The influence of N timing and N rate on yield formation and grain-filling procedures in winter and spring-sown oats is unclear. Factorial trials investigating the effect of six rates of applied N fertiliser (0,30. 60. 90. 120 and 150 kg N ha−1) applied at three timings (Zadoks GS 21, 30 and 50) were conducted at four spring sown sites and three winter sown sites (Cv Husky) over the period 2016–2019

The determination of critical nitrogen (N) dilution curves (CNDCs) has been the subject of intensive study for the last decades due to its relevance to diagnosing crop N status. However, to date, minimum steps, data requirements and robust science-based guidelines to estimate CNDCs based on experimental data have not been formalized in the literature to ensure the reliability of an established nutrient

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum R. Br.) water-limited yield gap in Senegal is estimated at 2.2 Mg ha-1. Proper variety and management selection are critical to the sustainable intensification of millet systems. The objectives of this study were to assess the effect of two pearl millet varieties and different crop management (plant density-nutrient rates) treatments on i) biomass yield, ii) grain yield

Cover crops can promote the subsequent plant growth and improve soil potassium (K) fertility. However, whether and how wheat cover crop benefits cucumber growth and yield under different K regimes and their functional roles are still unclear. In this study, a two-year greenhouse experiment from spring 2017 to autumn 2018 was conducted to evaluate the effects of wheat cover crop on cucumber plant growth

Dry direct-seeded rice (DDSR) is an adaptive practice used in rainfed lowlands of tropical Asia where insufficient rainfall at the onset of the wet season makes it difficult to successfully transplant rice seedlings. However, basic guidelines for nutrient management to support DDSR are lacking. Here, we evaluated crop growth and yield in DDSR with different N fertilizers (ammonium sulfate, urea, and

Barley (Hordeum vulgare. L) is adapted to drought and salinity as the most critical constrained factors in Iran's crop production. Hence, the grain barley's importance is exhibited via 1.75 million hectares of harvested areas and 3.2 million tons of production in the country with arid and semi-arid climate conditions. However, the current production status meets only about 50% of Iran's barley's grain

Wheat production in rainfed cropping systems is highly vulnerable to climate change, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, assessing the climate change impacts on rainfed wheat production is needed for ensuring global food security. Nitrogen (N) application has been reported to mitigate the impact of climate change on crop production, but its impact in rainfed cropping systems remains uncertain

In the upper U.S. Midwest, oat is a promising crop for diversifying local cropping systems and providing local consumers with a healthy food option. However, as a result of climate change, the crop is facing increasingly severe episodes of high temperature (HT) stress during reproductive development, which limit its yield potential. The goal of this 3-year field study was to identify locally-adapted

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is essential for increasing yields in intensive agricultural systems, but it also creates an environmental burden. Improving recovery efficiency of N (REN) is the key to balancing the trade-off between crop production and environmental protection. However, the current status of the REN in China and whether a high REN is sufficient for sustainable wheat production remain unclear

Higher corn seeding rates and in-furrow fertilizer and fungicide combinations may be effective tools to overcome early-season corn (Zea mays L.) stress, stand reductions, and yield loss following a rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop (RCC). The objective of this research trial was to evaluate corn growth and yield response and optimum seeding rate requirement following a RCC and different in-furrow

Crop growth models are powerful tools for predicting crop growth and yield. Gross primary production (GPP) is a major photosynthetic flux that is directly linked to crop grain yield. To better understand the potential of GPP for regional crop yield estimation, in this study, a novel crop data-model assimilation (CDMA) framework was proposed that assimilates accumulative GPP estimates from the satellite-based

In drylands, rainfed crops generally produce low yield due to low and irregular annual precipitation. It is challenging to obtain both high and stable crop yield in drylands. Soil water storage and consumption are crucial affecting crop yield in drylands. However, the relationship between yield and the degree of subsoil water consumption is still unclear. To clarify the contribution of subsoil water

Extreme climate events such as drought have significantly adversely affected crop yields and challenged the stability of global food production. Assessing the risk posed by drought hazards to crop yield is of great importance for yield forecasting and agricultural risk management; however, the relationship of crop yield with drought occurrence from a probabilistic perspective is still insufficient

Water and nitrogen (N) are the most important factors limiting crop productivity. Effective monitoring of the water status of winter wheat under different N treatments is imperative for precision irrigation in improved crop management. Hyperspectral remote sensing is widely used for monitoring the crop water status. However, changes in canopy architecture during ontogeny lead to poor inversion of crop

In southern China, climate warming threatens rice production in double rice cropping systems. However, the actual responses of grain yield and quality of high-quality indica rice to climate warming in double rice cropping systems are still unclear. Therefore, a 2-year field post-anthesis warming experiment was conducted by using two high-quality indica rice cultivars (e.g., Qiliangyou2012, early rice;

Straw returning has been widely used as a nitrogen (N) reduction measure in the North China Plain in recent years. However, little is known of the optimal planting density and N application rate of cotton under straw returning. In order to study the effect of the planting density and N application rate on cotton yield, nitrogen agronomic efficiency (NAE), fertilizer N recovery efficiency (FNRE), N

The study of the impact of climate change on crop production requires the examination of cultivar adaptation and performance in response to interannual variability in climate and field conditions. A field test was carried out during four years in Eastern New Brunswick, Canada, to study grain yield, fiber yield and floral cannabidiol content of eight Canadian industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L., Cannabaceae)

Herbicide programs change weed population density as well as weed community composition. The repeated use of a given program can result in a weed community that progressively becomes more difficult to manage or could lose its ability to provide ecosystem services. Simulation of those changes using stochastic models considering population dynamics of multiple species makes it possible to identify a

Increasing nitrogen (N) diagnosis efficiency and accuracy is crucial for optimizing wheat N management. We aimed to establish a spatially and temporally explicit model for the diagnosis of winter wheat N status on small scale farms using multivariate information. To determine the most accurate approach, seven field experiments involving different cultivars and N treatments were conducted in east China

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is an important source of food for millions of people throughout the tropics. Yam yields are constrained by several factors such as low soil fertility and a poor response of the crop to nutrient supply. Here we present an experimental and modeling study performed to test the hypothesis that N leaching in the humid tropics is a key factor that explains the poor response of water

The return of crop residues to the soil is a common agricultural management practice for nutrient recycling and carbon sequestration. It is known that nitrogen (N) fertilization can influence crop residue decomposition and nutrient release. However, it is unclear whether the effect of N fertilization interact with plastic film mulching (PFM) or residue type. We conducted a two-year field study to quantify

The relationships between dynamics and plasticity (ability of a hybrid to modulate its traits according to growing conditions) of agronomic and nutritional traits are unclear. Quantifying and characterizing these relationships can improve understanding of plant response mechanisms to growing conditions in short cropping periods at high latitudes. This study investigated the dynamics of key agronomic

Crop rotations with high plant diversity and biomass input have been recognized worldwide as a crucial practice for increasing the sustainability of grain production systems, particularly in regions under no-tillage (NT) management. Nonetheless, low-diversity grain production systems based on double cropping (two crops in the same agricultural year) repeated over time, including soybean followed by

Forage brassicas have historically been used in high rainfall/irrigated temperate livestock systems, but there is increasing interest in diverse forage brassicas in drier mixed crop-livestock farming systems. Computer-based modelling is an important decision support tool used in agriculture to explore the adaptability of crops to different climates and agronomic management practices, but existing modelling

Optimizing the canopy nitrogen (N) distribution by matching the available light resources to construct a light-N matching canopy structure of summer maize is important to improve yield and narrow the yield gap (YG). A field experiment with four integrated agronomic management practice systems [a control treatment (T1), an improved management system (T2), a super high-yield management system (T3), and

Current potential yield simulations of potato crops can be lower than actual yields observed in fields and the potential yield simulations miss important cultivar differences, for instance in terms of cultivar earliness. This causes issues not only for potential yield simulations but also when estimating the limiting effects of water (and nitrogen) and yield gaps in farmers’ fields. To address this

Spatial variations of crop yields are commonly observed in typical rainfed systems worldwide. It is accepted that such variations are likely to be associated, among other factors, with water spatial variations due to lateral water flows occurring in fields with undulating topography. However, some of the main processes governing water spatial distribution such as lateral flow are not entirely considered

Under dryland systems of the Mediterranean basin, water management is widely recognised critical for improving grain yield. It has been proposed that nitrogen (N) fertilisation may be a tool to increase grain yield by increasing water use efficiency. We tested in a multilocation-multiyear study in four different areas of the Mediterranean Basin if durum wheat and barley may respond positively to N

Annual productivity of croplands can be increased by intensifying cropping sequences and fine-tuning agronomic management, improving the ratio between seasonal grain yield and annual available resources. The aims of this study were to evaluate, for different crop sequences and agronomic practices, (i) grain yield (GY), and energy of GY (EY) on annual basis; (ii) the relative contribution of each crop

The Nutrient Expert system (NE) has been proposed to improve yield and nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE) in the double rice cropping systems in China. However, the advantage of the NE system has yet to be quantified experimentally. A four-year field experiment was conducted in a double rice cropping system in China, to evaluate the ability of NE in improving yield and NUE. The experimental treatments

Grain protein percentage is one of the main determinants of durum wheat grain quality. However, high grain protein percentages are generally associated with low grain yields. Our aim was to identify the genotypic constraints to the realization of high grain yields with high grain nitrogen contents. To investigate this relationship, four cultivars specifically selected for their large range in ‘grain

The Northeast China (NEC) accounts for more than 30% of the national total maize planted area (grain yield). Adjusting the sowing dates has been considered an effective measure to adapt to climate change, but there was little evidence that how well the producers had done. In this study, we used phenology observations at 67 stations from 1981 to 2014 to detect trends in actual sowing dates, then the

Information on the responsiveness of winter barley to nitrogen (N) is scarce. Based on a long-term field trial (1978–2015) with different winter barley varieties in northern Germany combined with 64 N fertilizer treatments differing in amount (0–360 kg N ha−1) and distribution, the effects of N fertilizer amount and variety on the grain yield and its components, grain protein concentration (GPC), N

Legumes play a key role in the sustainable intensification of agricultural systems, improving biodiversity, ecosystem services, and reducing the dependency of food production on nitrogen (N) fertilizers. This review aims to: (i) quantify seed yield per kg of total aboveground N and fixed aboveground N, (ii) study the N derived from the atmosphere (Ndfa) (as the slope of fixed aboveground N-to-total

In general, nitrogen (N), silicon (Si), and planting method influence fragrant rice yield and lodging resistance. Nevertheless, the response of fragrant rice yield and lodging resistance to N-Si fertilization under different planting methods has not been examined in detail. Field trials were undertaken in the early seasons of 2018 and 2019. Two Si levels i.e., 0 kg Si h m−2 (Si0) and 150 kg Si h m−2

In recent decades, continuous increase of N fertilizer inputs made significant contributions to the wheat production increase in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, the largest wheat producing region of China. However, gradually the use efficiency of N fertilizer decreased, and the increasing N rate led to a series of environment problems. A better quantitative understanding of the fates of basal N and topdressing

Winter catch crops are grown to scavenge nutrients over a period of unfavorable growth conditions and to conserve nutrients for subsequent release to the following main crop. Since environmental conditions have a strong impact on the growth and nutrient capture in roots and shoots of individual catch crop species, we anticipated that mixtures will be more durable and efficient in nutrient capture due

Knowledge of spatiotemporal dynamics of soil water storage (SWS) is essential for hydrological modeling and vegetation restoration in semi-arid areas. However, characterizing the temporal stability of SWS at a regional-scale requires time-consuming and labor-intensive manual sampling. Moreover, the influence of soil depth on temporal stability of SWS is not systematic. This study aimed to investigate

High quantities of pesticides are applied on vineyards. For example, the average treatment frequency index (TFI) for French vineyards was 13.5 in 2016, whereas the average TFI for wheat (a major annual crop in France) was 4.9 in 2017. Reducing pesticide use is a key issue to improve viticulture sustainability. The aims of this study were (i) to analyse the evolution of pesticide use in vineyard farms

Cover crop (CC) mixtures appear as a promising agroecological tool for weed management. Although CC supress weed growth by competing for resources, their suppressive effect under contrasting levels of soil resource availability remains poorly documented. A two field:year experiment was conducted to investigate the weed suppressive effect of four CC mixtures. They were composed of 2 or 8 species including

The ability to estimate sugarcane yield is an important factor to improving the planning capacity of public and private sectors, and so food and energy security. One way of achieving this is by employing process-based crop models (PBM), which can be coupled to data assimilation (DA) algorithms to correct predictions along the crop season. While the application of PBMs often need careful parameterization

Floor management in organic viticulture plays a key role as weed suppression and soil health must be warranted through practices that minimise the recourse to extensive tillage and herbicides, while any resident vegetation or sown cover crop should exert moderate competition for water and nutrients towards the consociated vines. Lack of knowledge exists about the fraction of soil cover crop coverage

In the context of a warming climate and widespread soil degradation, successful soil management practices in Mediterranean vineyards should combine environmental (e.g., soil health) and productive (yield and must quality) objectives. With this objective, we tested five soil management practices in two organic farms in Chianti Classico (Italy) across three years. Five treatments were compared: conventional

Maize (Zea mays L.) yield is often reduced when the in-row plant spacing is not uniform. I used a variant of the KNMAIZE model to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the reductions. KNMAIZE determines kernels per plant from the relationship between the proportion of the assimilate supply from photosynthesis that is partitioned to the kernels and the assimilate required to sustain kernel growth

Scientific and reasonable application of nitrogen fertiliser is an important agronomic measure to achieve both a high yield and a high quality of malting barley, and determining the appropriate nitrogen concentration is important for optimising the two. To this end, we constructed critical concentration curves for plant and ear nitrogen of malting barley as a tool for diagnosing nitrogen nutrition

Process-based crop models are essential tools for representing the fundamental interactions between the cropping environment (weather, soil, and management) and plant development, growth, resource use, and yield formation. Due to these capabilities, crop models are considered as an integral component of smart farming tools for evaluating and improving crop management at field, farm, and regional scales

A holistic approach in the design of cropping systems is essential to boost productivity in a sustainable manner. One of the most important decisions in the cropping system is the way that crops are organized in sequences, which is commonly oriented to obtain high yields and associated economic return while minimizing variability and risk. Increased cropping intensity based on sequenced winter/summer

An accurate estimation of crop yield under climate change scenarios is essential to quantify our ability to feed a growing population and develop agronomic adaptations to meet future food demand. A coordinated evaluation of yield simulations from process-based eco-physiological models for climate change impact assessment is still missing for soybean, the most widely grown grain legume and the main

Early nitrogen (N) application on live cover crops or their residues is a potential alternative for supplying N demand while enhancing the yield of subsequent cash crops in tropical regions. The objective of applying N on live forage grasses or their residues to no-till (NT) systems is to promote the gradual release of N via straw decomposition to the subsequent crop. However, the N use efficiency

Production of rainfed summer crops like maize (Zea mays L.) must adapt to a changing climate and retain high productivity. Using diverse hybrids in the same stand is a simple way to adapt to unpredictable stresses during the growing season. However, some hybrids are available at a price premium and therefore their use needs to be cleverly incorporated in the system to balance cost and economic return

Determining the dynamics of crop nitrogen (N) uptake is essential to optimize N management and increase the sustainability of crop production. The concept of critical N concentration helps to achieve this goal by defining the minimum shoot N concentration required to produce the maximum aerial biomass at a given time during the crop cycle. The objective of this study was to determine new critical N

Rice exposure to cold stress will be alleviated by the decrease of cold extremes under climate change. The disappearance time of cold exposure and its response to different potential scenes in the 21st century, should be particularly important to make long-term adaptations in China. Given these issues unresolved, here we assessed the decadal changes of rice exposure to cold stress in China throughout