The experiment was conducted for a period of 75 days to study the effect of treatment of straw with urea or with urea and a urease containing chick pea seed meal and midden soil on chemical composition of treated rice straw, feed intake of the animals, nutrients digestibility, body weight gain, and feed conversion efficiency. For the study twelve indigenous growing bulls aged approximately 20 m...

The present study was conducted to 1) identify the natural source of feed contamination by zearalenone (ZEN), which was suspected to have caused persistently increased urinary ZEN concentrations in one of our experimental cattle herds, and 2) evaluate the effects of intervention against this source of contamination. As an experimental model, a fattening Japanese Black cattle herd showing persis...

The objective of this study was to evaluate properties of experimental particleboard panels manufactured from wheat straw that had been pretreated with acetic anhydride, soapy solution, hot water, or steam. Wheat straw particles were mixed with commercially manufactured wood particles at a ratio of 60%. Control straw particleboards with non-treated straw and wood particles were also produced. T...

Given the abundant straw resources in Northeast China and the huge external costs associated with fossil fuels, straw-based biomass power plants have emerged as a popular alternative to coal-fired power plants. The sustainability of these green alternatives depends on straw supply from farmers, yet little is known about their perceptions regarding such supply because of a lack of cooperation in...

The present investigation highlights the feasibility of a polymer grafting process to enhance the durability and flame retardancy of rice straw towards application as a low cost roofing material. The success of this grafting methodology was perceived to depend upon a bi-step pre-treatment process encompassing delignification and inorganic salts dispersion. Subsequently free radical polymer graf...

With the exception of the phloem and the crown of the parenchyma, which borders the medullary lacuna, the walls of the tissues of both treated and untreated straw were lignified. The walls of the treated straw were not fluorescent in the ultraviolet probably because the treatment had modified the phenolic acids. They also had a stronger reaction to Schiff reagent particularly in the sclerenchym...

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of reaction temperature and wheat straw moisture content on the pyrolysis product yields, in the temperature range of 475-575 °C. Samples of straw with moisture contents from 1.5 wt % to 15.0 wt % were fed to a bench scale Pyrolysis Centrifuge Reactor (PCR). The experimental results show that the changes in straw moisture content have no si...

Swine (Sus scrofa) slurry stored in open storages is a source of airborne contaminants. A customary practice for ammonia and odor control consists of covering the surface of the slurry with floating materials, such as straw. Although straw covers have been proven to generally reduce gaseous emissions, more knowledge is needed regarding how age, moisture content, and microbiological development ...

Straw retention has been shown to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from agricultural soils. But it remains a big challenge for models to effectively predict CO2 emission fluxes under different straw retention methods. We used maize season data in the Griffith region, Australia, to test whether the denitrification-decomposition (DNDC) model could simulate annual CO2 emission. We also identif...

A rice straw - cellulose utilizing mold was isolated from rotted rice straw residues. The efficient rice straw degrading microorganism was identified as Trichoderma reesei. The results showed that different carbon sources in liquid culture such as rice straw, carboxymethyl cellulose, filter paper, sugar cane bagasse, cotton stalk and banana stalk induced T. reesei cellulase production whereas g...