AginED
#
Volume 52 I April 19, 2021 I email: agined@globalHQ.co.nz I w w w.farmersweekly.co.nz
NZ X DA I RY This graph from the NZX Dairy analysis team shows NZ milk production for the last three seasons.
STRETCH YOURSELF: 1 Why do you think milk production was so much higher in February 2021 than it has been for the same month in previous years?
Have a go:
2 How do you think a high milk price would influence milk production?
1 When does NZ milk production typically peak? 2 What months is NZ milk production typically the lowest? 3 When do cows typically start calving? 4 Looking at the graph, in what year was milk production the highest during spring?
3 What kind of influence do you think the weather has on milk production? 4 If farmers are short on grass, what are some management tools to keep milk production going? 5 What is meant when cows are ‘dried off’?
MASSEY HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE: NANOBUBBLES IN HORTICULTURE WHAT IS A NANOBUBBLE? Nanobubbles are extremely small gas bubbles that have unique physical properties that make them very different from normal bubbles. These properties make nanobubbles a superior aeration method for a number of applications in agriculture and horticulture. Nanobubbles are the smallest bubble size known, 500 times smaller than a microbubble, or about the size of a virus. At this scale, far more nanobubbles can fit in the same volume of water compared with other bubbles.
WHY WE USE NANOBUBLES IN HORTICUTURE?
Nanobubbles technology at the Innovative apple orchard, Massey University Nanobubbles technology produces oxygen nanobubbles to super oxygenate water → improve the quality of irrigation water. Massey Horticultural Science Masters student Dipenkumar Hadiya is conducting a study to find out how nanobubble technology can help the NZ apple industry deal with water scarcity and quality in irrigation. He is using a variety of plant growth indicators like photosynthetic rate, yield, and fruit dry matter, to measure the effect of nanobubble technology on the plants. DID YOU KNOW? New Zealand ranked #1 apple-exporter in International Competitiveness for 2017 and 2018
NEW ZEALAND APPLE SECTOR AND WATER SAVINGS New Zealand is the only place in the world where apples are grown in a truly oceanic island environment. Water availability and quality is a key concern for apple growers and will become more so as the climate continues to change. It takes 70l of water to produce one apple.
STRETCH YOURSELF: 1 2 3 4 5 WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SCIENCE BEHIND SUSTAINABLE FRUIT PRODUCTION AND WATER USE IN NEW ZEALAND? Check out the Bachelor of Horticultural Science (https://www.massey.ac.nz/bhort)
What else can nanobubbles systems be used for? How many nanobubbles can fit in 1 microbubble? What is a water footprint? How much water is used to produce a glass of milk or a bag of chips? Where in New Zealand has water shortages during summer? Or if you are in year 11-13, come along to the Pasture to Plate Experience day at Massey University on Wednesday 21st April, scan the QR code for details
Plant molecular geneticist Dr Sue Gardiner
Have a go: 1 Go to https://farmersweekly. co.nz/section/horticulture/ view/honours-reward-forhort-research 2 Read the article “Honours reward for hort research” 3 What fellowships was Dr Sue Gardiner recently awarded? 4 What were her accolades for?
STRETCH YOURSELF: 1 What did Dr Sue study at University? 2 She got her first job at DSIR, what is this? What types of work did she do there? 3 One of Dr Sues most significant achievements is the development of MAS, what is this? What does this platform do? 4 What are the benefits of this work to horticulturists? What does it enable growers and producers to do with their fruits? 5 Why was working with kiwifruit so much harder than apples? 6 What other fields is this type of research and work being done in? 7 Do you think that similar genetic work has been or is being carried out in our sheep, beef, pork and poultry industries? What would the benefits or possible drawbacks be of using these technologies in these industries?
For more related content please head to our website at: www.sites. google.com/view/agined/home