A new system was designed in portable plants-eater to improve the performance and
productivity and for using it in the harsh environment containing like-cane dense brushes
with high efficiency, quality and lowest power requirement and to harvest so
me crops are
grown in small areas. The new system includes three types: link chain, straight blades
chain and oblique blades chain, each chain is fixed on central aluminum disk. the three
chains were tested on tensile, the results were satisfactory. The cutters was tested in the
field on four types of stalk Wheat, Yellow Maize, Sorghum Helpenese and imperata
cylindrical. Cutting force, productivity, fuel consumption, power requirement was
calculated with deferent rotation speeds. The straight blades chain has the best cutting
quality and lowest energy requirement on maize and sorghum halepense, the oblique
blades chain was better on wheat and imperata cylindrical. The greatest values of energy
requirement and cutting forces appeared with link chain cutter-head. In general, these
cutter-heads are useable in weed-eater with higher efficiency than the old designs.
A survey of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV, Tospovirus, Bunyaviridae) on some
solanaceous crops and associated reservoir weeds was conducted between March and
November 2013. 983 field samples was collected (703 Solanaceous crops, 280 associated
w
eeds), and 218 greenhouse samples (190 Solanaceous crops, 28 associated weeds).
Tissue Blot Immunobinding Assay TBIA were performed to detect TSWV. Results of
TBIA of tested samples showed the natural infection of TSWV in Lattakia by 22,06%. The
percentage infection in field crops was 8,82% on solanaceous crops and 62,5% on
associated weeds and It was in greenhouse crops 2,11% on solanaceous crops and 85,71%
on associated weeds. This is the first report in Syria of Tomato spotted wilt virus on
Tobacco, Eggplant, and several weeds.
