotal role in evaluating the climate change impacts on crop yield or productivity. This study was aimed to predict the plausible variations in the wheat yield for future climatic trends so that possible mitigation strategies could be explored. For this purpose, Aquacrop model v. 4.0 was employed to simulate the wheat yield under present and future climatology of the largest agricultural province of Punjab in Pakistan. The data related to crop phenology, management and yield were collected from the experimental plots to calibrate and validate the model. The future climate projections were statistically downscaled from five general circulation models (GCMs) and compared with the base line climate from 1980 to 2010. The model was fed with the projected climate to simulate the wheat yield based on the RCP (representative concentration pathways) 4.5 and 8.5. Under the worst, most likely future scenario of temperature rise and rainfall reduction, the crop yield decreased and water footprint, especially blue, increased, owing to the elevated irrigation demands due to accelerated evapotranspiration rates. The modeling results provided in this study are expected to provide a basic framework for devising policy responses to minimize the climate change impacts on wheat production in the area.