The upland soil cation exchange capacity (CEC); the amounts of Fe, Al, and Si; the ratio of Al/Si; the amounts of Ca, K, Na, Mg, P; available phosphoric acid (Av-P); total carbon (C), total nitrogen (N); and available nitrogen (Av-N) in upland soil were estimated by analyzing the spectra emitted by the applied low-frequency electromagnetic wave with an alternating current electromagnetic (ACE) sensor. Thirty samples of Andosol in Nagano prefecture were used in our chemo-physical experiments. Real and imaginary data of low-frequency electromagnetic waves were obtained at intervals of 5kHz in the frequency range from 10kHz to 200kHz using the ACE sensor. A leave-one-out cross-validation procedure based on the whole data set were used to evaluate the predictive ability of the Partial Least Squares regression models. The accuracy of the calibration models were evaluated using the coefficient of determination and root mean square error values. The accuracy of estimation for the CEC, Fe, Al, Si, Ca, K, Na, C, N, P, Av-P Av-N and SI/Al ratio was high. Low-frequency spectroscopic analysis using the ACE sensor proved capable of quickly estimating these chemical traits, and suggested to be useful in providing information regarding the nutritional condition of plants and improving the soil fertility diagnosis.

An experiment was conducted to investigate effects of adding apple-pomace (AP) to rice (Oryza sativa L.) whole-crop silages (RWCS) on preference, chemical-components and fermentation-products. Rice of four cultivar or line was harvested at yellow ripe stage, chopped and packed into plastic drum silo to prepare RWCS. Each silage was added AP at 0, 10, 25 and 50% on fresh-matter basis and then ensiled (0%AP-, 10%AP-, 25%AP- and 50%AP-RWCS). Four sheep were used to evaluate preference of four RWCS (different cultivar or line at same AP proportion) in cafeteria trials for 3hours. These trials were conducted in a 4×4Latin-square design. Lactic acid and ethanol concentrations increased, and pH decreased by adding AP to RWCS. Dry-matter intake (DMI) of Tsugaru-roman-RWCS was significantly increased by adding AP while DMI of RWCS alone was similar among four cultivar or lines. Multiple linear-regression analyses revealed that DMI of 0%AP-RWCSs was significantly related to its dry-matter and crude-fat contents, and DMI of AP added RWCS was significantly decreased as its butyric acid concentration was increased. These results suggest that relationships among preference, chemical-components and fermentation products of four RWCSs are different when RWCS was ensiled alone or with AP.

In this study, the applicable range of fresh paddy water content suitable for feed rice in a brown rice drying system, factors that lower the efficiency of husking, and the effects of water content reduction and the awning process on husking were examined. The results indicated that the fresh paddy water content range of 16.8-30.8%, loss of total digestible nutrients due to differences in husking ratio and embryo deficiency rate was small. Furthermore, a significant decrease in yielding percentage with increasing broken kernel rate was not observed. Therefore, direct husking of fresh paddy with an impeller type husker was possible. The relationship between the angle of repose and husking performance suggested that the main factor reducing husking performance was the decrease of flowability in fresh paddy. Reduction of water content and the awning process effectively improved husking performance because they improved flowability in fresh paddy.