INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL FORMS ON CHANGES IN THE CONTENT OF MINERAL ELEMENTS IN GRAIN OF NEW WINTER TRITICALE HYBRID STRAINS
The paper presents a study on the content of Ca, Mg, K, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe in kernels (F5 generation) of winter triticale produced by crossbreeding three maternal with two paternal forms. As maternal forms, two strains were used, IGS 5101, FDT 975, as well as cultivar Alzo. The paternal components consisted of strains LAD 122 and F 8063. Morphologically established hybrid strains were selected at the Institute of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology of the University of Life Sciences in Lublin. The component selection for crossbreeding was performed to achieve hybrids with great yield-forming potential and to improve the resistance to grain sprouting. Minerals were determined by the atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) method. The results revealed differentiation in amounts of the analysed mineral components in hybrids depending on genotypes of the parental forms. Hybrid strains were usually characterized by a lower ash content in kernels than the parental forms. Among all the hybrids, strain IGS 5101 × F 8063 was distinguishable by its higher content of K, Ca, Mn, and Fe in grain versus both parental forms. It also excelled exceeded the other hybrids in respect of Ca, K and Mn. Tests on the mineral components in hybrid triticale strains indicate that it is possible to shape their levels through an appropriate selection of parental forms and selection during breeding work on X Triticosecale Wittmack genus to achieve cultivars of improved nutritional value.
Effect of the rate of nitrogen and zinc on the zinc and copper accumulation in grain of spring triticale cultivar Kargo
Modest stand requirements, high yielding potential and high nutritive value have made triticale an alternative crop to other cereals in Poland. The grain of that cereal is mostly used for making animal feed, although it can also be processed by the food industry. Triticale yields and the quality of grain are largely determined by agro-technical factors, including mineral fertilisation. Over the recent years, more attention has been attracted to the favourable effect of cereal fertilisation with microelements, especially more intensive nitrogen nutrition. In 2005–2007, a two-factor field experiment in a split-plot design was set up at the Agricultural Experimental Station in Minikowo, which belongs to the University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz. The aim of the paper was to evaluate the effect of different nitrogen rates and foliar zinc application on the content of zinc and copper in grain of cv. Kargo spring triticale. The plots, 20 m2 each, were treated with two nitrogen fertilisation rates (factor I, n=2): 80 kg N ha–1 (N 80 ) and 120 kg N ha–1 (N 120 ) and three zinc fertilisation rates (factor II, n=3): Zn 0 (without zinc), Zn 1 (0.1 kg ha –1 ) and Zn2 (0.3 kg ha –1 ) against fixed, pre-sowing phosphorus and potassium fertilisation. It was found that the rate of 120 kg N ha –1 resulted in a significant increase in the zinc content and a decrease in the copper concentration in grain of the cultivar Kargo spring triticale, as compared with the treatment which received 80 kg N ha–1. Foliar zinc application, in all the rates applied, resulted in a significant increase in the zinc content and a decrease in the copper concentration in spring triticale grain.
Reading research critically: assessing the validity and reliability of research instrumentation--Part 2.
Accurate measurement of research variables is necessary so that research consumers can trust that it is the research intervention that affected the change in the outcome variable, not some extraneous error component. Reliability is the accuracy with which the research instruments measure the variable that they are designed to measure. A number of known threats to instrument reliability should be anticipated by the researcher and looked for the consumer. These threats are presented in this article.