Since the results in the literature are at considerable variance regarding leaf temperatures with reference to the surrounding air temperature, the writer thought it would be of interest to check some leaf temperatures in a different section of the country from those previously reported. The investigations of CURTIS (2) were performed at Berkeley and Riverside, California, and those of CLUM (1)...

Chagas disease can be transmitted to man by many different means, including contact with infected triatomine feces, blood transfusion, laboratory accidents, organ transplants, and congenital or oral routes. The latter mode has received considerable attention recently. In this assay, we evaluate the survival of Trypanosoma cruzi contaminating sugar cane used to prepare juice, as well as the viab...

Problem statement: The global need for alternative energy source has necessitated the exploration of vast organic agricultural products with a view of processing them for the production of ethanol in commercial quantity. To ascertain a sustainable production of ethanol from processed sugar cane, a predictive model based on non-linearity nature of its production is imperative. This is due to una...

The management of cane supply from growers’ fields to the mill involves many stakeholders and many tasks to be carried out along the chain, the successful combination of which impacts on the efficiency and profitability of the mill area. A simulation tool called MAGI has been developed to assist millers and growers in designing and assessing new ways of organising supply management. The issues ...

Fiji disease (FD) of sugar cane caused by Fiji disease virus (FDV) is transmitted by the planthopper Perkinsiella saccharicida Kirkaldy (Hemiptera Delphacidae). FD is effectively managed by using resistant cultivars, but whether the resistance is for the vector or for the virus is unknown. This knowledge would help develop a rapid and reliable glasshouse-based screening method for disease resis...

The main limitation to the industrial scale hydrolysis of cellulose is the cost of cellulase production. This study evaluated cellulase and xylanase enzyme production by the cellulolytic mutant Penicillium echinulatum 9A02S1 using pretreated sugar cane bagasse as a carbon source. Most cultures grown with pretreated bagasse showed similar enzymatic activities to or higher enzymatic activities th...

This study aimed to optimize and validate an analytical methodology for determination of 1hydroxypyrene in urine of workers involved in harvesting sugar cane. The method used for determining 1hydroxypyrene in human urine is the enzymatic hydrolysis, extraction and clean-up by solid phase extraction (SPE) and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC ...

The sugar cane industry produces significant amounts of cane trash and bagasse. Inappropriate disposal of agro-wastes can lead to environmental problems. Converting wastes such as cane trash and bagasse (Bg) to a fertilizer and conditioner is the aim of sustainable waste management in sugar cane industry. Cow dung (CD), kitchen waste (KW), and sewage sludge (SS) were mixed with bagasse as amend...

In South Africa (SA), individual consignments of shredded cane are analysed by the direct analysis of cane method (DAC). Although this procedure is capable of producing excellent sampling and accurate analysis of consignments, it is labour intensive. NIR has been used by several sugar industries for determining cane quality for cane payment purposes. Earlier work in SA indicated that At-line NI...