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Pennisetum sinese is a giant grass with a fast-growing and high rooting rate, high sugar, protein content, and high biomass yield, which causes it to be an efficient and economic energy crop of high productivity, application in phytoremediation, and fodder production. The composting system of this grass that is adapted to the simplest formulation is easy and economically feasible in small farms for cultivating oyster mushrooms. In this study, giant grass compost was employed as a substrate for cultivating three Pleurotus species: P. florida, P. pulmonarius, and P. ostreatus to assess their enzyme activities, growth, and yields. Lignin peroxidase (LiP) was the most active enzyme in each species, while other enzymes were differently expressed between species and developmental phases. The average mass of fruiting bodies formed on the giant grass compost was 173.4 g, 166.5 g, and 152.2 g. The biological effectivity was 82.6%, 78.6%, and 72.5% for P. pulmonarius, P. ostreatus, and P. florida, respectively. The obtained results indicate the usefulness of giant grass compost for the cultivation of the three studied Pleurotus species.

【Objective】Rwanda belongs to tropical plateau landscape, with many mountains, known as the ‘country’ of thousands of hills, high population density, farming land less, for a long time unreasonable traditional agricultural practices and deforestation for firewood caused serious soil erosion and restricted the sustainable development of local agriculture. 【Method】The China-Rwanda Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center considered the JUNCAO project as one of the important contents to solve this problem. In this paper, three different models of runoff field experiment were set up, with ‘traditional hillside cropping’ model as the control(CK). 【Result】The water loss rate of ‘contour planting giant grass’ model decreased by 82.39 %, the soil loss rate reduced by 96.26 %; And the water loss rate of ‘ contour planting giant grass & terraces inter-cropping’ model decreased by 74.64 %, soil loss rate reduced by 90.4 %. ‘contour planting giant grass’ model was higher in organic matter C, effective P and K content than traditional cultivation mode, indicating that the cultivation of giant grass had the potential to improve soil fertility. 【Conclusion】 Planting giant grass(JUNCAO) had a better effect on the water and soil conservation, and improving soil fertility and high yield, and by harnessing JUNCAO technology, the mushroom industry and animal husbandry was to open a new way for the sustainable development of local agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Effects of loaded O 2 in microbial pretreatment on anaerobic digestion were studied. • Higher yield of volatile fatty acids after microaerobic pretreatment was detected. • Anaerobic pretreatment by straw composting inoculant had the highest methane yield. • Microbial responses to O 2 loading varied significantly with microbial consortium. Microbial pretreatment to lignocellulosic biomass for anaerobic digestion (AD) has achieved increased attention; however, the low efficiency and unclear mechanism of oxygen parameter affecting this process performance limit its practical application. In this study, five readily available microbial consortia were developed to analyze the influences of various oxygen concentrations during pretreatment process upon methane conversion efficiency and microbiota within AD of giant grass. Results found that anaerobic pretreatment by liquid or straw composting inoculant, along with microaerobic pretreatment by cow manure at 10 mL/g VS oxygen concentration, obtained 23.1%, 24.4%, and 16.0% higher methane yields (275.3, 279.8, and 265.3 mL/g VS) than corresponding untreated group, respectively. Microbial community analyses showed that microbial responses to oxygen varied significantly with microbial consortium, which consequently caused different AD performances. The findings will enrich theoretical knowledge of microbial pretreatment and provide a technological guidance for efficient utilization of giant grass and other lignocellulosic biomasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]