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Packhouse - A building in which fruit, vegetables, eggs, etc., are packed into boxes or containers for despatch from a farm to a market, retail outlet, store, etc. Casual Workers are usually employed seasonally for packhouse work.
Paddle - A long nandled, spade like tool used to remove mud from plough shares and mouldboards, etc. In some areas called spud.
Paddock - A relatively small enclosed pasture, usually near the farm
buildings.
Paddock Grazing - A system of managing grassland in which grazing areas are divided into paddocks by permanent or semi-permanent fences. Each paddock is grazed in turn and then allowed to rest.
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Paddy Cleaner - Machine for removing foreign seeds, immature grains, foreign materials, such as stones, nails, dirt and dust etc. It is used prior to shelling.
Paddy Separator - Machine which separates shelled paddy from unshelled paddy and husk.
Paddy Weeder - Equipment for interculture, used in paddy cultivation. It is used for uprooting weeds and burying them in puddled soil between rows of standing paddy crop. It improves the aeration of soil.
Pale, Paling - A wooden stake driven upright into the ground for fencing. Also a wooden board nailed vertically with others to horizontal pieces to form pale fencing or paling.
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Palm Kernel Cake - A cake derived from the residue of the kernels of the fruit of the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) after extraction of the oil. It has a high fibre content and is slightly gritty, and is therefore somewhat unpalatable. It is less rich in protein than other cakes and is slow to absorb water. Sometimes used to steam up dairy cows.
Pan - A hard layer in the soil that is (a) compacted, such as a plough pan caused by continual ploughing to the same depth, (b) indurated, such as an iron pan in which the soil particles have become cemented together by precipitated iron and silicates, or (c) has a very high clay content. Pans often impede drainage and root growth, and are broken down using a subsoiler. Also called hardpan or sole.
Pallets - Wooden or iron frame structures used to support a stack of bags, to prevent them from touching the floor and absorbing moisture.
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Paraquat - A contact herbicide which disrupts photosynthesis causing chlorosis. Used to control a wide range of annual broad leaved weeds and grasses. It is very poisonous to animals.
Parasite - An organism which lives in or on another (the Host) from which it derives food, for all or part of its life. Often, though not always, harmful to the host. Animal parasites include internal worms (e.g., Roundworms, Tapeworm, etc.) and external Flies, Lice, Ticks, etc. Some are parasitic on a secondary host during part of their life cycle (e.g., tapeworm, Liver Fluke). Plant parasites include fungi and bacteria (causing such diseases as Mildew, Rust, Fire Blight, etc.), various plants such as dodder and mistletoe, and numerous insects and their larvae, e.g., Aphids, Fruit fly, Eelworms, etc. A semi-parasite is one which feeds partly on its host but also manufacturers some of its own food (e.g. , mistletoe).
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Parathion - Anextremelypoisonous Organophosphorus Compound (diethylpara-nitrophenyl-thiophosphate) used to control a variety of insect pests including Mites, Aphids, Eleworms, etc.
Parent Material - Unconsolidated, chemically weathered mineral (sometimes organic) matter derived from rock (parent rock) from which soil develops.
Parent Stock - The individual plants or animals from which others have been bred, often in large numbers.
Parkland - Park like grassland dotted with mature, usually individual, trees.
Parthenogenesis - The growth of an ovum into a new individual without fertilization. It occurs naturally in some plant (e.g., dandelion) and animals (e.g., Aphids), and the offspring are normally all diploid and genetically identical to the parent
Pasteurisation - Process of killing organisms in a product, commonly milk, by heating to a controlled temperature which is lethal for the casual agents of a number of milk-transmissible diseases without causing any material change in the natural characteristics of the substance treated.
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Pasteurised Milk - Milk heated to a temperature which kills the majority of the Bacteria present, but without affecting its palatability. The treatment applied is that needed to destroy Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the most heat resistant pathogen normally present in cow's milk. Most milk is pasteurised using the High Temperature, Short Time method (H.T.S.T.) by which it is heated to at least 72°C(161°F) for 15 seconds and then rapidly cooled to 10°C(50ºF) or less. An alternative is the Holder method by which milk is heated to between 63°-66° (140°150ºF) for at least 30 mins, and then cooled to 10°C(50ºF) or less. The adequacy of the treatment and the keeping quality are determined, respectively, by two statutory tests, the phosphatase and methylene blue tests. Pasteurised milk should keep at least 2 to 3 days. The term is derived from the French chemist, Louis Pasteur, who pioneered the process.
Pasture - An area of grassland used only for grazing as distinct from
one cut to produce Hay or Silage (a Meadow).
Pathogen - An organism or substance which causes disease.
Pears - Various high quality varieties of pear (Pyrus communis),
particularly Conference and Cornice, arc grown commercially in Orchards in the East and South-East of England. Perry pears arc grown in the West and South West of England. The area grown (except Perry pears) has declined slightly in recent years and, according to the 1980 Annual Review White Paper, was estimated at 4500 hectares (c. 11100 acres) in 1979.
Peas - A leguminous crop (Pisum sp.) with a long trailing stem, compound leaves and leaf stalks terminating in climbing tendrils.
Peat -It consists of the remains of aquatic, bog, marsh or swamp vegetation which has been preserved under water in a partially decomposed state. .
Peat Soil - Soil acidic, pH 3.9 and below, 10 to 40 per cent organic matter with partly decomposed raw plant material, suitable for paddy when water recedes.
Peck - A measure of capacity for dry goods, e.g., grain, equal to 2 Gallons or a quarter of a Bushel.
Peck Order - The social hierarchy in poultry and other birds. The term
derives from the habit of dominant individuals pecking submissive ones on the head.
Ped - A natural unit of soil structure as distinct from clods or soil fragments formed artificially by tillage.
Pedigree - The recorded line of ancestry of cultivated plant varieties or
animals, much used in determining programmes.
Pedigree Registered Animal - One whose forebears have been recorded with a Breed Society.
Pedigree Selection - The selection of animals in stock breeding on the
basis of desirable features or qualities in their ancestors.
Pedology - The study of soils.
Peeler - A plant which has high nutrient demand and in the absence of
fertilizers would impoverish the soil.
Pellet Application - Fertilizers are applied in the form of pellets one to
two inches deep between the rows of paddy.
Pellet Feed - Agglomerated feeds formed by extruding individual
ingredients or mixtures by compacting and forcing feed through die opening by any mechanical process.
Pelleted Seed - Layer of particulate matter around the seed. The pelleting is usually made from finally, pulverized limestone or mineral phosphate. Use of synthetic or arabic gum helps in holding the layer of these materials on the surface of the seed.
Pen - A small enclosure for animals or poultry. Also those animals kept in the pen and sufficient in number to fill it Also called fold for sheep.
Performance Testing -The measurement of the growth rate of meat producing animals by determining liveweight gain over a given period on a particular ration. Comparative tests between different strains or breeds are useful in the selection of breeding stock.
Permanent Wilting Percentage - The percentage water content of a soil in that condition when a crop has removed so much water from it, that which remains is insufficient to meet the requirements of the crop, as a result of which it wilts.
Permeameter - Device for measuring the permeability of soils or other material. It usually consists of two reservoirs or tanks, connected by a conduit containing the material under investigation, water being passed from one reservoir under varying conditions of head etc. through the connecting conduit.
Persistent Chemicals - Those which remain active for long periods after they are applied as herbicides, insecticides, etc.
Pest - (s). Animals, insects, fungi, weed, etc., which are troublesome to crops or livestock, or cause. harmful diseases, and result in considerable losses in agricultural or horticultural production in terms of both quantity and quality.
Pesticides - Various categories of poisonous chemicals used to kill Pests, including fumigants, fungicides, Herbicides, Insecticides and rodenticides. Most are synthetic organic chemicals, produced in concentrate form but diluted for application with various substances such as water, talc, clays, kerosene, etc., to ensure even distribution. They are available in a variety of forms including dusts, granules, solutions, suspensions and emulsions. Some are persistent in the environment (Chlorinated Hydrocarbons) and are dangerous to wild-life populations. A considerable amount of information about pesticides is now available to users, and the introduction and use of pesticidal chemicals is now controlled under various voluntary schemes.
Petroculture - The growing of crops, for fuel. Following experiments in Brazil in the 1930s, alcohol from sugarcane and Manioc is now commonly added to petrol. Maize, Beet, and Sunflower are also under investigation in various parts of the world as fuel crops.
pH Value - A measure of the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution, and therefore an indication of its acidity or alkalinity. Expressed on a scale from 0 to 14 pH 7 is neutral, less than 7 is acid, more than 7 is alkaline.
Phagocytes - White blood corpuscles which engulf Bacteria as part of the body defence mechanism of animals.
Phenology - 1. Science which relates climate to periodic events in animals and plant life. The phenological data for crops include for example, dates of sowing, germination and emergence, dates of flowering, ripening and harvest.
2. Science that deals with the time of appearance of characteristics periodic events in the life cycle of organisms in nature, especially ,as those events which are int1uenced by environmental factors.
Phosphatase Test - A test determine the efficiency of the pasteurization of milk by detecting the presence of alkaline phosphatase which is inactivated by pasteurization. The test involves incubation of milk containing alkaline-buffered p-nitrophenyl phosphate at 37°C for a period of 2 hours. The milk is then examined by colorimetry for the presence and/or intensity. of yellow colouration due to p-nitrophenol.
Phosphates - Various salts of phosphoric acid applied to the soil as
phosphatic fertilizers to supply phosphorus to crops.
Phosphatic Fertilizers - See Fertilizers.
Phosphorite - See Rock Phosphate.
Phosphorus - (P). A chemical element occurring naturally only in compounds, mainly as calcium phosphate in the mineral, apatite. Essential to life as a constituent of certain proteins and for many metabolic (Metabolism) reactions. In animals it is important in the formation and maintenance of bones and teeth, and for efficient Carbonhydrate utilisation, and is mainly derived from Bone Flour, milk, cereals, and oil-seed Cake. In plants phosphorus is necessary for root development. It also enchances crop ripening and counteracts the weakening effect of excessive applications of nitrogen. It is applied to the soil in the form of " various phosphatic fertilizers.
Photoperiodism - The effect of the length of day and night on plant flowering. Some plants are long day plants requiring 14 to 16 hours of sunlight per day to flower, e.g., Wheat, lettuce, Beet; etc. Short day plants require only 8 to 9 hours of sunlight to flower, e.g., kidney beans, rice, soyabean, chrysanthemum, etc. Some plants are unaffected by day length (day-neutral plants) e.g., tomato.
Photosynthesis - The process in green plants by which carbohydrates are synthesised from water and carbon dioxide using the energy of sunlight absorbed by chlorophyll. Also called carbon assimilation.
Phycomycetes - A class of fungi, mainly single celled and found in damp situations, (e.g., powdery Mildews). Those possessing thread like hyphae lack cross walls. Many attack crops (e.g., Phytophthora infestans, the cause of Potato Blight).
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