To assess the impacts of the incorporation of spring maize into paddy fields on the utilization of nitrogen (N) fertilizer by late rice, a two-year microplot experiment was performed using labeled 15N-urea to trace the fate of N fertilizer in spring maize-late rice (SM-LR) and early rice-late rice (ER-LR) systems. Compared with ER-LR system, SM-LR system showed higher grain yields and total N use of

Context Salt leaching has been widely applied to increase crop production in saline-alkaline soils. However, leaching patterns affect the ionic composition of saline-alkaline soils and increase seed cotton yield under mulched drip irrigation have been poorly understood. Objectives The objective of this study was to determine why leaching patterns succeed to increase seed cotton yield in saline-alkaline

Context Rice crops are one of the world’s major consumers of irrigation water. With water becoming more limited, water-saving aerobic production (AP) systems may provide an alternative to traditional flooded culture. Genotypes with narrow root cone angle (RCA) and subsequently deeper rooting systems are hypothesised as key for AP adaptation ensuring water uptake at depth. Objective and Methods Using

Modelling crop yield loss due to pathogens remains a challenge due to the complex and dynamic interactions involved. Here, we develop a parsimonious dynamic yield loss simulation model that couples a simple epidemiological model of late blight disease with a basic model of potato crop growth. The model is parameterized using 17 years of field data on disease progress of potato late blight and potato

Grain legumes are key components of sustainable production systems in sub-Saharan Africa, but wide-spread nutrient deficiencies severely restrict yields. Whereas legumes can meet a large part of their nitrogen (N) requirement through symbiosis with N2-fixing bacteria, elements such as phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and secondary and micronutrients may still be limiting and require supplementation. Responses

Context Integrated rice–aquatic animals culture systems (RACSs) are of interest in sustainability research because they have been found to host diverse species and there is potential for positive synergistic effects between the plant (rice) and aquatic animal culture. However, their effect on soil fertility, rice productivity, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as the associations among them

Context or problem Soil acidity limits crop growth and yield all over the world. Low grain yields is usually associated with poor soil fertility; however, little attention has been given to the nitrogen-based fertilizer use efficiency in soils managed with lime. Objective Given the current scenario of uncertainties regarding the availability and prices of fertilizers, our study aimed to understand

Context or problem The effect of nitrogen (N) application rate on lint yield and yield components have been studied extensively in cotton. However, reports quantifying contributions to N-induced yield loss and the response of intra-boll yield components to N deficiency are far less common. Objectives The objectives of this study were to 1) determine the effect of N application rate on lint yield biomass

Context To ensure food security in sub-Saharan Africa, it is necessary to improve crop yields while minimizing environmental impacts. Intercropping has been demonstrated to deliver such outcomes, but their performance in smallholder fields has received limited attention therefore insufficient to capture the complexity of real-world crop fields run by smallholder farmers. Objective This study examines

Context or Problem The sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is a major industrial crop in Northeast China, but long-term or recurrent cultivation practices with low zinc (Zn) inputs have resulted in a decline in its cumulative yield and industrial quality. Hence, Zn fertilization is gaining interest in the commercial production of sugar beets; however, the efficacy and mechanism of Zn in enhancing the yield

The adverse impacts of climate warming on rice production have become increasingly evident. In this regard, although our previous field studies enabled us to establish the positive impacts of nitrogen fertilizer on rice grain yield during warming, it remains necessary to clarify whether nitrogen fertilizer under elevated temperatures has any adverse effects on the environment during the grain-filling

Context Intercropping can contribute to increased crop production and stabilization while reducing biotic stress pressure such as that from weeds. In soybean-based intercropping systems, biomass production of the associated crop is a key performance trait for soybean grain production and weed control services. In some situations, spatial arrangement of crops changes the outcome of the intercropping

Context Nitrogen (N) loss is becoming one of the main limitations for sustainable agricultural production globally, particularly for crops such as cotton. Research question To alleviate this issue, a promising strategy may be to exploit the N-saving potential of cotton plants by optimizing N application ratios at different growth stages under lower N rate and higher planting density with wide-row spacing

Context or problem Drought can substantially limit yield in cotton, and water loss in any crop is closely associated with plant growth, but studies addressing the effects of growth management on drought sensitivity are limited in cotton. Objective We tested the hypothesis that aggressive plant growth management would decrease cotton sensitivity to drought during flowering and boll development. Methods

Long-term tillage and crop management studies are useful for determining crop production practices that are conducive to securing sustainable yields and profits. The overall goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of 17-year, long-term crop rotations involving cotton, corn, and soybean on yield and profitability. The study was established in 2004 at the Delta Research and Extension Center, Stoneville

Context Mungbean, a grain legume with high nutritional value, is grown widely throughout Asia and increasingly in Australia. Despite growing interest amongst farmers, mungbean remains an inconsistent and thus risky crop to plant in Australia. Cropping system models like the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) are valuable tools for helping farmers to examine options for improving crop

Context or problem Root rots, a major factor contributing to yield loss in chickpea, often occur in disease complexes. Objective or research question Plant responses to disease complexes are not well elucidated. We sought a clear understanding of a newly identified disease complex in chickpea, dry root rot (DRR)–wilt disease complex, in the field and studied the effect of drought on the severity of

Context and problem Water management is one of the most important practices to determine rice yield, water use efficiency (WUE), uptake of arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) by plants, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the paddy field. However, few studies measured all of these outcomes simultaneously at a whole system level. Objective The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that an

Iron (Fe) toxicity is a major constraint to rice yields in much of the world due to the greater solubility of reduced ferrous Fe in paddy soils compared with ferric Fe in aerobic soils and resulting excess uptake into the plants. There is genotypic variation in tolerance in Oryza gene pools, but so far only weak-effect alleles have been identified, largely because multiple critical physiological processes

Context Yield components play a decisive role in regulating the potential crop grain yields, and their formation is greatly influenced by in-season nitrogen (N) management, as N is essential of optimizing crop growth. Objectives To test the applicability of critical N dilution curve based instantaneous N nutrition index (NNI) and integrated NNI (NNIinte) in-season prediction of grain yield and its

Many soil health tests quantify some portion of soil organic matter, through both extractions and incubations. Four such tests have been identified as potentially useful measurements for farmers to track soil health on their farm, alongside typical routine soil testing: permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC), mineralizable carbon (Min C), potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN), and autoclaved citrate

Context Estimating the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) interception (FIPAR) precisely is critical for monitoring crop eco-physiological status. However, few studies have concentrated on estimating FIPAR using hyperspectral technology, especially for quantifying the FIPAR of different vertical layers within the wheat canopy. Objective The objective of this study was to explore

Context Intensive use of pesticides in rice paddies is harmful to both human health and biodiversity. As rice farmers tend to overuse pesticides, especially in the tropics, the use of decision support tools is one way for pesticide reduction. Various models have been developed to simulate the development of rice pests, or the impact of pests on the rice crop. Objective or research question The objective

Context Cereal nitrogen economy throughout the whole crop cycle is a critical driver of biomass and grain production, but while some periods of N deficiency have a detrimental impact on grain yield, others exert no effect. An appropriate indicator of the N nutritional status of a crop is the N nutrition index (NNI). Objective i. to quantify NNI from mid tillering until anthesis; ii. to analyze its

Context Soil bacterial community critical for sustaining the ecosystem is sensitive to long-term cultivation, including fertilizer applications. Although have been a lot of controlled-release potassium chloride (CRK) studies, maybe those on soil bacterial ecology related to potassium use efficiency (KUE) and yield are very limited. Objectives We investigated how different proportions of CRK affected

Context Intensive rice-maize sequences in Southeast Asia can include up to three crop cycles per year. Indonesia is the third and fifth largest rice and maize producing country worldwide, and domestic demand for both crops will increase in the future. Novel, cost-effective and less time-consuming approaches are needed to identify causes of yield gap at national level. Objectives Here, we propose a

Context or problem The reallocation of dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) from vegetative tissues to the grains are critical for both yield quantity and protein content of cereal crops. However, it is unclear to which extent the dynamics in DM and N reallocation depend on N availability, and how individual leaves within the maize canopy respond to different N availabilities in terms of these processes

Context Ridge-furrow with plastic film mulching (RPM) has been promoted to improve water use efficiency and crop productivity. However, limited information exists regarding the effects of substituting adding irrigation (AI) with the RPM on economic benefit, carbon footprint (CF) and the sustainability of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production, especially under optimizing nitrogen (N) fertilization

Statistical methods used for small plot analyses are unsuitable for large-scale on-farm experiments because they fail to take into account the spatial variability in treatment effects within paddocks. Several new methods have recently been proposed that are inspired by geostatistical analyses of spatially-varying treatment effects, which are typical for site-specific crop management trials with quantitative

The cultivation area of upland crops such as soybeans, wheat, barley, and buckwheat in fields converted from paddy fields are increasing as farmers seek to stabilize their income in rice-based farming systems in Asia. However, excess water and waterlogging stress in these converted paddy fields reduces the yields of upland crops, especially buckwheat. To explore ways to alleviate excess water or waterlogging

Mixed cropping (MC) is a key strategy to harness agriculture for climate-change. Breeding adapted genotypes can unleash the full potential of MC, both in terms of yield potential and yield stability. To achieve this goal, concepts from both breeding and ecology have to be fused in order to develop a suitable methodology for breeding for MC. In order to advance the field of breeding for MC, we evaluated

Real-time leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) is critical for managing farm inputs and monitoring crop growth, productivity and quality of the yield. Visible-near infrared spectroscopy is a non-destructive method for the LCC detection, which plays an increasingly substantial role in the high-throughput monitoring in field. Some detection methods use single or fixed bands, which are not sensitive to LCC

Context Since the ridge-furrow farming with plastic film mulching has caused widespread environmental pollution in maize field, it is essential to explore a substitutive strategy to mitigate plastic residue pollution while the output remains unchanged. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the potentials of shallow-incorporated organic mulching in replacement of polyethylene film mulching regarding

Improving root characteristics is an important breeding target to increase the productivity of sugarcane grown under rainfed conditions. Erianthus arundinaceus is promising breeding material for sugarcane improvement because of its excellent drought tolerance with deep roots. This study evaluated the agronomic traits and root characteristics of an intergeneric F1 hybrid of sugarcane and E. arundinaceus

Context or problem Lodging is a major limiting factor for high-yielding wheat production due to its negative impact on yield and quality. However, little is known about the relationship between different planting patterns and the lodging resistance of wheat. Objective or research question Different planting patterns alter the precise spatial distribution of crops in the field, which can further affect

Context Developing high-throughput methods to quantify soil health can support decision making to minimize soil constraints for crop growth and increase sustainability in agroecosystems. Objective This study evaluated the ability of soil health assessment conducted at the beginning of the crop growing season to predict corn agronomic performance in nutrient fertilization trials. We compared different

Context Recent meta-analyses demonstrate that intercropping can increase the land use efficiency of crop production by 20–30 % on average, indicating a strong potential contribution to sustainable intensification. However, there is substantial variability around this average: individual studies range from half to double the land productivity of monocrops. Legume-cereal intercrops and intercrops with

To maximize cereal yield in water-limited environments where crops rely on stored soil moisture, pre-anthesis growth and water-use must be balanced to create a sink demand at anthesis that can be filled by the remaining water after anthesis. We hypothesize that canopy development in cereals is a key regulator of biomass and water allocation before and after anthesis, affecting stem reserve mobilization

Context or problem Weed composition and diversity responses to fertilization, and the effects of weed-crop competition on crop yield are not well understood, despite the importance for designing weed management strategies in sustainable crop production. Objective or research question The aim of the study was to determine weed community shifts and weed-oilseed rape competition as influenced by different

Context Maize production in western Kenya is limited by the spread of parasitic weed Striga hermonthica and depletion of soil nutrient stocks. Nitrogen (N) fertilizer and imidazolinone resistant (IR) maize are key elements in the agronomic toolbox to control infestations and enhance yields Research question The circumstances under which their use, individually or combined, is most effective on farmer

Context The critical value of soil available phosphorus (AP) plays a key role in crop P fertilization, and this value is based on a soil test, but the guidelines for P fertilization of winter wheat based on soil AP in northern China do not yet consider different rainfall patterns, such as above- or below-average annual rainfall or wheat-yearly rainfall (rainfall from June (when crop harvest was normally

Context Increasing rice yield is crucial for meeting the demand of the fast-growing population in sub-Saharan Africa. Mid-season drainage can reduce iron toxicity, which is one of the major constraints to rice production in this region, and increase rice yield and water productivity. Objectives The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of mid-season drainage on iron toxicity, rice yield

Prairie strips, or plantings of diverse perennial vegetation integrated into cropland, can have disproportionate ecological benefits compared to the amount of land they occupy. These benefits include improved water quality, reduced soil loss, reduced nutrient loss, and increased abundance and diversity of wildlife. However, the impacts of prairie strips on the adjacent cropland soil and crop health

Context Photosynthetic stimulations have shown promising outcomes in improving crop photosynthesis, including soybean. However, it is still unclear to what extent these changes can impact photosynthetic assimilation and yield under long-term field climate conditions. Objective In this paper, we present a systematic evaluation of the response of canopy photosynthesis and yield to two critical parameters

Cassava is the most important crop in DRC, where it is both a staple and a cash crop. Over the last years, cassava productivity seems increasingly constrained by climate disturbances. To respond to these climatic disturbances, farmers opt to adjust the planting period to spread the risk by optimizing their chances to receive the most regular rainfall in the crucial first 100 days after planting. To

Very little information is available for Mediterranean areas about the soil N dynamics and crop N use efficiency during the transition phase from conventional tillage (CT) to no-tillage (NT). Hence, a 2-yr experiment was conducted under semiarid Mediterranean conditions in three sites to study how soil N dynamics, crop N uptake, grain yield, and N use efficiency vary with N-fertilization rate and crop

Context Numerous studies have shown that appropriate nitrogen (N) positively affects wheat yield increase, while excessive N decreases stem resistance to lodging and reduce yield. In comparison, photosynthetic carbon allocation in wheat leaves plays a crucial role in yield formation (spike) and resistance to lodging (stem). Research question This study aimed to determine why high N fertilizer increases

Context Wheat crop growth models from all over the world have been calibrated on the Groot and Verberne (1991) data set, collected between 1982 and 1984 in the Netherlands, in at least 28 published studies to date including various recent ones. However, the recent use of this data set for calibration of potential yield is questionable as actual Dutch winter wheat yields increased by 3.1 Mg ha-1 over

Context Phosphorus (P) deficiency is a crucial factor restricting lowland rice production in tropics. Farmyard manure (FYM)—a mixture of animal feces and crop residues—is a potential P resource for smallholder farmers with limited access to mineral fertilizers. Nevertheless, there is a lack of knowledge regarding which types of FYM are effective in various soil types for lowland rice production, despite

While reducing agricultural inputs (e.g., nitrogen (N) fertilizer and labor), increasing wheat yield are of great significance in wheat production. The study investigated whether “one-time root-zone N application” (ORZ), involving basal fertilizer without topdressing, can produce a high yield and N absorption compared with “conventional split N by broadcasting” (CSB) at specific N rates and sowing

Context or problem Application of recycling organic wastes is a possible way forward in overcoming increasing costs for mineral fertilizers. However, the result of its side effect can be the unbalanced plant nutrition. Objective or research question This study was carried out to investigate the side effects of phosphorus (P) applied by organic fertilization on biomass yield, agronomic efficiency and

Problem Water deficiency is an important factor limiting wheat production in northern China. Fortunately, at present, one-off irrigation for wheat can be guaranteed in some drought-prone areas with the quick development of the high-standard construction of farmland in China, but the information about how to better utilize one-off irrigation is limited. Moreover, the interactive effects of irrigation

Deep application of nitrogen fertilizer (DANF) is a strategy based on applying nitrogen fertilizer in the plow layer where it is not exposed to the surface of the soil. Due to its significant beneficial effects on the crop yield and environment, DANF has been applied in many regions throughout the world. However, the effects of DANF on the crop yield, nitrogen apparent recovery (NAR), nitrogen uptake

The carry-over effect of cover crops on weeds and crop productivity in the subsequent crops has been related to cover crop composition and cover crop termination methods but their interaction with soil resource availability remains poorly documented, as well as the relative importance of each of these factors. This study investigated the effect of cover crop management (i.e. cover crop mixture, fertilisation

Increasing the production of grain legumes in Europe will contribute to protein self-sufficiency and provide direct and indirect environmental benefits, e.g., delivering ecosystem services such as N input via biological N2 fixation (BNF). Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is the main grain legume cultivated in Europe with increasing interest from the organic sector. Agronomic and economic obstacles exist to

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) boll distribution captures important aspects of fruit development and adaptation over a long period of time. However, due to its complex fruiting habit, it is possible that the boll distribution patterns may not accurately identify the level of sink strength with respect to fruiting locations. Plant and box mapping data collected from producer fields in Georgia in 2009 (Burke