Mapping Rice Cropping Systems in Vietnam Using an NDVI-Based Time-Series Similarity Measurement Based on DTW Distance

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Xudong Guan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS time-series data has been widely used in the fields of crop and rice classification. The cloudy and rainy weather characteristics of the monsoon season greatly reduce the likelihood of obtaining high-quality optical remote sensing images. In addition, the diverse crop-planting system in Vietnam also hinders the comparison of NDVI among different crop stages. To address these problems, we apply a Dynamic Time Warping (DTW distance-based similarity measure approach and use the entire yearly NDVI time series to reduce the inaccuracy of classification using a single image. We first de-noise the NDVI time series using S-G filtering based on the TIMESAT software. Then, a standard NDVI time-series base for rice growth is established based on field survey data and Google Earth sample data. NDVI time-series data for each pixel are constructed and the DTW distance with the standard rice growth NDVI time series is calculated. Then, we apply thresholds to extract rice growth areas. A qualitative assessment using statistical data and a spatial assessment using sampled data from the rice-cropping map reveal a high mapping accuracy at the national scale between the statistical data, with the corresponding R2 being as high as 0.809; however, the mapped rice accuracy decreased at the provincial scale due to the reduced number of rice planting areas per province. An analysis of the results indicates that the 500-m resolution MODIS data are limited in terms of mapping scattered rice parcels. The results demonstrate that the DTW-based similarity measure of the NDVI time series can be effectively used to map large-area rice cropping systems with diverse cultivation processes.

Crop Evaluation System Optimization: Attribute Weights Determination Based on Rough Sets Theory

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Ruihong Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The present study is mainly a continuation of our previous study, which is about a crop evaluation system development that is based on grey relational analysis. In that system, the attribute weight determination affects the evaluation result directly. Attribute weight is usually ascertained by decision-makers experience knowledge. In this paper, we utilize rough sets theory to calculate attribute significance and then combine it with weight given by decision-maker. This method is a comprehensive consideration of subjective experience knowledge and objective situation; thus it can acquire much more ideal results. Finally, based on this method, we improve the system based on ASP.NET technology.

Cover crop-based ecological weed management: exploration and optimization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kruidhof, H.M.

2008-01-01

Keywords: organic farming, ecologically-based weed management, cover crops, green manure, allelopathy, Secale cereale, Brassica napus, Medicago sativa

Cover crop-based ecological weed management: exploration and optimization. In organic farming systems, weed control is recognized as one

Agricultural production - Phase 2. Indonesia. Sources and sinks of nitrogen-E phosphorus-based nutrients in cropping systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wetselaar, R.I.

1992-01-01

This document is the report of an expert mission to assist in the initiation of research on sustainable agriculture in rice-based cropping systems as related to the flow of plant nutrients, and on the use of legumes in upland cropping systems. Experimental suggestions include an investigation of the acid tolerance of different soybean strains under upland conditions, an analysis of ways to replace fertilizer nitrogen for rice crops by a green manure such as azolla, and a study of the increase in nutrient availability due to th presence of fish in a paddy field

Accurate crop classification using hierarchical genetic fuzzy rule-based systems

Science.gov (United States)

Topaloglou, Charalampos A.; Mylonas, Stelios K.; Stavrakoudis, Dimitris G.; Mastorocostas, Paris A.; Theocharis, John B.

2014-10-01

This paper investigates the effectiveness of an advanced classification system for accurate crop classification using very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery. Specifically, a recently proposed genetic fuzzy rule-based classification system (GFRBCS) is employed, namely, the Hierarchical Rule-based Linguistic Classifier (HiRLiC). HiRLiC's model comprises a small set of simple IF-THEN fuzzy rules, easily interpretable by humans. One of its most important attributes is that its learning algorithm requires minimum user interaction, since the most important learning parameters affecting the classification accuracy are determined by the learning algorithm automatically. HiRLiC is applied in a challenging crop classification task, using a SPOT5 satellite image over an intensively cultivated area in a lake-wetland ecosystem in northern Greece. A rich set of higher-order spectral and textural features is derived from the initial bands of the (pan-sharpened) image, resulting in an input space comprising 119 features. The experimental analysis proves that HiRLiC compares favorably to other interpretable classifiers of the literature, both in terms of structural complexity and classification accuracy. Its testing accuracy was very close to that obtained by complex state-of-the-art classification systems, such as the support vector machines (SVM) and random forest (RF) classifiers. Nevertheless, visual inspection of the derived classification maps shows that HiRLiC is characterized by higher generalization properties, providing more homogeneous classifications that the competitors. Moreover, the runtime requirements for producing the thematic map was orders of magnitude lower than the respective for the competitors.

Cover Crop-Based, Organic Rotational No-Till Corn and Soybean Production Systems in the Mid-Atlantic United States

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John M. Wallace

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Cover crop-based, organic rotational no-till (CCORNT corn and soybean production is becoming a viable strategy for reducing tillage in organic annual grain systems in the mid-Atlantic, United States. This strategy relies on mechanical termination of cover crops with a roller-crimper and no-till planting corn and soybean into cover crop mulches. Here, we report on recent research that focuses on integrated approaches for crop, nutrient and pest management in CCORNT systems that consider system and regional constraints for adoption in the mid-Atlantic. Our research suggests that no-till planting soybean into roller-crimped cereal rye can produce consistent yields. However, constraints to fertility management have produced less consistent no-till corn yields. Our research shows that grass-legume mixtures can improve N-release synchrony with corn demand and also improve weed suppression. Integration of high-residue inter-row cultivation improves weed control consistency and may reduce reliance on optimizing cover crop biomass accumulation for weed suppression. System-specific strategies are needed to address volunteer cover crops in later rotational phases, which result from incomplete cover crop termination with the roller crimper. The paucity of adequate machinery for optimizing establishment of cash crops into thick residue mulch remains a major constraint on CCORNT adoption. Similarly, breeding efforts are needed to improve cover crop germplasm and develop regionally-adapted varieties.

Economic assessment of conventional and conservation tillage practices in different wheat-based cropping systems of Punjab, Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahzad, Muhammad; Hussain, Mubshar; Farooq, Muhammad; Farooq, Shahid; Jabran, Khawar; Nawaz, Ahmad

2017-11-01

Wheat productivity and profitability is low under conventional tillage systems as they increase the production cost, soil compaction, and the weed infestation. Conservation tillage could be a pragmatic option to sustain the wheat productivity and enhance the profitability on long term basis. This study was aimed to evaluate the economics of different wheat-based cropping systems viz. fallow-wheat, rice-wheat, cotton-wheat, mung bean-wheat, and sorghum-wheat, with zero tillage, conventional tillage, deep tillage, bed sowing (60/30 cm beds and four rows), and bed sowing (90/45 cm beds and six rows). Results indicated that the bed sown wheat had the maximum production cost than other tillage systems. Although both bed sowing treatments incurred the highest production cost, they generated the highest net benefits and benefit: cost ratio (BCR). Rice-wheat cropping system with bed sown wheat (90/45 cm beds with six rows) had the highest net income (4129.7 US$ ha -1 ), BCR (2.87), and marginal rate of return compared with rest of the cropping systems. In contrast, fallow-wheat cropping system incurred the lowest input cost, but had the least economic return. In crux, rice-wheat cropping system with bed sown wheat (90/45 cm beds with six rows) was the best option for getting the higher economic returns. Moreover, double cropping systems within a year are more profitable than sole planting of wheat under all tillage practices.

A multi-adaptive framework for the crop choice in paludicultural cropping systems

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Nicola Silvestri

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The conventional cultivation of drained peatland causes peat oxidation, soil subsidence, nutrient loss, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity reduction. Paludiculture has been identified as an alternative management strategy consisting in the cultivation of biomass on wet and rewetted peatlands. This strategy can save these habitats and restore the ecosystem services provided by the peatlands both on the local and global scale. This paper illustrates the most important features to optimise the crop choice phase which is the crucial point for the success of paludiculture systems. A multi-adaptive framework was proposed. It was based on four points that should be checked to identify suitable crops for paludicultural cropping system: biological traits, biomass production, attitude to cultivation and biomass quality. The main agronomic implications were explored with the help of some results from a plurennial open-field experimentation carried out in a paludicultural system set up in the Massaciuccoli Lake Basin (Tuscany, Italy and a complete example of the method application was provided. The tested crops were Arundo donax L., Miscanthus×giganteus Greef et Deuter, Phragmites australis L., Populus×canadensis Moench. and Salix alba L. The results showed a different level of suitability ascribable to the different plant species proving that the proposed framework can discriminate the behaviour of tested crops. Phragmites australis L. was the most suitable crop whereas Populus×canadensis Moench and Miscanthus×giganteus Greef et Deuter (in the case of biogas conversion occupied the last positions in the ranking.

Improved Satellite-based Crop Yield Mapping by Spatially Explicit Parameterization of Crop Phenology

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Jin, Z.; Azzari, G.; Lobell, D. B.

2016-12-01

Field-scale mapping of crop yields with satellite data often relies on the use of crop simulation models. However, these approaches can be hampered by inaccuracies in the simulation of crop phenology. Here we present and test an approach to use dense time series of Landsat 7 and 8 acquisitions data to calibrate various parameters related to crop phenology simulation, such as leaf number and leaf appearance rates. These parameters are then mapped across the Midwestern United States for maize and soybean, and for two different simulation models. We then implement our recently developed Scalable satellite-based Crop Yield Mapper (SCYM) with simulations reflecting the improved phenology parameterizations, and compare to prior estimates based on default phenology routines. Our preliminary results show that the proposed method can effectively alleviate the underestimation of early-season LAI by the default Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM), and that spatially explicit parameterization for the phenology model substantially improves the SCYM performance in capturing the spatiotemporal variation in maize and soybean yield. The scheme presented in our study thus preserves the scalability of SCYM, while significantly reducing its uncertainty.

Estimating yield gaps at the cropping system level.

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Guilpart, Nicolas; Grassini, Patricio; Sadras, Victor O; Timsina, Jagadish; Cassman, Kenneth G

2017-05-01

Yield gap analyses of individual crops have been used to estimate opportunities for increasing crop production at local to global scales, thus providing information crucial to food security. However, increases in crop production can also be achieved by improving cropping system yield through modification of spatial and temporal arrangement of individual crops. In this paper we define the cropping system yield potential as the output from the combination of crops that gives the highest energy yield per unit of land and time, and the cropping system yield gap as the difference between actual energy yield of an existing cropping system and the cropping system yield potential. Then, we provide a framework to identify alternative cropping systems which can be evaluated against the current ones. A proof-of-concept is provided with irrigated rice-maize systems at four locations in Bangladesh that represent a range of climatic conditions in that country. The proposed framework identified (i) realistic alternative cropping systems at each location, and (ii) two locations where expected improvements in crop production from changes in cropping intensity (number of crops per year) were 43% to 64% higher than from improving the management of individual crops within the current cropping systems. The proposed framework provides a tool to help assess food production capacity of new systems ( e.g. with increased cropping intensity) arising from climate change, and assess resource requirements (water and N) and associated environmental footprint per unit of land and production of these new systems. By expanding yield gap analysis from individual crops to the cropping system level and applying it to new systems, this framework could also be helpful to bridge the gap between yield gap analysis and cropping/farming system design.

Nitrous oxide emissions in cover crop-based corn production systems

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Davis, Brian Wesley

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas; the majority of N2O emissions are the result of agricultural management, particularly the application of N fertilizers to soils. The relationship of N2O emissions to varying sources of N (manures, mineral fertilizers, and cover crops) has not been well-evaluated. Here we discussed a novel methodology for estimating precipitation-induced pulses of N2O using flux measurements; results indicated that short-term intensive time-series sampling methods can adequately describe the magnitude of these pulses. We also evaluated the annual N2O emissions from corn-cover crop (Zea mays; cereal rye [Secale cereale], hairy vetch [Vicia villosa ], or biculture) production systems when fertilized with multiple rates of subsurface banded poultry litter, as compared with tillage incorporation or mineral fertilizer. N2O emissions increased exponentially with total N rate; tillage decreased emissions following cover crops with legume components, while the effect of mineral fertilizer was mixed across cover crops.

Global Crop Monitoring: A Satellite-Based Hierarchical Approach

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Bingfang Wu

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Taking advantage of multiple new remote sensing data sources, especially from Chinese satellites, the CropWatch system has expanded the scope of its international analyses through the development of new indicators and an upgraded operational methodology. The approach adopts a hierarchical system covering four spatial levels of detail: global, regional, national (thirty-one key countries including China and “sub-countries” (for the nine largest countries. The thirty-one countries encompass more that 80% of both production and exports of maize, rice, soybean and wheat. The methodology resorts to climatic and remote sensing indicators at different scales. The global patterns of crop environmental growing conditions are first analyzed with indicators for rainfall, temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR as well as potential biomass. At the regional scale, the indicators pay more attention to crops and include Vegetation Health Index (VHI, Vegetation Condition Index (VCI, Cropped Arable Land Fraction (CALF as well as Cropping Intensity (CI. Together, they characterize crop situation, farming intensity and stress. CropWatch carries out detailed crop condition analyses at the national scale with a comprehensive array of variables and indicators. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI, cropped areas and crop conditions are integrated to derive food production estimates. For the nine largest countries, CropWatch zooms into the sub-national units to acquire detailed information on crop condition and production by including new indicators (e.g., Crop type proportion. Based on trend analysis, CropWatch also issues crop production supply outlooks, covering both long-term variations and short-term dynamic changes in key food exporters and importers. The hierarchical approach adopted by CropWatch is the basis of the analyses of climatic and crop conditions assessments published in the quarterly “CropWatch bulletin” which

Network-assisted crop systems genetics: network inference and integrative analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Tak; Kim, Hyojin; Lee, Insuk

2015-04-01

Although next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has enabled the decoding of many crop species genomes, most of the underlying genetic components for economically important crop traits remain to be determined. Network approaches have proven useful for the study of the reference plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, and the success of network-based crop genetics will also require the availability of a genome-scale functional networks for crop species. In this review, we discuss how to construct functional networks and elucidate the holistic view of a crop system. The crop gene network then can be used for gene prioritization and the analysis of resequencing-based genome-wide association study (GWAS) data, the amount of which will rapidly grow in the field of crop science in the coming years. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An operational fluorescence system for crop assessment

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Belzile, Charles; Belanger, Marie-Christine; Viau, Alain A.; Chamberland, Martin; Roy, Simon

2004-03-01

The development of precision farming requires new tools for plant nutritional stress monitoring. An operational fluorescence system has been designed for vegetation status mapping and stress detection at plant and field scale. The instrument gives relative values of fluorescence at different wavelengths induced by the two-excitation sources. Lightinduced fluorescence has demonstrated successful crop health monitoring and plant nutritional stress detection capabilities. The spectral response of the plants has first been measured with an hyperspectral imager using laser-induced fluorescence. A tabletop imaging fluorometer based on flash lamp technology has also been designed to study the spatial distribution of fluorescence on plant leaves. For field based non-imaging system, LED technology is used as light source to induce fluorescence of the plant. The operational fluorescence system is based on ultraviolet and blue LED to induce fluorescence. Four narrow fluorescence bands centered on 440, 520, 690 and 740nm are detected. The instrument design includes a modular approach for light source and detector. It can accommodate as many as four different light sources and six bands of fluorescence detection. As part of the design for field application, the instrument is compatible with a mobile platform equipped with a GPS and data acquisition system. The current system developed by Telops/GAAP is configured for potato crops fluorescence measurement but can easily be adapted for other crops. This new instrument offers an effective and affordable solution for precision farming.

Prioritizing stream types according to their potential risk to receive crop plant material--A GIS-based procedure to assist in the risk assessment of genetically modified crops and systemic insecticide residues.

Science.gov (United States)

Bundschuh, Rebecca; Kuhn, Ulrike; Bundschuh, Mirco; Naegele, Caroline; Elsaesser, David; Schlechtriemen, Ulrich; Oehen, Bernadette; Hilbeck, Angelika; Otto, Mathias; Schulz, Ralf; Hofmann, Frieder

2016-03-15

Crop plant residues may enter aquatic ecosystems via wind deposition or surface runoff. In the case of genetically modified crops or crops treated with systemic pesticides, these materials may contain insecticidal Bt toxins or pesticides that potentially affect aquatic life. However, the particular exposure pattern of aquatic ecosystems (i.e., via plant material) is not properly reflected in current risk assessment schemes, which primarily focus on waterborne toxicity and not on plant material as the route of uptake. To assist in risk assessment, the present study proposes a prioritization procedure of stream types based on the freshwater network and crop-specific cultivation data using maize in Germany as a model system. To identify stream types with a high probability of receiving crop materials, we developed a formalized, criteria-based and thus transparent procedure that considers the exposure-related parameters, ecological status--an estimate of the diversity and potential vulnerability of local communities towards anthropogenic stress--and availability of uncontaminated reference sections. By applying the procedure to maize, ten stream types out of 38 are expected to be the most relevant if the ecological effects from plant-incorporated pesticides need to be evaluated. This information is an important first step to identifying habitats within these stream types with a high probability of receiving crop plant material at a more local scale, including accumulation areas. Moreover, the prioritization procedure developed in the present study may support the selection of aquatic species for ecotoxicological testing based on their probability of occurrence in stream types having a higher chance of exposure. Finally, this procedure can be adapted to any geographical region or crop of interest and is, therefore, a valuable tool for a site-specific risk assessment of crop plants carrying systemic pesticides or novel proteins, such as insecticidal Bt toxins, expressed

Recycling of Na in advanced life support: strategies based on crop production systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Guntur, S V; Mackowiak, C; Wheeler, R M

1999-01-01

Sodium is an essential dietary requirement in human nutrition, but seldom holds much importance as a nutritional element for crop plants. In Advanced Life Support (ALS) systems, recycling of gases, nutrients, and water loops is required to improve system closure. If plants are to play a significant role in recycling of human wastes, Na will need to accumulate in edible tissues for return to the crew diet. If crops fail to accumulate the incoming Na into edible tissues, Na could become a threat to the hydroponic food production system by increasing the nutrient solution salinity. Vegetable crops of Chenopodiaceae such as spinach, table beet, and chard may have a high potential to supply Na to the human diet, as Na can substitute for K to a large extent in metabolic processes of these crops. Various strategies are outlined that include both genetic and environmental management aspects to optimize the Na recovery from waste streams and their resupply through the human diet in ALS.

FUZZY LOGIC BASED HYBRID RECOMMENDER OF MAXIMUM YIELD CROP USING SOIL, WEATHER AND COST

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U Aadithya

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Our system is designed to predict best suitable crops for the region of farmer. It also suggests farming strategies for the crops such as mixed cropping, spacing, irrigation, seed treatment, etc. along with fertilizer and pesticide suggestions. This is done based on the historic soil parameters of the region and by predicting cost of crops and weather. The system is based on fuzzy logic which gets input from an Artificial Neural Network (ANN based weather prediction module. An Agricultural Named Entity Recognition (NER module is developed using Conditional Random Field (CRF to extract crop conditions data. Further, cost prediction is done based on Linear Regression equation to aid in ranking the crops recommended. Using this approach we achieved an F-Score of 54% with a precision of 77% thus accounting for the correctness of crop production.

Upper limit for context-based crop classification in robotic weeding applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Midtiby, Henrik Skov; Åstrand, Björn; Jørgensen, Ole

2016-01-01

Knowledge of the precise position of crop plants is a prerequisite for effective mechanical weed control in robotic weeding application such as in crops like sugar beets which are sensitive to mechanical stress. Visual detection and recognition of crop plants based on their shapes has been...... described many times in the literature. In this paper the potential of using knowledge about the crop seed pattern is investigated based on simulated output from a perception system. The reliability of position–based crop plant detection is shown to depend on the weed density (ρ, measured in weed plants per...... square metre) and the crop plant pattern position uncertainty (σx and σy, measured in metres along and perpendicular to the crop row, respectively). The recognition reliability can be described with the positive predictive value (PPV), which is limited by the seeding pattern uncertainty and the weed...

Old Dog New Tricks: Use of Point-based Crop Models in Grid-based Regional Assessment of Crop Management Technologies Impact on Future Food Security

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, J.; Wood, S.; Cenacchi, N.; Fisher, M.; Cox, C.

2012-12-01

HarvestChoice (harvestchoice.org) generates knowledge products to guide strategic investments to improve the productivity and profitability of smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A keynote component of the HarvestChoice analytical framework is a grid-based overlay of SSA - a cropping simulation platform powered by process-based, crop models. Calibrated around the best available representation of cropping production systems in SSA, the simulation platform engages the DSSAT Crop Systems Model with the CENTURY Soil Organic Matter model (DSSAT-CENTURY) and provides a virtual experimentation module with which to explore the impact of a range of technological, managerial and environmental metrics on future crop productivity and profitability, as well as input use. For each of 5 (or 30) arc-minute grid cells in SSA, a stack of model input underlies it: datasets that cover soil properties and fertility, historic and future climate scenarios and farmers' management practices; all compiled from analyses of existing global and regional databases and consultations with other CGIAR centers. Running a simulation model is not always straightforward, especially when certain cropping systems or management practices are not even practiced by resource-poor farmers yet (e.g., precision agriculture) or they were never included in the existing simulation framework (e.g., water harvesting). In such cases, we used DSSAT-CENTURY as a function to iteratively estimate relative responses of cropping systems to technology-driven changes in water and nutrient balances compared to zero-adoption by farmers, while adjusting model input parameters to best mimic farmers' implementation of technologies in the field. We then fed the results of the simulation into to the economic and food trade model framework, IMPACT, to assess the potential implications on future food security. The outputs of the overall simulation analyses are packaged as a web-accessible database and published

Mapping Cropping Practices of a Sugarcane-Based Cropping System in Kenya Using Remote Sensing

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Betty Mulianga

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Over the recent past, there has been a growing concern on the need for mapping cropping practices in order to improve decision-making in the agricultural sector. We developed an original method for mapping cropping practices: crop type and harvest mode, in a sugarcane landscape of western Kenya using remote sensing data. At local scale, a temporal series of 15-m resolution Landsat 8 images was obtained for Kibos sugar management zone over 20 dates (April 2013 to March 2014 to characterize cropping practices. To map the crop type and harvest mode we used ground survey and factory data over 1280 fields, digitized field boundaries, and spectral indices (the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI and the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI were computed for all Landsat images. The results showed NDVI classified crop type at 83.3% accuracy, while NDWI classified harvest mode at 90% accuracy. The crop map will inform better planning decisions for the sugar industry operations, while the harvest mode map will be used to plan for sensitizations forums on best management and environmental practices.

Rice production in relation to soil quality under different rice-based cropping systems

Science.gov (United States)

Tran Ba, Linh; Sleutel, Steven; Nguyen Van, Qui; Thi, Guong Vo; Le Van, Khoa; Cornelis, Wim

2016-04-01

Soil quality of shallow paddy soils may be improved by introducing upland crops and thus a more diverse crop cultivation pattern. Yet, the causal relationship between crop performance and enhanced soil traits in rice-upland crop rotations remains elusive. The objectives of this study were to (i) find correlations among soil properties under different rice-upland crop systems and link selected soil properties to rice growth and yield, (ii) present appropriate values of soil parameters for sustainable rice productivity in heavy clay soil, (iii) evaluate the effect of rotating rice with upland crops on rice yield and economic benefit in a long-term experiment. A rice-upland crop rotational field experiment in the Vietnamese Mekong delta was conducted for 10 years using a randomized complete block design with four treatments and four replications. Treatments were: (i) rice-rice-rice (control - conventional system as farmers' practice), (ii) rice-maize-rice, (iii) rice-mung bean-rice, and (iv) rice-mung bean-maize. Soil and plant sampling were performed after harvest of the rice crop at the end of the final winter-spring cropping season (i.e. year 10). Results show differences in rice growth and yield, and economic benefit as an effect of the crop rotation system. These differences were linked with changes in bulk density, soil porosity, soil aggregate stability index, soil penetration resistance, soil macro-porosity, soil organic carbon, acid hydrolysable soil C and soil nutrient elements, especially at soil depth of 20-30 cm. This is evidenced by the strong correlation (P < 0.01) between rice plant parameters, rice yield and soil properties such as bulk density, porosity, penetration resistance, soil organic carbon and Chydrolysable. It turned out that good rice root growth and rice yield corresponded to bulk density values lower than 1.3 Mg m-3, soil porosity higher than 50%, penetration resistance below 1.0 MPa, and soil organic carbon above 25 g kg-1. The optimal

Effect of resource conserving techniques on crop productivity in rice-wheat cropping system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mann, R.A.; Munir, M.; Haqqani, A.M.

2004-01-01

Rice-wheat cropping system is the most important one in Pakistan. The system provides food and livelihood for more than 15 million people in the country. The productivity of the system is much lower than the potential yields of both rice and wheat crops. With the traditional methods, rice-wheat system is not a profitable one to many farmers. Hence, Cost of cultivation must be reduced and at the same time, efficiency of resources like irrigation water, fuel, and fertilizers must be improved to make the crop production system more viable and eco- friendly. Resource conserving technology (RCT) must figure highly in this equation, since they play a major role in achieving the above goals. The RCT include laser land leveling, zero-tillage, bed furrow irrigation method and crop residue management. These technologies were evaluated in irrigated areas of Punjab where rice follows wheat. The results showed that paddy yield was not affected by the new methods. Direct seeding of rice crop saved irrigation water by 13% over the conventionally planted crop. Weeds were the major problem indirect seeded crop, which could be eliminated through cultural, mechanical and chemical means. Wheat crop on beds produced the highest yield but cost of production was minimum in the zero-till wheat crop. Planting of wheat on raised beds in making headway in low- lying and poorly drained areas. Thus, resource conserving tillage technology provides a tool for making progress towards improving and sustaining wheat production system, helping with food security and poverty alleviation in Pakistan in the next few decades. (author)

Cropping Systems Dynamics in the Lower Gangetic Plains of India using Geospatial Technologies

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K. R. Manjunath

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Cropping system study is useful to understand the overall sustainability of agricultural system. Capturing the change dynamics of cropping systems, especially spatial and temporal aspects, is of utmost importance in overall planning and management of natural resources. This paper highlights the remote sensing based cropping systems change-dynamics assessment. Current study is aimed at use of multidate-multisensor data for deriving the seasonal cropping pattern maps and deriving the remote sensing based cropping system performance indicators during 1998–99 and 2004–05 in West- Bengal state of India. The temporal assessment of the changes of cropping systems components such as cropping pattern and indices for the study years 1998–99 and 2004–05 have been brought out. The results indicate that during the six years of time the kharif cropping pattern has almost remained the same, being a rice dominant system. A notable point is the decrease in the aus rice due to readjusting the cropping system practice to suit the two crop systems in many places was observed. Marginal variations in mustard and wheat areas during rabi season was observed. The boro (summer rice area has almost remained constant. The rice-fallow-fallow (R-F-F rotation reduced by about 4 percent while the rice-fallow-rice (R-F-R increased by about 7 percent percent. The Area Diversity Index reduced by about 38 percent in 2004 which may be attributed to decrease in kharif pulses and minor crops during kharif and summer. However, diversity during rabi season continued to remain high. The increase in Multiple Cropping Index was observed predominantly in the southern part of the state. Cultivated Land Utilization Index shows an increase by about 0.05.

A model based method for evaluation of crop operation scenarios in greenhouses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ooster, van 't A.

2015-01-01

Abstract

This research initiated a model-based method to analyse labour in crop production systems and to quantify effects of system changes in order to contribute to effective greenhouse crop cultivation systems with efficient use of human labour and technology. This

Globally Increased Crop Growth and Cropping Intensity from the Long-Term Satellite-Based Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bin

2018-04-01

Understanding the spatiotemporal change trend of global crop growth and multiple cropping system under climate change scenarios is a critical requirement for supporting the food security issue that maintains the function of human society. Many studies have predicted the effects of climate changes on crop production using a combination of filed studies and models, but there has been limited evidence relating decadal-scale climate change to global crop growth and the spatiotemporal distribution of multiple cropping system. Using long-term satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and observed climate data from 1982 to 2012, we investigated the crop growth trend, spatiotemporal pattern trend of agricultural cropping intensity, and their potential correlations with respect to the climate change drivers at a global scale. Results show that 82.97 % of global cropland maximum NDVI witnesses an increased trend while 17.03 % of that shows a decreased trend over the past three decades. The spatial distribution of multiple cropping system is observed to expand from lower latitude to higher latitude, and the increased cropping intensity is also witnessed globally. In terms of regional major crop zones, results show that all nine selected zones have an obvious upward trend of crop maximum NDVI (p impact on the crop growth trend.

GLOBALLY INCREASED CROP GROWTH AND CROPPING INTENSITY FROM THE LONG-TERM SATELLITE-BASED OBSERVATIONS

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B. Chen

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Understanding the spatiotemporal change trend of global crop growth and multiple cropping system under climate change scenarios is a critical requirement for supporting the food security issue that maintains the function of human society. Many studies have predicted the effects of climate changes on crop production using a combination of filed studies and models, but there has been limited evidence relating decadal-scale climate change to global crop growth and the spatiotemporal distribution of multiple cropping system. Using long-term satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI and observed climate data from 1982 to 2012, we investigated the crop growth trend, spatiotemporal pattern trend of agricultural cropping intensity, and their potential correlations with respect to the climate change drivers at a global scale. Results show that 82.97 % of global cropland maximum NDVI witnesses an increased trend while 17.03 % of that shows a decreased trend over the past three decades. The spatial distribution of multiple cropping system is observed to expand from lower latitude to higher latitude, and the increased cropping intensity is also witnessed globally. In terms of regional major crop zones, results show that all nine selected zones have an obvious upward trend of crop maximum NDVI (p < 0.001, and as for climatic drivers, the gradual temperature and precipitation changes have had a measurable impact on the crop growth trend.

Enhancing productivity of salt affected soils through crops and cropping system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, S.S.; Khan, A.R.

2002-05-01

The reclamation of salt affected soils needs the addition of soil amendment and enough water to leach down the soluble salts. The operations may also include other simple agronomic techniques to reclaim soils and to know the crops and varieties that may be grown and other management practices which may be followed on such soils (Khan, 2001). The choice of crops to be grown during reclamation of salt affected soils is very important to obtain acceptable yields. This also decides cropping systems as well as favorable diversification for early reclamation, desirable yield and to meet the other requirements of farm families. In any salt affected soils, the following three measures are adopted for reclamation and sustaining the higher productivity of reclaimed soils. 1. Suitable choice of crops, forestry and tree species; 2. Suitable choice of cropping and agroforestry system; 3. Other measures to sustain the productivity of reclaimed soils. (author)

A bioenergy feedstock/vegetable double-cropping system

Science.gov (United States)

Certain warm-season vegetable crops may lend themselves to bioenergy double-cropping systems, which involve growing a winter annual bioenergy feedstock crop followed by a summer annual crop. The objective of the study was to compare crop productivity and weed communities in different pumpkin product...

Computer-based irrigation scheduling for cotton crop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laghari, K.Q.; Memon, H.M.

2008-01-01

In this study a real time irrigation schedule for cotton crop has been tested using mehran model, a computer-based DDS (Decision Support System). The irrigation schedule was set on selected MAD (Management Allowable Depletion) and the current root depth position. The total 451 mm irrigation water applied to the crop field. The seasonal computed crop ET (Evapotranspiration) was estimated 421.32 mm and actual (ET/sub ca/) observed was 413 mm. The model over-estimated seasonal ET by only 1.94. WUE (Water Use Efficiency) for seed-cotton achieved 6.59 Kg (ha mm)/sup -1/. The statistical analysis (R/sup 2/=0.96, ARE%=2.00, T-1.17 and F=550.57) showed good performance of the model in simulated and observed ET values. The designed Mehran model is designed quite versatile for irrigation scheduling and can be successfully used as irrigation DSS tool for various crop types. (author)

Energy Crop-Based Biogas as Vehicle Fuel—The Impact of Crop Selection on Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pål Börjesson

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The production of biogas from six agricultural crops was analysed regarding energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG performance for vehicle fuel from a field-to-tank perspective, with focus on critical parameters and on calculation methods. The energy efficiency varied from 35% to 44%, expressed as primary energy input per energy unit vehicle gas produced. The GHG reduction varied from 70% to 120%, compared with fossil liquid fuels, when the GHG credit of the digestate produced was included through system expansion according to the calculation methodology in the ISO 14044 standard of life cycle assessment. Ley crop-based biogas systems led to the highest GHG reduction, due to the significant soil carbon accumulation, followed by maize, wheat, hemp, triticale and sugar beet. Critical parameters are biogenic nitrous oxide emissions from crop cultivation, for which specific emission factors for digestate are missing today, and methane leakage from biogas production. The GHG benefits were reduced and the interrelation between the crops changed, when the GHG calculations were instead based on the methodology stated in the EU Renewable Energy Directive, where crop contribution to soil carbon accumulation is disregarded. All systems could still reach a 60% GHG reduction, due to the improved agricultural management when digestate replaces mineral fertilisers.

Development and Deployment of a Short Rotation Woody Crops Harvesting System Based on a Case New Holland Forage Harvester and SRC Woody Crop Header

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eisenbies, Mark [State Univ. of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Syracuse, NY (United States); Volk, Timothy [State Univ. of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Syracuse, NY (United States); Abrahamson, Lawrence [State Univ. of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Syracuse, NY (United States); Shuren, Richard [GreenWood Resources, Inc., Portland, OR (United States); Stanton, Brian [GreenWood Resources, Inc., Portland, OR (United States); Posselius, John [Case New Holland, New Holland, PA (United States); McArdle, Matt [Mesa Reduction Engineering and Processing, Inc., Auburn, NY (United States); Karapetyan, Samvel [State Univ. of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Syracuse, NY (United States); Patel, Aayushi [State Univ. of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Syracuse, NY (United States); Shi, Shun [State Univ. of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Syracuse, NY (United States); Zerpa, Jose [State Univ. of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Syracuse, NY (United States)

2014-10-03

Biomass for biofuels, bioproducts and bioenergy can be sourced from forests, agricultural crops, various residue streams, and dedicated woody or herbaceous crops. Short rotation woody crops (SRWC), like willow and hybrid poplar, are perennial cropping systems that produce a number of environmental and economic development benefits in addition to being a renewable source of biomass that can be produced on marginal land. Both hybrid poplar and willow have several characteristics that make them an ideal feedstock for biofuels, bioproducts, and bioenergy; these include high yields that can be obtained in three to four years, ease of cultivar propagation from dormant cuttings, a broad underutilized genetic base, ease of breeding, ability to resprout after multiple harvests, and feedstock composition similar to other sources of woody biomass. Despite the range of benefits associated with SRWC systems, their deployment has been restricted by high costs, low market acceptance associated with inconsistent chip quality (see below for further explanation), and misperceptions about other feedstock characteristics (see below for further explanation). Harvesting of SRWC is the largest single cost factor (~1/3 of the final delivered cost) in the feedstock supply system. Harvesting is also the second largest input of primary fossil energy in the system after commercial N fertilizer, accounting for about one third of the input. Therefore, improving the efficiency of the harvesting system has the potential to reduce both cost and environmental impact. At the start of this project, we projected that improving the overall efficiency of the harvesting system by 25% would reduce the delivered cost of SRWC by approximately $0.50/MMBtu (or about $7.50/dry ton). This goal was exceeded over the duration of this project, as noted below.

Integration of biochar and legumes in summer gap for enhancing productivity of wheat under cereal based cropping system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jalal, F.; Munif, F.; Khan, M. J.

2016-01-01

Biochar application is gaining popularity in agriculture system as prime technology in sustainable context. Field experiments were conducted at the Research Farm of the University of Agriculture Peshawar, during 2011-2013. Wheat-maize-wheat cropping pattern was followed with the adjustment of legumes in summer gap (land available after wheat harvest till maize sowing). Legumes i.e., mungbean, cowpea and Sesbania with a fallow were adjusted in the summer gap with and without biochar application. Biochar was applied at the rate of 0 and 50 t ha-1 with four N levels of 0, 60, 90 and 120 kg ha-1 to subsequent wheat crop. Biohcar application and plots previously sown with legumes improved thousand grain weight of wheat crop. Nitrogen application increased thousand spikes m-2, grains weight, grain and biological yield. It is concluded that integration of biochar and legumes could be a useful strategy for enhancing the overall farm profitability and productivity of cereal-based systems by providing increased yields from this additional summer gap crop. (author)

Modelling the crop: from system dynamics to systems biology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yin, X.; Struik, P.C.

2010-01-01

There is strong interplant competition in a crop stand for various limiting resources, resulting in complex compensation and regulation mechanisms along the developmental cascade of the whole crop. Despite decades-long use of principles in system dynamics (e.g. feedback control), current crop models

Rice in cropping systems - Modelling transitions between flooded and non-flooded soil environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gaydon, D.S.; Probert, M.E.; Buresh, R.J.; Meinke, H.B.; Suriadi, A.; Dobermann, A.; Bouman, B.A.M.; Timsina, J.

2012-01-01

Water shortages in many rice-growing regions, combined with growing global imperatives to increase food production, are driving research into increased water use efficiency and modified agricultural practices in rice-based cropping systems. Well-tested cropping systems models that capture

Effects of crop species richness on pest-natural enemy systems based on an experimental model system using a microlandscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, ZiHua; Shi, PeiJian; Men, XingYuan; Ouyang, Fang; Ge, Feng

2013-08-01

The relationship between crop richness and predator-prey interactions as they relate to pest-natural enemy systems is a very important topic in ecology and greatly affects biological control services. The effects of crop arrangement on predator-prey interactions have received much attention as the basis for pest population management. To explore the internal mechanisms and factors driving the relationship between crop richness and pest population management, we designed an experimental model system of a microlandscape that included 50 plots and five treatments. Each treatment had 10 repetitions in each year from 2007 to 2010. The results showed that the biomass of pests and their natural enemies increased with increasing crop biomass and decreased with decreasing crop biomass; however, the effects of plant biomass on the pest and natural enemy biomass were not significant. The relationship between adjacent trophic levels was significant (such as pests and their natural enemies or crops and pests), whereas non-adjacent trophic levels (crops and natural enemies) did not significantly interact with each other. The ratio of natural enemy/pest biomass was the highest in the areas of four crop species that had the best biological control service. Having either low or high crop species richness did not enhance the pest population management service and lead to loss of biological control. Although the resource concentration hypothesis was not well supported by our results, high crop species richness could suppress the pest population, indicating that crop species richness could enhance biological control services. These results could be applied in habitat management aimed at biological control, provide the theoretical basis for agricultural landscape design, and also suggest new methods for integrated pest management.

Effect of Mixed Systems on Crop Productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Senturklu, Songul; Landblom, Douglas; Cihacek, Larry; Brevik, Eric

2017-04-01

The goals of this non-irrigated research has been to determine the effect of mixed systems integration on crop, soil, and beef cattle production in the northern Great Plains region of the United States. Over a 5-year period, growing spring wheat (HRSW-C) continuously year after year was compared to a 5-year crop rotation that included spring wheat (HRSW-R), cover crop (dual crop consisting of winter triticale/hairy vetch seeded in the fall and harvested for hay followed by a 7-species cover crop that was seeded in June after hay harvest), forage corn, field pea/barley, and sunflower. Control 5-year HRSW yield was 2690 kg/ha compared to 2757 kg/ha for HRSW grown in rotation. Available soil nitrogen (N) is often the most important limitation for crop production. Expensive fertilizer inputs were reduced in this study due to the mixed system's complementarity in which the rotation system that included beef cattle grazing sustained N availability and increased nutrient cycling, which had a positive effect on all crops grown in the rotation. Growing HRSW continuously requires less intensive management and in this research was 14.5% less profitable. Whereas, when crop management increased and complementing crops were grown in rotation to produce crops and provide feed for grazing livestock, soil nutrient cycling improved. Increased nutrient cycling increased crop rotation yields and yearling beef cattle steers that grazing annual forages in the rotation gain more body weight than similar steers grazing NGP native range. Results of this long-term research will be presented in a PICO format for participant discussion.

Evaluation of hydraulic performance of downstream-controlled Maira-PHLC irrigation canals under crop-based irrigation operations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Munir, S.; Schultz, B.; Suryadi, F.X.; Bharati, L.

2012-01-01

Demand-based irrigation systems are operated according to crop water requirements. As crop water requirements remain variable throughout the growing season, the discharges in the canal also vary to meet demands. The irrigation system under study is a demand-based semi-automatic irrigation system,

Crop candidates for the bioregenerative life support systems in China

Science.gov (United States)

Chunxiao, Xu; Hong, Liu

The use of plants for life support applications in space is appealing because of the multiple life support functions by the plants. Research on crops that were grown in the life support system to provide food and oxygen, remove carbon dioxide was begun from 1960. To select possible crops for research on the bioregenerative life support systems in China, criteria for the selection of potential crops were made, and selection of crops was carried out based on these criteria. The results showed that 14 crops including 4 food crops (wheat, rice, soybean and peanut) and 7 vegetables (Chinese cabbage, lettuce, radish, carrot, tomato, squash and pepper) won higher scores. Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), rice ( Oryza sativa L.), soybean ( Glycine max L.) and peanut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) are main food crops in China. Chinese cabbage ( Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. communis), lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia Lam.), radish ( Raphanus sativus L.), carrot ( Daucus carota L. var. sativa DC.), tomato ( Lycopersicon escalentum L.), squash ( Cucurbita moschata Duch.) and pepper ( Capsicum frutescens L. var. longum Bailey) are 7 vegetables preferred by Chinese. Furthermore, coriander ( Coriandum sativum L.), welsh onion ( Allium fistulosum L. var. giganteum Makino) and garlic ( Allium sativum L.) were selected as condiments to improve the taste of space crew. To each crop species, several cultivars were selected for further research according to their agronomic characteristics.

Life cycle assessment of a willow bioenergy cropping system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heller, M.C.; Keoleian, G.A.; Volk, Timothy A.

2003-01-01

The environmental performance of willow biomass crop production systems in New York (NY) is analyzed using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The base-case, which represents current practices in NY, produces 55 units of biomass energy per unit of fossil energy consumed over the biomass crop's 23-year lifetime. Inorganic nitrogen fertilizer inputs have a strong influence on overall system performance, accounting for 37% of the non-renewable fossil energy input into the system. Net energy ratio varies from 58 to below 40 as a function of fertilizer application rate, but application rate also has implications on the system nutrient balance. Substituting inorganic N fertilizer with sewage sludge biosolids increases the net energy ratio of the willow biomass crop production system by more than 40%. While CO 2 emitted in combusting dedicated biomass is balanced by CO 2 adsorbed in the growing biomass, production processes contribute to the system's net global warming potential. Taking into account direct and indirect fuel use, N 2 O emissions from applied fertilizer and leaf litter, and carbon sequestration in below ground biomass and soil carbon, the net greenhouse gas emissions total 0.68 g CO 2 eq. MJ biomassproduced -1 . Site specific parameters such as soil carbon sequestration could easily offset these emissions resulting in a net reduction of greenhouse gases. Assuming reasonable biomass transportation distance and energy conversion efficiencies, this study implies that generating electricity from willow biomass crops could produce 11 units of electricity per unit of fossil energy consumed. Results form the LCA support the assertion that willow biomass crops are sustainable from an energy balance perspective and contribute additional environmental benefits

NEW TRENDS IN AGRICULTURE - CROP SYSTEMS WITHOUT SOIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioan GRAD

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The paper studied new system of agriculture - crop systems without soil. The culture systems without soil can be called also the hydroponic systems and now in Romania are not used only sporadically. In other countries (USA, Japan, the Netherlands, France, UK, Denmark, Israel, Australia, etc.. they represent the modern crop technology, widely applied to vegetables, fruits, fodder, medicinal plants and flowers by the experts in this area. In the world, today there are millions of hectares hydroponics, most of the vegetables, herbs, fruits of hypermarkets are coming from the culture systems without soil. The process consists of growing plants in nutrient solutions (not in the ground, resorting to an complex equipment, depending on the specifics of each crop, so that the system can be applied only in the large farms, in the greenhouses, and not in the individual households. These types of culture systems have a number of advantages and disadvantages also. Even if today's culture systems without soil seem to be the most modern and surprising technology applied in plant growth, the principle is very old. Based on him were built The Suspended Gardens of the Semiramis from Babylon, in the seventh century BC, thanks to him, the population from the Peru”s highlands cultivates vegetables on surfaces covered with water or mud. The peasant households in China, even today use the millenary techniques of the crops on gravel. .This hydroponic agriculture system is a way of followed for Romanian agriculture too, despite its high cost, because it is very productive, ecological, can cover, by products, all market demands and it answer, increasingly, constraints of urban life. The concept of hydroponics agriculture is known and appreciated in Romania also, but more at the theory level.

How can we improve Mediterranean cropping systems?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benlhabib, O.; Yazar, A.; Qadir, M.

2014-01-01

In the Mediterranean region, crop productivity and food security are closely linked to the adaptation of cropping systems to multiple abiotic stresses. Limited and unpredictable rainfall and low soil fertility have reduced agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. For this reason...... the tested interventions, incorporation of crop residues coupled with supplementary irrigation showed a significantly positive effect on crop productivity, yield stability and environmental sustainability....

Combined Spectral and Spatial Modeling of Corn Yield Based on Aerial Images and Crop Surface Models Acquired with an Unmanned Aircraft System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jakob Geipel

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Precision Farming (PF management strategies are commonly based on estimations of within-field yield potential, often derived from remotely-sensed products, e.g., Vegetation Index (VI maps. These well-established means, however, lack important information, like crop height. Combinations of VI-maps and detailed 3D Crop Surface Models (CSMs enable advanced methods for crop yield prediction. This work utilizes an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS to capture standard RGB imagery datasets for corn grain yield prediction at three early- to mid-season growth stages. The imagery is processed into simple VI-orthoimages for crop/non-crop classification and 3D CSMs for crop height determination at different spatial resolutions. Three linear regression models are tested on their prediction ability using site-specific (i unclassified mean heights, (ii crop-classified mean heights and (iii a combination of crop-classified mean heights with according crop coverages. The models show determination coefficients \\({R}^{2}\\ of up to 0.74, whereas model (iii performs best with imagery captured at the end of stem elongation and intermediate spatial resolution (0.04m\\(\\cdot\\px\\(^{-1}\\.Following these results, combined spectral and spatial modeling, based on aerial images and CSMs, proves to be a suitable method for mid-season corn yield prediction.

The feasibility of crop diversification in rice based cropping systems in haor ecosystem

OpenAIRE

Shopan, J.; Bhuiya, M.S.U.; Kader, M.A.; Hasan, M.K.

2012-01-01

An experiment was conducted in five farmers’ field in Dingaputa haor of Purba Tetulia village, Mohangonj Upazila in Netrakona district during the period from 20 July 2010 to 15 May 2011. The objective of the study was to determine the feasibility of growing short duration vegetable and oil crops in seasonal fallow of Boro rice-Fallow-Fallow cropping patterns in terms of both combined yields and economic performance. Six short duration vegetables such as potato, red amaranth, stem amaranth, sp...

Soil Management Practices to Improve Nutrient-use Efficiencies and Reduce Risk in Millet-based Cropping Systems in the Sahel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koala, S.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Low soil fertility and moisture deficit are among the main constraints to sustainable crop yields in the Sahel. A study therefore, was conducted at the ICRISAT Sahelian Center, Sadore in Niger to test the hypothesis that integrated soil husbandry practices consisting of manure, fertilizer and crop residues in rotational cropping systems use organic and mineral fertilizes efficiently, thereby resulting in higher yields and reduced risk. Results from an analysis of variance showed that choice of cropping systems explained more than 50% of overall variability in millet and cowpea grain yields. Among the cropping systems, rotation gave higher yields than sole crop and intercropping systems and increased millet yield by 46% without fertilizer. Rainfall-use efficiency and partial factor productivity of fertilizer were similarly higher in rotations than in millet monoculture system. Returns from cowpea grown in cowpea-millet rotation without fertilizer and the medium rates of fertilizers (4 kg P.ha-1 + 15 kg N.ha-1 were found to be most profitable in terms of high returns and low risk, principally because of a higher price of cowpea than millet. The study recommends crop diversification, either in the form of rotations or relay intercropping systems for the Sahel as an insurance against total crop failure.

Estimation of net greenhouse gas balance using crop- and soil-based approaches: Two case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Jianxiong; Chen, Yuanquan; Sui, Peng; Gao, Wansheng

2013-01-01

The net greenhouse gas balance (NGHGB), estimated by combining direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, can reveal whether an agricultural system is a sink or source of GHGs. Currently, two types of methods, referred to here as crop-based and soil-based approaches, are widely used to estimate the NGHGB of agricultural systems on annual and seasonal crop timescales. However, the two approaches may produce contradictory results, and few studies have tested which approach is more reliable. In this study, we examined the two approaches using experimental data from an intercropping trial with straw removal and a tillage trial with straw return. The results of the two approaches provided different views of the two trials. In the intercropping trial, NGHGB estimated by the crop-based approach indicated that monocultured maize (M) was a source of GHGs (− 1315 kg CO 2 −eq ha −1 ), whereas maize–soybean intercropping (MS) was a sink (107 kg CO 2 −eq ha −1 ). When estimated by the soil-based approach, both cropping systems were sources (− 3410 for M and − 2638 kg CO 2 −eq ha −1 for MS). In the tillage trial, mouldboard ploughing (MP) and rotary tillage (RT) mitigated GHG emissions by 22,451 and 21,500 kg CO 2 −eq ha −1 , respectively, as estimated by the crop-based approach. However, by the soil-based approach, both tillage methods were sources of GHGs: − 3533 for MP and − 2241 kg CO 2 −eq ha −1 for RT. The crop-based approach calculates a GHG sink on the basis of the returned crop biomass (and other organic matter input) and estimates considerably more GHG mitigation potential than that calculated from the variations in soil organic carbon storage by the soil-based approach. These results indicate that the crop-based approach estimates higher GHG mitigation benefits compared to the soil-based approach and may overestimate the potential of GHG mitigation in agricultural systems. - Highlights: • Net greenhouse gas balance (NGHGB) of

Weather based risks and insurances for crop production in Belgium

Science.gov (United States)

Gobin, Anne

2014-05-01

Extreme weather events such as late frosts, droughts, heat waves and rain storms can have devastating effects on cropping systems. Damages due to extreme events are strongly dependent on crop type, crop stage, soil type and soil conditions. The perspective of rising risk-exposure is exacerbated further by limited aid received for agricultural damage, an overall reduction of direct income support to farmers and projected intensification of weather extremes with climate change. According to both the agriculture and finance sectors, a risk assessment of extreme weather events and their impact on cropping systems is needed. The impact of extreme weather events particularly during the sensitive periods of the farming calendar requires a modelling approach to capture the mixture of non-linear interactions between the crop, its environment and the occurrence of the meteorological event. The risk of soil moisture deficit increases towards harvesting, such that drought stress occurs in spring and summer. Conversely, waterlogging occurs mostly during early spring and autumn. Risks of temperature stress appear during winter and spring for chilling and during summer for heat. Since crop development is driven by thermal time and photoperiod, the regional crop model REGCROP (Gobin, 2010) enabled to examine the likely frequency, magnitude and impacts of frost, drought, heat stress and waterlogging in relation to the cropping season and crop sensitive stages. The risk profiles were subsequently confronted with yields, yield losses and insurance claims for different crops. Physically based crop models such as REGCROP assist in understanding the links between different factors causing crop damage as demonstrated for cropping systems in Belgium. Extreme weather events have already precipitated contraction of insurance coverage in some markets (e.g. hail insurance), and the process can be expected to continue if the losses or damages from such events increase in the future. Climate

An Assessment of some Fertilizer Recommendations under Different Cropping Systems in a Humid Tropical Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fondufe, EY.

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Studies were carried out to determine the effects of four fertilizer recommendation systems (bianket recommendation, soil test recommendation, recommendation based on nutrient supplementation index and unfertilized control on five cropping systems (sole cassava, maize, melon, cassava + maize and cassava + maize + melon. The experiment was a split-plot in randomised complete block design, with fertilizer recommendation systems in main plots and cropping systems in subplots. Observations were made on plant growth and yield. Plant samples were also analyzed for N, P and K uptake. Cassava and melon gave higher yields in sole cropping than intercropping while maize yield under intercropping exceeded that under sole cropping by 17 %. Cassava root yield was significantly reduced by 24 and 35 % in cassava + maize and cassava + maize + melon plots. Fertilizer recommendation based on nutrient supplementation index (NSI gave the highest crop yield 41, 31, and 27 t/ha of maize in sole maize, maize + cassava and maize + cassava + melon and 0.6 and 0.2 t/ha of sole melon and intercropped melon respectively. Nitrogen uptake by cassava and maize was highest under NSI, but fertilizer recommendation based on soil test gave the highest crop yield and monetary returns per unit of fertilizer used.

Will breeding for nitrogen use efficient crops lead to nitrogen use efficient cropping systems?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dresbøll, Dorte Bodin; Thorup-Kristensen, Kristian

2014-01-01

The benefits of improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crops are typically studied through the performance of the individual crop. However, in order to increase yields in a sustainable way, improving NUE of the cropping systems must be the aim. We did a model simulation study to investigate h...

Strategic system development toward biofuel, desertification, and crop production monitoring in continental scales using satellite-based photosynthesis models

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneko, Daijiro

2013-10-01

The author regards fundamental root functions as underpinning photosynthesis activities by vegetation and as affecting environmental issues, grain production, and desertification. This paper describes the present development of monitoring and near real-time forecasting of environmental projects and crop production by approaching established operational monitoring step-by-step. The author has been developing a thematic monitoring structure (named RSEM system) which stands on satellite-based photosynthesis models over several continents for operational supports in environmental fields mentioned above. Validation methods stand not on FLUXNET but on carbon partitioning validation (CPV). The models demand continuing parameterization. The entire frame system has been built using Reanalysis meteorological data, but model accuracy remains insufficient except for that of paddy rice. The author shall accomplish the system that incorporates global environmental forces. Regarding crop production applications, industrialization in developing countries achieved through direct investment by economically developed nations raises their income, resulting in increased food demand. Last year, China began to import rice as it had in the past with grains of maize, wheat, and soybeans. Important agro-potential countries make efforts to cultivate new crop lands in South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Trends toward less food sustainability and stability are continuing, with exacerbation by rapid social and climate changes. Operational monitoring of carbon sequestration by herbaceous and bore plants converges with efforts at bio-energy, crop production monitoring, and socio-environmental projects such as CDM A/R, combating desertification, and bio-diversity.

Water Quality Impacts of Cover Crop/Manure Management Systems

OpenAIRE

Kern, James Donald

1997-01-01

Crop production, soil system, water quality, and economic impacts of four corn silage production systems were compared through a field study including 16 plots (4 replications of each treatment). Systems included a rye cover crop and application of liquid dairy manure in the spring and fall. The four management systems were: 1) traditional, 2) double- crop, 3) roll-down, and 4) undercut. In the fourth system, manure was applied below the soil surface during the ...

A Web Based Sweet Orange Crop Expert System using Rule Based System and Artificial Bee Colony Optimization Algorithm

OpenAIRE

Prof.M.S.Prasad Babu,; Mrs.J.Anitha,; K.Hari Krishna

2010-01-01

Citrus fruits have a prominent place among popular and exclusively grown tropical and sub-tropical fruits. Their nature ,multifold nutritional and medicinal values have made them so important. Sweet Orange Crop expert advisory system is aimed at a collaborative venture with eminent Agriculture Scientist and Experts in the area of Sweet Orange Plantation with an excellent team of computer Engineers, Programmers and designers. This Expert System contains two main parts one is Sweet Orange Infor...

Emergy analysis of cropping-grazing system in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, L.X.; Yang, Z.F.; Chen, G.Q.

2007-01-01

An ecological energetic evaluation is presented in this paper as a complement to economic account for the cropping-grazing system in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China in the year 2000. Based on Odum's well-known concept of emergy in terms of embodied solar energy as a unified measure for environmental resources, human or animal labors and industrial products, a systems diagram is developed for the crop and livestock productions with arms and sub-arms for free renewable natural resource input, purchased economic investment, yields of and interactive fluxes between the cropping and grazing sub-industries. In addition to conventional systems indices of the emergy yield ratio (EYR), emergy investment ratio (EIR), environmental load ratio (ELR) and environmental sustainability index (ESI) introduced for congregated systems ecological assessment with essential implication for sustainability, new indicators of soil emergy cost (SEC), self-support intensity (SSI) and self-support orientation (SSO) are defined to characterize the desertification and internal recycling associated with the special agricultural system. Extensive emergy accounting is made for the cropping-grazing system as a whole as well as for the cropping and grazing subsystems. The overall cropping-grazing system is shown with outstanding production competence compared with agricultural systems in some other provinces and the national average in China, though confronted with severe desertification associated with soil loss. The production of crops has higher emergy density and yield rate per unit area as well as higher rate of soil loss than grazing system. The soil emergy cost defined as the soil loss emergy divided by the yield emergy is estimated to be of the same value for both of the subsystems, but the grazing activity is with less extraction intensity, leaving rangeland to rest and rehabilitate. Suggestions with regard to the local sustainability and national ecological security in

Suggestions for crops grown in controlled ecological life-support systems, based on attractive vegetarian diets

Science.gov (United States)

Salisbury, F. B.; Clark, M. A.

1996-01-01

Assuming that crops grown in controlled ecological life-support systems (CELSS) should provide a basis for meals that are both nutritious and attractive (to taste and vision), and that CELSS diets on the moon or Mars or in space-craft during long voyages will have to be mostly vegetarian, a workshop was convened at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. on 19 to 21 January, 1994. Participants consisted of trained nutritionists and others; many of the approximately 18 presenters who discussed possible diets were practicing vegetarians, some for more than two decades. Considering all the presentations, seven conclusions (or points for discussion) could be formulated: nutritious vegetarian diets are relatively easily to formulate, vegetarian diets are healthy, variety is essential in vegetarian diets, some experiences (e.g., Bios-3 and Biosphere 2) are relevant to planning of CELSS diets, physical constraints will limit the choice of crops, a preliminary list of recommended crops can be formulated, and this line of research has some potential practical spinoffs. The list of crops and the reasons for including specific crops might be of interest to professionals in the field of health and nutrition as well as to those who are designing closed ecological systems.

Suggestions for crops grown in controlled ecological life-support systems, based on attractive vegetarian diets

Science.gov (United States)

Salisbury, F. B.; Clark, M. A. Z.

Assuming that crops grown in controlled ecological life-support systems (CELSS) should provide a basis for meals that are both nutritious and attractive (to taste and vision), and that CELSS diets on the moon or Mars or in space-craft during long voyages will have to be mostly vegetarian, a workshop was convened at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. on 19 to 21 January, 1994. Participants consisted of trained nutritionists and others; many of the approximately 18 presenters who discussed possible diets were practicing vegetarians, some for more than two decades. Considering all the presentations, seven conclusions (or points for discussion) could be formulated: nutritious vegetarian diets are relatively easily to formulate, vegetarian diets are healthy, variety is essential in vegetarian diets, some experiences (e.g., Bios-3 and Biosphere 2) are relevant to planning of CELSS diets, physical constraints will limit the choice of crops, a preliminary list of recommended crops can be formulated, and this line of research has some potential practical spinoffs. The list of crops and the reasons for including specific crops might be of interest to professionals in the field of health and nutrition as well as to those who are designing closed ecological systems.

Development of reflectance-based crop coefficients for corn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neale, C.M.U.; Bausch, W.C.; Heermann, D.F.

1989-01-01

Concurrent measurements of reflected canopy radiation and the basal crop coefficient (K^b) for corn were conducted throughout a season in order to develop a reflectance-based crop coefficient model. Reflectance was measured in Landsat Thematic Mapper bands TM3 (0.63 - 0.69 um) and TM4 (0.76 - 0.90 um) and used in the calculation of a vegetation index called the normalized difference (ND). A linear transformation of the ND was used as the reflectance-based crop coefficient (Kcr). The transformation equates the ND for dry bare soil and the ND at effective cover, to the basal crop coefficient for dry soil evaporation and at effective cover, respectively. Basal crop coefficient values for com were obtained from daily evapotranspiration measurements of corn and alfalfa, using hydraulic weighing lysimeters. The Richards growth curve function was fitted to both sets of data. The K^b values were determined to be within -2.6% and 4.7% of the K^^ values. The date of effective cover obtained from the K^b data was within four days of the date on which the ND curve reached its maxima according to the Richards function. A comparison of the Kcr with basal crop curves from the literature for several years of data indicated good agreement. Reflectance-based crop coefficients are sensitive to periods of slow and fast growth induced by weather conditions, resulting in a real time coefficient, independent from the traditional time base parameters based on the day of planting and effective cover

Automated irrigation systems for wheat and tomato crops in arid ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2017-04-02

Apr 2, 2017 ... Many methods have been described and sensors developed to manage irrigation ... time, and automated irrigation systems based on crop water needs can .... output components, and a software program for decision support.

Integrated crop protection as a system approach

OpenAIRE

Haan, de, J.J.; Wijnands, F.G.; Sukkel, W.

2005-01-01

New farming systems in vegetable production are required as demands for high quality products that do not pollute the environment are rising, and production risks are large and incomes low. The methodology of prototyping new systems is described, especially the themes, parameters and target values connected to integrated crop protection. The role of integrated crop protection in prototyping new systems is discussed. The results of twenty years working with this prototyping methodology are pre...

Supplementary nitrogen in leeks based on crop nitrogen status

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Booij, R.; Meurs, E.J.J.

2002-01-01

From a number of basic relationships between several crop ecological components (Booij et al., 1996a) a system was developed for giving supplementary nitrogen application in leeks, that was based on the measurement of light interception. A description of the approach is given and a comparison is

Environmental Sustainability of Some Cropping Systems in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Results from most findings reviewed in this paper had shown that there was no one size fits cropping system that can be use for sustainability of the humid environment but the best approach was the diversification of both traditional and modern cropping systems. The transition to systems which are both sustainable and ...

Cloud Cover Assessment for Operational Crop Monitoring Systems in Tropical Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isaque Daniel Rocha Eberhardt

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The potential of optical remote sensing data to identify, map and monitor croplands is well recognized. However, clouds strongly limit the usefulness of optical imagery for these applications. This paper aims at assessing cloud cover conditions over four states in the tropical and sub-tropical Center-South region of Brazil to guide the development of an appropriate agricultural monitoring system based on Landsat-like imagery. Cloudiness was assessed during overlapping four months periods to match the typical length of crop cycles in the study area. The percentage of clear sky occurrence was computed from the 1 km resolution MODIS Cloud Mask product (MOD35 considering 14 years of data between July 2000 and June 2014. Results showed high seasonality of cloud occurrence within the crop year with strong variations across the study area. The maximum seasonality was observed for the two states in the northern part of the study area (i.e., the ones closer to the Equator line, which also presented the lowest averaged values (15% of clear sky occurrence during the main (summer cropping period (November to February. In these locations, optical data faces severe constraints for mapping summer crops. On the other hand, relatively favorable conditions were found in the southern part of the study region. In the South, clear sky values of around 45% were found and no significant clear sky seasonality was observed. Results underpin the challenges to implement an operational crop monitoring system based solely on optical remote sensing imagery in tropical and sub-tropical regions, in particular if short-cycle crops have to be monitored during the cloudy summer months. To cope with cloudiness issues, we recommend the use of new systems with higher repetition rates such as Sentinel-2. For local studies, Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs might be used to augment the observing capability. Multi-sensor approaches combining optical and microwave data can be another

Farm-scale costs and returns for second generation bioenergy cropping systems in the US Corn Belt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manatt, Robert K; Schulte, Lisa A; Hall, Richard B; Hallam, Arne; Heaton, Emily A; Gunther, Theo; Moore, Ken J

2013-01-01

While grain crops are meeting much of the initial need for biofuels in the US, cellulosic or second generation (2G) materials are mandated to provide a growing portion of biofuel feedstocks. We sought to inform development of a 2G crop portfolio by assessing the profitability of novel cropping systems that potentially mitigate the negative effects of grain-based biofuel crops on food supply and environmental quality. We analyzed farm-gate costs and returns of five systems from an ongoing experiment in central Iowa, USA. The continuous corn cropping system was most profitable under current market conditions, followed by a corn–soybean rotation that incorporated triticale as a 2G cover crop every third year, and a corn–switchgrass system. A novel triticale–hybrid aspen intercropping system had the highest yields over the long term, but could only surpass the profitability of the continuous corn system when biomass prices exceeded foreseeable market values. A triticale/sorghum double cropping system was deemed unviable. We perceive three ways 2G crops could become more cost competitive with grain crops: by (1) boosting yields through substantially greater investment in research and development, (2) increasing demand through substantially greater and sustained investment in new markets, and (3) developing new schemes to compensate farmers for environmental benefits associated with 2G crops. (letter)

Farm-scale costs and returns for second generation bioenergy cropping systems in the US Corn Belt

Science.gov (United States)

Manatt, Robert K.; Hallam, Arne; Schulte, Lisa A.; Heaton, Emily A.; Gunther, Theo; Hall, Richard B.; Moore, Ken J.

2013-09-01

While grain crops are meeting much of the initial need for biofuels in the US, cellulosic or second generation (2G) materials are mandated to provide a growing portion of biofuel feedstocks. We sought to inform development of a 2G crop portfolio by assessing the profitability of novel cropping systems that potentially mitigate the negative effects of grain-based biofuel crops on food supply and environmental quality. We analyzed farm-gate costs and returns of five systems from an ongoing experiment in central Iowa, USA. The continuous corn cropping system was most profitable under current market conditions, followed by a corn-soybean rotation that incorporated triticale as a 2G cover crop every third year, and a corn-switchgrass system. A novel triticale-hybrid aspen intercropping system had the highest yields over the long term, but could only surpass the profitability of the continuous corn system when biomass prices exceeded foreseeable market values. A triticale/sorghum double cropping system was deemed unviable. We perceive three ways 2G crops could become more cost competitive with grain crops: by (1) boosting yields through substantially greater investment in research and development, (2) increasing demand through substantially greater and sustained investment in new markets, and (3) developing new schemes to compensate farmers for environmental benefits associated with 2G crops.

Meteorological risks and impacts on crop production systems in Belgium

Science.gov (United States)

Gobin, Anne

2013-04-01

Extreme weather events such as droughts, heat stress, rain storms and floods can have devastating effects on cropping systems. The perspective of rising risk-exposure is exacerbated further by projected increases of extreme events with climate change. More limits to aid received for agricultural damage and an overall reduction of direct income support to farmers further impacts farmers' resilience. Based on insurance claims, potatoes and rapeseed are the most vulnerable crops, followed by cereals and sugar beets. Damages due to adverse meteorological events are strongly dependent on crop type, crop stage and soil type. Current knowledge gaps exist in the response of arable crops to the occurrence of extreme events. The degree of temporal overlap between extreme weather events and the sensitive periods of the farming calendar requires a modelling approach to capture the mixture of non-linear interactions between the crop and its environment. The regional crop model REGCROP (Gobin, 2010) enabled to examine the likely frequency and magnitude of drought, heat stress and waterlogging in relation to the cropping season and crop sensitive stages of six arable crops: winter wheat, winter barley, winter rapeseed, potato, sugar beet and maize. Since crop development is driven by thermal time, crops matured earlier during the warmer 1988-2008 period than during the 1947-1987 period. Drought and heat stress, in particular during the sensitive crop stages, occur at different times in the cropping season and significantly differ between two climatic periods, 1947-1987 and 1988-2008. Soil moisture deficit increases towards harvesting, such that earlier maturing winter crops may avoid drought stress that occurs in late spring and summer. This is reflected in a decrease both in magnitude and frequency of soil moisture deficit around the sensitive stages during the 1988-2008 period when atmospheric drought may be compensated for with soil moisture. The risk of drought spells during

Annual forage cropping-systems for midwestern ruminant livestock production

OpenAIRE

McMillan, John Ernest

2016-01-01

Annual forage cropping systems are a vital aspect of livestock forage production. One area where this production system can be enhanced is the integration of novel annual forages into conventional cropping systems. Two separate projects were conducted to investigate alternative forage options in annual forage production. In the first discussed research trial, two sets of crops were sown following soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain harvest, at two nitrogen application rates 56 ...

Eight years of Conservation Agriculture-based cropping systems research in Eastern Africa to conserve soil and water and mitigate effects of climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Araya, Tesfay; Nyssen, Jan; Govaerts, Bram; Lanckriet, Sil; Baudron, Frédéric; Deckers, Jozef; Cornelis, Wim

2014-05-01

In Ethiopia, repeated plowing, complete removal of crop residues at harvest, aftermath grazing of crop fields and occurrence of repeated droughts have reduced the biomass return to the soil and aggravated cropland degradation. Conservation Agriculture (CA)-based resource conserving cropping systems may reduce runoff and soil erosion, and improve soil quality, thereby increasing crop productivity. Thus, a long-term tillage experiment has been carried out (2005 to 2012) on a Vertisol to quantify - among others - changes in runoff and soil loss for two local tillage practices, modified to integrate CA principles in semi-arid northern Ethiopia. The experimental layout was a randomized complete block design with three replications on permanent plots of 5 m by 19 m. The tillage treatments were (i) derdero+ (DER+) with a furrow and permanent raised bed planting system, ploughed only once at planting by refreshing the furrow from 2005 to 2012 and 30% standing crop residue retention, (ii) terwah+ (TER+) with furrows made at 1.5 m interval, plowed once at planting, 30% standing crop residue retention and fresh broad beds, and (iii) conventional tillage (CT) with a minimum of three plain tillage operations and complete removal of crop residues. All the plowing and reshaping of the furrows was done using the local ard plough mahresha and wheat, teff, barley and grass pea were grown. Glyphosate was sprayed starting from the third year onwards (2007) at 2 l ha-1 before planting to control pre-emergent weeds in CA plots. Runoff and soil loss were measured daily. Soil water content was monitored every 6 days. Significantly different (pconstitute a field rainwater and soil conservation improvement strategy that enhances crop and economic productivity and reduces siltation of reservoirs, especially under changing climate. The reduction in draught power requirement would enable a reduction in oxen density and crop residue demand for livestock feed, which would encourage smallholder

A triangular climate-based decision model to forecast crop anomalies in Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Guimarães Nobre, G.; Davenport, F.; Veldkamp, T.; Jongman, B.; Funk, C. C.; Husak, G. J.; Ward, P.; Aerts, J.

2017-12-01

By the end of 2017, the world is expected to experience unprecedented demands for food assistance where, across 45 countries, some 81 million people will face a food security crisis. Prolonged droughts in Eastern Africa are playing a major role in these crises. To mitigate famine risk and save lives, government bodies and international donor organisations are increasingly building up efforts to resolve conflicts and secure humanitarian relief. Disaster-relief and financing organizations traditionally focus on emergency response, providing aid after an extreme drought event, instead of taking actions in advance based on early warning. One of the reasons for this approach is that the seasonal risk information provided by early warning systems is often considered highly uncertain. Overcoming the reluctance to act based on early warnings greatly relies on understanding the risk of acting in vain, and assessing the cost-effectiveness of early actions. This research develops a triangular climate-based decision model for multiple seasonal time-scales to forecast strong anomalies in crop yield shortages in Kenya using Casual Discovery Algorithms and Fast and Frugal Decision Trees. This Triangular decision model (1) estimates the causality and strength of the relationship between crop yields and hydro climatological predictors (extracted from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network's data archive) during the crop growing season; (2) provides probabilistic forecasts of crop yield shortages in multiple time scales before the harvesting season; and (3) evaluates the cost-effectiveness of different financial mechanisms to respond to early warning indicators of crop yield shortages obtained from the model. Furthermore, we reflect on how such a model complements and advances the current state-of-art FEWS Net system, and examine its potential application to improve the management of agricultural risks in Kenya.

Differences in net global warming potential and greenhouse gas intensity between major rice-based cropping systems in China

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Zhengqin; Liu, Yinglie; Wu, Zhen; Zhang, Xiaolin; Liu, Pingli; Huang, Taiqing

2015-01-01

Double rice (DR) and upland crop-single rice (UR) systems are the major rice-based cropping systems in China, yet differences in net global warming potential (NGWP) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) between the two systems are poorly documented. Accordingly, a 3-year field experiment was conducted to simultaneously measure methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) in oil rape-rice-rice and wheat-rice (representing DR and UR, respectively) systems with straw incorporation (0, 3 and 6 t/ha) during the rice-growing seasons. Compared with the UR system, the annual CH4, N2O, grain yield and NGWP were significantly increased in the DR system, though little effect on SOC sequestration or GHGI was observed without straw incorporation. Straw incorporation increased CH4 emission and SOC sequestration but had no significant effect on N2O emission in both systems. Averaged over the three study years, straw incorporation had no significant effect on NGWP and GHGI in the UR system, whereas these parameters were greatly increased in the DR system, i.e., by 108% (3 t/ha) and 180% (6 t/ha) for NGWP and 103% (3 t/ha) and 168% (6 t/ha) for GHGI. PMID:26626733

Differences in net global warming potential and greenhouse gas intensity between major rice-based cropping systems in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Zhengqin; Liu, Yinglie; Wu, Zhen; Zhang, Xiaolin; Liu, Pingli; Huang, Taiqing

2015-12-02

Double rice (DR) and upland crop-single rice (UR) systems are the major rice-based cropping systems in China, yet differences in net global warming potential (NGWP) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) between the two systems are poorly documented. Accordingly, a 3-year field experiment was conducted to simultaneously measure methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) in oil rape-rice-rice and wheat-rice (representing DR and UR, respectively) systems with straw incorporation (0, 3 and 6 t/ha) during the rice-growing seasons. Compared with the UR system, the annual CH4, N2O, grain yield and NGWP were significantly increased in the DR system, though little effect on SOC sequestration or GHGI was observed without straw incorporation. Straw incorporation increased CH4 emission and SOC sequestration but had no significant effect on N2O emission in both systems. Averaged over the three study years, straw incorporation had no significant effect on NGWP and GHGI in the UR system, whereas these parameters were greatly increased in the DR system, i.e., by 108% (3 t/ha) and 180% (6 t/ha) for NGWP and 103% (3 t/ha) and 168% (6 t/ha) for GHGI.

Crop residue management in arable cropping systems under a temperate climate. Part 2: Soil physical properties and crop production. A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiel, MP.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Residues of previous crops provide a valuable amount of organic matter that can be used either to restore soil fertility or for external use. A better understanding of the impact of crop residue management on the soil-water-plant system is needed in order to manage agricultural land sustainably. This review focuses on soil physical aspects related to crop residue management, and specifically on the link between soil structure and hydraulic properties and its impact on crop production. Literature. Conservation practices, including crop residue retention and non-conventional tillage, can enhance soil health by improving aggregate stability. In this case, water infiltration is facilitated, resulting in an increase in plant water availability. Conservation practices, however, do not systematically lead to higher water availability for the plant. The influence of crop residue management on crop production is still unclear; in some cases, crop production is enhanced by residue retention, but in others crop residues can reduce crop yield. Conclusions. In this review we discuss the diverse and contrasting effects of crop residue management on soil physical properties and crop production under a temperate climate. The review highlights the importance of environmental factors such as soil type and local climatic conditions, highlighting the need to perform field studies on crop residue management and relate them to specific pedo-climatic contexts.

Topography Mediates the Influence of Cover Crops on Soil Nitrate Levels in Row Crop Agricultural Systems

OpenAIRE

Ladoni, Moslem; Kravchenko, Alexandra N.; Robertson, G. Phillip

2015-01-01

Supplying adequate amounts of soil N for plant growth during the growing season and across large agricultural fields is a challenge for conservational agricultural systems with cover crops. Knowledge about cover crop effects on N comes mostly from small, flat research plots and performance of cover crops across topographically diverse agricultural land is poorly understood. Our objective was to assess effects of both leguminous (red clover) and non-leguminous (winter rye) cover crops on poten...

Assessment of water sources to plant growth in rice based cropping systems by stable water isotopes

Science.gov (United States)

Mahindawansha, Amani; Kraft, Philipp; Racela, Heathcliff; Breuer, Lutz

2016-04-01

Rice is one of the most water-consuming crops in the world. Understanding water source utilization of rice will help us to improve water use efficiency (WUE) in paddy management. The objectives of our study are to evaluate the isotopic compositions of surface ponded water, soil water, irrigation water, groundwater, rain water and plant water and based on stable water isotope signatures to evaluate the contributions of various water sources to plant growth (wet rice, aerobic rice and maize) together with investigating the contribution of water from different soil horizons for plant growth in different maturity periods during wet and dry seasons. Finally we will compare the water balances and crop yields in both crops during both seasons and calculate the water use efficiencies. This will help to identify the most efficient water management systems in rice based cropping ecosystems using stable water isotopes. Soil samples are collected from 9 different depths at up to 60 cm in vegetative, reproductive and matured periods of plant growth together with stem samples. Soil and plant samples are extracted by cryogenic vacuum extraction. Root samples are collected up to 60 cm depth from 10 cm intercepts leading calculation of root length density and dry weight. Groundwater, surface water, rain water and irrigation water are sampled weekly. All water samples are analyzed for hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios (d18O and dD) using Los Gatos Research DLT100. Rainfall records, ground water level, surface water level fluctuations and the amount of water irrigated in each field will be measured during the sampling period. The direct inference approach which is based on comparing isotopic compositions (dD and d18O) between plant stem water and soil water will be used to determine water sources taken up by plant. Multiple-source mass balance assessment can provide the estimated range of potential contributions of water from each soil depth to root water uptake of a crop. These

Diversified cropping systems support greater microbial cycling and retention of carbon and nitrogen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

King, Alison E.; Hofmockel, Kirsten S.

2017-03-01

Diversifying biologically simple cropping systems often entails altering other management practices, such as tillage regime or nitrogen (N) source. We hypothesized that the interaction of crop rotation, N source, and tillage in diversified cropping systems would promote microbially-mediated soil C and N cycling while attenuating inorganic N pools. We studied a cropping systems trial in its 10th year in Iowa, USA, which tested a 2-yr cropping system of corn (Zea mays L.)/soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] managed with conventional fertilizer N inputs and conservation tillage, a 3-yr cropping system of corn/soybean/small grain + red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), and a 4-yr cropping system of corn/soybean/small grain + alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)/alfalfa. Three year and 4-yr cropping systems were managed with composted manure, reduced N fertilizer inputs, and periodic moldboard ploughing. We assayed soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and N (MBN), soil extractable NH4 and NO3, gross proteolytic activity of native soil, and potential activity of six hydrolytic enzymes eight times during the growing season. At the 0-20cm depth, native protease activity in the 4-yr cropping system was greater than in the 2-yr cropping system by a factor of 7.9, whereas dissolved inorganic N pools did not differ between cropping systems (P = 0.292). At the 0-20cm depth, MBC and MBN the 4-yr cropping system exceeded those in the 2-yr cropping system by factors of 1.51 and 1.57. Our findings suggest that diversified crop cropping systems, even when periodically moldboard ploughed, support higher levels of microbial biomass, greater production of bioavailable N from SOM, and a deeper microbially active layer than less diverse cropping systems.

Object-Based Crop Species Classification Based on the Combination of Airborne Hyperspectral Images and LiDAR Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaolong Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Identification of crop species is an important issue in agricultural management. In recent years, many studies have explored this topic using multi-spectral and hyperspectral remote sensing data. In this study, we perform dedicated research to propose a framework for mapping crop species by combining hyperspectral and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR data in an object-based image analysis (OBIA paradigm. The aims of this work were the following: (i to understand the performances of different spectral dimension-reduced features from hyperspectral data and their combination with LiDAR derived height information in image segmentation; (ii to understand what classification accuracies of crop species can be achieved by combining hyperspectral and LiDAR data in an OBIA paradigm, especially in regions that have fragmented agricultural landscape and complicated crop planting structure; and (iii to understand the contributions of the crop height that is derived from LiDAR data, as well as the geometric and textural features of image objects, to the crop species’ separabilities. The study region was an irrigated agricultural area in the central Heihe river basin, which is characterized by many crop species, complicated crop planting structures, and fragmented landscape. The airborne hyperspectral data acquired by the Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI with a 1 m spatial resolution and the Canopy Height Model (CHM data derived from the LiDAR data acquired by the airborne Leica ALS70 LiDAR system were used for this study. The image segmentation accuracies of different feature combination schemes (very high-resolution imagery (VHR, VHR/CHM, and minimum noise fractional transformed data (MNF/CHM were evaluated and analyzed. The results showed that VHR/CHM outperformed the other two combination schemes with a segmentation accuracy of 84.8%. The object-based crop species classification results of different feature integrations indicated that

The Myth of Coexistence: Why Transgenic Crops Are Not Compatible With Agroecologically Based Systems of Production

Science.gov (United States)

Altieri, Miguel

2005-01-01

The coexistence of genetically modified (GM) crops and non-GM crops is a myth because the movement of transgenes beyond their intended destinations is a certainty, and this leads to genetic contamination of organic farms and other systems. It is unlikely that transgenes can be retracted once they have escaped, thus the damage to the purity of…

Compatibility of switchgrass as an energy crop in farming systems of the southeastern USA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bransby, D.I.; Rodriguez-Kabana, R.; Sladden, S.E. [Auburn Univ., AL (United States)

1993-12-31

The objective of this paper is to examine the compatibility of switchgrass as an energy crop in farming systems in the southeastern USA, relative to other regions. In particular, the issues addressed are (1) competition between switchgrass as an energy crop and existing farm enterprises, based primarily on economic returns, (2) complementarity between switchgrass and existing farm enterprises, and (3) environmental benefits. Because projected economic returns for switchgrass as an energy crop are highest in the Southeast, and returns from forestry and beef pastures (the major existing enterprises) are low, there is a very strong economic incentive in this region. In contrast, based on current information, economic viability of switchgrass as an energy crop in other regions appears doubtful. In addition, switchgrass in the southeastern USA would complement forage-livestock production, row crop production and wildlife and would provide several additional environmental benefits. It is concluded that the southeastern USA offers the greatest opportunity for developing switchgrass as an economically viable energy crop.

Topography Mediates the Influence of Cover Crops on Soil Nitrate Levels in Row Crop Agricultural Systems.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moslem Ladoni

Full Text Available Supplying adequate amounts of soil N for plant growth during the growing season and across large agricultural fields is a challenge for conservational agricultural systems with cover crops. Knowledge about cover crop effects on N comes mostly from small, flat research plots and performance of cover crops across topographically diverse agricultural land is poorly understood. Our objective was to assess effects of both leguminous (red clover and non-leguminous (winter rye cover crops on potentially mineralizable N (PMN and [Formula: see text] levels across a topographically diverse landscape. We studied conventional, low-input, and organic managements in corn-soybean-wheat rotation. The rotations of low-input and organic managements included rye and red clover cover crops. The managements were implemented in twenty large undulating fields in Southwest Michigan starting from 2006. The data collection and analysis were conducted during three growing seasons of 2011, 2012 and 2013. Observational micro-plots with and without cover crops were laid within each field on three contrasting topographical positions of depression, slope and summit. Soil samples were collected 4-5 times during each growing season and analyzed for [Formula: see text] and PMN. The results showed that all three managements were similar in their temporal and spatial distributions of NO3-N. Red clover cover crop increased [Formula: see text] by 35% on depression, 20% on slope and 32% on summit positions. Rye cover crop had a significant 15% negative effect on [Formula: see text] in topographical depressions but not in slope and summit positions. The magnitude of the cover crop effects on soil mineral nitrogen across topographically diverse fields was associated with the amount of cover crop growth and residue production. The results emphasize the potential environmental and economic benefits that can be generated by implementing site-specific topography-driven cover crop management

Topography Mediates the Influence of Cover Crops on Soil Nitrate Levels in Row Crop Agricultural Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Ladoni, Moslem; Kravchenko, Alexandra N; Robertson, G Phillip

2015-01-01

Supplying adequate amounts of soil N for plant growth during the growing season and across large agricultural fields is a challenge for conservational agricultural systems with cover crops. Knowledge about cover crop effects on N comes mostly from small, flat research plots and performance of cover crops across topographically diverse agricultural land is poorly understood. Our objective was to assess effects of both leguminous (red clover) and non-leguminous (winter rye) cover crops on potentially mineralizable N (PMN) and [Formula: see text] levels across a topographically diverse landscape. We studied conventional, low-input, and organic managements in corn-soybean-wheat rotation. The rotations of low-input and organic managements included rye and red clover cover crops. The managements were implemented in twenty large undulating fields in Southwest Michigan starting from 2006. The data collection and analysis were conducted during three growing seasons of 2011, 2012 and 2013. Observational micro-plots with and without cover crops were laid within each field on three contrasting topographical positions of depression, slope and summit. Soil samples were collected 4-5 times during each growing season and analyzed for [Formula: see text] and PMN. The results showed that all three managements were similar in their temporal and spatial distributions of NO3-N. Red clover cover crop increased [Formula: see text] by 35% on depression, 20% on slope and 32% on summit positions. Rye cover crop had a significant 15% negative effect on [Formula: see text] in topographical depressions but not in slope and summit positions. The magnitude of the cover crop effects on soil mineral nitrogen across topographically diverse fields was associated with the amount of cover crop growth and residue production. The results emphasize the potential environmental and economic benefits that can be generated by implementing site-specific topography-driven cover crop management in row-crop

Toward cropping systems that enhance productivity and sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, R. James

2006-01-01

The defining features of any cropping system are (i) the crop rotation and (ii) the kind or intensity of tillage. The trend worldwide starting in the late 20th century has been (i) to specialize competitively in the production of two, three, a single, or closely related crops such as different market classes of wheat and barley, and (ii) to use direct seeding, also known as no-till, to cut costs and save soil, time, and fuel. The availability of glyphosate- and insect-resistant varieties of soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola has helped greatly to address weed and insect pest pressures favored by direct seeding these crops. However, little has been done through genetics and breeding to address diseases caused by residue- and soil-inhabiting pathogens that remain major obstacles to wider adoption of these potentially more productive and sustainable systems. Instead, the gains have been due largely to innovations in management, including enhancement of root defense by antibiotic-producing rhizosphere-inhabiting bacteria inhibitory to root pathogens. Historically, new varieties have facilitated wider adoption of new management, and changes in management have facilitated wider adoption of new varieties. Although actual yields may be lower in direct-seed compared with conventional cropping systems, largely due to diseases, the yield potential is higher because of more available water and increases in soil organic matter. Achieving the full production potential of these more-sustainable cropping systems must now await the development of varieties adapted to or resistant to the hazards shown to account for the yield depressions associated with direct seeding. PMID:17130454

Adjustment and Optimization of the Cropping Systems under Water Constraint

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Pingli An

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The water constraint on agricultural production receives growing concern with the increasingly sharp contradiction between demand and supply of water resources. How to mitigate and adapt to potential water constraint is one of the key issues for ensuring food security and achieving sustainable agriculture in the context of climate change. It has been suggested that adjustment and optimization of cropping systems could be an effective measure to improve water management and ensure food security. However, a knowledge gap still exists in how to quantify potential water constraint and how to select appropriate cropping systems. Here, we proposed a concept of water constraint risk and developed an approach for the evaluation of the water constraint risks for agricultural production by performing a case study in Daxing District, Beijing, China. The results show that, over the whole growth period, the order of the water constraint risks of crops from high to low was wheat, rice, broomcorn, foxtail millet, summer soybean, summer peanut, spring corn, and summer corn, and the order of the water constraint risks of the cropping systems from high to low was winter wheat-summer grain crops, rice, broomcorn, foxtail millet, and spring corn. Our results are consistent with the actual evolving process of cropping system. This indicates that our proposed method is practicable to adjust and optimize the cropping systems to mitigate and adapt to potential water risks. This study provides an insight into the adjustment and optimization of cropping systems under resource constraints.

Adverse weather impacts on arable cropping systems

Science.gov (United States)

Gobin, Anne

2016-04-01

meteorological risks and subsequently relating the risk to the cropping calendar will be demonstrated for major arable crops in Belgium. Physically based crop models assist in understanding the links between adverse weather events, sensitive crop stages and crop damage. Financial support was obtained from Belspo under research contract SD/RI/03A.

Cover crop root, shoot, and rhizodeposit contributions to soil carbon in a no- till corn bioenergy cropping system

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, E.; Grandy, S.; Wickings, K.; McDaniel, M. D.; Robertson, P.

2016-12-01

Crop residues are potential biofuel feedstocks, but residue removal may result in reduced soil carbon (C). The inclusion of a cover crop in a corn bioenergy system could provide additional biomass and as well as help to mitigate the negative effects of residue removal by adding belowground C to stable soil C pools. In a no-till continuous corn bioenergy system in the northern portion of the US corn belt, we used 13CO2 pulse labeling to trace C in a winter rye (secale cereale) cover crop into different soil C pools for two years following rye termination. Corn stover contributed 66 (another 163 was in harvested corn stover), corn roots 57, rye shoot 61, rye roots 59, and rye rhizodeposits 27 g C m-2 to soil C. Five months following cover crop termination, belowground cover crop inputs were three times more likely to remain in soil C pools and much of the root-derived C was in mineral- associated soil fractions. Our results underscore the importance of cover crop roots vs. shoots as a source of soil C. Belowground C inputs from winter cover crops could substantially offset short term stover removal in this system.

The perspective crops for the bioregenerative human life support systems

Science.gov (United States)

Polonskiy, Vadim; Polonskaya, Janna

The perspective crops for the bioregenerative human life support systems V.I. Polonskiy, J.E. Polonskaya aKrasnoyarsk State Agrarian University, 660049, Krasnoyarsk, Russia In the nearest future the space missions will be too long. In this case it is necessary to provide the crew by vitamins, antioxidants, and water-soluble dietary fibers. These compounds will be produced by higher plants. There was not enough attention at present to increasing content of micronutrients in edible parts of crops candidates for CELSS. We suggested to add the new crops to this list. 1. Barley -is the best crop for including to food crops (wheat, rice, soybean). Many of the health effects of barley are connected to dietary fibers beta-glucan of barley grains. Bar-ley is the only seed from cereals including wheat with content of all eight tocopherols (vitamin E, important antioxidant). Barley grains contain much greater amounts of phenolic compounds (potential antioxidant activities) than other cereal grains. Considerable focus is on supplement-ing wheat-based breads with barley to introduce the inherent nutritional advantages of barley flour, currently only 20We have selected and tested during 5 generations two high productive barley lines -1-K-O and 25-K-O. Our investigations (special breeding program for improving grain quality of barley) are in progress. 2. Volatile crops. Young leaves and shoots of these crops are edible and have a piquant taste. A lot of organic volatile compounds, oils, vitamins, antioxidants are in their biomass. These micronutrients are useful for good appetite and health of the crew. We have investigated 11 species: basil (Ocimum basilicum), hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), marjoram (Origanum majorana), sweet-Mary (Melissa officinalis), common thyme (Thymus vulgaris), creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum), summer savory (Satureja hortensis), catnip (Nepeta cataria), rue (Ruta graveolens), coriander (Coriandrum Ativum), sulfurwort (Levisticum officinale). These

Long-term C-CO2 emissions and carbon crop residue mineralization in an oxisol under different tillage and crop rotation systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ben-Hur Costa de Campos

2011-06-01

tillage systems were noticed for C-CO2 evolution. Soil C-CO2 effluxes followed a bi-modal pattern, with peaks in October/November and February/March. The highest emission was recorded in the summer and the lowest in the winter. The C-CO2 effluxes were weakly correlated to air temperature and not correlated to soil moisture. Based on the soil C conservation indexes investigated, NT associated to intensive crop rotation was more C conserving than CT with monoculture.

Species composition and density of weeds in a wheat crop depending on the soil tillage system in crop rotation

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P. Yankov

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract. The investigation was carried out in the trial field of Dobrudzha Agricultural Institute, General Toshevo on slightly leached chernozem soil type. For the purposes of this investigation, variants from a stationary field experiment initiated in 1987 and based on various soil tillage tools and operations were analyzed. The species composition and density of weeds were followed in a wheat crop grown after grain maize using the following soil tillage systems: plowing at 24 – 26 cm (for maize – disking at 10 – 12 cm (for wheat; cutting at 24 – 26 cm (for maize – cutting at 8 – 10 cm (for wheat; disking at 10 – 12 cm (for maize – disking at 10 – 12 cm (for wheat; no-tillage (for maize – no-tillage (for wheat.Weed infestation was read at the fourth rotation since the initiation of the trial. The observations were made in spring before treatment of the crop with herbicides. The soil tillage system had a significant effect on the species composition and density of weeds in the field with wheat grown after previous crop maize. The long-term alternation of plowing with disking in parallel with the usage of chemicals for weed control lead to lower weed infestation of the weed crop. The lower weed density after this soil tillage system was not related to changes in the species composition and the relative percent of the individual species in the total weed infestation. The long-term application in crop rotation of systems without turning of the soil layer and of minimal and no-tillage increased the amount of weeds. The reason is the greater variability of weed species which typically occur after shallow soil tillage.

Managed Multi-strata Tree + Crop Systems: An Agroecological Marvel

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P. K. Ramachandran Nair

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Today, when the emphasis on single-species production systems that is cardinal to agricultural and forestry programs the world over has resulted in serious ecosystem imbalances, the virtues of the time-tested practice of growing different species together as in managed Multi-strata Tree + Crop (MTC systems deserve serious attention. The coconut-palm-based multispecies systems in tropical homegardens and shaded perennial systems are just two such systems. A fundamental ecological principle of these systems is niche complementarity, which implies that systems that are structurally and functionally more complex than crop- or tree monocultures result in greater efficiency of resource (nutrients, light, and water capture and utilization. Others include spatial and temporal heterogeneity, perennialism, and structural and functional diversity. Unexplored or under-exploited areas of benefits of MTC systems include their ecosystem services such as carbon storage, climate regulation, and biodiversity conservation. These multispecies integrated systems indeed represent an agroecological marvel, the principles of which could be utilized in the design of sustainable as well as productive agroecosystems. Environmental and ecological specificity of MTC systems, however, is a unique feature that restricts their comparison with other land-use systems and extrapolation of the management features used in one location to another.

MS-based analytical methodologies to characterize genetically modified crops.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Cañas, Virginia; Simó, Carolina; León, Carlos; Ibáñez, Elena; Cifuentes, Alejandro

2011-01-01

The development of genetically modified crops has had a great impact on the agriculture and food industries. However, the development of any genetically modified organism (GMO) requires the application of analytical procedures to confirm the equivalence of the GMO compared to its isogenic non-transgenic counterpart. Moreover, the use of GMOs in foods and agriculture faces numerous criticisms from consumers and ecological organizations that have led some countries to regulate their production, growth, and commercialization. These regulations have brought about the need of new and more powerful analytical methods to face the complexity of this topic. In this regard, MS-based technologies are increasingly used for GMOs analysis to provide very useful information on GMO composition (e.g., metabolites, proteins). This review focuses on the MS-based analytical methodologies used to characterize genetically modified crops (also called transgenic crops). First, an overview on genetically modified crops development is provided, together with the main difficulties of their analysis. Next, the different MS-based analytical approaches applied to characterize GM crops are critically discussed, and include "-omics" approaches and target-based approaches. These methodologies allow the study of intended and unintended effects that result from the genetic transformation. This information is considered to be essential to corroborate (or not) the equivalence of the GM crop with its isogenic non-transgenic counterpart. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Increasing Cropping System Diversity Balances Productivity, Profitability and Environmental Health

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Adam S.; Hill, Jason D.; Chase, Craig A.; Johanns, Ann M.; Liebman, Matt

2012-01-01

Balancing productivity, profitability, and environmental health is a key challenge for agricultural sustainability. Most crop production systems in the United States are characterized by low species and management diversity, high use of fossil energy and agrichemicals, and large negative impacts on the environment. We hypothesized that cropping system diversification would promote ecosystem services that would supplement, and eventually displace, synthetic external inputs used to maintain crop productivity. To test this, we conducted a field study from 2003–2011 in Iowa that included three contrasting systems varying in length of crop sequence and inputs. We compared a conventionally managed 2-yr rotation (maize-soybean) that received fertilizers and herbicides at rates comparable to those used on nearby farms with two more diverse cropping systems: a 3-yr rotation (maize-soybean-small grain + red clover) and a 4-yr rotation (maize-soybean-small grain + alfalfa-alfalfa) managed with lower synthetic N fertilizer and herbicide inputs and periodic applications of cattle manure. Grain yields, mass of harvested products, and profit in the more diverse systems were similar to, or greater than, those in the conventional system, despite reductions of agrichemical inputs. Weeds were suppressed effectively in all systems, but freshwater toxicity of the more diverse systems was two orders of magnitude lower than in the conventional system. Results of our study indicate that more diverse cropping systems can use small amounts of synthetic agrichemical inputs as powerful tools with which to tune, rather than drive, agroecosystem performance, while meeting or exceeding the performance of less diverse systems. PMID:23071739

Crop 3D-a LiDAR based platform for 3D high-throughput crop phenotyping.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Qinghua; Wu, Fangfang; Pang, Shuxin; Zhao, Xiaoqian; Chen, Linhai; Liu, Jin; Xue, Baolin; Xu, Guangcai; Li, Le; Jing, Haichun; Chu, Chengcai

2018-03-01

With the growing population and the reducing arable land, breeding has been considered as an effective way to solve the food crisis. As an important part in breeding, high-throughput phenotyping can accelerate the breeding process effectively. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is an active remote sensing technology that is capable of acquiring three-dimensional (3D) data accurately, and has a great potential in crop phenotyping. Given that crop phenotyping based on LiDAR technology is not common in China, we developed a high-throughput crop phenotyping platform, named Crop 3D, which integrated LiDAR sensor, high-resolution camera, thermal camera and hyperspectral imager. Compared with traditional crop phenotyping techniques, Crop 3D can acquire multi-source phenotypic data in the whole crop growing period and extract plant height, plant width, leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, leaf inclination angle and other parameters for plant biology and genomics analysis. In this paper, we described the designs, functions and testing results of the Crop 3D platform, and briefly discussed the potential applications and future development of the platform in phenotyping. We concluded that platforms integrating LiDAR and traditional remote sensing techniques might be the future trend of crop high-throughput phenotyping.

4F CROPS: Future crops for food, feed, fibre and fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

E. Alexopoulou, E.; Christou, M.; Eleftheriadis, I. [Center for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES), Pikermi Attikis (Greece)

2008-07-01

As different sectors - food, feed, fiber, and fuels - compete for land, the yielding potential of the future non-food crops has to be as efficient as possible in order to minimize the competition for land. The main objective of 4F CROPS project is to survey and analyze all the parameters that will play an important role in successful non-food cropping systems in the agriculture of EU27 alongside the existing food crop systems. The work will start with the prediction of the future land use in short term (2020) and long term (2030), taking under consideration restrict factors for agriculture and the market demand for non-food crops. The cropping possibilities based on regional potential levels, ecology and climate will be determined. This group of non-food crops will be then subjected to a comparative cost analysis with conventional crops for the same time framework. Socio-economic impacts, like farmers' income, rural development, public development, and public acceptance will analyze. Then environmental implications will be assessed compared to their respective conventional products (fossil energy, conversional materials). Several environmental impacts will be assessed like soil quality and soil erosion, air quality and climate change, water issues, biodiversity and landscape by using LCA and EIE methods. The regulatory framework of the non-food crops will be considered including existing policies, co-existence and safety measures when the crops used for both food and non-food crops. All the collected information will be used for the formation of scenarios for successful non-food cropping alongside food cropping systems answering whether a completive bioeconomy is a viable option for EU27.

Identity-based estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from crop production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bennetzen, Eskild Hohlmann; Smith, Pete; Soussana, Jean-Francois

2012-01-01

reduction of emissions i.e. reducing emissions per unit of agricultural product rather than the absolute emissions per se. Hence the system productivity must be included in the same analysis. This paper presents the Kaya- Porter identity, derived from the Kaya identity, as a new way to calculate GHG...... (ha). These separate elements in the identity can be targeted in emissions reduction and mitigation policies and are useful to analyse past and current trends in emissions and to explore future scenarios. Using the Kaya-Porter identity we have performed a case study on Danish crop production and find...... emissions to have been reduced by 12% from 1992 to 2008, whilst yields per unit area have remained constant. Both land-based emissions and energy-based emissions have decreased, mainly due to a 41% reduction in nitrogen fertilizer use. The initial identity based analysis for crop production presented here...

Using the GENESYS model quantifying the effect of cropping systems on gene escape from GM rape varieties to evaluate and design cropping systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colbach Nathalie

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Gene flow in rapeseed is a process taking place both in space and over the years and cannot be studied exclusively by field trials. Consequently, the GENESYS model was developed to quantify the effects of cropping systems on transgene escape from rapeseed crops to rapeseed volunteers in neighbour plots and in the subsequent crops. In the present work, this model was used to evaluate the risk of rape harvest contamination by extraneous genes in various farming systems in case of co-existing GM, conventional and organic crops. When 50 % of the rape varieties in the region were transgenic, the rate of GM seeds in non-GM crop harvests on farms with large fields was lower than the 0.9 % purity threshold proposed by the EC for rape crop production (food and feed harvests, but on farms with smaller fields, the threshold was exceeded. Harvest impurity increased in organic farms, mainly because of their small field size. The model was then used to evaluate the consequences of changes in farming practices and to identify those changes reducing harvest contamination. The effects of these changes depended on the field pattern and farming system. The most efficient practices in limiting harvest impurity comprised improved set-aside management by sowing a cover crop in spring on all set-aside fields in the region, permanently banning rape crops and set-aside around seed production fields and (for non-GM farmers clustering farm fields to reduce gene inflow from neighbour fields.

Global Monitoring RSEM System for Crop Production by Incorporating Satellite-based Photosynthesis Rates and Anomaly Data of Sea Surface Temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneko, D.; Sakuma, H.

2014-12-01

The first author has been developing RSEM crop-monitoring system using satellite-based assessment of photosynthesis, incorporating meteorological conditions. Crop production comprises of several stages and plural mechanisms based on leaf photosynthesis, surface energy balance, and the maturing of grains after fixation of CO2, along with water exchange through soil vegetation-atmosphere transfer. Grain production in prime countries appears to be randomly perturbed regionally and globally. Weather for crop plants reflects turbulent phenomena of convective and advection flows in atmosphere and surface boundary layer. It has been difficult for scientists to simulate and forecast weather correctly for sufficiently long terms to crop harvesting. However, severely poor harvests related to continental events must originate from a consistent mechanism of abnormal energetic flow in the atmosphere through both land and oceans. It should be remembered that oceans have more than 100 times of energy storage compared to atmosphere and ocean currents represent gigantic energy flows, strongly affecting climate. Anomalies of Sea Surface Temperature (SST), globally known as El Niño, Indian Ocean dipole, and Atlantic Niño etc., affect the seasonal climate on a continental scale. The authors aim to combine monitoring and seasonal forecasting, considering such mechanisms through land-ocean biosphere transfer. The present system produces assessments for all continents, specifically monitoring agricultural fields of main crops. Historical regions of poor and good harvests are compared with distributions of SST anomalies, which are provided by NASA GSFC. Those comparisons fairly suggest that the Worst harvest in 1993 and the Best in 1994 relate to the offshore distribution of low temperature anomalies and high gaps in ocean surface temperatures. However, high-temperature anomalies supported good harvests because of sufficient solar radiation for photosynthesis, and poor harvests because

Effects of contrasting catch crops on nitrogen availability and nitrous oxide emissions in an organic cropping system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Xiaoxi; Petersen, Søren O; Sørensen, Peter

2015-01-01

Legume-based catch crops (LBCCs) may act as an important source of nitrogen (N) in organic crop rotations because of biological N fixation. However, the potential risk of high nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions needs to be taken into account when including LBCCs in crop rotations. Here, we report...

Individual plant care in cropping systems

OpenAIRE

Griepentrog, Hans W.; Nørremark, Michael; Nielsen, Henning; Blackmore, Simon

2003-01-01

Individual plant care cropping systems, embodied in precision farming, may lead to new opportunities in agricultural crop management. The objective of the project was to provide high accuracy seed position mapping of a field of sugar beet. An RTK GPS was retrofitted on to a precision seeder to map the seeds as they were planted. The average error between the seed map and the actual plant map was about 32 mm to 59 mm. The results showed that the overall accuracy of the estimated plant position...

Effects of alternative cropping systems on globe artichoke qualitative traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Spanu, Emanuela; Deligios, Paola A; Azara, Emanuela; Delogu, Giovanna; Ledda, Luigi

2018-02-01

Traditionally, globe artichoke cultivation in the Mediterranean basin is based on monoculture and on use of high amounts of nitrogen fertiliser. This raises issues regarding its compatibility with sustainable agriculture. We studied the effect of one typical conventional (CONV) and two alternative cropping systems [globe artichoke in sequence with French bean (NCV1), or in biannual rotation (NCV2) with cauliflower and with a leguminous cover crop in inter-row spaces] on yield, polyphenol and mineral content of globe artichoke heads over two consecutive growing seasons. NCV2 showed statistical differences in terms of fresh product yield with respect to the monoculture systems. In addition, the dihydroxycinnamic acids and dicaffeoylquinic acids of non-conventional samples were one-fold significantly higher than the conventional one. All the samples reported good mineral content, although NCV2 achieved a higher Fe content than conventional throughout the two seasons. After two and three dates of sampling, the CONV samples showed the highest levels of K content. In our study, an acceptable commercial yield and quality of 'Spinoso sardo' were achieved by shifting the common conventional agronomic management to more sustainable ones, by means of an accurate choice of cover crop species and rotations introduced in the systems. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Yield gap analysis of feed-crop livestock systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Linden, van der Aart; Oosting, Simon J.; Ven, van de Gerrie W.J.; Veysset, Patrick; Boer, de Imke J.M.; Ittersum, van Martin K.

2018-01-01

Sustainable intensification is a strategy contributing to global food security. The scope for sustainable intensification in crop sciences can be assessed through yield gap analysis, using crop growth models based on concepts of production ecology. Recently, an analogous cattle production model

Integrating remote sensing, geographic information system and modeling for estimating crop yield

Science.gov (United States)

Salazar, Luis Alonso

This thesis explores various aspects of the use of remote sensing, geographic information system and digital signal processing technologies for broad-scale estimation of crop yield in Kansas. Recent dry and drought years in the Great Plains have emphasized the need for new sources of timely, objective and quantitative information on crop conditions. Crop growth monitoring and yield estimation can provide important information for government agencies, commodity traders and producers in planning harvest, storage, transportation and marketing activities. The sooner this information is available the lower the economic risk translating into greater efficiency and increased return on investments. Weather data is normally used when crop yield is forecasted. Such information, to provide adequate detail for effective predictions, is typically feasible only on small research sites due to expensive and time-consuming collections. In order for crop assessment systems to be economical, more efficient methods for data collection and analysis are necessary. The purpose of this research is to use satellite data which provides 50 times more spatial information about the environment than the weather station network in a short amount of time at a relatively low cost. Specifically, we are going to use Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) based vegetation health (VH) indices as proxies for characterization of weather conditions.

Development of a European Ensemble System for Seasonal Prediction: Application to crop yield

Science.gov (United States)

Terres, J. M.; Cantelaube, P.

2003-04-01

Western European agriculture is highly intensive and the weather is the main source of uncertainty for crop yield assessment and for crop management. In the current system, at the time when a crop yield forecast is issued, the weather conditions leading up to harvest time are unknown and are therefore a major source of uncertainty. The use of seasonal weather forecast would bring additional information for the remaining crop season and has valuable benefit for improving the management of agricultural markets and environmentally sustainable farm practices. An innovative method for supplying seasonal forecast information to crop simulation models has been developed in the frame of the EU funded research project DEMETER. It consists in running a crop model on each individual member of the seasonal hindcasts to derive a probability distribution of crop yield. Preliminary results of cumulative probability function of wheat yield provides information on both the yield anomaly and the reliability of the forecast. Based on the spread of the probability distribution, the end-user can directly quantify the benefits and risks of taking weather-sensitive decisions.

nteraction of nutrient resource and crop diversity on resource use efficiency in different cropping systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E azizi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction Conventional operations in fields, soil and water management are not efficient and loss of and damage to the environment are considerable (Lal, 2000. Crop diversity and understanding the complex interactions between environmental and socioeconomic factors are approaches to make better use of limited resources (Tengberg et al., 1998. The most diverse ecosystems have a higher production under environment stress conditions compared with ecosystems with low diversity due to the better efficiency in the use of water, radiation and nutrients (Hulugalle & al, 1986; Walker & Ogindo, 2003. Materials and Methods In order to investigate the effects of crop diversity and nutrient source on resource use efficiency, a split plot experiment was conducted based on complete randomized blocks with 3 replications at the Agricultural Research Station, the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, during 2006 and 2007. The treatments included manure and chemical fertilizers as the main plots and intercropping of 3 soybean varieties (Williams, Sahar and Gorgan3, intercropping of 3 Millet species (common millet, foxtail millet and pearl millet, intercropping of millet, soybean and sesame (Sesamum indicum and intercropping of millet, sesame, fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum and ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi as sub plots. Results and Discussion The results indicated that in the first year, intercropping of 3 Millet species and intercropping of millet, soybean and sesame showed the highest water use efficiency (WUE based on biological yield. In the second year, intercropping of 3 millet species showed the highest WUE based on biological yield. The highest concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in crop tissues were observed in intercropping of 3 soybean varieties and intercropping of millet, soybean and sesame. In the first year, intercropping of 3 soybean varieties showed the highest nutrient use efficiency (NUE. In the second year, intercropping

Integrated water-crop-soil-management system for evaluating the quality of irrigation water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pla-Sentis, I.

1983-01-01

The authors make use of an independent balance of the salts and ions present in the water available for irrigation, based on the residence times in the soil solution that are allowed by solubility limits and drainage conditions, to develop an efficient system for evaluating the quality of such water which combines the factors: water, crop, soil and management. The system is based on the principle that such quality depends not only on the concentration and composition of the salts dissolved in the water, but also on existing possibilities and limitations in using and managing it in respect of the soil and crops, with allowance for the crop's tolerance of salinity, drainage conditions and hydrological properties of the soils, climate and current or potential practices for the management of the irrigation. If this system is used to quantify approximately the time behaviour of the concentration and composition of the salts in the soil solution, it is possible not only to predict the effects on soil, crops and drainage water, but also to evaluate the various combinations of irrigation water, soil, crops and management and to select the most suitable. It is also useful for fairly accurately diagnosing current problems of salinity and for identifying alternatives and possibilities for reclamation. Examples of its use for these purposes in Venezuela are presented with particular reference to the diagnosis of the present and future development of ''salino-sodic'' and ''sodic'' soils by means of low-salt irrigation water spread over agricultural soils with very poor drainage in a sub-humid or semi-arid tropical climate. The authors also describe the use of radiation techniques for gaining an understanding of the relations between the factors making up the system and for improving the quantitative evaluations required to diagnose problems and to select the best management methods for the available irrigation water. (author)

Monitoring and modeling crop health and water use via in-situ, airborne and space-based platforms

KAUST Repository

McCabe, M. F.

2014-12-01

The accurate retrieval of plant water use, health and function together with soil state and condition, represent key objectives in the management and monitoring of large-scale agricultural production. In regions of water shortage or stress, understanding the sustainable use of available water supplies is critical. Unfortunately, this need is all too often limited by a lack of reliable observations. Techniques that balance the demand for reliable ground-based data with the rapid retrieval of spatially distributed crop characteristics represent a needed line of research. Data from in-situ monitoring coupled with advances in satellite retrievals of key land surface variables, provide the information necessary to characterize many crop health and water use features, including evaporation, leaf-chlorophyll and other common vegetation indices. With developments in UAV and quadcopter solutions, the opportunity to bridge the spatio-temporal gap between satellite and ground based sensing now exists, along with the capacity for customized retrievals of crop information. While there remain challenges in the routine application of autonomous airborne systems, the state of current technology and sensor developments provide the capacity to explore the operational potential. While this presentation will focus on the multi-scale estimation of crop-water use and crop-health characteristics from satellite-based sensors, the retrieval of high resolution spatially distributed information from near-surface airborne and ground-based systems will also be examined.

Monitoring and Modeling Crop Health and Water Use via in-situ, Airborne and Space-based Platforms

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, M. F.

2014-12-01

The accurate retrieval of plant water use, health and function together with soil state and condition, represent key objectives in the management and monitoring of large-scale agricultural production. In regions of water shortage or stress, understanding the sustainable use of available water supplies is critical. Unfortunately, this need is all too often limited by a lack of reliable observations. Techniques that balance the demand for reliable ground-based data with the rapid retrieval of spatially distributed crop characteristics represent a needed line of research. Data from in-situ monitoring coupled with advances in satellite retrievals of key land surface variables, provide the information necessary to characterize many crop health and water use features, including evaporation, leaf-chlorophyll and other common vegetation indices. With developments in UAV and quadcopter solutions, the opportunity to bridge the spatio-temporal gap between satellite and ground based sensing now exists, along with the capacity for customized retrievals of crop information. While there remain challenges in the routine application of autonomous airborne systems, the state of current technology and sensor developments provide the capacity to explore the operational potential. While this presentation will focus on the multi-scale estimation of crop-water use and crop-health characteristics from satellite-based sensors, the retrieval of high resolution spatially distributed information from near-surface airborne and ground-based systems will also be examined.

Dynamic cropping systems: Holistic approach for dryland agricultural systems in the northern Great Plains of North America

Science.gov (United States)

Cropping systems over the past century have developed greater crop specialization, more effectively conserve our soil and water resources, and are more resilient. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the evolution of cropping systems in the Northern Great Plains and provide an approach to crop...

Modelling nutrient management in tropical cropping systems

OpenAIRE

Delve, R. (ed.); Probert, M. (ed.)

2004-01-01

Metadata only record In tropical regions, organic materials are often more important than fertilizers in maintaining soil fertility, yet fertilizer recommendations and most crop models are unable to take account of the level and quality of organic inputs that farmers use. Computer simulation models, such as the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) developed by CSIRO and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, have proven their value in many cropping environments. Thes...

Sequential use of the STICS crop model and of the MACRO pesticide fate model to simulate pesticides leaching in cropping systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Lammoglia, Sabine-Karen; Moeys, Julien; Barriuso, Enrique; Larsbo, Mats; Marín-Benito, Jesús-María; Justes, Eric; Alletto, Lionel; Ubertosi, Marjorie; Nicolardot, Bernard; Munier-Jolain, Nicolas; Mamy, Laure

2017-03-01

The current challenge in sustainable agriculture is to introduce new cropping systems to reduce pesticides use in order to reduce ground and surface water contamination. However, it is difficult to carry out in situ experiments to assess the environmental impacts of pesticide use for all possible combinations of climate, crop, and soils; therefore, in silico tools are necessary. The objective of this work was to assess pesticides leaching in cropping systems coupling the performances of a crop model (STICS) and of a pesticide fate model (MACRO). STICS-MACRO has the advantage of being able to simulate pesticides fate in complex cropping systems and to consider some agricultural practices such as fertilization, mulch, or crop residues management, which cannot be accounted for with MACRO. The performance of STICS-MACRO was tested, without calibration, from measurements done in two French experimental sites with contrasted soil and climate properties. The prediction of water percolation and pesticides concentrations with STICS-MACRO was satisfactory, but it varied with the pedoclimatic context. The performance of STICS-MACRO was shown to be similar or better than that of MACRO. The improvement of the simulation of crop growth allowed better estimate of crop transpiration therefore of water balance. It also allowed better estimate of pesticide interception by the crop which was found to be crucial for the prediction of pesticides concentrations in water. STICS-MACRO is a new promising tool to improve the assessment of the environmental risks of pesticides used in cropping systems.

Social and ecological analysis of commercial integrated crop livestock systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Garrett, R.D.; Niles, M.T.; Gil, J.D.B.; Gaudin, A.; Chaplin-Kramer, R.; Assmann, A.; Assmann, T.S.; Brewer, K.; Faccio Carvalho, de P.C.; Cortner, O.; Dynes, R.; Garbach, K.; Kebreab, E.; Mueller, N.; Peterson, C.; Reis, J.C.; Snow, V.; Valentim, J.

2017-01-01

Crops and livestock play a synergistic role in global food production and farmer livelihoods. Increasingly, however, crops and livestock are produced in isolation, particularly in farms operating at the commercial scale. It has been suggested that re-integrating crop and livestock systems at the

European Perspectives on the Adoption of Nonchemical Weed Management in Reduced-Tillage Systems for Arable Crops

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Melander, B.; Munier-Jolain, N.M.; Charles, R.; Wirth, J.; Schwarz, J.; Weide, van der R.Y.; Bonin, L.; Jensen, P.K.; Kudsk, P.K.

2013-01-01

Noninversion tillage with tine- or disc-based cultivations prior to crop establishment is the most common way of reducing tillage for arable cropping systems with small grain cereals, oilseed rape, and maize in Europe. However, new regulations on pesticide use might hinder further expansion of

Soil organic carbon assessments in cropping systems using isotopic techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Martín De Dios Herrero, Juan; Cruz Colazo, Juan; Guzman, María Laura; Saenz, Claudio; Sager, Ricardo; Sakadevan, Karuppan

2016-04-01

Introduction of improved farming practices are important to address the challenges of agricultural production, food security, climate change and resource use efficiency. The integration of livestock with crops provides many benefits including: (1) resource conservation, (2) ecosystem services, (3) soil quality improvements, and (4) risk reduction through diversification of enterprises. Integrated crop livestock systems (ICLS) with the combination of no-tillage and pastures are useful practices to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) compared with continuous cropping systems (CCS). In this study, the SOC and its fractions in two cropping systems namely (1) ICLS, and (2) CCS were evaluated in Southern Santa Fe Province in Argentina, and the use of delta carbon-13 technique and soil physical fractionation were evaluated to identify sources of SOC in these systems. Two farms inside the same soil cartographic unit and landscape position in the region were compared. The ICLS farm produces lucerne (Medicago sativa Merrill) and oat (Avena sativa L.) grazed by cattle alternatively with grain summer crops sequence of soybean (Glicine max L.) and corn (Zea mays L.), and the farm under continuous cropping system (CCS) produces soybean and corn in a continuous sequence. The soil in the area is predominantly a Typic Hapludoll. Soil samples from 0-5 and 0-20 cm depths (n=4) after the harvest of grain crops were collected in each system and analyzed for total organic carbon (SOC, 0-2000 μm), particulate organic carbon (POC, 50-100 μm) and mineral organic carbon (MOC, is probably due to the presence of deep roots under pastures in ICLS. Delta carbon-13 values for 0-5 cm were -22.9, -21.2 and -19.9 per mil for REF, ICLS and CCS, respectively (Pis explained by the presence of tree species with high lignin content in natural vegetation. Lignin has lower delta carbon-13 compared to cellulose (dominating in crops and pastures), which is present in greater proportion in plant residues of

Trade-offs between economic and environmental impacts of introducing legumes into cropping systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moritz eReckling

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Europe’s agriculture is highly specialized, dependent on external inputs and responsible for negative environmental impacts. Legume crops are grown on less than 2 % of the arable land and more than 70 % of the demand for protein feed supplement is imported from overseas. The integration of legumes into cropping systems has the potential to contribute to the transition to a more resource-efficient agriculture and reduce the current protein deficit. Legume crops influence the production of other crops in the rotation making it difficult to evaluate the overall agronomic effects of legumes in cropping systems. A novel assessment framework was developed and applied in five case study regions across Europe with the objective of evaluating trade-offs between economic and environmental effects of integrating legumes into cropping systems. Legumes resulted in positive and negative impacts when integrated into various cropping systems across the case studies. On average, cropping systems with legumes reduced nitrous oxide emissions by 18 % and 33 % and N fertilizer use by 24 % and 38 % in arable and forage systems, respectively, compared to systems without legumes. Nitrate leaching was similar with and without legumes in arable systems and reduced by 22 % in forage systems. However, grain legumes reduced gross margins in 3 of 5 regions. Forage legumes increased gross margins in 3 of 3 regions. Among the cropping systems with legumes, systems could be identified that had both relatively high economic returns and positive environmental impacts. Thus, increasing the cultivation of legumes could lead to economic competitive cropping systems and positive environmental impacts, but achieving this aim requires the development of novel management strategies informed by the involvement of advisors and farmers.

European Perspectives on the Adoption of Nonchemical Weed Management in Reduced -Tillage Systems for Arable Crops

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Melander, Bo; Munier-Jolain, Nicolas; Charles, Raphaël

2013-01-01

Non-inversion tillage with tine or disc based cultivations prior to crop establishment is the most common way of reducing tillage for arable cropping systems with small grain cereals, oilseed rape and maize in Europe. However, new regulations on pesticide use may hinder further expansion of reduc...

Analytical steady-state solutions for water-limited cropping systems using saline irrigation water

Science.gov (United States)

Skaggs, T. H.; Anderson, R. G.; Corwin, D. L.; Suarez, D. L.

2014-12-01

Due to the diminishing availability of good quality water for irrigation, it is increasingly important that irrigation and salinity management tools be able to target submaximal crop yields and support the use of marginal quality waters. In this work, we present a steady-state irrigated systems modeling framework that accounts for reduced plant water uptake due to root zone salinity. Two explicit, closed-form analytical solutions for the root zone solute concentration profile are obtained, corresponding to two alternative functional forms of the uptake reduction function. The solutions express a general relationship between irrigation water salinity, irrigation rate, crop salt tolerance, crop transpiration, and (using standard approximations) crop yield. Example applications are illustrated, including the calculation of irrigation requirements for obtaining targeted submaximal yields, and the generation of crop-water production functions for varying irrigation waters, irrigation rates, and crops. Model predictions are shown to be mostly consistent with existing models and available experimental data. Yet the new solutions possess advantages over available alternatives, including: (i) the solutions were derived from a complete physical-mathematical description of the system, rather than based on an ad hoc formulation; (ii) the analytical solutions are explicit and can be evaluated without iterative techniques; (iii) the solutions permit consideration of two common functional forms of salinity induced reductions in crop water uptake, rather than being tied to one particular representation; and (iv) the utilized modeling framework is compatible with leading transient-state numerical models.

Life Cycle Assessment of a Highly Diverse Vegetable Multi-Cropping System in Fengqiu County, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Li

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Agricultural biodiversity usually leads to greater sustainability in production practices. To understand the environmental implications of the development of village-level multi-cropping in rural China, we compared the environmental impact of a highly diverse vegetable multi-cropping system to a conventional wheat/maize rotation system based on the method of life cycle assessment (LCA. Using household level cultivation data, this study examined the gate-to-gate environmental impacts of on-site cultivation practices relating to the production of 10,000 nutrient equivalent units. Results show that vegetable multi-cropping resulted in decreased average land requirement, and diesel, water and electricity usage by 69.8%, 62.2%, 71.7%, and 63.4%, respectively, while average nitrogen (Total N, phosphorus (P2O5, and potassium (K2O usage in vegetable multi-cropping systems decreased by 16.3%, 42.1%, and 75.8%, respectively. Additional corresponding effects led to a decrease in the total global warming, eutrophication, and acidification potentials from external inputs by 21.6%, 16.7%, and 16.2% of the entire system, respectively. Moreover, the midpoint human toxicity potential from pesticide usage of the vegetable multi-cropping system was lower than that of the conventional system. However, the midpoint eco-toxicity potential from pesticide usage was higher due to certain highly toxic substances, and both human and eco-toxicity potentials from heavy metals were all higher by a few orders of magnitudes. Thus, to mitigate these detrimental consequences, some related measures are proposed for sustainable practices in the future implementation of multi-cropping systems.

Integrated weed management systems with herbicide-tolerant crops in the European Union: lessons learnt from home and abroad.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamichhane, Jay Ram; Devos, Yann; Beckie, Hugh J; Owen, Micheal D K; Tillie, Pascal; Messéan, Antoine; Kudsk, Per

2017-06-01

Conventionally bred (CHT) and genetically modified herbicide-tolerant (GMHT) crops have changed weed management practices and made an important contribution to the global production of some commodity crops. However, a concern is that farm management practices associated with the cultivation of herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops further deplete farmland biodiversity and accelerate the evolution of herbicide-resistant (HR) weeds. Diversification in crop systems and weed management practices can enhance farmland biodiversity, and reduce the risk of weeds evolving herbicide resistance. Therefore, HT crops are most effective and sustainable as a component of an integrated weed management (IWM) system. IWM advocates the use of multiple effective strategies or tactics to manage weed populations in a manner that is economically and environmentally sound. In practice, however, the potential benefits of IWM with HT crops are seldom realized because a wide range of technical and socio-economic factors hamper the transition to IWM. Here, we discuss the major factors that limit the integration of HT crops and their associated farm management practices in IWM systems. Based on the experience gained in countries where CHT or GMHT crops are widely grown and the increased familiarity with their management, we propose five actions to facilitate the integration of HT crops in IWM systems within the European Union.

Environmental assessment of two different crop systems in terms of biomethane potential production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bacenetti, Jacopo; Fusi, Alessandra; Negri, Marco; Guidetti, Riccardo; Fiala, Marco

2014-01-01

The interest in renewable energy sources has gained great importance in Europe due to the need to reduce fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as required by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) of the European Parliament. The production of energy from energy crops appears to be consistent with RED. The environmental impact related to this kind of energy primarily originates from crop cultivation. This research aimed to evaluate the environmental impact of different crop systems for biomass production: single and double crop. The environmental performances of maize and maize plus wheat were assessed from a life cycle perspective. Two alternative scenarios considering different yields, crop management, and climatic conditions, were also addressed. One normal cubic metre of potential methane was chosen as a functional unit. Methane potential production data were obtained through lab experimental tests. For both of the crop systems, the factors that have the greatest influence on the overall environmental burden are: fertilizer emissions, diesel fuel emissions, diesel fuel production, and pesticide production. Notwithstanding the greater level of methane potential production, the double crop system appears to have the worse environmental performance with respect to its single crop counterpart. This result is due to the bigger quantity of inputs needed for the double crop system. Therefore, the greater amount of biomass (silage) obtained through the double crop system is less than proportional to the environmental burden that results from the bigger quantity of inputs requested for double crop. - Highlights: • Environmental impact of two crop systems was evaluated • Biomethane specific production tests were carried out • Alternative scenarios (different yields and crop management) were assessed • Maize single crop obtains the better environmental performance • Critical factors are: fertilizer and diesel fuel emissions and diesel fuel

Environmental assessment of two different crop systems in terms of biomethane potential production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bacenetti, Jacopo; Fusi, Alessandra, E-mail: alessandra.fusi@unimi.it; Negri, Marco; Guidetti, Riccardo; Fiala, Marco

2014-01-01

The interest in renewable energy sources has gained great importance in Europe due to the need to reduce fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as required by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) of the European Parliament. The production of energy from energy crops appears to be consistent with RED. The environmental impact related to this kind of energy primarily originates from crop cultivation. This research aimed to evaluate the environmental impact of different crop systems for biomass production: single and double crop. The environmental performances of maize and maize plus wheat were assessed from a life cycle perspective. Two alternative scenarios considering different yields, crop management, and climatic conditions, were also addressed. One normal cubic metre of potential methane was chosen as a functional unit. Methane potential production data were obtained through lab experimental tests. For both of the crop systems, the factors that have the greatest influence on the overall environmental burden are: fertilizer emissions, diesel fuel emissions, diesel fuel production, and pesticide production. Notwithstanding the greater level of methane potential production, the double crop system appears to have the worse environmental performance with respect to its single crop counterpart. This result is due to the bigger quantity of inputs needed for the double crop system. Therefore, the greater amount of biomass (silage) obtained through the double crop system is less than proportional to the environmental burden that results from the bigger quantity of inputs requested for double crop. - Highlights: • Environmental impact of two crop systems was evaluated • Biomethane specific production tests were carried out • Alternative scenarios (different yields and crop management) were assessed • Maize single crop obtains the better environmental performance • Critical factors are: fertilizer and diesel fuel emissions and diesel fuel

Development of an irrigation scheduling software based on model predicted crop water stress

Science.gov (United States)

Modern irrigation scheduling methods are generally based on sensor-monitored soil moisture regimes rather than crop water stress which is difficult to measure in real-time, but can be computed using agricultural system models. In this study, an irrigation scheduling software based on RZWQM2 model pr...

Valuation of vegetable crops produced in the UVI Commercial Aquaponic System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donald S. Bailey

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The UVI Commercial Aquaponic System is designed to produce fish and vegetables in a recirculating aquaculture system. The integration of these systems intensifies production in a small land area, conserves water, reduces waste discharged into the environment, and recovers nutrients from fish production into valuable vegetable crops. A standard protocol has been developed for the production of tilapia yielding 5 MT per annum. The production of many vegetable crops has also been studied but, because of specific growth patterns and differences of marketable product, no single protocol can be promoted. Each crop yields different value per unit area and this must be considered when selecting varieties to produce to provide the highest returns to the farmer. Variables influencing the value of a crop are density (plants/m2, yield (unit or kg, production period (weeks and unit value ($. Combining these variables to one unit, $/m2/week, provides a common point for comparison among crops. Farmers can focus production efforts on the most valuable crops or continue to produce a variety of crops meeting market demand with the knowledge that each does not contribute equally to profitability.

SMALLHOLDER FARMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO INCORPORATE BIOFUEL CROPS INTO CROPPING SYSTEMS IN MALAWI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beston Bille Maonga

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Using cross-sectional data, this study analysed the critical and significant socioeconomic factors with high likelihood to determine smallholder farmers’ decision and willingness to adopt jatropha into cropping systems in Malawi. Employing desk study and multi-stage random sampling technique a sample of 592 households was drawn from across the country for analysis. A probit model was used for the analysis of determinants of jatropha adoption by smallholder farmers. Empirical findings show that education, access to loan, bicycle ownership and farmers’ expectation of raising socioeconomic status are major significant factors that would positively determine probability of smallholder farmers’ willingness to adopt jatropha as a biofuel crop on the farm. Furthermore, keeping of ruminant herds of livestock, long distance to market and fears of market unavailability have been revealed to have significant negative influence on farmers’ decision and willingness to adopt jatropha. Policy implications for sustainable crop diversification drive are drawn and discussed.

Timber tree-based contour hedgerow system on sloping acid upland soils: the use of 15N in quantifying tree-crop interaction in agroforestry system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosales, Crispina M.; Pailagao, Charmaine; Grafia, Alfonso O.; Rivera, Faye G.; Mercado, Agustin R. Jr.

2004-01-01

As the population pressures in the upland increase, agroforestry is inevitably the most appropriate technology to enhance the productive and protective functions of farming systems to benefit both the people living inside and outside the watersheds in a suitable manner. Contour hedgerow is one of the agroforestry systems suitable for sloping uplands where farmers grow tree crops as hedgerows and food crops as alleycrops. Smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia have begun farming timber trees in association with food crops on infertile soils as the dominant enterprise using their own capital resources. A collaborative study between the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) and Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) was established to evaluate the performance of fast growing timber trees as hedgerows on subsistence cereal based farming systems, and the role of N-fixing trees as interplant in enhancing the growth of the trees as well as the cereal crops. There were 4 fast growing timber trees being compared: Acacia mangium (N-fixing), Gmelina arborea (non-N-fixing), Euclyptus deglupta (non-N-fixing), and Swietenia macrophylla (non-N-fixing). A mangium was also used as interplant to determine its influence on the growth of the non-N-fixing trees as well as to the cereal crops. Ammonium sulfate enriched with 10.12 15 N atom percent was applied in solution to the upland rice, as alleycrop, at the rate of 69 kgN/ha in the isotope subplot in 2 splits: 30 days after emergence and at panicle initiation stage. This study was conducted in acid upland soil in Claveria, Misamis Oriental. Acacia mangium grew faster compared with G. arborea, E. deglupta, while S. macrophylla grew lower. The growth of E. deglupta and G. arborea was positively affected by N-fixing interplant in low soil fertility environment. G. arborea and A. mangium produced the highest lateral pruning biomass supplying organic nutrients to the associated annual crops. The amount of

Integrated weed management systems with herbicide-tolerant crops in the European Union: lessons learnt from home and abroad

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lamichhane, Jay Ram; Devos, Yann; Beckie, Hugh J.

2017-01-01

of herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops further deplete farmland biodiversity and accelerate the evolution of herbicide-resistant (HR) weeds. Diversification in crop systems and weed management practices can enhance farmland biodiversity, and reduce the risk of weeds evolving herbicide resistance. Therefore, HT crops...... are most effective and sustainable as a component of an integrated weed management (IWM) system. IWM advocates the use of multiple effective strategies or tactics to manage weed populations in a manner that is economically and environmentally sound. In practice, however, the potential benefits of IWM...... with HT crops are seldom realized because a wide range of technical and socio-economic factors hamper the transition to IWM. Here, we discuss the major factors that limit the integration of HT crops and their associated farm management practices in IWM systems. Based on the experience gained in countries...

Cover crops and crop residue management under no-till systems improve soils and environmental quality

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sandeep; Wegner, Brianna; Vahyala, Ibrahim; Osborne, Shannon; Schumacher, Thomas; Lehman, Michael

2015-04-01

Crop residue harvest is a common practice in the Midwestern USA for the ethanol production. However, excessive removal of crop residues from the soil surface contributes to the degradation of important soil quality indicators such as soil organic carbon (SOC). Addition of a cover crop may help to mitigate these negative effects. The present study was set up to assess the impacts of corn (Zea mays L.) residue removal and cover crops on various soil quality indicators and surface greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes. The study was being conducted on plots located at the North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory (NCARL) in Brookings, South Dakota, USA. Three plots of a corn and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation under a no-till (NT) system are being monitored for soils and surface gas fluxes. Each plot has three residue removal (high residue removal, HRR; medium residue removal, MRR; and low residue removal, LRR) treatments and two cover crops (cover crops and no cover crops) treatments. Both corn and soybean are represented every year. Gas flux measurements were taken weekly using a closed static chamber method. Data show that residue removal significantly impacted soil quality indicators while more time was needed for an affect from cover crop treatments to be noticed. The LRR treatment resulted in higher SOC concentrations, increased aggregate stability, and increased microbial activity. The LRR treatment also increased soil organic matter (SOM) and particulate organic matter (POM) concentrations. Cover crops used in HRR (high corn residue removal) improved SOC (27 g kg-1) by 6% compared to that without cover crops (25.4 g kg-1). Cover crops significantly impacted POM concentration directly after the residue removal treatments were applied in 2012. CO2 fluxes were observed to increase as temperature increased, while N2O fluxes increased as soil moisture increased. CH4 fluxes were responsive to both increases in temperature and moisture. On average, soils under

Development of a farm-firm modelling system for evaluation of herbaceous energy crops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

English, B.C.; Alexander, R.R.; Loewen, K.H.; Coady, S.A.; Cole, G.V.; Goodman, W.R.

1992-01-01

A complete analysis is performed to simulate biomass production incorporated into a realistic whole farm situation, including or replacing a typical crop mix. Representative farms are constructed to accommodate such simulation. Four management systems are simulated for each firm, with each simulation depicting a different crop mix and/or use of different farming technologies and production methods. The first simulation was a base farm plan in which the operator would maintain the historical crop mix for the area, participate in all price support programs, and not participate in either a conservative reserve or a biomass production program. In the second simulation, the operator would again maintain the historical crop mix, would not participate in a conservation reserve or biomass production program, and would be ineligible to participate in any price support system. The third simulation introduced the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and included participation in all price support programs. The fourth simulation introduced a biomass crop production enterprise (switchgrass) as an alternative to enrolling highly erodible cropland in the CRP and allowed participation in price support programs. Simulations were made for three farms, two in West Tennessee and on in South Georgia. Results indicate that erosion is likely to be reduced more by the diversion of cropland to permanent vegetative cover on farms similar to the more highly erodible West Tennessee farms than on the less erodible Tift County, Georgia farm. Equivalent reductions in erosion rates result from entering highly erodible cropland in the CRP and from production of switchgrass as a biomass energy crop. Both switchgrass and CRP farm plans result in decreased net returns from the base plan, although the biomass farm plans are, in general, more profitable than the CRP plans

Mitigating Groundwater Depletion in North China Plain with Cropping System that Alternate Deep and Shallow Rooted Crops

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-Lin Yang

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In the North China Plain, groundwater tables have been dropping at unsustainable rates of 1 m per year due to irrigation of a double cropping system of winter wheat and summer maize. To reverse the trend, we examined whether alternative crop rotations could save water. Moisture contents were measured weekly at 20 cm intervals in the top 180 cm of soil as part of a 12-year field experiment with four crop rotations: sweet potato→ cotton→ sweet potato→ winter wheat-summer maize (SpCSpWS, 4-year cycle; peanuts → winter wheat-summer maize (PWS, 2-year cycle; ryegrass–cotton→ peanuts→ winter wheat-summer maize (RCPWS, 3-year cycle; and winter wheat-summer maize (WS, each year. We found that, compared to WS, the SpCSpWS annual evapotranspiration was 28% lower, PWS was 19% lower and RCPWS was 14% lower. The yield per unit of water evaporated improved for wheat within any alternative rotation compared to WS, increasing up to 19%. Average soil moisture contents at the sowing date of wheat in the SpCSpWS, PWS, and RCPWS rotations were 7, 4, and 10% higher than WS, respectively. The advantage of alternative rotations was that a deep rooted crop of winter wheat reaching down to 180 cm followed shallow rooted crops (sweet potato and peanut drawing soil moisture from 0 to 120 cm. They benefited from the sequencing and vertical complementarity of soil moisture extraction. Thus, replacing the traditional crop rotation with cropping system that involves rotating with annual shallow rooted crops is promising for reducing groundwater depletion in the North China Plain.

Sustainability of European winter wheat- and maize-based cropping systems: Economic, environmental and social ex-post assessment of conventional and IPM-based systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vasileiadis, V.P.; Dachbrodt-saaydeh, S.; Kudsk, P.; Colnenne-David, C.; Leprince, F.; Holb, I.J.; Kierzek, R.; Furlan, L.; Loddo, D.; Melander, B.; Jørgensen, L.N.; Newton, A.C.; Toque, C.; Dijk, van W.; Lefebvre, M.; Benezit, M.; Sattin, M.

2017-01-01

In order to ensure higher sustainability of winter wheat and maize production in Europe, cropping systems featuring different levels of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) need to be tested in the field and validated for their sustainability before being adopted by farmers. However, the sustainability

Sustaining soil productivity by integrated plant nutrient management in wheat based cropping system under rainfed conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dilshad, M.; Lone, M.I.

2011-01-01

The study of the use of organic (FYM) and inorganic (NPK) nutrient sources with bio fertiliser on wheat-fallow and wheat-maize cropping system under rainfed environment revealed significant increase in bio metric parameters of wheat during winter and summer seasons of two years. During both the seasons, application of half NPK + half FYM + Bio power (brand) produced the highest grain yield (3684 kg/ha) and (3781 kg/ha) of wheat with the maximum N uptake of 357 kg/ha, P uptake of 51 kg/ha and K uptake of 215 kg/ha. Wheat-maize cropping system was found to be profitable economically with integrated use of mineral and organic and/or Bio power under rainfed conditions of Pakistan. (author)

Mixed crop-livestock production systems of smallholder farmers in sub-humid and semi-arid areas of Zambia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lungu, J.C.N.

2002-01-01

Livestock production activities among small-scale farmers of semi-arid (Agro-ecological zone 1) and sub-humid (Agro-ecological zone 2) areas of Zambia are integrated with crop production activities in what is termed as crop/livestock farming system. This is a closed system in which production of one enterprise depends on the other. In Zambia, crop production depends on draught animals for tillage of cropping area, animal manure for fertilisation of crops while livestock depend on crop residues for dry season feeding. Good quality grass is generally available in adequate amounts to support reasonable level of livestock productivity during the rainy season. But livestock rely on low quantity and poor quality, highly fibrous perennial grass from veld and fibrous crop residues during the dry season. These resources are inadequate to support optimum livestock productivity activities. Poor nutrition results in low rates of reproduction and production as well as increased susceptibility to diseases. With the increasing human population cropping land is expanding, leading to increased production of crop residues. This has however, reduced the grazing land available for ruminant production. In Zambia large quantities of crop residues (stovers, husks and straws, legume tops and hulls, sugar cane tops, cassava leaves, potato vines, etc.) are left in the field where they are wasted each year because small-scale farmers lack the knowledge on how best to use them. There is a need to find ways to reverse this situation by adapting known and workable technologies to local conditions and by introducing new approaches for improving the use of crop residues and poor quality fibrous feeds. Efforts should also be made to enlarge feed resource base. The technologies should be simple and effective. In the presence of a dynamic market system, livestock production in a crop/livestock system could be intensified and made profitable for small-scale farmers. (author)

Hierarchical Satellite-based Approach to Global Monitoring of Crop Condition and Food Production

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Y.; Wu, B.; Gommes, R.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, N.; Zeng, H.; Zou, W.; Yan, N.

2014-12-01

The assessment of global food security goes beyond the mere estimate of crop production: It needs to take into account the spatial and temporal patterns of food availability, as well as physical and economic access. Accurate and timely information is essential to both food producers and consumers. Taking advantage of multiple new remote sensing data sources, especially from Chinese satellites, such as FY-2/3A, HJ-1 CCD, CropWatch has expanded the scope of its international analyses through the development of new indicators and an upgraded operational methodology. The new monitoring approach adopts a hierarchical system covering four spatial levels of detail: global (sixty-five Monitoring and Reporting Units, MRU), seven major production zones (MPZ), thirty-one key countries (including China) and "sub- countries." The thirty-one countries encompass more that 80% of both global exports and production of four major crops (maize, rice, soybean and wheat). The methodology resorts to climatic and remote sensing indicators at different scales, using the integrated information to assess global, regional, and national (as well as sub-national) crop environmental condition, crop condition, drought, production, and agricultural trends. The climatic indicators for rainfall, temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) as well as potential biomass are first analysed at global scale to describe overall crop growing conditions. At MPZ scale, the key indicators pay more attention to crops and include Vegetation health index (VHI), Vegetation condition index (VCI), Cropped arable land fraction (CALF) as well as Cropping intensity (CI). Together, they characterise agricultural patterns, farming intensity and stress. CropWatch carries out detailed crop condition analyses for thirty one individual countries at the national scale with a comprehensive array of variables and indicators. The Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), cropped areas and crop condition are

Crop yield network and its response to changes in climate system

Science.gov (United States)

Yokozawa, M.

2013-12-01

Crop failure (reduction in crop yield) due to extreme weather and climate change could lead to unstable food supply, reflecting the recent globalization in world agricultural production. Specifically, in several major production countries producing large amount of main cereal crops, wheat, maize, soybean and rice, abrupt crop failures in wide area are significantly serious for world food supply system. We examined the simultaneous changes in crop yield in USA, China and Brazil, in terms of the changes in climate system such as El Nino, La nina and so on. In this study, we defined a crop yield networks, which represent the correlation between yearly changes in crop yields and climate resources during the crop growing season in two regions. The climate resources during the crop growing season represents here the average temperature and the accumulated precipitation during the crop growing season of a target crop. As climate data, we used a reanalysis climate data JRA-25 (Japan Meteorological Agency). The yearly changes in crop yields are based on a gridded crop productivity database with a resolution of 1.125 degree in latitude/longitude (Iizumi et al. 2013). It is constructed from the agriculture statistics issued by local administrative bureau in each country, which covers the period during 1982 to 2006 (25 years). For the regions being lack of data, the data was interpolated referring to NPP values estimated by satellite data. Crop yield network is constructed as follows: (1) let DY(i,y) be negative difference in crop yield of year y from the trend yield at grid i; (2) define the correlation of the differences Cij(y) = DY(i, y) DY(j, y); (3) if Cij(y) > Q, then grids i and j are mutually linked for a threshold value Q. Links between grids make a crop yield network. It is here noted that only negative differences are taken into account because we focused on the lean year cases (i.e. yields of both grids were lower than those in the long-term trend). The arrays of

Uncertainties in Integrated Climate Change Impact Assessments by Sub-setting GCMs Based on Annual as well as Crop Growing Period under Rice Based Farming System of Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

Science.gov (United States)

Pillai, S. N.; Singh, H.; Panwar, A. S.; Meena, M. S.; Singh, S. V.; Singh, B.; Paudel, G. P.; Baigorria, G. A.; Ruane, A. C.; McDermid, S.; Boote, K. J.; Porter, C.; Valdivia, R. O.

2016-12-01

Integrated assessment of climate change impact on agricultural productivity is a challenge to the scientific community due to uncertainties of input data, particularly the climate, soil, crop calibration and socio-economic dataset. However, the uncertainty due to selection of GCMs is the major source due to complex underlying processes involved in initial as well as the boundary conditions dealt in solving the air-sea interactions. Under Agricultural Modeling Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), the Indo-Gangetic Plains Regional Research Team investigated the uncertainties caused due to selection of GCMs through sub-setting based on annual as well as crop-growth period of rice-wheat systems in AgMIP Integrated Assessment methodology. The AgMIP Phase II protocols were used to study the linking of climate-crop-economic models for two study sites Meerut and Karnal to analyse the sensitivity of current production systems to climate change. Climate Change Projections were made using 29 CMIP5 GCMs under RCP4.5 and RCP 8.5 during mid-century period (2040-2069). Two crop models (APSIM & DSSAT) were used. TOA-MD economic model was used for integrated assessment. Based on RAPs (Representative Agricultural Pathways), some of the parameters, which are not possible to get through modeling, derived from literature and interactions with stakeholders incorporated into the TOA-MD model for integrated assessment.

Simulating soil greenhouse emissions from Swiss long-term cropping system trials

Science.gov (United States)

Necpalova, Magdalena; Lee, Juhwan; Skinner, Colin; Büchi, Lucie; Berner, Alfred; Mäder, Paul; Mayer, Jochen; Charles, Raphael; van der Heijden, Marcel; Wittwer, Raphael; Gattinger, Andreas; Six, Johan

2017-04-01

There is an urgent need to identify and evaluate management practices for their bio-physical potential to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture. The cost and time required for direct management-specific GHG measurements limit the spatial and temporal resolution and the extent of data that can be collected. Biogeochemical process-based models such as DayCent can be used to bridge data gaps over space and time and estimate soil GHG emissions relevant to various climate change mitigation strategies. Objectives of this study were (a) to parameterize DayCent for common Swiss crops and crop-specific management practices using the Swiss long-term experimental data collected at four sites (Therwil, Frick, Changins, and Reckenholz); (b) to evaluate the model's ability to predict crop productivity, long-term soil carbon dynamics and N2O emissions from Swiss cropping systems; (c) to calculate a net soil GHG balance for all treatments (except for bio-dynamic) studied in long-term field experiments in Switzerland; and (d) to study the management effects and their interactions on soil GHG emissions at each experimental site. Model evaluation indicated that DayCent predicted crop productivity (rRMSE=0.29 r2=0.81, n=2614), change in soil carbon stock (rRMSE=0.14, r2=0.72, n=1289) and cumulative N2O emissions (rRMSE=0.25, r2=0.89, n=8) satisfactorily across all treatments and sites. Net soil GHG emissions were derived from changes in soil carbon, N2O emissions and CH4 oxidation on an annual basis using IPCC (2014) global warming potentials. Modelled net soil GHG emissions calculated for individual treatments over 30 years ranged from -594 to 1654 kg CO2 eq ha-1 yr-1. The highest net soil GHG emissions were predicted for conventional tillage and slurry application treatment at Frick, while soils under organic and reduced tillage management at Reckenholz acted as a net GHG sink. The statistical analyses using linear MIXED models indicated that net soil GHG

Consideration in selecting crops for the human-rated life support system: a Linear Programming model

Science.gov (United States)

Wheeler, E. F.; Kossowski, J.; Goto, E.; Langhans, R. W.; White, G.; Albright, L. D.; Wilcox, D.; Henninger, D. L. (Principal Investigator)

1996-01-01

A Linear Programming model has been constructed which aids in selecting appropriate crops for CELSS (Controlled Environment Life Support System) food production. A team of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) faculty, staff, graduate students and invited experts representing more than a dozen disciplines, provided a wide range of expertise in developing the model and the crop production program. The model incorporates nutritional content and controlled-environment based production yields of carefully chosen crops into a framework where a crop mix can be constructed to suit the astronauts' needs. The crew's nutritional requirements can be adequately satisfied with only a few crops (assuming vitamin mineral supplements are provided) but this will not be satisfactory from a culinary standpoint. This model is flexible enough that taste and variety driven food choices can be built into the model.

Fitting maize into sustainable cropping systems on acid soils of the tropics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horst, W.J.

2000-01-01

One of the key elements of sustainable cropping systems is the integration of crops and/or crop cultivars with high tolerance of soil acidity and which make most efficient use of the nutrients supplied by soil and fertilizer. This paper is based mainly on on-going work within an EU-funded project combining basic research on plant adaptation mechanisms by plant physiologists, and field experimentation on acid soils in Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia and Guadeloupe by breeders, soil scientists and a agronomists. The results suggest that large genetic variability exists in adaptation of plants to acid soils. A range of morphological and physiological plant characteristics contribute to tolerance of acid soils, elucidation of which has contributed to the development of rapid techniques for screening for tolerance. Incorporation of acid-soil-tolerant species and cultivars into cropping systems contributes to improved nutrient efficiency overall, and thus reduces fertilizer needs. This may help to minimize maintenance applications of fertiliser through various pathways: (i) deeper root growth resulting in more-efficient uptake of nutrients from the sub-soil and less leaching, (ii) more biomass production resulting in less seepage and less leaching, with more intensive nutrient cycling, maintenance of higher soil organic-matter content, and, consequently, less erosion owing to better soil protection by vegetation and mulch. (author)

Changes in the potential multiple cropping system in response to climate change in China from 1960-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Luo; Xu, Xinliang; Zhuang, Dafang; Chen, Xi; Li, Shuang

2013-01-01

The multiple cropping practice is essential to agriculture because it has been shown to significantly increase the grain yield and promote agricultural economic development. In this study, potential multiple cropping systems in China are calculated based on meteorological observation data by using the Agricultural Ecology Zone (AEZ) model. Following this, the changes in the potential cropping systems in response to climate change between the 1960s and the 2010s were subsequently analyzed. The results indicate that the changes of potential multiple cropping systems show tremendous heterogeneity in respect to the spatial pattern in China. A key finding is that the magnitude of change of the potential cropping systems showed a pattern of increase both from northern China to southern China and from western China to eastern China. Furthermore, the area found to be suitable only for single cropping decreased, while the area suitable for triple cropping increased significantly from the 1960s to the 2000s. During the studied period, the potential multiple cropping index (PMCI) gap between rain-fed and irrigated scenarios increased from 18% to 24%, which indicated noticeable growth of water supply limitations under the rain-fed scenario. The most significant finding of this research was that from the 1960s to the 2000s climate change had led to a significant increase of PMCI by 13% under irrigated scenario and 7% under rain-fed scenario across the whole of China. Furthermore, the growth of the annual mean temperature is identified as the main reason underlying the increase of PMCI. It has also been noticed that across China the changes of potential multiple cropping systems under climate change were different from region to region.

Automated Mobile System for Accurate Outdoor Tree Crop Enumeration Using an Uncalibrated Camera.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Thuy Tuong; Slaughter, David C; Hanson, Bradley D; Barber, Andrew; Freitas, Amy; Robles, Daniel; Whelan, Erin

2015-07-28

This paper demonstrates an automated computer vision system for outdoor tree crop enumeration in a seedling nursery. The complete system incorporates both hardware components (including an embedded microcontroller, an odometry encoder, and an uncalibrated digital color camera) and software algorithms (including microcontroller algorithms and the proposed algorithm for tree crop enumeration) required to obtain robust performance in a natural outdoor environment. The enumeration system uses a three-step image analysis process based upon: (1) an orthographic plant projection method integrating a perspective transform with automatic parameter estimation; (2) a plant counting method based on projection histograms; and (3) a double-counting avoidance method based on a homography transform. Experimental results demonstrate the ability to count large numbers of plants automatically with no human effort. Results show that, for tree seedlings having a height up to 40 cm and a within-row tree spacing of approximately 10 cm, the algorithms successfully estimated the number of plants with an average accuracy of 95.2% for trees within a single image and 98% for counting of the whole plant population in a large sequence of images.

Nitrogen Leaching in Intensive Cropping Systems in Tam Duong District, Red River Delta of Vietnam

OpenAIRE

Trinh, M.V.; Keulen, van, H.; Roetter, R.P.

2010-01-01

The environmental and economic consequences of nitrogen (N) lost in rice-based systems in Vietnam is important but has not been extensively studied. The objective of this study was to quantify the amount of N lost in major cropping systems in the Red River Delta. An experiment was conducted in the Red River Delta of Vietnam, on five different crops including rose, daisy, cabbage, chili, and a rice–rice–maize rotation during 2004 and 2005. Core soil samples were taken periodically in 20-cm inc...

Farm Household Economic Model of The Integrated Crop Livestock System: Conceptual and Empirical Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atien Priyanti

2007-06-01

Full Text Available An integrated approach to enhance rice production in Indonesia is very prospectus throughout the implementation of adapted and liable integrated program. One of the challenges in rice crop sub sector is the stagnation of its production due to the limitation of organic matter availability. This provides an opportunity for livestock development to overcome the problems on land fertility through the use of manure as the source of organic fertilizer. Ministry of Agriculture had implemented a program on Increasing Integrated Rice Productivity with an Integrated Crop Livestock System as one of the potential components since 2002. Integrated crop livestock system program with special reference to rice field and beef cattle is an alternative to enhance the potential development of agriculture sector in Indonesia. The implementation on this integrated program is to enhance rice production and productivity through a system involving beef cattle with its goal on increasing farmers’ income. Household economic model can be used as one of the analysis to evaluate the success of the implemented crop livestock system program. The specificity of the farmers is that rationality behavior of the role as production and consumption decision making. In this case, farmers perform the production to meet home consumption based on the resources that used directly for its production. The economic analysis of farmers household can be described to anticipate policy options through this model. Factors influencing farmers’ decisions and direct interrelations to production and consumption aspects that have complex implications for the farmers’ welfare of the integrated crop livestock system program.

Improving Resilience of Northern Field Crop Systems Using Inter-Seeded Red Clover: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William Deen

2013-02-01

Full Text Available In light of the environmental challenges ahead, resilience of the most abundant field crop production systems must be improved to guarantee yield stability with more efficient use of nitrogen inputs, soil and water resources. Along with genetic and agronomic innovations, diversification of northern agro-ecosystems using inter-seeded legumes provides further opportunities to improve land management practices that sustain crop yields and their resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. Benefits of legume cover crops have been known for decades and red clover (Trifolium pratense is one of the most common and beneficial when frost-seeded under winter wheat in advance of maize in a rotation. However, its use has been declining mostly due to the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides, concerns over competition with the main crop and the inability to fully capture red clover benefits due to difficulties in the persistence of uniform stands. In this manuscript, we first review the environmental, agronomic, rotational and economical benefits associated with inter-seeded red clover. Red clover adaptation to a wide array of common wheat-based rotations, its potential to mitigate the effects of land degradation in a changing climate and its integration into sustainable food production systems are discussed. We then identify areas of research with significant potential to impact cropping system profitability and sustainability.

Development of transgenic crops based on photo-biotechnology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganesan, Markkandan; Lee, Hyo-Yeon; Kim, Jeong-Il; Song, Pill-Soon

2017-11-01

The phenotypes associated with plant photomorphogenesis such as the suppressed shade avoidance response and de-etiolation offer the potential for significant enhancement of crop yields. Of many light signal transducers and transcription factors involved in the photomorphogenic responses of plants, this review focuses on the transgenic overexpression of the photoreceptor genes at the uppermost stream of the signalling events, particularly phytochromes, crytochromes and phototropins as the transgenes for the genetic engineering of crops with improved harvest yields. In promoting the harvest yields of crops, the photoreceptors mediate the light regulation of photosynthetically important genes, and the improved yields often come with the tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity and heavy metal ions. As a genetic engineering approach, the term photo-biotechnology has been coined to convey the idea that the greater the photosynthetic efficiency that crop plants can be engineered to possess, the stronger the resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Development of GM crops based on photoreceptor transgenes (mainly phytochromes, crytochromes and phototropins) is reviewed with the proposal of photo-biotechnology that the photoreceptors mediate the light regulation of photosynthetically important genes, and the improved yields often come with the added benefits of crops' tolerance to environmental stresses. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Impact of wheat / faba bean mixed cropping or rotation systems on soil microbial functionalities

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Sanâa Wahbi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Cropping systems based on carefully designed species mixtures reveal many potential advantages in terms of enhancing crop productivity, reducing pest and diseases and enhacing ecological serices. Associating cereals and legume production either through intercropping or rotations might be a relevant strategy of producing both type of culture, while benefiting from combined nitrogen fixed by the legume through its symbiotic association with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and from a better use of P and water through mycorrhizal associations. These practices also participate to the diversification of agricultural productions, enabling to secure the regularity of income returns across the seasonal and climatic uncertainties. In this context, we designed a field experiment aiming to estimate the two years impact of these practices on wheat yield and on soil microbial activities as estimated through Substrate Induced Respiration (SIR method and mycorrhizal soil infectivity (MSI measurement. It is expected that understanding soil microbial functionalities in response to these agricultural practices might allows to target the best type of combination, in regard to crop productivity. We found that the tested cropping systems largely impacted soil microbial functionalities and mycorrhizal soil infectivity. Intercropping gave better results in terms of crop productivity than the rotation practice after 2 cropping seasons. Benefits resulting from intercrop should be highly linked with changes recorded on soil microbial functionalities.

Landsat-based monitoring of crop water demand in the San Joaquin Valley

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, L.; Trout, T.; Wang, D.; Melton, F. S.

2010-12-01

Fresh water resources are becoming increasingly scarce in California due to urbanization, environmental regulation, and groundwater depletion. The strain is projected to worsen under various climate change scenarios and is exacerbated by declining water delivery infrastructure. It is estimated that irrigated agriculture currently commands more than 70% of the state’s water supply, and many growers are striving to improve water use efficiency in order to help maintain the state’s rich agricultural heritage. Remote sensing technology offers the potential to monitor cropland evapotranspiration (ET) regionally, while making farm-based irrigation scheduling more practical, convenient, and possibly more accurate. Landsat5-TM imagery was used in this study to monitor basal crop evapotranspiration (ETcb), which is primarily related to plant transpiration, for several San Joaquin Valley fields throughout the 2008 growing season. A ground-based digital camera was used to measure fractional cover of 48 study fields planted to 18 different crop types (row crops, grains, orchard, and vineyard) of varying maturity over 12 dates coinciding with Landsat overpasses. Landsat L1T terrain-corrected images were atmospherically corrected to surface reflectance by an implementation of the Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive Processing System (LEDAPS), then converted to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) on a per-pixel basis. A strong linear relationship between NDVI and fractional cover was observed (r2=0.96), and a resulting conversion equation was used to transform all imagery to fractional cover. Conversion equations previously developed by use of weighting lysimeters were then used to transform fractional cover to basal crop coefficient (Kcb; ratio of crop transpiration plus a small diffusive soil evaporation component to reference ET). Finally, measurements of grass reference ET (ETo) from the California Irrigation Management Information System were used to

Integrated Soil, Water and Nutrient Management for Sustainable Rice–Wheat Cropping Systems in Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-08-01

The rice-wheat system is a predominant cropping system in Asia providing food, employment and income, ensuring the livelihoods of about 1 billion of resource poor rural and urban people. However, the productivity of the current rice-wheat systems is seriously threatened by increasing land degradation and scarcity of water and labour, inefficient cropping practices and other emerging socio economic and environmental drivers. Responding to the need to develop alternate crop establishment methods and improved cropping practices, this publication summarizes the results from a joint FAO/IAEA coordinated research project on optimizing productivity and sustainability of rice-wheat cropping systems. It provides relevant information on how to modify existing water and nutrient management systems and improve soil management in both traditional and emerging crop establishment methods for sustainable intensification of cereal production in Asia

Integrating winter camelina into maize and soybean cropping systems

Science.gov (United States)

Camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz.] is an industrial oilseed crop in the Brassicaceae family with multiple uses. Currently, camelina is not used as a cover crop, but it has the potential to be used as such in maize (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] systems. The objectives of this st...

Comparative performance of annual and perennial energy cropping systems under different management regimes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boehmel, Ute Constanze

2007-07-18

The theme of this thesis was chosen against the background of the necessary substitution of fossil fuels and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One major solution for these topics may be the energy generation from domestically produced biomass. The overall aim of this thesis was the identification of one or more efficient energy cropping systems for Central Europe. The existence of diverse production environments necessitates further diversification and the identification of several energy crops and the development of energy cropping systems suited to those diverse environments. This thesis starts with an introductory essay (chapter 1), which provides the background for renewable energy production, its features, demands and potentials, and the scientific basis of this thesis. Chapters 2 to 6 consist of five manuscripts to be published in reviewed journals (Papers I, II, IV and V) or in a multi-author book (Paper III). Subsequently, the results from all papers are discussed in a general setting (chapter 7), from which a general conclusion is formulated (chapter 8). The basis of the research formed four field experiments, which were conducted at the experimental sites Ihinger Hof, Oberer Lindenhof and Goldener Acker of the University of Hohenheim, in south-western Germany. Paper I addresses the overall objective of this thesis. Selected cropping systems for this experiment were short rotation willow, miscanthus, switchgrass, energy maize and two different crop rotation systems including winter oilseed rape, winter wheat and winter triticale with either conventional tillage or no-till. The systems were cultivated with three different nitrogen fertilizer applications. An energy balance was calculated to evaluate the biomass and energy yields of the different cropping systems. Results indicate that perennial lignocellulosic crops combine high biomass and net energy yields with low input and potential ecological impacts. Switchgrass, which produced low yields

Support vector machine-based open crop model (SBOCM: Case of rice production in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ying-xue Su

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Existing crop models produce unsatisfactory simulation results and are operationally complicated. The present study, however, demonstrated the unique advantages of statistical crop models for large-scale simulation. Using rice as the research crop, a support vector machine-based open crop model (SBOCM was developed by integrating developmental stage and yield prediction models. Basic geographical information obtained by surface weather observation stations in China and the 1:1000000 soil database published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences were used. Based on the principle of scale compatibility of modeling data, an open reading frame was designed for the dynamic daily input of meteorological data and output of rice development and yield records. This was used to generate rice developmental stage and yield prediction models, which were integrated into the SBOCM system. The parameters, methods, error resources, and other factors were analyzed. Although not a crop physiology simulation model, the proposed SBOCM can be used for perennial simulation and one-year rice predictions within certain scale ranges. It is convenient for data acquisition, regionally applicable, parametrically simple, and effective for multi-scale factor integration. It has the potential for future integration with extensive social and economic factors to improve the prediction accuracy and practicability.

New indicators for global crop monitoring in CropWatch -case study in North China Plain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bingfang, Wu; Miao, Zhang; Hongwei, Zeng; Guoshui, Liu; Sheng, Chang; Gommes, René

2014-01-01

CropWatch is a monitoring system developed and operated by the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (Chinese Academy of Sciences) to provide global-scale crop information. Now in its 15th year of operation, CropWatch was modified several times to be a timely, comprehensive and independent global agricultural monitoring system using advanced remote sensing technology. Currently CropWatch is being upgraded with new indicators based on new sensors, especially those on board of China Environmental Satellite (HJ-1 CCD), the Medium Resolution Spectral Imager (MERSI) on Chinese meteorological satellite (FY-3A) and cloud classification products of FY-2. With new satellite data, CropWatch will generate new indicators such as fallow land ratio (FLR), crop condition for irrigated (CCI) and non-irrigated (CCNI) areas separately, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), radiation use efficiency for the photosynthetically active radiation (RUE PAR ) and cropping index (CI) with crop rotation information (CRI). In this paper, the methods for monitoring the new indicators are applied to the North China Plain which is one of the major grain producing areas in China. This paper shows the preliminary results of the new indicators and methods; they still need to be thoroughly validated before being incorporated into the operational CropWatch system. In the future, the new and improved indicators will help us to better understand the global situation of food security

Pigeon Pea and Cowpea-Based Cropping Systems Improve Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Colonisation of Subsequent Maize on the Alfisols in Central Malawi

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Keston O. W. Njira

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Mycorrhizal associations contribute to the sustainability of crop production systems through their roles in nutrient cycling and other benefits in the soil-plant ecosystems. A two-year study was conducted on the Alfisols of Lilongwe and Dowa districts, Central Malawi, to assess the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM fungal colonisation levels in pigeon pea, cowpea, and maize grown in sole cropping, legume-cereal, and legume-legume intercropping systems and in the maize grown in short rotation (year 2 as influenced by the previous cropping systems and N fertilizer application. The gridline intersect method was used to assess the VAM fungal colonisation levels. Results showed that all treatments that included legumes whether grown as sole crop, in legume-cereal or in legume-legume cropping systems in the previous year, had significantly higher (P < 0.05 VAM fungal colonisation of the rotational maize crop roots by a range 39% to 50% and 19% to 47% than those in maize supplied and not supplied with N fertilizer, respectively, in a maize-maize short rotation, at the Lilongwe site. A similar trend was reported for the Dowa site. Furthermore, there were positive correlations between VAM fungal colonisation and the plant P content, dry matter yield, and nodule numbers. Further studies may help to assess the diversity of VAM fungal species in Malawi soils and identify more adaptive ones for inoculation studies.

A spatially based field specific crop recordkeeping system prototype ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

These spatial data were prepared using ArcGIS 9.3. A database was created in Microsoft Access 2007. The database contained information on crops, fertilizers and past management. The information was linked to the spatial data table and maintained in the database. An application was developed using Visual Basic 6 in ...

60 changes in soil properties under alley cropping system of three ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

OLUWOLE AKINNAGBE

2009-01-01

Jan 1, 2009 ... A study to evaluate the changes in soil properties, under existing alley cropping system with three leguminous crops (Leucaena leucocephala ... of improved farming system is efficient recycling of organic materials. This exploits ... in form of violent shower of short duration. Rainfall is seasonal and defines ...

Life-cycle phosphorus management of the crop production-consumption system in China, 1980-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Huijun; Yuan, Zengwei; Gao, Liangmin; Zhang, Ling; Zhang, Yongliang

2015-01-01

Phosphorus (P) is an essential resource for agriculture and also a pollutant capable of causing eutrophication. The possibility of a future P scarcity and the requirement to improve the environment quality necessitate P management to increase the efficiency of P use. This study applied a substance flow analysis (SFA) to implement a P management procedure in a crop production-consumption (PMCPC) system model. This model determined the life-cycle P use efficiency (PUE) of the crop production-consumption system in China during 1980-2012. The system includes six subsystems: fertilizer manufacturing, crop cultivation, crop processing, livestock breeding, rural consumption, and urban consumption. Based on this model, the P flows and PUEs of the subsystems were identified and quantified using data from official statistical databases, published literature, questionnaires, and interviews. The results showed that the total PUE of the crop production-consumption system in China was low, notably from 1980 to 2005, and increased from 7.23% in 1980 to 20.13% in 2012. Except for fertilizer manufacturing, the PUEs of the six subsystems were also low. The PUEs in the urban consumption subsystem and the crop cultivation subsystem were less than 40%. The PUEs of other subsystems, such as the rural consumption subsystem and the livestock breeding subsystem, were also low and even decreased during these years. Measures aimed to improve P management practices in China have been proposed such as balancing fertilization, disposing livestock excrement, adjusting livestock feed, changing the diet of residents, and raising the waste disposal level, etc. This study also discussed several limitations related with the model and data. Conducting additional related studies on other regions and combining the analysis of risks with opportunities may be necessary to develop effective management strategies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Life Cycle Assessment on Carbon Footprint of Winter Wheat-Summer Maize Cropping System Based on Survey Data of Gaomi in Shandong Province, China

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ZHU Yong-chang

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Grain production can generate huge amount of greenhouse gases through raw material production and energy comsumption, nitrogen fertilizer amendment and farming machinery operation. Based questionnaire survey of raw material inputs and management of wheat-maize cropping system in Gaomi, Shandong Province, carbon footprint of grain production was calculated using life cycle assessment methodology. Carbon footprint per unit area of wheat, maize, and winter wheat-summer maize cropping system were 5 183.33, 3 778.09 kg CO2-eq·hm-2 and 8 961.42 kg CO2-eq·hm-2, carbon footprint per unit grain yield were 0.69, 0.40 kg CO2-eq·kg-1 and 0.53 kg CO2-eq·kg-1, carbon footprint per unit net present value were 1.82, 0.40 kg CO2-eq·yuan-1 and 0.44 kg CO2-eq·yuan-1, respectively. Greenhouse gas(GHG emission of winter wheat-summer maize cropping system mainly came from nitrogen fertilizer production(48.30% and nitrogen fertilizer application(12.04%, irrigation electricity consumption(12.94% and machinery oil consumption(11.20%. Optimizing the application of fertilizer, reducing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer and saving water irrigation were important ways to realize the clean production.

Comparison of the effects of different crop rotation systems on winter ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2008-11-19

Nov 19, 2008 ... were found the best crop rotation systems under rain-fed conditions of ... Crop rotation is one of the major cultural practices in the .... components such as seed weight in a spike, harvest index, seed ..... due to high prices of product belonging to fodder pea and ... was a cash crop in agricultural marketing.

Do green manures as winter cover crops impact the weediness and crop yield in an organic crop rotation?

OpenAIRE

Madsen, Helena; Talgre, Liina; Eremeev, Viacheslav; Alaru, Maarika; Kauer, Karin; Luik, Anne

2016-01-01

The effects of different winter cover crops and their combination with composted cattle manure on weeds and crop yields were investigated within a five-field crop rotation (barley undersown with red clover, red clover, winter wheat, pea, potato) in three organic cropping systems. The control system (Org 0) followed the rotation. In organic systems Org I and Org II the winter cover crops were used as follows: ryegrass (Lolium perenne L. in 2011/2012) and a mixture of winter oilseed-rape (Brass...

Life-cycle phosphorus management of the crop production–consumption system in China, 1980–2012

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Huijun [School of Earth Environment, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001 (China); Yuan, Zengwei, E-mail: yuanzw@nju.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023 (China); Gao, Liangmin [School of Earth Environment, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001 (China); Zhang, Ling [College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037 (China); Zhang, Yongliang [Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Beijing 100029 (China)

2015-01-01

Phosphorus (P) is an essential resource for agriculture and also a pollutant capable of causing eutrophication. The possibility of a future P scarcity and the requirement to improve the environment quality necessitate P management to increase the efficiency of P use. This study applied a substance flow analysis (SFA) to implement a P management procedure in a crop production–consumption (PMCPC) system model. This model determined the life-cycle P use efficiency (PUE) of the crop production–consumption system in China during 1980–2012. The system includes six subsystems: fertilizer manufacturing, crop cultivation, crop processing, livestock breeding, rural consumption, and urban consumption. Based on this model, the P flows and PUEs of the subsystems were identified and quantified using data from official statistical databases, published literature, questionnaires, and interviews. The results showed that the total PUE of the crop production–consumption system in China was low, notably from 1980 to 2005, and increased from 7.23% in 1980 to 20.13% in 2012. Except for fertilizer manufacturing, the PUEs of the six subsystems were also low. The PUEs in the urban consumption subsystem and the crop cultivation subsystem were less than 40%. The PUEs of other subsystems, such as the rural consumption subsystem and the livestock breeding subsystem, were also low and even decreased during these years. Measures aimed to improve P management practices in China have been proposed such as balancing fertilization, disposing livestock excrement, adjusting livestock feed, changing the diet of residents, and raising the waste disposal level, etc. This study also discussed several limitations related with the model and data. Conducting additional related studies on other regions and combining the analysis of risks with opportunities may be necessary to develop effective management strategies. - Highlights: • A model of P management of the crop production–consumption system

Life-cycle phosphorus management of the crop production–consumption system in China, 1980–2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Huijun; Yuan, Zengwei; Gao, Liangmin; Zhang, Ling; Zhang, Yongliang

2015-01-01

Phosphorus (P) is an essential resource for agriculture and also a pollutant capable of causing eutrophication. The possibility of a future P scarcity and the requirement to improve the environment quality necessitate P management to increase the efficiency of P use. This study applied a substance flow analysis (SFA) to implement a P management procedure in a crop production–consumption (PMCPC) system model. This model determined the life-cycle P use efficiency (PUE) of the crop production–consumption system in China during 1980–2012. The system includes six subsystems: fertilizer manufacturing, crop cultivation, crop processing, livestock breeding, rural consumption, and urban consumption. Based on this model, the P flows and PUEs of the subsystems were identified and quantified using data from official statistical databases, published literature, questionnaires, and interviews. The results showed that the total PUE of the crop production–consumption system in China was low, notably from 1980 to 2005, and increased from 7.23% in 1980 to 20.13% in 2012. Except for fertilizer manufacturing, the PUEs of the six subsystems were also low. The PUEs in the urban consumption subsystem and the crop cultivation subsystem were less than 40%. The PUEs of other subsystems, such as the rural consumption subsystem and the livestock breeding subsystem, were also low and even decreased during these years. Measures aimed to improve P management practices in China have been proposed such as balancing fertilization, disposing livestock excrement, adjusting livestock feed, changing the diet of residents, and raising the waste disposal level, etc. This study also discussed several limitations related with the model and data. Conducting additional related studies on other regions and combining the analysis of risks with opportunities may be necessary to develop effective management strategies. - Highlights: • A model of P management of the crop production–consumption system

Perspectives on genetically modified crops and food detection

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Chih-Hui Lin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Genetically modified (GM crops are a major product of the global food industry. From 1996 to 2014, 357 GM crops were approved and the global value of the GM crop market reached 35% of the global commercial seed market in 2014. However, the rapid growth of the GM crop-based industry has also created controversies in many regions, including the European Union, Egypt, and Taiwan. The effective detection and regulation of GM crops/foods are necessary to reduce the impact of these controversies. In this review, the status of GM crops and the technology for their detection are discussed. As the primary gap in GM crop regulation exists in the application of detection technology to field regulation, efforts should be made to develop an integrated, standardized, and high-throughput GM crop detection system. We propose the development of an integrated GM crop detection system, to be used in combination with a standardized international database, a decision support system, high-throughput DNA analysis, and automated sample processing. By integrating these technologies, we hope that the proposed GM crop detection system will provide a method to facilitate comprehensive GM crop regulation.

Perspectives on genetically modified crops and food detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chih-Hui; Pan, Tzu-Ming

2016-01-01

Genetically modified (GM) crops are a major product of the global food industry. From 1996 to 2014, 357 GM crops were approved and the global value of the GM crop market reached 35% of the global commercial seed market in 2014. However, the rapid growth of the GM crop-based industry has also created controversies in many regions, including the European Union, Egypt, and Taiwan. The effective detection and regulation of GM crops/foods are necessary to reduce the impact of these controversies. In this review, the status of GM crops and the technology for their detection are discussed. As the primary gap in GM crop regulation exists in the application of detection technology to field regulation, efforts should be made to develop an integrated, standardized, and high-throughput GM crop detection system. We propose the development of an integrated GM crop detection system, to be used in combination with a standardized international database, a decision support system, high-throughput DNA analysis, and automated sample processing. By integrating these technologies, we hope that the proposed GM crop detection system will provide a method to facilitate comprehensive GM crop regulation. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Opportunities and challenges for harvest weed seed control in global cropping systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Michael J; Broster, John C; Schwartz-Lazaro, Lauren M; Norsworthy, Jason K; Davis, Adam S; Tidemann, Breanne D; Beckie, Hugh J; Lyon, Drew J; Soni, Neeta; Neve, Paul; Bagavathiannan, Muthukumar V

2017-11-28

The opportunity to target weed seeds during grain harvest was established many decades ago following the introduction of mechanical harvesting and the recognition of high weed-seed retention levels at crop maturity; however, this opportunity remained largely neglected until more recently. The introduction and adoption of harvest weed seed control (HWSC) systems in Australia has been in response to widespread occurrence of herbicide-resistant weed populations. With diminishing herbicide resources and the need to maintain highly productive reduced tillage and stubble-retention practices, growers began to develop systems that targeted weed seeds during crop harvest. Research and development efforts over the past two decades have established the efficacy of HWSC systems in Australian cropping systems, where widespread adoption is now occurring. With similarly dramatic herbicide resistance issues now present across many of the world's cropping regions, it is timely for HWSC systems to be considered for inclusion in weed-management programs in these areas. This review describes HWSC systems and establishing the potential for this approach to weed control in several cropping regions. As observed in Australia, the inclusion of HWSC systems can reduce weed populations substantially reducing the potential for weed adaptation and resistance evolution. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of Tillage Practices on Soil Properties and Crop Productivity in Wheat-Mungbean-Rice Cropping System under Subtropical Climatic Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Md. Monirul; Hasanuzzaman, Mirza

2014-01-01

This study was conducted to know cropping cycles required to improve OM status in soil and to investigate the effects of medium-term tillage practices on soil properties and crop yields in Grey Terrace soil of Bangladesh under wheat-mungbean-T. aman cropping system. Four different tillage practices, namely, zero tillage (ZT), minimum tillage (MT), conventional tillage (CT), and deep tillage (DT), were studied in a randomized complete block (RCB) design with four replications. Tillage practices showed positive effects on soil properties and crop yields. After four cropping cycles, the highest OM accumulation, the maximum root mass density (0–15 cm soil depth), and the improved physical and chemical properties were recorded in the conservational tillage practices. Bulk and particle densities were decreased due to tillage practices, having the highest reduction of these properties and the highest increase of porosity and field capacity in zero tillage. The highest total N, P, K, and S in their available forms were recorded in zero tillage. All tillage practices showed similar yield after four years of cropping cycles. Therefore, we conclude that zero tillage with 20% residue retention was found to be suitable for soil health and achieving optimum yield under the cropping system in Grey Terrace soil (Aeric Albaquept). PMID:25197702

Soil organism in organic and conventional cropping systems.

OpenAIRE

Bettiol, Wagner; Ghini, Raquel; Galvão, José Abrahão Haddad; Ligo, Marcos Antônio Vieira; Mineiro, Jeferson Luiz de Carvalho

2002-01-01

Despite the recent interest in organic agriculture, little research has been carried out in this area. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare, in a dystrophic Ultisol, the effects of organic and conventional agricultures on soil organism populations, for the tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) and corn (Zea mays) crops. In general, it was found that fungus, bacterium and actinomycet populations counted by the number of colonies in the media, were similar for the two cropping systems. C...

Life cycle assessment of various cropping systems utilized for producing biofuels: Bioethanol and biodiesel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seungdo; Dale, Bruce E.

2005-01-01

A life cycle assessment of different cropping systems emphasizing corn and soybean production was performed, assuming that biomass from the cropping systems is utilized for producing biofuels (i.e., ethanol and biodiesel). The functional unit is defined as 1 ha of arable land producing biomass for biofuels to compare the environmental performance of the different cropping systems. The external functions are allocated by introducing alternative product systems (the system expansion allocation approach). Nonrenewable energy consumption, global warming impact, acidification and eutrophication are considered as potential environmental impacts and estimated by characterization factors given by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA-TRACI). The benefits of corn stover removal are (1) lower nitrogen related environmental burdens from the soil, (2) higher ethanol production rate per unit arable land, and (3) energy recovery from lignin-rich fermentation residues, while the disadvantages of corn stover removal are a lower accumulation rate of soil organic carbon and higher fuel consumption in harvesting corn stover. Planting winter cover crops can compensate for some disadvantages (i.e., soil organic carbon levels and soil erosion) of removing corn stover. Cover crops also permit more corn stover to be harvested. Thus, utilization of corn stover and winter cover crops can improve the eco-efficiency of the cropping systems. When biomass from the cropping systems is utilized for biofuel production, all the cropping systems studied here offer environmental benefits in terms of nonrenewable energy consumption and global warming impact. Therefore utilizing biomass for biofuels would save nonrenewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gases. However, unless additional measures such as planting cover crops were taken, utilization of biomass for biofuels would also tend to increase acidification and eutrophication, primarily because large nitrogen (and phosphorus

Automated Mobile System for Accurate Outdoor Tree Crop Enumeration Using an Uncalibrated Camera

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thuy Tuong Nguyen

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper demonstrates an automated computer vision system for outdoor tree crop enumeration in a seedling nursery. The complete system incorporates both hardware components (including an embedded microcontroller, an odometry encoder, and an uncalibrated digital color camera and software algorithms (including microcontroller algorithms and the proposed algorithm for tree crop enumeration required to obtain robust performance in a natural outdoor environment. The enumeration system uses a three-step image analysis process based upon: (1 an orthographic plant projection method integrating a perspective transform with automatic parameter estimation; (2 a plant counting method based on projection histograms; and (3 a double-counting avoidance method based on a homography transform. Experimental results demonstrate the ability to count large numbers of plants automatically with no human effort. Results show that, for tree seedlings having a height up to 40 cm and a within-row tree spacing of approximately 10 cm, the algorithms successfully estimated the number of plants with an average accuracy of 95.2% for trees within a single image and 98% for counting of the whole plant population in a large sequence of images.

Field-based estimates of global warming potential in bioenergy systems of Hawaii: Crop choice and deficit irrigation

Science.gov (United States)

Replacing fossil fuel with biofuel is environmentally viable only if the net greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the system is reduced. The effects of replacing annual arable crops with perennial bioenergy feedstocks on net GHG production and soil carbon (C) stock are critical to the system-level bal...

Maize Cropping Systems Mapping Using RapidEye Observations in Agro-Ecological Landscapes in Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, Kyalo; Abdel-Rahman, Elfatih M; Subramanian, Sevgan; Nyasani, Johnson O; Thiel, Michael; Jozani, Hosein; Borgemeister, Christian; Landmann, Tobias

2017-11-03

Cropping systems information on explicit scales is an important but rarely available variable in many crops modeling routines and of utmost importance for understanding pests and disease propagation mechanisms in agro-ecological landscapes. In this study, high spatial and temporal resolution RapidEye bio-temporal data were utilized within a novel 2-step hierarchical random forest (RF) classification approach to map areas of mono- and mixed maize cropping systems. A small-scale maize farming site in Machakos County, Kenya was used as a study site. Within the study site, field data was collected during the satellite acquisition period on general land use/land cover (LULC) and the two cropping systems. Firstly, non-cropland areas were masked out from other land use/land cover using the LULC mapping result. Subsequently an optimized RF model was applied to the cropland layer to map the two cropping systems (2nd classification step). An overall accuracy of 93% was attained for the LULC classification, while the class accuracies (PA: producer's accuracy and UA: user's accuracy) for the two cropping systems were consistently above 85%. We concluded that explicit mapping of different cropping systems is feasible in complex and highly fragmented agro-ecological landscapes if high resolution and multi-temporal satellite data such as 5 m RapidEye data is employed. Further research is needed on the feasibility of using freely available 10-20 m Sentinel-2 data for wide-area assessment of cropping systems as an important variable in numerous crop productivity models.

Maize Cropping Systems Mapping Using RapidEye Observations in Agro-Ecological Landscapes in Kenya

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Kyalo Richard

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Cropping systems information on explicit scales is an important but rarely available variable in many crops modeling routines and of utmost importance for understanding pests and disease propagation mechanisms in agro-ecological landscapes. In this study, high spatial and temporal resolution RapidEye bio-temporal data were utilized within a novel 2-step hierarchical random forest (RF classification approach to map areas of mono- and mixed maize cropping systems. A small-scale maize farming site in Machakos County, Kenya was used as a study site. Within the study site, field data was collected during the satellite acquisition period on general land use/land cover (LULC and the two cropping systems. Firstly, non-cropland areas were masked out from other land use/land cover using the LULC mapping result. Subsequently an optimized RF model was applied to the cropland layer to map the two cropping systems (2nd classification step. An overall accuracy of 93% was attained for the LULC classification, while the class accuracies (PA: producer’s accuracy and UA: user’s accuracy for the two cropping systems were consistently above 85%. We concluded that explicit mapping of different cropping systems is feasible in complex and highly fragmented agro-ecological landscapes if high resolution and multi-temporal satellite data such as 5 m RapidEye data is employed. Further research is needed on the feasibility of using freely available 10–20 m Sentinel-2 data for wide-area assessment of cropping systems as an important variable in numerous crop productivity models.

The Development of a Remote Sensor System and Decision Support Systems Architecture to Monitor Resistance Development in Transgenic Crops

Science.gov (United States)

Cacas, Joseph; Glaser, John; Copenhaver, Kenneth; May, George; Stephens, Karen

2008-01-01

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared that "significant benefits accrue to growers, the public, and the environment" from the use of transgenic pesticidal crops due to reductions in pesticide usage for crop pest management. Large increases in the global use of transgenic pesticidal crops has reduced the amounts of broad spectrum pesticides used to manage pest populations, improved yield and reduced the environmental impact of crop management. A significant threat to the continued use of this technology is the evolution of resistance in insect pest populations to the insecticidal Bt toxins expressed by the plants. Management of transgenic pesticidal crops with an emphasis on conservation of Bt toxicity in field populations of insect pests is important to the future of sustainable agriculture. A vital component of this transgenic pesticidal crop management is establishing the proof of concept basic understanding, situational awareness, and monitoring and decision support system tools for more than 133650 square kilometers (33 million acres) of bio-engineered corn and cotton for development of insect resistance . Early and recent joint NASA, US EPA and ITD remote imagery flights and ground based field experiments have provided very promising research results that will potentially address future requirements for crop management capabilities.

Dry Matter Production, Nutrient Cycled and Removed, and Soil Fertility Changes in Yam-Based Cropping Systems with Herbaceous Legumes in the Guinea-Sudan Zone of Benin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raphiou Maliki

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional yam-based cropping systems (shifting cultivation, slash-and-burn, and short fallow often result in deforestation and soil nutrient depletion. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of yam-based systems with herbaceous legumes on dry matter (DM production (tubers, shoots, nutrients removed and recycled, and the soil fertility changes. We compared smallholders’ traditional systems (1-year fallow of Andropogon gayanus-yam rotation, maize-yam rotation with yam-based systems integrated herbaceous legumes (Aeschynomene histrix/maize intercropping-yam rotation, Mucuna pruriens/maize intercropping-yam rotation. The experiment was conducted during the 2002 and 2004 cropping seasons with 32 farmers, eight in each site. For each of them, a randomized complete block design with four treatments and four replicates was carried out using a partial nested model with five factors: Year, Replicate, Farmer, Site, and Treatment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA using the general linear model (GLM procedure was applied to the dry matter (DM production (tubers, shoots, nutrient contribution to the systems, and soil properties at depths 0–10 and 10–20 cm. DM removed and recycled, total N, P, and K recycled or removed, and soil chemical properties (SOM, N, P, K, and pH water were significantly improved on yam-based systems with legumes in comparison with traditional systems.

Integrating future scenario‐based crop expansion and crop conditions to map switchgrass biofuel potential in eastern Nebraska, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Yingxin; Wylie, Bruce K.

2018-01-01

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) has been evaluated as one potential source for cellulosic biofuel feedstocks. Planting switchgrass in marginal croplands and waterway buffers can reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and improve regional ecosystem services (i.e. it serves as a potential carbon sink). In previous studies, we mapped high risk marginal croplands and highly erodible cropland buffers that are potentially suitable for switchgrass development, which would improve ecosystem services and minimally impact food production. In this study, we advance our previous study results and integrate future crop expansion information to develop a switchgrass biofuel potential ensemble map for current and future croplands in eastern Nebraska. The switchgrass biomass productivity and carbon benefits (i.e. NEP: net ecosystem production) for the identified biofuel potential ensemble areas were quantified. The future scenario‐based (‘A1B’) land use and land cover map for 2050, the US Geological Survey crop type and Compound Topographic Index (CTI) maps, and long‐term (1981–2010) averaged annual precipitation data were used to identify future crop expansion regions that are suitable for switchgrass development. Results show that 2528 km2 of future crop expansion regions (~3.6% of the study area) are potentially suitable for switchgrass development. The total estimated biofuel potential ensemble area (including cropland buffers, marginal croplands, and future crop expansion regions) is 4232 km2 (~6% of the study area), potentially producing 3.52 million metric tons of switchgrass biomass per year. Converting biofuel ensemble regions to switchgrass leads to potential carbon sinks (the total NEP for biofuel potential areas is 0.45 million metric tons C) and is environmentally sustainable. Results from this study improve our understanding of environmental conditions and ecosystem services of current and future cropland systems in eastern Nebraska and provide

Diversity of segetal weeds in pea (Pisum sativum L. depending on crops chosen for a crop rotation system

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Marta K. Kostrzewska

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This study, lasting from 1999 to 2006, was conducted at the Research Station in Tomaszkowo, which belongs to the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. The experiment was set up on brown rusty soil classified as good rye complex 5 in the Polish soil valuation system. The analysis comprised weeds in fields sown with pea cultivated in two four-field crop rotation systems with a different first crop: A. potato – spring barley – pea – spring barley; B. mixture of spring barley with pea – spring barley – pea – spring barley. Every year, at the 2–3 true leaf stage of pea, the species composition and density of individual weed species were determined; in addition, before harvesting the main crop, the dry matter of weeds was weighed. The results were used to analyze the constancy of weed taxa, species diversity, and the evenness and dominance indices, to determine the relationships between all biological indicators analyzed and weather conditions, and to calculate the indices of similarity, in terms of species composition, density and biomass of weeds, between the crop rotations compared. The species richness, density and biomass of weeds in fields with field pea were not differentiated by the choice of the initial crop in a given rotation system. In the spring, the total number of identified taxa was 28 and it increased to 36 before the harvest of pea plants. Chenopodium album and Echinochloa crus-galli were the most numerous. Chenopodium album, Echinochloa crus-galli, Sonchus arvensis, Fallopia convolvulus and Viola arvensis were constant in all treatments, regardless of what the first crop in rotation was or when the observations were made. The species diversity and the evenness and species dominance indices varied significantly between years and dates of observations. Species diversity calculated on the basis of the density of weed species was higher in the rotation with a mixture of cereals and legumes, while that calculated on

Crop water productivity under increasing irrigation capacities in Romania. A spatially-explicit assessment of winter wheat and maize cropping systems in the southern lowlands of the country

Science.gov (United States)

Dogaru, Diana

2016-04-01

Improved water use efficiency in agriculture is a key issue in terms of sustainable management and consumption of water resources in the context of peoples' increasing food demands and preferences, economic growth and agricultural adaptation options to climate variability and change. Crop Water Productivity (CWP), defined as the ratio of yield (or value of harvested crop) to actual evapotranspiration or as the ratio of yield (or value of harvested crop) to volume of supplied irrigation water (Molden et al., 1998), is a useful indicator in the evaluation of water use efficiency and ultimately of cropland management, particularly in the case of regions affected by or prone to drought and where irrigation application is essential for achieving expected productions. The present study investigates the productivity of water in winter wheat and maize cropping systems in the Romanian Plain (49 594 sq. km), an important agricultural region in the southern part of the country which is increasingly affected by drought and dry spells (Sandu and Mateescu, 2014). The scope of the analysis is to assess the gains and losses in CWP for the two crops, by considering increased irrigated cropland and improved fertilization, these being the most common measures potentially and already implemented by the farmers. In order to capture the effects of such measures on agricultural water use, the GIS-based EPIC crop-growth model (GEPIC) (Williams et al., 1989; Liu, 2009) was employed to simulate yields, seasonal evapotranspiration from crops and volume of irrigation water in the Romanian Plain for the 2002 - 2013 interval with focus on 2007 and 2010, two representative years for dry and wet periods, respectively. The GEPIC model operates on a daily time step, while the geospatial input datasets for this analysis (e.g. climate data, soil classes and soil parameters, land use) were harmonized at 1km resolution grid cell. The sources of the spatial data are mainly the national profile agencies

Sources of Nitrogen for Winter Wheat in Organic Cropping Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Søren O; Schjønning, Per; Olesen, Jørgen E

2013-01-01

mineralizable N (PMN), microbial biomass N (MBN)] were monitored during two growth periods; at one site, biomass C/N ratios were also determined. Soil for labile N analysis was shielded from N inputs during spring application to isolate cumulated system effects. Potentially mineralizable N and MBN were...... explained 76 and 82% of the variation in grain N yields in organic cropping systems in 2007 and 2008, showing significant effects of, respectively, topsoil N, depth of A horizon, cumulated inputs of N, and N applied to winter wheat in manure. Thus, soil properties and past and current management all......In organic cropping systems, legumes, cover crops (CC), residue incorporation, and manure application are used to maintain soil fertility, but the contributions of these management practices to soil nitrogen (N) supply remain obscure. We examined potential sources of N for winter wheat (Triticum...

Efficient crop type mapping based on remote sensing in the Central Valley, California

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Liheng

Most agricultural systems in California's Central Valley are purposely flexible and intentionally designed to meet the demands of dynamic markets. Agricultural land use is also impacted by climate change and urban development. As a result, crops change annually and semiannually, which makes estimating agricultural water use difficult, especially given the existing method by which agricultural land use is identified and mapped. A minor portion of agricultural land is surveyed annually for land-use type, and every 5 to 8 years the entire valley is completely evaluated. So far no effort has been made to effectively and efficiently identify specific crop types on an annual basis in this area. The potential of satellite imagery to map agricultural land cover and estimate water usage in the Central Valley is explored. Efforts are made to minimize the cost and reduce the time of production during the mapping process. The land use change analysis shows that a remote sensing based mapping method is the only means to map the frequent change of major crop types. The traditional maximum likelihood classification approach is first utilized to map crop types to test the classification capacity of existing algorithms. High accuracy is achieved with sufficient ground truth data for training, and crop maps of moderate quality can be timely produced to facilitate a near-real-time water use estimate. However, the large set of ground truth data required by this method results in high costs in data collection. It is difficult to reduce the cost because a trained classification algorithm is not transferable between different years or different regions. A phenology based classification (PBC) approach is developed which extracts phenological metrics from annual vegetation index profiles and identifies crop types based on these metrics using decision trees. According to the comparison with traditional maximum likelihood classification, this phenology-based approach shows great advantages

Investigating Impacts of Alternative Crop Market Scenarios on Land Use Change with an Agent-Based Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deng Ding

2015-11-01

Full Text Available We developed an agent-based model (ABM to simulate farmers’ decisions on crop type and fertilizer application in response to commodity and biofuel crop prices. Farm profit maximization constrained by farmers’ profit expectations for land committed to biofuel crop production was used as the decision rule. Empirical parameters characterizing farmers’ profit expectations were derived from an agricultural landowners and operators survey and integrated in the ABM. The integration of crop production cost models and the survey information in the ABM is critical to producing simulations that can provide realistic insights into agricultural land use planning and policy making. Model simulations were run with historical market prices and alternative market scenarios for corn price, soybean to corn price ratio, switchgrass price, and switchgrass to corn stover ratio. The results of the comparison between simulated cropland percentage and crop rotations with satellite-based land cover data suggest that farmers may be underestimating the effects that continuous corn production has on yields. The simulation results for alternative market scenarios based on a survey of agricultural land owners and operators in the Clear Creek Watershed in eastern Iowa show that farmers see cellulosic biofuel feedstock production in the form of perennial grasses or corn stover as a more risky enterprise than their current crop production systems, likely because of market and production risks and lock in effects. As a result farmers do not follow a simple farm-profit maximization rule.

An integrated crop and hydrologic modeling system to estimate hydrologic impacts of crop irrigation demands

Science.gov (United States)

R.T. McNider; C. Handyside; K. Doty; W.L. Ellenburg; J.F. Cruise; J.R. Christy; D. Moss; V. Sharda; G. Hoogenboom; Peter Caldwell

2015-01-01

The present paper discusses a coupled gridded crop modeling and hydrologic modeling system that can examine the benefits of irrigation and costs of irrigation and the coincident impact of the irrigation water withdrawals on surface water hydrology. The system is applied to the Southeastern U.S. The system tools to be discussed include a gridded version (GriDSSAT) of...

Maximizing land productivity by diversified cropping systems with different nitrogen fertilizer types

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Abd El-Hafeez Ahmed ZOHRY

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Six field experiments were conducted in Giza Agricultural Research Station, Egypt during 2010, 2011 and 2012 growing seasons to study the effect of two types of N fertilizers (urea and urea form as slow-release (UF on intercropping cowpea with sunflower and intercropping wheat with pea. A split plot design with three replications was used. The results indicated that insignificant effect of cropping systems was found for sunflower and significant effect was found for cowpea yield. Significant effect of N fertilizers was found on sunflower and insignificant effect was found for cowpea yield. Furthermore, insignificant effect of interaction of cropping systems and N fertilizers was found for sunflower and significant effect was found for cowpea yield. With respect to wheat and pea intercropping, both crops were significantly affected by intercropping system. Significant effect of N fertilizers was found on wheat and insignificant effect was found for pea yield. Both wheat and pea were significantly affected by the interaction of cropping system and N fertilizers. Yield advantage was achieved because land equivalent ratio exceeded 1.00. Dominance analysis proved that leguminous crop is dominated component. Thus, the studied intercropping systems could be recommended to farmers due to its beneficial returns.

Root carbon input in organic and inorganic fertilizer-based systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chirinda, Ngoni; Olesen, Jørgen E; Porter, John

2012-01-01

C input to remain scant. This study aimed at determining macro-root C input and topsoil root related respiration in response to nutrient management and soil fertility building measures. Methods We sampled roots and shoots of cereals and catch crops in inorganic and organic fertilizer-based arable...... season of winter wheat by subtracting soil respiration from soil with and without exclusion of roots. Results Catch crop roots accounted for more than 40 % of total plant C. For spring barley in 2008 and spring wheat in 2010, root C was higher in the organic than in the inorganic fertilizer-based systems...... was higher (31–131 %) in inorganic than in organic fertilizer-based systems. Conclusions Our findings show that macro-roots of both cereal crops and catch crops play a relatively larger role in organically managed systems than in mineral fertilizer based systems; and that the use of fixed biomass S/R ratios...

Soil chemical atributtes on brachiaria spp in integrated crop livestock system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valdinei Tadeu Paulino

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Integrated crop-livestock systems have attracted more interest in the last few years due to their capacity of improving stability and sustainability of agricultural systems when compared to more specialized production ones. The crop-livestock integration is an effective technique, but complex to maintain pasture productivity and its recovery, whose efficiency depends on soil physical management and its chemical fertility. Regarding the soil fertility, the corrective practices generally begin with the liming due to the high acidity of most Brazilian soils and low levels of Ca and Mg in the exchange complex and high Al saturation. In areas of crop-livestock systems, liming corrects the surface acidity potential. However, this practice can leave the subsoil with excess aluminum and lack of calcium, which inhibit root growth and affect the absorption of water and nutrients. The application of gypsum allows the improvement of the subsoil, reducing Al saturation and increasing levels of calcium and sulfur. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the soil chemical properties of a Haplorthox soil in integrated crop-livestock system (ICL with Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu and Piatã, Brachiaria ruziziensis with gypsum and liming application. This study was conducted at the Instituto de Zootecnia, Nova Odessa/SP, a pasture established on a soil with medium texture (61.4% sand, silt 14.6% and 24.0% clay. The treatment plots consisted on integration crop-livestock (ICL cultivated - maize and B. Marandu,  ICL - maize and B. ruziziensis, ICL - maize and B. Piatã and an untreated control group (control - without liming and fertilization grazed pasture throughout the year, located immediately adjacent to the ICL evaluation, which was cultivated for 25 years with B. brizantha cv. Marandu. All pastures were desiccated in October with glyphosate-based herbicide (4 liters per hectare. Then gypsum (1.2 Mg ha-1 and liming (1.2 Mg ha-1 were applied

Lasting effects of soil health improvements with management changes in cotton-based cropping systems in a sandy soil

Science.gov (United States)

The soil microbial component is essential for sustainable agricultural systems and soil health. This study evaluated the lasting impacts of 5 years of soil health improvements from alternative cropping systems compared to intensively tilled continuous cotton (Cont. Ctn) in a low organic matter sandy...

The Crop Risk Zones Monitoring System for resilience to drought in the Sahel

Science.gov (United States)

Vignaroli, Patrizio; Rocchi, Leandro; De Filippis, Tiziana; Tarchiani, Vieri; Bacci, Maurizio; Toscano, Piero; Pasqui, Massimiliano; Rapisardi, Elena

2016-04-01

Food security is still one of the major concerns that Sahelian populations have to face. In the Sahel, agriculture is primarily based on rainfed crops and it is often structurally inadequate to manage the climatic variability. The predominantly rainfed cropping system of Sahel region is dependent on season quality on a year-to-year basis, and susceptible to weather extremes of droughts and extreme temperatures. Low water-storage capacity and high dependence on rainfed agriculture leave the agriculture sector even more vulnerable to climate risks. Crop yields may suffer significantly with either a late onset or early cessation of the rainy season, as well as with a high frequency of damaging dry spells. Early rains at the beginning of the season are frequently followed by dry spells which may last a week or longer. As the amount of water stored in the soil at this time of the year is negligible, early planted crops can suffer water shortage stresses during a prolonged dry spell. Therefore, the choice of the sowing date is of fundamental importance for farmers. The ability to estimate effectively the onset of the season and potentially dangerous dry spells becomes therefore vital for planning rainfed agriculture practices aiming to minimize risks and maximize yields. In this context, advices to farmers are key drivers for prevention allowing a better adaptation of traditional crop calendar to climatic variability. In the Sahel, particularly in CILSS (Permanent Interstates Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel) countries, national Early Warning System (EWS) for food security are underpinned by Multidisciplinary Working Groups (MWGs) lead by National Meteorological Services (NMS). The EWSs are mainly based on tools and models utilizing numeric forecasts and satellite data to outlook and monitor the growing season. This approach is focused on the early identification of risks and on the production of information within the prescribed time period for decision

Biomass productivity and radiation utilisation of innovative cropping systems for biorefinery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manevski, Kiril; Lærke, Poul Erik; Jiao, Xiurong

2017-01-01

rotation of annual crops (maize, beet, hemp/oat, triticale, winter rye and winter rapeseed), ii) perennial crops intensively fertilised (festulolium, reed canary, cocksfoot and tall fescue), low-fertilised (miscanthus) or unfertilised (grass-legume mixtures) and iii) traditional systems (continuous...

Relay cropping of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) improves the profitability of cotton-wheat cropping system in Punjab, Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Sajjad, Aamer; Anjum, Shakeel Ahmad; Ahmad, Riaz; Waraich, Ejaz Ahmad

2018-01-01

Delayed sowing of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in cotton-based system reduces the productivity and profitability of the cotton-wheat cropping system. In this scenario, relay cropping of wheat in standing cotton might be a viable option to ensure the timely wheat sowing with simultaneous improvement in wheat yields and system profitability. This 2-year study (2012-2013 and 2013-2014) aimed to evaluate the influence of sowing dates and relay cropping combined with different management techniques of cotton sticks on the wheat yield, soil physical properties, and the profitability of the cotton-wheat system. The experiment consisted of five treatments viz. (S1) sowing of wheat at the 7th of November by conventional tillage (two disc harrows + one rotavator + two plankings) after the removal of cotton sticks, (S2) sowing of wheat at the 7th of November by conventional tillage (two disc harrows + two plankings) after the incorporation of cotton sticks in the field with a rotavator, (S3) sowing of wheat at the 7th of November as relay crop in standing cotton with broadcast method, (S4) sowing of wheat at the 15th of December by conventional tillage (two disc harrows + one rotavator + two plankings) after the removal of cotton sticks, and (S5) sowing of wheat at the 15th of December by conventional tillage (two disc harrows + two plankings) after the incorporation of cotton sticks in the field with a rotavator. The highest seed cotton yield was observed in the S5 treatment which was statistically similar with the S3 and S4 treatments; seed cotton yield in the S1 and S2 treatments has been the lowest in both years of experimentation. However, the S2 treatment produced substantially higher root length, biological yield, and grain yield of wheat than the other treatments. The lower soil bulk density at 0-10-cm depth was recorded in the S2 treatment which was statistically similar with the S5 treatment during both years of experimentation. The volumetric water contents, net

Intercropping competition between apple trees and crops in agroforestry systems on the Loess Plateau of China.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Lubo; Xu, Huasen; Bi, Huaxing; Xi, Weimin; Bao, Biao; Wang, Xiaoyan; Bi, Chao; Chang, Yifang

2013-01-01

Agroforestry has been widely practiced in the Loess Plateau region of China because of its prominent effects in reducing soil and water losses, improving land-use efficiency and increasing economic returns. However, the agroforestry practices may lead to competition between crops and trees for underground soil moisture and nutrients, and the trees on the canopy layer may also lead to shortage of light for crops. In order to minimize interspecific competition and maximize the benefits of tree-based intercropping systems, we studied photosynthesis, growth and yield of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) by measuring photosynthetically active radiation, net photosynthetic rate, soil moisture and soil nutrients in a plantation of apple (Malus pumila M.) at a spacing of 4 m × 5 m on the Loess Plateau of China. The results showed that for both intercropping systems in the study region, soil moisture was the primary factor affecting the crop yields followed by light. Deficiency of the soil nutrients also had a significant impact on crop yields. Compared with soybean, peanut was more suitable for intercropping with apple trees to obtain economic benefits in the region. We concluded that apple-soybean and apple-peanut intercropping systems can be practical and beneficial in the region. However, the distance between crops and tree rows should be adjusted to minimize interspecies competition. Agronomic measures such as regular canopy pruning, root barriers, additional irrigation and fertilization also should be applied in the intercropping systems.

NEW MICROWAVE-BASED MISSIONS APPLICATIONS FOR RAINFED CROPS CHARACTERIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Sánchez

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A multi-temporal/multi-sensor field experiment was conducted within the Soil Moisture Measurement Stations Network of the University of Salamanca (REMEDHUS in Spain, in order to retrieve useful information from satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR and upcoming Global Navigation Satellite Systems Reflectometry (GNSS-R missions. The objective of the experiment was first to identify which radar observables are most sensitive to the development of crops, and then to define which crop parameters the most affect the radar signal. A wide set of radar variables (backscattering coefficients and polarimetric indicators acquired by Radarsat-2 were analyzed and then exploited to determine variables characterizing the crops. Field measurements were fortnightly taken at seven cereals plots between February and July, 2015. This work also tried to optimize the crop characterization through Landsat-8 estimations, testing and validating parameters such as the leaf area index, the fraction of vegetation cover and the vegetation water content, among others. Some of these parameters showed significant and relevant correlation with the Landsat-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (R>0.60. Regarding the radar observables, the parameters the best characterized were biomass and height, which may be explored for inversion using SAR data as an input. Moreover, the differences in the correlations found for the different crops under study types suggested a way to a feasible classification of crops.

Soil microbiome characteristics and soilborne disease development associated with long-term potato cropping system practices

Science.gov (United States)

Potato cropping system practices substantially affect soil microbial communities and the development of soilborne diseases. Cropping systems incorporating soil health management practices, such as longer rotations, disease-suppressive crops, reduced tillage, and/or organic amendments can potentially...

Injury Profile SIMulator, a qualitative aggregative modelling framework to predict crop injury profile as a function of cropping practices, and the abiotic and biotic environment. I. Conceptual bases.

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Jean-Noël Aubertot

Full Text Available The limitation of damage caused by pests (plant pathogens, weeds, and animal pests in any agricultural crop requires integrated management strategies. Although significant efforts have been made to i develop, and to a lesser extent ii combine genetic, biological, cultural, physical and chemical control methods in Integrated Pest Management (IPM strategies (vertical integration, there is a need for tools to help manage Injury Profiles (horizontal integration. Farmers design cropping systems according to their goals, knowledge, cognition and perception of socio-economic and technological drivers as well as their physical, biological, and chemical environment. In return, a given cropping system, in a given production situation will exhibit a unique injury profile, defined as a dynamic vector of the main injuries affecting the crop. This simple description of agroecosystems has been used to develop IPSIM (Injury Profile SIMulator, a modelling framework to predict injury profiles as a function of cropping practices, abiotic and biotic environment. Due to the tremendous complexity of agroecosystems, a simple holistic aggregative approach was chosen instead of attempting to couple detailed models. This paper describes the conceptual bases of IPSIM, an aggregative hierarchical framework and a method to help specify IPSIM for a given crop. A companion paper presents a proof of concept of the proposed approach for a single disease of a major crop (eyespot on wheat. In the future, IPSIM could be used as a tool to help design ex-ante IPM strategies at the field scale if coupled with a damage sub-model, and a multicriteria sub-model that assesses the social, environmental, and economic performances of simulated agroecosystems. In addition, IPSIM could also be used to help make diagnoses on commercial fields. It is important to point out that the presented concepts are not crop- or pest-specific and that IPSIM can be used on any crop.

Injury Profile SIMulator, a qualitative aggregative modelling framework to predict crop injury profile as a function of cropping practices, and the abiotic and biotic environment. I. Conceptual bases.

Science.gov (United States)

Aubertot, Jean-Noël; Robin, Marie-Hélène

2013-01-01

The limitation of damage caused by pests (plant pathogens, weeds, and animal pests) in any agricultural crop requires integrated management strategies. Although significant efforts have been made to i) develop, and to a lesser extent ii) combine genetic, biological, cultural, physical and chemical control methods in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies (vertical integration), there is a need for tools to help manage Injury Profiles (horizontal integration). Farmers design cropping systems according to their goals, knowledge, cognition and perception of socio-economic and technological drivers as well as their physical, biological, and chemical environment. In return, a given cropping system, in a given production situation will exhibit a unique injury profile, defined as a dynamic vector of the main injuries affecting the crop. This simple description of agroecosystems has been used to develop IPSIM (Injury Profile SIMulator), a modelling framework to predict injury profiles as a function of cropping practices, abiotic and biotic environment. Due to the tremendous complexity of agroecosystems, a simple holistic aggregative approach was chosen instead of attempting to couple detailed models. This paper describes the conceptual bases of IPSIM, an aggregative hierarchical framework and a method to help specify IPSIM for a given crop. A companion paper presents a proof of concept of the proposed approach for a single disease of a major crop (eyespot on wheat). In the future, IPSIM could be used as a tool to help design ex-ante IPM strategies at the field scale if coupled with a damage sub-model, and a multicriteria sub-model that assesses the social, environmental, and economic performances of simulated agroecosystems. In addition, IPSIM could also be used to help make diagnoses on commercial fields. It is important to point out that the presented concepts are not crop- or pest-specific and that IPSIM can be used on any crop.

Characteristics of nitrogen balance in open-air and greenhouse vegetable cropping systems of China.

Science.gov (United States)

Ti, Chaopu; Luo, Yongxia; Yan, Xiaoyuan

2015-12-01

Nitrogen (N) loss from vegetable cropping systems has become a significant environmental issue in China. In this study, estimation of N balances in both open-air and greenhouse vegetable cropping systems in China was established. Results showed that the total N input in open-air and greenhouse vegetable cropping systems in 2010 was 5.44 and 2.60 Tg, respectively. Chemical fertilizer N input in the two cropping systems was 201 kg N ha(-1) per season (open-air) and 478 kg N ha(-1) per season (greenhouse). The N use efficiency (NUE) was 25.9 ± 13.3 and 19.7 ± 9.4% for open-air and greenhouse vegetable cropping systems, respectively, significantly lower than that of maize, wheat, and rice. Approximately 30.6% of total N input was accumulated in soils and 0.8% was lost by ammonia volatilization in greenhouse vegetable system, while N accumulation and ammonia volatilization accounted for 19.1 and 11.1%, respectively, of total N input in open-air vegetable systems.

Organic versus Conventional Cropping Sustainability: A Comparative System Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiffany L. Fess

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We are at a pivotal time in human history, as the agricultural sector undergoes consolidation coupled with increasing energy costs in the context of declining resource availability. Although organic systems are often thought of as more sustainable than conventional operations, the lack of concise and widely accepted means to measure sustainability makes coming to an agreement on this issue quite challenging. However, an accurate assessment of sustainability can be reached by dissecting the scientific underpinnings of opposing production practices and crop output between cropping systems. The purpose of this review is to provide an in-depth and comprehensive evaluation of modern global production practices and economics of organic cropping systems, as well as assess the sustainability of organic production practices through the clarification of information and analysis of recent research. Additionally, this review addresses areas where improvements can be made to help meet the needs of future organic producers, including organic-focused breeding programs and necessity of coming to a unified global stance on plant breeding technologies. By identifying management strategies that utilize practices with long-term environmental and resource efficiencies, a concerted global effort could guide the adoption of organic agriculture as a sustainable food production system.

The value of crop germplasm and value accounting system

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WANG Xiaowei; DING Guangzhou; CHANG Ying

2007-01-01

The value evaluation and accounting of crop germplasm not only provides the theory and method for the price of germplasm, thus makes further lawful and fair transactions, but also ensures the benefits of crop germplasm owners and is also instructive in keeping the foodstuff safety. This paper founded a multidimensional value accounting system, which included physical accounting, value accounting and quality index accounting; individual accounting and total accounting; quantity accounting and quality accounting.

The occurrence of fungi on the stem base and roots of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. grown in monoculture depending on tillage systems and catch crops

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Kraska

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The present study was carried out in the period 2006-2008 based on an experiment established in 2005. The study evaluated the effect of conservation and plough tillage as well as of four catch crops on the level of infection by fungal pathogens of the stem base and roots of the spring wheat cultivar ‘Zebra’ grown in monoculture. The species composition of fungi colonizing the stem base and roots of spring wheat was determined. The split-plot design of the experiment set up on rendzina soil included plough tillage and conservation tillage with autumn and spring disking of catch crops. The experiment used four methods for regeneration of the spring wheat monoculture stand using the following: undersown red clover and Westerwolds ryegrass crops as well as lacy phacelia and white mustard stubble crops. Plots without catch crops were the control treatment. Red clover and Westerwolds ryegrass catch crops as well as lacy phacelia and white mustard stubble crops had a significant effect on the decrease in the stem base and root infection index of spring wheat compared to the control without catch crops. The disease indices in the tillage treatments under evaluation did not differ significantly from one another. The stem base and roots of spring wheat were most frequently infected by fungi of the genus Fusarium, with F. culmorum being the dominant pathogen of cereals. Compared to conservation tillage, in plough tillage the pathogenic fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana was not found to occur on the stem base and roots. The Westerwolds ryegrass catch crop promoted the occurrence of F. culmorum, both on the stem base and roots of spring wheat.

Spatial Rice Yield Estimation Based on MODIS and Sentinel-1 SAR Data and ORYZA Crop Growth Model

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Tri D. Setiyono

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Crop insurance is a viable solution to reduce the vulnerability of smallholder farmers to risks from pest and disease outbreaks, extreme weather events, and market shocks that threaten their household food and income security. In developing and emerging countries, the implementation of area yield-based insurance, the form of crop insurance preferred by clients and industry, is constrained by the limited availability of detailed historical yield records. Remote-sensing technology can help to fill this gap by providing an unbiased and replicable source of the needed data. This study is dedicated to demonstrating and validating the methodology of remote sensing and crop growth model-based rice yield estimation with the intention of historical yield data generation for application in crop insurance. The developed system combines MODIS and SAR-based remote-sensing data to generate spatially explicit inputs for rice using a crop growth model. MODIS reflectance data were used to generate multitemporal LAI maps using the inverted Radiative Transfer Model (RTM. SAR data were used to generate rice area maps using MAPScape-RICE to mask LAI map products for further processing, including smoothing with logistic function and running yield simulation using the ORYZA crop growth model facilitated by the Rice Yield Estimation System (Rice-YES. Results from this study indicate that the approach of assimilating MODIS and SAR data into a crop growth model can generate well-adjusted yield estimates that adequately describe spatial yield distribution in the study area while reliably replicating official yield data with root mean square error, RMSE, of 0.30 and 0.46 t ha−1 (normalized root mean square error, NRMSE of 5% and 8% for the 2016 spring and summer seasons, respectively, in the Red River Delta of Vietnam, as evaluated at district level aggregation. The information from remote-sensing technology was also useful for identifying geographic locations with

Novel Developments of the MetaCrop Information System for Facilitating Systems Biological Approaches

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Hippe Klaus

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Crop plants play a major role in human and animal nutrition and increasingly contribute to chemical or pharmaceutical industry and renewable resources. In order to achieve important goals, such as the improvement of growth or yield, it is indispensable to understand biological processes on a detailed level. Therefore, the well-structured management of fine-grained information about metabolic pathways is of high interest. Thus, we developed the MetaCrop information system, a manually curated repository of high quality information concerning the metabolism of crop plants. However, the data access to and flexible export of information of MetaCrop in standard exchange formats had to be improved. To automate and accelerate the data access we designed a set of web services to be integrated into external software. These web services have already been used by an add-on for the visualisation toolkit VANTED. Furthermore, we developed an export feature for the MetaCrop web interface, thus enabling the user to compose individual metabolic models using SBML.

Using Winter Annual Cover Crops in a Virginia No-till Cotton Production System

OpenAIRE

Daniel, James B. II

1997-01-01

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a low residue crop, that may not provide sufficient surface residue to reduce erosion and protect the soil. A winter annual cover crop could alleviate erosion between cotton crops. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate selected winter annual cover crops for biomass production, ground cover, and N assimilation. The cover crop treatments were monitored under no-till and conventional tillage systems for the effects on soil moisture, cotton yield and qu...

Cover Crop Species and Management Influence Predatory Arthropods and Predation in an Organically Managed, Reduced-Tillage Cropping System.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivers, Ariel N; Mullen, Christina A; Barbercheck, Mary E

2018-04-05

Agricultural practices affect arthropod communities and, therefore, have the potential to influence the activities of arthropods. We evaluated the effect of cover crop species and termination timing on the activity of ground-dwelling predatory arthropods in a corn-soybean-wheat rotation in transition to organic production in Pennsylvania, United States. We compared two cover crop treatments: 1) hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) planted together with triticale (×Triticosecale Wittmack) after wheat harvest, and 2) cereal rye (Secale cereale Linnaeus) planted after corn harvest. We terminated the cover crops in the spring with a roller-crimper on three dates (early, middle, and late) based on cover crop phenology and standard practices for cash crop planting in our area. We characterized the ground-dwelling arthropod community using pitfall traps and assessed relative predation using sentinel assays with live greater waxworm larvae (Galleria mellonella Fabricius). The activity density of predatory arthropods was significantly higher in the hairy vetch and triticale treatments than in cereal rye treatments. Hairy vetch and triticale favored the predator groups Araneae, Opiliones, Staphylinidae, and Carabidae. Specific taxa were associated with cover crop condition (e.g., live or dead) and termination dates. Certain variables were positively or negatively associated with the relative predation on sentinel prey, depending on cover crop treatment and stage, including the presence of predatory arthropods and various habitat measurements. Our results suggest that management of a cover crop by roller-crimper at specific times in the growing season affects predator activity density and community composition. Terminating cover crops with a roller-crimper can conserve generalist predators.

Management of agroforestry systems for enhancing resource use efficiency and crop productivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-11-01

Agroforestry is a low-input system which combines trees with crops in various combinations or sequences. It is an alternative to intensive cropping systems, which rely on large inputs of manufactured fertilizers and other external inputs to sustain production. Agroforestry also has the potential to reduce risk through diversification of a variety of products, including food, fuelwood and animal fodder. Other perceived benefits include enhanced nutrient and water use efficiencies, reduced nutrient leaching to groundwater and improved soil physical and biological properties. The use of leguminous or actinorhizal trees may further enhance these benefits because of their capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Depending on the type of agroforestry system and the management practices employed, a substantial portion of this fixed nitrogen can be transferred to companion crops and to the soil. In considering the overall productivity of agroforestry systems, it is essential to investigate the competition or complementarity in the capture and partitioning of resources between tree and crop components. This is especially true for nutrients and water, usually the two most limiting factors influencing crop growth. The focus of this coordinated research project (CRP) was to evaluate the efficacy of various agroforestry systems used in Member States in terms of crop productivity, resource use efficiency and improvements in soil properties. The use of isotopes and nuclear techniques was essential for understanding the dynamics of nutrients and water in agroforestry systems. The contribution of nitrogen from fertilizers and leguminous trees to soil and crops was studied using both direct and indirect 15 N labelling techniques. The cycling of carbon from trees or crops to soil was studied using natural variations in the 13 C signatures of the soils and the different species. The soil moisture neutron probe in conjunction with tensionics was used to monitor soil water status and

Residue and soil carbon sequestration in relation to crop yield as affected by irrigation, tillage, cropping system and nitrogen fertilization

Science.gov (United States)

Information on management practices is needed to increase surface residue and soil C sequestration to obtain farm C credit. The effects of irrigation, tillage, cropping system, and N fertilization were evaluated on the amount of crop biomass (stems and leaves) returned to the soil, surface residue C...

Biological N2 Fixation by Chickpea in inter cropping System on Sand Soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ismail, M. M.; Moursy, A. A. A.; Kotb, E. A.; Farid, I. M.

2012-12-01

A field experiment was carried out at the plant Nutrition and Fertilization Unit, Soils and Water Research Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority, Inshas, Egypt on wheat and chickpea inter cropping. The benefits of N 2 fixation by legumes to cereals growing in inter crops or to grasses growing in mixed swards are high clear. in cases the benefit to the N status of cereals has bee seen when they are inter cropped with legumes , where benefit is found ,it is mainly due to sparing of soil N rather than direct transfer from the legume. inter cropped wheat has a high grains yield as compared to those recorded under sole crop. The application of inter cropping system induced an increase of wheat grain yield against the sole system. regardless the cultivation system, the over all means of fertilizer rates indicated (50% MF + 50% OM) treatment was superiority (100% OM) and (75% MF + 25% OM) or those recorded with either un fertilizer when wheat grain yield considered. Comparison heed between organic sources reflected the superiority of under sole cultivation, while chickpea straw was the best under inter cropping. Inter cropped has a high grain N uptake compared to soil system. While totally organic materials had accumulates more N in grain than those of underrated treated control. In the same time, the overall mean indicated the superiority of compost treatment combined with 50% mineral fertilizer under inter cropping system over those of either only organic materials treatment or those combined with 75% mineral fertilizer. Plants treated of chickpea straw and compost, achieved the best value of straw weight. Among the organic manure treatments, chickpea straw and compost seem to be the best ones. Nitrogen derived from air (% Ndfa) shoots and seeds of chickpea plant: In case of cow manure and maize stalk, the best value of nitrogen derived from air was detected followed by compost, while the lowest value was recorded with wheat straw. In general

The Controlled Ecological Life Support System Antarctic Analog Project: Prototype Crop Production and Water Treatment System Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Bubenheim, David L.; Flynn, Michael T.; Bates, Maynard; Schlick, Greg; Kliss, Mark (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

The Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) Antarctic Analog Project (CAAP), is a joint endeavor between the National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs (NSF-OPP) and the NASA. The fundamental objective is to develop, deploy, and operate a testbed of advanced life support technologies at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station that enable the objectives of both the NSF and NASA. The functions of food production, water purification, and waste treatment, recycle and reduction provided by CAAP will improve the quality of life for the South Pole inhabitants, reduce logistics dependence, enhance safety and minimize environmental impacts associated with human presence on the polar plateau. Because of the analogous technical, scientific, and mission features with Planetary missions such as a mission to Mars, CAAP provides NASA with a method for validating technologies and overall approaches to supporting humans. Prototype systems for sewage treatment, water recycle and crop production are being evaluated at Ames Research Center. The product water from sewage treatment using a Wiped-Film Rotating Disk is suitable for input to the crop production system. The crop production system has provided an enhanced level of performance compared with projected performance for plant-based life support: an approximate 50% increase in productivity per unit area, more than a 65% decrease in power for plant lighting, and more than a 75% decrease in the total power requirement to produce an equivalent mass of edible biomass.

Policies for Reintegrating Crop and Livestock Systems: A Comparative Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachael D. Garrett

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The reintegration of crop and livestock systems within the same land area has the potential to improve soil quality and reduce water and air pollution, while maintaining high yields and reducing risk. In this study, we characterize the degree to which federal policies in three major global food production regions that span a range of socioeconomic contexts, Brazil, New Zealand, and the United States, incentivize or disincentivize the use of integrated crop and livestock practices (ICLS. Our analysis indicates that Brazil and New Zealand have the most favorable policy environment for ICLS, while the United States provides the least favorable environment. The balance of policy incentives and disincentives across our three cases studies mirrors current patterns of ICLS usage. Brazil and New Zealand have both undergone a trend toward mixed crop livestock systems in recent years, while the United States has transitioned rapidly toward continuous crop and livestock production. If transitions to ICLS are desired, particularly in the United States, it will be necessary to change agricultural, trade, environmental, biofuels, and food safety policies that currently buffer farmers from risk, provide too few incentives for pollution reduction, and restrict the presence of animals in crop areas. It will also be necessary to invest more in research and development in all countries to identify the most profitable ICLS technologies in each region.

Scope for improved eco-efficiency varies among diverse cropping systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Carberry, Peter S; Liang, Wei-li; Twomlow, Stephen; Holzworth, Dean P; Dimes, John P; McClelland, Tim; Huth, Neil I; Chen, Fu; Hochman, Zvi; Keating, Brian A

2013-05-21

Global food security requires eco-efficient agriculture to produce the required food and fiber products concomitant with ecologically efficient use of resources. This eco-efficiency concept is used to diagnose the state of agricultural production in China (irrigated wheat-maize double-cropping systems), Zimbabwe (rainfed maize systems), and Australia (rainfed wheat systems). More than 3,000 surveyed crop yields in these three countries were compared against simulated grain yields at farmer-specified levels of nitrogen (N) input. Many Australian commercial wheat farmers are both close to existing production frontiers and gain little prospective return from increasing their N input. Significant losses of N from their systems, either as nitrous oxide emissions or as nitrate leached from the soil profile, are infrequent and at low intensities relative to their level of grain production. These Australian farmers operate close to eco-efficient frontiers in regard to N, and so innovations in technologies and practices are essential to increasing their production without added economic or environmental risks. In contrast, many Chinese farmers can reduce N input without sacrificing production through more efficient use of their fertilizer input. In fact, there are real prospects for the double-cropping systems on the North China Plain to achieve both production increases and reduced environmental risks. Zimbabwean farmers have the opportunity for significant production increases by both improving their technical efficiency and increasing their level of input; however, doing so will require improved management expertise and greater access to institutional support for addressing the higher risks. This paper shows that pathways for achieving improved eco-efficiency will differ among diverse cropping systems.

Nitrogen fertilizer fate after introducing maize into a continuous paddy rice cropping system

Science.gov (United States)

Thiemann, Irabella; He, Yao; Siemens, Jan; Brüggemann, Nicolas; Lehndorf, Eva; Amelung, Wulf

2017-04-01

After introducing upland crops into permanent flooded cropping systems, soil conditions temporally change from anaerobic to aerobic, which profoundly impacts nitrogen (N) dynamics. In the framework of the DFG research unit 1701 ICON we applied a single 15N-urea pulse in a field experiment in the Philippines with three different crop rotations: continuous paddy rice, paddy rice-dry rice, and paddy rice-maize. Subsequently, we traced the fate of the labelled urea in bulk soil, rhizosphere, roots, biomass and microbial residues (amino sugars) within the following two years. 15N recovery in the first 5 cm of bulk soil was highest in the first dry season of continuous paddy rice cropping (37.8 % of applied 15N) and lowest in the paddy rice-maize rotation (19.2 %). While an accumulation over time could be observed in bulk soil in 5-20 cm depth of the continuous paddy rice system, the recoveries decreased over time within the following two years in the other cropping systems. Highest 15N-recovery in shoots and roots were found in the continuous paddy rice system in the first dry season (27.3 % in shoots, 3.2 % in roots) as well as in the following wet season (4.2 % in shoots, 0.3 % in roots). Lowest recoveries in biomass were found for the paddy rice-dry rice rotation. Long-term fixation of 15N in microbial biomass residues was observed in all cropping systems (2-3 % in the 3rd dry season). The results indicate that the introduction of maize into a continuous paddy rice cropping system can reduce the fertilizer N use efficiency especially in the first year, most likely due to nitrate leaching and gaseous losses to the atmosphere.

Date of planting and seeding rate effects on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of turnip in agro forestry compared to mono cropping systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.R. Chaichi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Agroforestry is one the aspects of sustainable agriculture in which multiple cropping of perennial trees in mixture with crops guarantees the environmental, economical and social sustainability in rural communities. High demands for forage in Northern provinces of Iran lead to agroforestry in citrus orchards as a potential mean for forage production through agroforestry systems. This research was conducted to determine the best planting date and seeding rate of turnip in agroforestry and mono cropping systems. The treatments were arranged as split factorial based on a completely randomized block design with three replications. The cropping systems (agroforestry and mono cropping were assigned to the main plots and the factorial combinations of planting dates (March 10th, March 25th, and April 9th and seeding rates (1, 2, and 4 kg seed ha-1 were randomly assigned to the subplots. The results of the experiment showed that as the seeding rate increased to 4 kg.ha-1, a significant increase (by 5% in total forage production was observed in both cropping systems. A decreasing trend in forage production was observed in latter planting dates for both cropping systems; however, this decrement in mono cropping was more severe than agroforestry system. In later planting dates the water soluble carbohydrates and forage dry matter digestibility increased but ADF decreased. The results of this experiment indicated a great potential for forage production in citrus orchards of the northern provinces of the country through agroforestry systems.

An ultrasonic system for weed detection in cereal crops.

Science.gov (United States)

Andújar, Dionisio; Weis, Martin; Gerhards, Roland

2012-12-13

Site-specific weed management requires sensing of the actual weed infestation levels in agricultural fields to adapt the management accordingly. However, sophisticated sensor systems are not yet in wider practical use, since they are not easily available for the farmers and their handling as well as the management practice requires additional efforts. A new sensor-based weed detection method is presented in this paper and its applicability to cereal crops is evaluated. An ultrasonic distance sensor for the determination of plant heights was used for weed detection. It was hypothesised that the weed infested zones have a higher amount of biomass than non-infested areas and that this can be determined by plant height measurements. Ultrasonic distance measurements were taken in a winter wheat field infested by grass weeds and broad-leaved weeds. A total of 80 and 40 circular-shaped samples of different weed densities and compositions were assessed at two different dates. The sensor was pointed directly to the ground for height determination. In the following, weeds were counted and then removed from the sample locations. Grass weeds and broad-leaved weeds were separately removed. Differences between weed infested and weed-free measurements were determined. Dry-matter of weeds and crop was assessed and evaluated together with the sensor measurements. RGB images were taken prior and after weed removal to determine the coverage percentages of weeds and crop per sampling point. Image processing steps included EGI (excess green index) computation and thresholding to separate plants and background. The relationship between ultrasonic readings and the corresponding coverage of the crop and weeds were assessed using multiple regression analysis. Results revealed a height difference between infested and non-infested sample locations. Density and biomass of weeds present in the sample influenced the ultrasonic readings. The possibilities of weed group discrimination were

Identification of technology options for reducing nitrogen pollution in cropping systems of Pujiang

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fang, B.; Wang, G.; Berg, van den M.M.; Roetter, R.P.

2005-01-01

This work analyses the potential role of nitrogen pollution technology of crop systems of Pujiang, County in Eastern China¿s Zhejiang Province, rice and vegetables are important cropping systems. We used a case study approach involving comparison of farmer practices and improved technologies. This

Nutrient cycling in a cropping system with potato, spring wheat, sugar beet, oats and nitrogen catch crops. II. Effect of catch crops on nitrate leaching in autumn and winter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vos, J.; Putten, van der P.E.L.

2004-01-01

The Nitrate Directive of the European Union (EU) forces agriculture to reduce nitrate emission. The current study addressed nitrate emission and nitrate-N concentrations in leachate from cropping systems with and without the cultivation of catch crops (winter rye: Secale cereale L. and forage rape:

EUE (energy use efficiency) of cropping systems for a sustainable agriculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alluvione, Francesco; Moretti, Barbara; Sacco, Dario; Grignani, Carlo

2011-01-01

Energy efficiency of agriculture needs improvement to reduce the dependency on non-renewable energy sources. We estimated the energy flows of a wheat-maize-soybean-maize rotation of three different cropping systems: (i) low-input integrated farming (LI), (ii) integrated farming following European Regulations (IFS), and (iii) conventional farming (CONV). Balancing N fertilization with actual crop requirements and adopting minimum tillage proved the most efficient techniques to reduce energy inputs, contributing 64.7% and 11.2% respectively to the total reduction. Large differences among crops in energy efficiency (maize: 2.2 MJ kg -1 grain; wheat: 2.6 MJ kg -1 grain; soybean: 4.1 MJ kg -1 grain) suggest that crop rotation and crop management can be equally important in determining cropping system energy efficiency. Integrated farming techniques improved energy efficiency by reducing energy inputs without affecting energy outputs. Compared with CONV, energy use efficiency increased 31.4% and 32.7% in IFS and LI, respectively, while obtaining similar net energy values. Including SOM evolution in the energy analysis greatly enhanced the energy performance of IFS and, even more dramatically, LI compared to CONV. Improved energy efficiency suggests the adoption of alternative farming systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. However, a thorough evaluation should include net global warming potential assessment. -- Highlights: → We evaluated the energy flows of integrated as alternative to conventional Farming. → Energy flows, soil organic matter evolution included, were analyzed following process analysis. → Energy flows were compared using indicators. → Integrated farming improved energy efficiency without affecting net energy. → Inclusion of soil organic matter in energy analysis accrue environmental evaluation.

Can phosphorus application and cover cropping alter arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities and soybean performance after a five-year phosphorus-unfertilized crop rotational system?

Science.gov (United States)

Higo, Masao; Sato, Ryohei; Serizawa, Ayu; Takahashi, Yuichi; Gunji, Kento; Tatewaki, Yuya; Isobe, Katsunori

2018-01-01

Understanding diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is important for optimizing their role for phosphorus (P) nutrition of soybeans ( Glycine max (L.) Merr.) in P-limited soils. However, it is not clear how soybean growth and P nutrition is related to AMF colonization and diversity of AMF communities in a continuous P-unfertilized cover cropping system. Thus, we investigated the impact of P-application and cover cropping on the interaction among AMF colonization, AMF diversity in soybean roots, soybean growth and P nutrition under a five-year P-unfertilized crop rotation. In this study, we established three cover crop systems (wheat, red clover and oilseed rape) or bare fallow in rotation with soybean. The P-application rates before the seeding of soybeans were 52.5 and 157.5 kg ha -1 in 2014 and 2015, respectively. We measured AMF colonization in soybean roots, soybean growth parameters such as aboveground plant biomass, P uptake at the flowering stage and grain yields at the maturity stage in both years. AMF community structure in soybean roots was characterized by specific amplification of small subunit rDNA. The increase in the root colonization at the flowering stage was small as a result of P-application. Cover cropping did not affect the aboveground biomass and P uptake of soybean in both years, but the P-application had positive effects on the soybean performance such as plant P uptake, biomass and grain yield in 2015. AMF communities colonizing soybean roots were also significantly influenced by P-application throughout the two years. Moreover, the diversity of AMF communities in roots was significantly influenced by P-application and cover cropping in both years, and was positively correlated with the soybean biomass, P uptake and grain yield throughout the two years. Our results indicated that P-application rather than cover cropping may be a key factor for improving soybean growth performance with respect to AMF diversity in P-limited cover

Soil Erodibility Parameters Under Various Cropping Systems of Maize

Science.gov (United States)

van Dijk, P. M.; van der Zijp, M.; Kwaad, F. J. P. M.

1996-08-01

For four years, runoff and soil loss from seven cropping systems of fodder maize have been measured on experimental plots under natural and simulated rainfall. Besides runoff and soil loss, several variables have also been measured, including rainfall kinetic energy, degree of slaking, surface roughness, aggregate stability, soil moisture content, crop cover, shear strength and topsoil porosity. These variables explain a large part of the variance in measured runoff, soil loss and splash erosion under the various cropping systems. The following conclusions were drawn from the erosion measurements on the experimental plots (these conclusions apply to the spatial level at which the measurements were carried out). (1) Soil tillage after maize harvest strongly reduced surface runoff and soil loss during the winter; sowing of winter rye further reduced winter erosion, though the difference with a merely tilled soil is small. (2) During spring and the growing season, soil loss is reduced strongly if the soil surface is partly covered by plant residues; the presence of plant residue on the surface appeared to be essential in achieving erosion reduction in summer. (3) Soil loss reductions were much higher than runoff reductions; significant runoff reduction is only achieved by the straw system having flat-lying, non-fixed plant residue on the soil surface; the other systems, though effective in reducing soil loss, were not effective in reducing runoff.

Risk mapping of NO/sub 3/-N contamination on groundwater under intensive rice-based cropping systems in the Philippines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pascual, C.M.; Baga, M.C.S.; Valencia, D.P.

2005-01-01

The groundwater resources in a 265 ha watershed of highly diversified and intensive rice-based environment was endangered to NO/sub 3/-N contamination with spatial degree of influence and temporal vulnerability risks as affected by intensive cropping systems with application of high N-fertilizer and judicious use of groundwater for irrigation. Such nitrate contamination levels are above the World Health Organization's maximum contamination level of 10 ppm for drinking water. Tree-joining, complete cluster analysis of monthly groundwater depths on observation wells revealed three distinct groups of wells differentiated by groundwater depths. Planting of nitrate catch crops such as legumes to reduce groundwater contamination and vigorous information dissemination on ill-effects of high NO/sub 3/-N, as well as groundwater recharging were considered to reduce contamination. However, the groundwater extraction for irrigation is still sustainable due to natural recharging of rainfall and hydraulic connections from surface water along rivers and creeks. The combined-use of GIS and GPS proved useful for spatial and temporal risk mapping assessment on groundwater NO/sub 3/-N vulnerability among other geo-referenced attributes of groundwater and other environmental considerations at the study site. Such systems analysis tools can be used by planners, researchers, extension workers, students and farmers for other sustainable development and environmental risk mapping, assessment, extrapolation analysis and strategic planning of sustainable development of the environment. (author)

Methodological Aspects of On-Farm Monitoring of Cropping Systems Management

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Luca Bechini

Full Text Available To conduct agro-environmental assessments at field and farm scale, detailed management data of crop and animal production systems are needed. However, this type of data is only rarely collected by public administrations. In the period 2005-2006, we made an experience of on-farm monitoring of cropping systems management, within a larger project aimed at assessing sustainability of agricultural systems in Italian Parks. In this paper, we describe and discuss the steps taken to carry out periodic face-to-face interviews in farms in the Sud Milano Agricultural Park (northern Italy. The first step was the selection of seven farms, which we identified by applying cluster analysis at a large database describing 733 farms of the Park. After having identified the most relevant agro-environmental issues in the studied area, we established a list of simple but sound indicators to evaluate the effects of agricultural management on the environment. The criteria used to select the indicators were that they should: be calculated on easily available data, not be based on direct measurements, make a synthesis of different aspects of reality, and be easily calculated and understood. The indicators selected evaluate nutrient management, fossil energy use, pesticide toxicity, soil management, and economic performance. Subsequently, we designed a data model to store input data used to calculate the indicators (farm configuration, flows of materials and money through the farm gate, animals and their rations, history of crop cultivation, crop management. The data model that we obtained is relatively complex, but adequate to store and analyse the large amount of data acquired during the two-year project. A questionnaire was developed to fully comply with the indicators selected and the data model. The questionnaire was used to carry out approximately six interviews per farm each year, with an investment of time of 1-2 hours per interview. Appropriate double checks of

Effects of adjusting cropping systems on utilization efficiency of climatic resources in Northeast China under future climate scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jianping; Zhao, Junfang; Xu, Yanhong; Chu, Zheng; Mu, Jia; Zhao, Qian

Quantitatively evaluating the effects of adjusting cropping systems on the utilization efficiency of climatic resources under climate change is an important task for assessing food security in China. To understand these effects, we used daily climate variables obtained from the regional climate model RegCM3 from 1981 to 2100 under the A1B scenario and crop observations from 53 agro-meteorological experimental stations from 1981 to 2010 in Northeast China. Three one-grade zones of cropping systems were divided by heat, water, topography and crop-type, including the semi-arid areas of the northeast and northwest (III), the one crop area of warm-cool plants in semi-humid plain or hilly regions of the northeast (IV), and the two crop area in irrigated farmland in the Huanghuaihai Plain (VI). An agro-ecological zone model was used to calculate climatic potential productivities. The effects of adjusting cropping systems on climate resource utilization in Northeast China under the A1B scenario were assessed. The results indicated that from 1981 to 2100 in the III, IV and VI areas, the planting boundaries of different cropping systems in Northeast China obviously shifted toward the north and the east based on comprehensively considering the heat and precipitation resources. However, due to high temperature stress, the climatic potential productivity of spring maize was reduced in the future. Therefore, adjusting the cropping system is an effective way to improve the climatic potential productivity and climate resource utilization. Replacing the one crop in one year model (spring maize) by the two crops in one year model (winter wheat and summer maize) significantly increased the total climatic potential productivity and average utilization efficiencies. During the periods of 2011-2040, 2041-2070 and 2071-2100, the average total climatic potential productivities of winter wheat and summer maize increased by 9.36%, 11.88% and 12.13% compared to that of spring maize

Adaptation to a warming-drying trend through cropping system adjustment over three decades: A case study in the northern agro-pastural ecotone of China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jingting; An, Pingli; Pan, Zhihua; Hao, Baozhen; Wang, Liwei; Dong, Zhiqiang; Pan, Xuebiao; Xue, Qingwu

2015-06-01

Long-term field monitoring data and historical crop data are useful to assess the impacts of climate change and to manage cropping systems. The objectives of this study are to understand the cropping system response to a warming-drying trend in the northern agro-pastural ecotone (NAE) of China and to document how farmers can adapt to the warming-drying trend by changing cropping system structure and adjusting planting date. The results indicate that a significant warming-drying trend existed in the NAE from 1980 to 2009, and this trend significantly decreased crop (spring wheat, naked oat, and potato) yields. Furthermore, the yield decreased by 16.2%-28.4% with a 1°C increase in maximum temperature and decreased by 6.6%-11.8% with a 10% decrease in precipitation. Considering food security, water use efficiency, and water ecological adaptability in the semi-arid NAE, cropping system structure adjustment (e.g., a shift from wheat to potato as the predominant crop) and planting date adaptation (e.g., a delay in crop planting date) can offset the impact of the warming-drying trend in the NAE. Based on the successful offsetting of the impact of the warming-drying trend in the NAE, we conclude that farmers can reduce the negative effects of climate change and minimize the risk of crop failure by adapting their cropping system structure at the farming level.

European Perspectives on the Adoption of Non-Chemical Weed Management in Reduced Tillage Systems for Arable Crops

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Melander, B.; Munier-Jolan, N.; Schwarz, J.

2012-01-01

cropping systems to allow for more diversification of the crop rotations to combat these weed problems with less herbicide input. Cover crops, stubble management strategies and tactics that strengthen crop growth relative to weed growth are also seen as important components in future IPM systems...

PRACT (Prototyping Rotation and Association with Cover crop and no Till) - a tool for designing conservation agriculture systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Naudin, K.; Husson, M.O.; Scopel, E.; Auzoux, S.; Giller, K.E.

2015-01-01

Moving to more agroecological cropping systems implies deep changes in the organization of cropping systems. We propose a method for formalizing the process of innovating cropping system prototype design using a tool called PRACT (Prototyping Rotation and Association with Cover crop and no Till)

Grass-clover undersowing affects nitrogen dynamics in a grain legume–cereal arable cropping system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauggaard-Nielsen, Henrik; Mundus, Simon; Jensen, Erik Steen

2012-01-01

A field experiment was carried out in an arable organic cropping system and included a sequence with sole cropped fababean (Vicia faba L.), lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), oat (Avena sativa L.) and pea–oat intercropping with or without an undersown perennial ryegrass...... N2 fixation and 15N labeling technique to determine the fate of pea and oat residue N recovery in the subsequent crop. The subsequent spring wheat and winter triticale crop yields were not significantly affected by the previous main crop, but a significant effect of catch crop undersowing...

Plant Residual Management in different Crop Rotations System on Potato Tuber Yield Loss Affected by Wireworms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Zarea Feizabadi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Selection a proper crop rotation based on environmental conservation rules is a key factor for increasing long term productivity. On the other hand, the major problem in reaching agricultural sustainability is lack of soil organic matter. Recently, a new viewpoint has emerged based on efficient use of inputs, environmental protection, ecological economy, food supply and security. Crop rotation cannot supply and restore plant needed nutrients, so gradually the productivity of rotation system tends to be decreased. Returning the plant residues to the soil helps to increase its organic matter and fertility in long-term period. Wireworms are multi host pests and we can see them in wheat and barley too. The logic way for their control is agronomic practices like as crop rotation. Wireworms’ population and damages are increased with using grasses and small seed gramineas in mild winters, variation in cropping pattern, reduced chemical control, and cover crops in winter. In return soil cultivation, crop rotation, planting date, fertilizing, irrigation and field health are the examples for the effective factors in reducing wireworms’ damage. Materials and Methods: In order to study the effect of crop rotations, residue management and yield damage because of wireworms’ population in soil, this experiment was conducted using four rotation systems for five years in Jolgeh- Rokh agricultural research station. Crop rotations were included, 1 Wheat monoculture for the whole period (WWWWW, 2 Wheat- wheat- wheat- canola- wheat (WWWCW, 3 Wheat- sugar beet- wheat- potato- wheat (WSWPW, 4 Wheat- maize- wheat- potato- wheat (WMWPW as main plots and three levels of returning crop residues to soil (returning 0, 50 and 100% produced crop residues to soil were allocated as sub plots. This experiment was designed as split plot based on RCBD design with three replications. After ending each rotation treatment, the field was sowed with potato cv. Agria

Robust cropping systems to tackle pests under climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lamichhane, Jay Ram; Barzman, Marco; Booij, Kees

2015-01-01

) and the severity of their outbreaks. Increasing concerns over health and the environment as well as new legislation on pesticide use, particularly in the European Union, urge us to find sustainable alternatives to pesticide-based pest management. Here, we review the effect of climate change on crop protection......Agriculture in the twenty-first century faces the challenge of meeting food demands while satisfying sustainability goals. The challenge is further complicated by climate change which affects the distribution of crop pests (intended as insects, plants, and pathogenic agents injurious to crops...... and propose strategies to reduce the impact of future invasive as well as rapidly evolving resident populations. The major points are the following: (1) the main consequence of climate change and globalization is a heightened level of unpredictability of spatial and temporal interactions between weather...

Cropping Systems and Climate Change in Humid Subtropical Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ixchel M. Hernandez-Ochoa

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In the future, climate change will challenge food security by threatening crop production. Humid subtropical regions play an important role in global food security, with crop rotations often including wheat (winter crop and soybean and maize (summer crops. Over the last 30 years, the humid subtropics in the Northern Hemisphere have experienced a stronger warming trend than in the Southern Hemisphere, and the trend is projected to continue throughout the mid- and end of century. Past rainfall trends range, from increases up to 4% per decade in Southeast China to −3% decadal decline in East Australia; a similar trend is projected in the future. Climate change impact studies suggest that by the middle and end of the century, wheat yields may not change, or they will increase up to 17%. Soybean yields will increase between 3% and 41%, while maize yields will increase by 30% or decline by −40%. These wide-ranging climate change impacts are partly due to the region-specific projections, but also due to different global climate models, climate change scenarios, single-model uncertainties, and cropping system assumptions, making it difficult to make conclusions from these impact studies and develop adaptation strategies. Additionally, most of the crop models used in these studies do not include major common stresses in this environment, such as heat, frost, excess water, pests, and diseases. Standard protocols and impact assessments across the humid subtropical regions are needed to understand climate change impacts and prepare for adaptation strategies.

Automated Mobile System for Accurate Outdoor Tree Crop Enumeration Using an Uncalibrated Camera

OpenAIRE

Thuy Tuong Nguyen; David C. Slaughter; Bradley D. Hanson; Andrew Barber; Amy Freitas; Daniel Robles; Erin Whelan

2015-01-01

This paper demonstrates an automated computer vision system for outdoor tree crop enumeration in a seedling nursery. The complete system incorporates both hardware components (including an embedded microcontroller, an odometry encoder, and an uncalibrated digital color camera) and software algorithms (including microcontroller algorithms and the proposed algorithm for tree crop enumeration) required to obtain robust performance in a natural outdoor environment. The enumeration system uses a t...

ASSESSMENT OF CROPPING SYSTEM DIVERSITY IN THE FERGANA VALLEY THROUGH IMAGE FUSION OF LANDSAT 8 AND SENTINEL-1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Dimov

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the transitioning agricultural societies of the world, food security is an essential element of livelihood and economic development with the agricultural sector very often being the major employment factor and income source. Rapid population growth, urbanization, pollution, desertification, soil degradation and climate change pose a variety of threats to a sustainable agricultural development and can be expressed as agricultural vulnerability components. Diverse cropping patterns may help to adapt the agricultural systems to those hazards in terms of increasing the potential yield and resilience to water scarcity. Thus, the quantification of crop diversity using indices like the Simpson Index of Diversity (SID e.g. through freely available remote sensing data becomes a very important issue. This however requires accurate land use classifications. In this study, the focus is set on the cropping system diversity of garden plots, summer crop fields and orchard plots which are the prevalent agricultural systems in the test area of the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan. In order to improve the accuracy of land use classification algorithms with low or medium resolution data, a novel processing chain through the hitherto unique fusion of optical and SAR data from the Landsat 8 and Sentinel-1 platforms is proposed. The combination of both sensors is intended to enhance the object´s textural and spectral signature rather than just to enhance the spatial context through pansharpening. It could be concluded that the Ehlers fusion algorithm gave the most suitable results. Based on the derived image fusion different object-based image classification algorithms such as SVM, Naïve Bayesian and Random Forest were evaluated whereby the latter one achieved the highest classification accuracy. Subsequently, the SID was applied to measure the diversification of the three main cropping systems.

Assessment of Cropping System Diversity in the Fergana Valley Through Image Fusion of Landsat 8 and SENTINEL-1

Science.gov (United States)

Dimov, D.; Kuhn, J.; Conrad, C.

2016-06-01

In the transitioning agricultural societies of the world, food security is an essential element of livelihood and economic development with the agricultural sector very often being the major employment factor and income source. Rapid population growth, urbanization, pollution, desertification, soil degradation and climate change pose a variety of threats to a sustainable agricultural development and can be expressed as agricultural vulnerability components. Diverse cropping patterns may help to adapt the agricultural systems to those hazards in terms of increasing the potential yield and resilience to water scarcity. Thus, the quantification of crop diversity using indices like the Simpson Index of Diversity (SID) e.g. through freely available remote sensing data becomes a very important issue. This however requires accurate land use classifications. In this study, the focus is set on the cropping system diversity of garden plots, summer crop fields and orchard plots which are the prevalent agricultural systems in the test area of the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan. In order to improve the accuracy of land use classification algorithms with low or medium resolution data, a novel processing chain through the hitherto unique fusion of optical and SAR data from the Landsat 8 and Sentinel-1 platforms is proposed. The combination of both sensors is intended to enhance the object's textural and spectral signature rather than just to enhance the spatial context through pansharpening. It could be concluded that the Ehlers fusion algorithm gave the most suitable results. Based on the derived image fusion different object-based image classification algorithms such as SVM, Naïve Bayesian and Random Forest were evaluated whereby the latter one achieved the highest classification accuracy. Subsequently, the SID was applied to measure the diversification of the three main cropping systems.

Uav-Based Crops Classification with Joint Features from Orthoimage and Dsm Data

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, B.; Shi, Y.; Duan, Y.; Wu, W.

2018-04-01

Accurate crops classification remains a challenging task due to the same crop with different spectra and different crops with same spectrum phenomenon. Recently, UAV-based remote sensing approach gains popularity not only for its high spatial and temporal resolution, but also for its ability to obtain spectraand spatial data at the same time. This paper focus on how to take full advantages of spatial and spectrum features to improve crops classification accuracy, based on an UAV platform equipped with a general digital camera. Texture and spatial features extracted from the RGB orthoimage and the digital surface model of the monitoring area are analysed and integrated within a SVM classification framework. Extensive experiences results indicate that the overall classification accuracy is drastically improved from 72.9 % to 94.5 % when the spatial features are combined together, which verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Soil phosphatase and urease activities impacted by cropping systems and water management

Science.gov (United States)

Soil enzymes can play an important role in nutrient availability to plants. Consequently, soil enzyme measurements can provide useful information on soil fertility for crop production. We examined the impact of cropping system and water management on phosphatase, urease, and microbial biomass C in s...

Food Yields and Nutrient Analyses of the Three Sisters: A Haudenosaunee Cropping System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jane Mt.Pleasant

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Scholars have studied The Three Sisters, a traditional cropping system of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois, from multiple perspectives. However, there is no research examining food yields, defined as the quantities of energy and protein produced per unit land area, from the cropping system within Iroquoia. This article compares food yields and other nutrient contributions from the Three Sisters, comprised of interplanted maize, bean and pumpkin, with monocultures of these same crops. The Three Sisters yields more energy (12.25 x 106 kcal/ha and more protein (349 kg/ha than any of the crop monocultures or mixtures of monocultures planted to the same area. The Three Sisters supplies 13.42 people/ha/yr. with energy and 15.86 people/ha/yr. with protein. Nutrient contents of the crops are further enhanced by nixtamalization, a traditional processing technique where maize is cooked in a high alkaline solution. This process increases calcium, protein quality, and niacin in maize.

Cereal Crop Proteomics: Systemic Analysis of Crop Drought Stress Responses Towards Marker-Assisted Selection Breeding

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Arindam Ghatak

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Sustainable crop production is the major challenge in the current global climate change scenario. Drought stress is one of the most critical abiotic factors which negatively impact crop productivity. In recent years, knowledge about molecular regulation has been generated to understand drought stress responses. For example, information obtained by transcriptome analysis has enhanced our knowledge and facilitated the identification of candidate genes which can be utilized for plant breeding. On the other hand, it becomes more and more evident that the translational and post-translational machinery plays a major role in stress adaptation, especially for immediate molecular processes during stress adaptation. Therefore, it is essential to measure protein levels and post-translational protein modifications to reveal information about stress inducible signal perception and transduction, translational activity and induced protein levels. This information cannot be revealed by genomic or transcriptomic analysis. Eventually, these processes will provide more direct insight into stress perception then genetic markers and might build a complementary basis for future marker-assisted selection of drought resistance. In this review, we survey the role of proteomic studies to illustrate their applications in crop stress adaptation analysis with respect to productivity. Cereal crops such as wheat, rice, maize, barley, sorghum and pearl millet are discussed in detail. We provide a comprehensive and comparative overview of all detected protein changes involved in drought stress in these crops and have summarized existing knowledge into a proposed scheme of drought response. Based on a recent proteome study of pearl millet under drought stress we compare our findings with wheat proteomes and another recent study which defined genetic marker in pearl millet.

Inverse Problems and Data Fusion for crop production applications targeting optimal growth - Fertilization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaur, Bipjeet; Owusu, Robert K. A.

2015-01-01

of the crop growth process based on information on soil quality, field seeding, spraying/fertilization and environmental information in general. Finally, references to software tools, which could form the basis for an open source platform for a planning and monitoring system for optimal crop growth......, such that the crop yield is optimized with respect to several parameters (e.g. high end user value and minimum environmental impact), thus obtaining a sustainable production. The growth process optimization is based on information, including sensor based measurements with sensor quality monitoring, from previous......This work in progress is a contribution to crop growth systems for planning and monitoring of farm activities and practices by farmers. The work outlines the initial findings related to modelling, simulation and visualization techniques for crop growth, specifically targeting the barley crop...

The review of dynamic monitoring technology for crop growth

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hong-wei; Chen, Huai-liang; Zou, Chun-hui; Yu, Wei-dong

2010-10-01

In this paper, crop growth monitoring methods are described elaborately. The crop growth models, Netherlands-Wageningen model system, the United States-GOSSYM model and CERES models, Australia APSIM model and CCSODS model system in China, are introduced here more focus on the theories of mechanism, applications, etc. The methods and application of remote sensing monitoring methods, which based on leaf area index (LAI) and biomass were proposed by different scholars at home and abroad, are highly stressed in the paper. The monitoring methods of remote sensing coupling with crop growth models are talked out at large, including the method of "forced law" which using remote sensing retrieval state parameters as the crop growth model parameters input, and then to enhance the dynamic simulation accuracy of crop growth model and the method of "assimilation of Law" which by reducing the gap difference between the value of remote sensing retrieval and the simulated values of crop growth model and thus to estimate the initial value or parameter values to increasing the simulation accuracy. At last, the developing trend of monitoring methods are proposed based on the advantages and shortcomings in previous studies, it is assured that the combination of remote sensing with moderate resolution data of FY-3A, MODIS, etc., crop growth model, "3S" system and observation in situ are the main methods in refinement of dynamic monitoring and quantitative assessment techniques for crop growth in future.

Insect pests and their natural enemies on spring oilseed rape in Estonia : impact of cropping systems

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E. VEROMANN

2008-12-01

Full Text Available To investigate the impact of different cropping systems, the pests, their hymenopteran parasitoids and predatory ground beetles present in two spring rape crops in Estonia, in 2003, were compared. One crop was grown under a standard (STN cropping system and the other under a minimised (MIN system. The STN system plants had more flowers than those in the MIN system, and these attracted significantly more Meligethes aeneus, the only abundant and real pest in Estonia. Meligethes aeneus had two population peaks: the first during opening of the first flowers and the second, the new generation, during ripening of the pods. The number of new generation M. aeneus was almost four times greater in the STN than in the MIN crop. More carabids were caught in the MIN than in STN crop. The maximum abundance of carabids occurred two weeks before that of the new generation of M. aeneus, at the time when M. aeneus larvae were dropping to the soil for pupation and hence were vulnerable to predation by carabids.

Remediation of Stratified Soil Acidity Through Surface Application of Lime in No-Till Cropping Systems

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Yield reduction and reduced crop vigor, resulting from soil acidification, are of increasing concern in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. In this region, soil pH has been decreasing at an accelerated rate, primarily due to the long-term use of ammonium based fertilizers. In no-till systems, the...

From the Academy: Colloquium perspective. Toward cropping systems that enhance productivity and sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, R James

2006-12-05

The defining features of any cropping system are (i) the crop rotation and (ii) the kind or intensity of tillage. The trend worldwide starting in the late 20th century has been (i) to specialize competitively in the production of two, three, a single, or closely related crops such as different market classes of wheat and barley, and (ii) to use direct seeding, also known as no-till, to cut costs and save soil, time, and fuel. The availability of glyphosate- and insect-resistant varieties of soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola has helped greatly to address weed and insect pest pressures favored by direct seeding these crops. However, little has been done through genetics and breeding to address diseases caused by residue- and soil-inhabiting pathogens that remain major obstacles to wider adoption of these potentially more productive and sustainable systems. Instead, the gains have been due largely to innovations in management, including enhancement of root defense by antibiotic-producing rhizosphere-inhabiting bacteria inhibitory to root pathogens. Historically, new varieties have facilitated wider adoption of new management, and changes in management have facilitated wider adoption of new varieties. Although actual yields may be lower in direct-seed compared with conventional cropping systems, largely due to diseases, the yield potential is higher because of more available water and increases in soil organic matter. Achieving the full production potential of these more-sustainable cropping systems must now await the development of varieties adapted to or resistant to the hazards shown to account for the yield depressions associated with direct seeding.

Field-Based Estimates of Global Warming Potential in Bioenergy Systems of Hawaii: Crop Choice and Deficit Irrigation.

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Meghan N Pawlowski

Full Text Available Replacing fossil fuel with biofuel is environmentally viable from a climate change perspective only if the net greenhouse gas (GHG footprint of the system is reduced. The effects of replacing annual arable crops with perennial bioenergy feedstocks on net GHG production and soil carbon (C stock are critical to the system-level balance. Here, we compared GHG flux, crop yield, root biomass, and soil C stock under two potential tropical, perennial grass biofuel feedstocks: conventional sugarcane and ratoon-harvested, zero-tillage napiergrass. Evaluations were conducted at two irrigation levels, 100% of plantation application and at a 50% deficit. Peaks and troughs of GHG emission followed agronomic events such as ratoon harvest of napiergrass and fertilization. Yet, net GHG flux was dominated by carbon dioxide (CO2, as methane was oxidized and nitrous oxide (N2O emission was very low even following fertilization. High N2O fluxes that frequently negate other greenhouse gas benefits that come from replacing fossil fuels with agronomic forms of bioenergy were mitigated by efficient water and fertilizer management, including direct injection of fertilizer into buried irrigation lines. From soil intensively cultivated for a century in sugarcane, soil C stock and root biomass increased rapidly following cultivation in grasses selected for robust root systems and drought tolerance. The net soil C increase over the two-year crop cycle was three-fold greater than the annualized soil surface CO2 flux. Deficit irrigation reduced yield, but increased soil C accumulation as proportionately more photosynthetic resources were allocated belowground. In the first two years of cultivation napiergrass did not increase net greenhouse warming potential (GWP compared to sugarcane, and has the advantage of multiple ratoon harvests per year and less negative effects of deficit irrigation to yield.

Field-Based Estimates of Global Warming Potential in Bioenergy Systems of Hawaii: Crop Choice and Deficit Irrigation.

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Pawlowski, Meghan N; Crow, Susan E; Meki, Manyowa N; Kiniry, James R; Taylor, Andrew D; Ogoshi, Richard; Youkhana, Adel; Nakahata, Mae

2017-01-01

Replacing fossil fuel with biofuel is environmentally viable from a climate change perspective only if the net greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the system is reduced. The effects of replacing annual arable crops with perennial bioenergy feedstocks on net GHG production and soil carbon (C) stock are critical to the system-level balance. Here, we compared GHG flux, crop yield, root biomass, and soil C stock under two potential tropical, perennial grass biofuel feedstocks: conventional sugarcane and ratoon-harvested, zero-tillage napiergrass. Evaluations were conducted at two irrigation levels, 100% of plantation application and at a 50% deficit. Peaks and troughs of GHG emission followed agronomic events such as ratoon harvest of napiergrass and fertilization. Yet, net GHG flux was dominated by carbon dioxide (CO2), as methane was oxidized and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission was very low even following fertilization. High N2O fluxes that frequently negate other greenhouse gas benefits that come from replacing fossil fuels with agronomic forms of bioenergy were mitigated by efficient water and fertilizer management, including direct injection of fertilizer into buried irrigation lines. From soil intensively cultivated for a century in sugarcane, soil C stock and root biomass increased rapidly following cultivation in grasses selected for robust root systems and drought tolerance. The net soil C increase over the two-year crop cycle was three-fold greater than the annualized soil surface CO2 flux. Deficit irrigation reduced yield, but increased soil C accumulation as proportionately more photosynthetic resources were allocated belowground. In the first two years of cultivation napiergrass did not increase net greenhouse warming potential (GWP) compared to sugarcane, and has the advantage of multiple ratoon harvests per year and less negative effects of deficit irrigation to yield.

Impact of management strategies on the global warming potential at the cropping system level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goglio, Pietro; Grant, Brian B.; Smith, Ward N.; Desjardins, Raymond L.; Worth, Devon E.; Zentner, Robert; Malhi, Sukhdev S.

2014-01-01

Estimating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural systems is important in order to assess the impact of agriculture on climate change. In this study experimental data supplemented with results from a biophysical model (DNDC) were combined with life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the impact of management strategies on global warming potential of long-term cropping systems at two locations (Breton and Ellerslie) in Alberta, Canada. The aim was to estimate the difference in global warming potential (GWP) of cropping systems due to N fertilizer reduction and residue removal. Reducing the nitrogen fertilizer rate from 75 to 50 kg N ha −1 decreased on average the emissions of N 2 O by 39%, NO by 59% and ammonia volatilisation by 57%. No clear trend for soil CO 2 emissions was determined among cropping systems. When evaluated on a per hectare basis, cropping systems with residue removal required 6% more energy and had a little change in GWP. Conversely, when evaluated on the basis of gigajoules of harvestable biomass, residue removal resulted in 28% less energy requirement and 33% lower GWP. Reducing nitrogen fertilizer rate resulted in 18% less GWP on average for both functional units at Breton and 39% less GWP at Ellerslie. Nitrous oxide emissions contributed on average 67% to the overall GWP per ha. This study demonstrated that small changes in N fertilizer have a minimal impact on the productivity of the cropping systems but can still have a substantial environmental impact. - Highlights: • LCA was combined with DNDC model to estimate the GWP of a cropping system. • N 2 O, NO and NH 3 flux increased by 39% under the higher fertilizer rate. • A change from 75 to 50 kg N ha −1 reduced the GWP per ha and GJ basis by 18%. • N 2 O emissions contributed 67% to the overall GWP of the cropping system. • Small changes in N fertilizer can have a substantial environmental impact

Impact of management strategies on the global warming potential at the cropping system level

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goglio, Pietro; Grant, Brian B.; Smith, Ward N. [Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, K.W. Neatby Building, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6 (Canada); Desjardins, Raymond L., E-mail: ray.desjardins@agr.gc.ca [Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, K.W. Neatby Building, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6 (Canada); Worth, Devon E. [Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, K.W. Neatby Building, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6 (Canada); Zentner, Robert [Swift Current Research Station, Swift Current, Saskatchewan S0E 1A0 (Canada); Malhi, Sukhdev S. [Melfort Research Farm, PO Box 1240, Melfort, Saskatchewan S0E 1A0 (Canada)

2014-08-15

Estimating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural systems is important in order to assess the impact of agriculture on climate change. In this study experimental data supplemented with results from a biophysical model (DNDC) were combined with life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the impact of management strategies on global warming potential of long-term cropping systems at two locations (Breton and Ellerslie) in Alberta, Canada. The aim was to estimate the difference in global warming potential (GWP) of cropping systems due to N fertilizer reduction and residue removal. Reducing the nitrogen fertilizer rate from 75 to 50 kg N ha{sup −1} decreased on average the emissions of N{sub 2}O by 39%, NO by 59% and ammonia volatilisation by 57%. No clear trend for soil CO{sub 2} emissions was determined among cropping systems. When evaluated on a per hectare basis, cropping systems with residue removal required 6% more energy and had a little change in GWP. Conversely, when evaluated on the basis of gigajoules of harvestable biomass, residue removal resulted in 28% less energy requirement and 33% lower GWP. Reducing nitrogen fertilizer rate resulted in 18% less GWP on average for both functional units at Breton and 39% less GWP at Ellerslie. Nitrous oxide emissions contributed on average 67% to the overall GWP per ha. This study demonstrated that small changes in N fertilizer have a minimal impact on the productivity of the cropping systems but can still have a substantial environmental impact. - Highlights: • LCA was combined with DNDC model to estimate the GWP of a cropping system. • N{sub 2}O, NO and NH{sub 3} flux increased by 39% under the higher fertilizer rate. • A change from 75 to 50 kg N ha{sup −1} reduced the GWP per ha and GJ basis by 18%. • N{sub 2}O emissions contributed 67% to the overall GWP of the cropping system. • Small changes in N fertilizer can have a substantial environmental impact.

Managing soil microbial communities in grain production systems through cropping practices

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Vadakattu

2013-04-01

Cropping practices can significantly influence the composition and activity of soil microbial communities with consequences to plant growth and production. Plant type can affect functional capacity of different groups of biota in the soil surrounding their roots, rhizosphere, influencing plant nutrition, beneficial symbioses, pests and diseases and overall plant health and crop production. The interaction between different players in the rhizosphere is due to the plethora of carbon and nutritional compounds, root-specific chemical signals and growth regulators that originate from the plant and are modulated by the physico-chemical properties of soils. A number of plant and environmental factors and management practices can influence the quantity and quality of rhizodeposition and in turn affect the composition of rhizosphere biota communities, microbe-fauna interactions and biological processes. Some of the examples of rhizosphere interactions that are currently considered important are: proliferation of plant and variety specific genera or groups of microbiota, induction of genes involved in symbiosis and virulence, promoter activity in biocontrol agents and genes correlated with root adhesion and border cell quality and quantity. The observation of variety-based differences in rhizodeposition and associated changes in rhizosphere microbial diversity and function suggests the possibility for the development of varieties with specific root-microbe interactions targeted for soil type and environment i.e. designer rhizospheres. Spatial location of microorganisms in the heterogeneous field soil matrix can have significant impacts on biological processes. Therefore, for rhizosphere research to be effective in variable seasonal climate and soil conditions, it must be evaluated in the field and within a farming systems context. With the current focus on security of food to feed the growing global populations through sustainable agricultural production systems there is a

Biological N2 fixation by chickpea in inter cropping system on sand soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ismail, M. M.; Moursy, A. A. A.; Kotb, E. A.; Farid, I. M.

2012-12-01

A field experiment was carried out at the plant nutrition and fertilization unit, Soils and Water Research Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority, Inshas, Egypt on wheat and chickpea incorporating. The benefits of N 2 fixation by legumes to cereals growing in inter crops or to grasses growing in mixed swards are high clear. In cases the benefit to the N status of cereals has bee seen when they are inter cropped with legumes, where benefit is found, it is mainly due to sparing of soil N rather than direct transfer from the legume. Inter cropped wheat, has a high grains yield as compared to those recorded under sole crop. The application of inter cropping system an increase of wheat grain yield against the sole system, regardless the cultivation system, the over all means of fertilizer rates indicated (50% MF + 50% OM) treatment was superiority (100% OM) and (75% MF + 25% OM) or those recorded with either un fertilizer when wheat grain yield considered. Comparison heed between or gain sources reflected the superiority of compost under sole cultivation, while chickpea straw was the best under inter cropping. Inter cropped has a high grain N uptake compared to soil systems. While totally organic materials had accumulates more N in grains than those of untreated treated control. In the some time, the overall mean indicated the superiority of compost treatment combined with 50% mineral fertilizer under inter cropping system over those of either only organic materials treatment or those combined with 75% mineral fertilizer. Plants treated of chickpea straw and compost, achieved the best value of straw weight. A mong the organic manure treatments, chickpea straw and compost seem to be the best ones. Nitrogen derived from air (%Ndfa) shoots and seeds of chickpea plants: In case of cow manure and maize stalk, the best value of nitrogen derived from air was detected followed by compost, while the lowest value was recorded with wheat straw. In general

Development of a construct-based risk assessment framework for genetic engineered crops.

Science.gov (United States)

Beker, M P; Boari, P; Burachik, M; Cuadrado, V; Junco, M; Lede, S; Lema, M A; Lewi, D; Maggi, A; Meoniz, I; Noé, G; Roca, C; Robredo, C; Rubinstein, C; Vicien, C; Whelan, A

2016-10-01

Experience gained in the risk assessment (RA) of genetically engineered (GE) crops since their first experimental introductions in the early nineties, has increased the level of familiarity with these breeding methodologies and has motivated several agencies and expert groups worldwide to revisit the scientific criteria underlying the RA process. Along these lines, the need to engage in a scientific discussion for the case of GE crops transformed with similar constructs was recently identified in Argentina. In response to this need, the Argentine branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI Argentina) convened a tripartite working group to discuss a science-based evaluation approach for transformation events developed with genetic constructs which are identical or similar to those used in previously evaluated or approved GE crops. This discussion considered new transformation events within the same or different species and covered both environmental and food safety aspects. A construct similarity concept was defined, considering the biological function of the introduced genes. Factors like environmental and dietary exposure, familiarity with both the crop and the trait as well as the crop biology, were identified as key to inform a construct-based RA process.

[Active crop canopy sensor-based nitrogen diagnosis for potato].

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jing; Li, Fei; Qin, Yong-Lin; Fan, Ming-Shou

2013-11-01

In the present study, two potato experiments involving different N rates in 2011 were conducted in Wuchuan County and Linxi County, Inner Mongolia. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was collected by an active GreenSeeker crop canopy sensor to estimate N status of potato. The results show that the NDVI readings were poorly correlated with N nutrient indicators of potato at vegetative Growth stage due to the influence of soil background. With the advance of growth stages, NDVI values were exponentially related to plant N uptake (R2 = 0.665) before tuber bulking stage and were linearly related to plant N concentration (R2 = 0.699) when plant fully covered soil. In conclusion, GreenSeeker active crop sensor is a promising tool to estimate N status for potato plants. The findings from this study may be useful for developing N recommendation method based on active crop canopy sensor.

A Phenology-Based Classification of Time-Series MODIS Data for Rice Crop Monitoring in Mekong Delta, Vietnam

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Nguyen-Thanh Son

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Rice crop monitoring is an important activity for crop management. This study aimed to develop a phenology-based classification approach for the assessment of rice cropping systems in Mekong Delta, Vietnam, using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS data. The data were processed from December 2000, to December 2012, using empirical mode decomposition (EMD in three main steps: (1 data pre-processing to construct the smooth MODIS enhanced vegetation index (EVI time-series data; (2 rice crop classification; and (3 accuracy assessment. The comparisons between the classification maps and the ground reference data indicated overall accuracies and Kappa coefficients, respectively, of 81.4% and 0.75 for 2002, 80.6% and 0.74 for 2006 and 85.5% and 0.81 for 2012. The results by comparisons between MODIS-derived rice area and rice area statistics were slightly overestimated, with a relative error in area (REA from 0.9–15.9%. There was, however, a close correlation between the two datasets (R2 ≥ 0.89. From 2001 to 2012, the areas of triple-cropped rice increased approximately 31.6%, while those of the single-cropped rain-fed rice, double-cropped irrigated rice and double-cropped rain-fed rice decreased roughly −5.0%, −19.2% and −7.4%, respectively. This study demonstrates the validity of such an approach for rice-crop monitoring with MODIS data and could be transferable to other regions.

Soil hydrology of agroforestry systems: Competition for water or positive tree-crops interactions?

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Gerjets, Rowena; Richter, Falk; Jansen, Martin; Carminati, Andrea

2017-04-01

In dry periods during the growing season crops may suffer from severe water stress. The question arises whether the alternation of crop and tree strips might enhance and sustain soil water resources available for crops during drought events. Trees reduce wind exposure, decreasing the potential evapotranspiration of crops and soils; additionally hydraulic lift from the deep roots of trees to the drier top soil might provide additional water for shallow-rooted crops. To understand the above and belowground water relations of agroforestry systems, we measured soil moisture and soil water potential in crop strips as a function of distance to the trees at varying depth as well as meteorological parameters. At the agroforestry site Reiffenhausen, Lower Saxony, Germany, two different tree species are planted, each in one separated tree strip: willow breed Tordis ((Salix viminalis x Salix Schwerinii) x Salix viminalis) and poplar clone Max 1 (Populus nigra x Populus maximowiczii). In between the tree strips a crop strip of 24 m width was established with annual crop rotation, managed the same way as the reference site. During a drought period in May 2016 with less than 2 mm rain in four weeks, an overall positive effect on hydrological conditions of the agroforestry system was observed. The results show that trees shaded the soil surface, lowering the air temperature and further increasing the soil moisture in the crop strips compared to the reference site, which was located far from the trees. At the reference site the crops took up water in the upper soil (sunlight. The two tree species behaved differently. The poplar strips showed more marked diurnal changes in soil water potential, with fast drying during daytime and rewetting during nighttime. We suppose that the rewetting during nighttime was caused by hydraulic lift, which supports passively the drier upper soil with water from the wetter, lower soil layers. This experimental study shows the importance of above- and

Effect of sugarcane cropping systems on herbicide losses in surface runoff.

Science.gov (United States)

Nachimuthu, Gunasekhar; Halpin, Neil V; Bell, Michael J

2016-07-01

Herbicide runoff from cropping fields has been identified as a threat to the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. A field investigation was carried out to monitor the changes in runoff water quality resulting from four different sugarcane cropping systems that included different herbicides and contrasting tillage and trash management practices. These include (i) Conventional - Tillage (beds and inter-rows) with residual herbicides used; (ii) Improved - only the beds were tilled (zonal) with reduced residual herbicides used; (iii) Aspirational - minimum tillage (one pass of a single tine ripper before planting) with trash mulch, no residual herbicides and a legume intercrop after cane establishment; and (iv) New Farming System (NFS) - minimum tillage as in Aspirational practice with a grain legume rotation and a combination of residual and knockdown herbicides. Results suggest soil and trash management had a larger effect on the herbicide losses in runoff than the physico-chemical properties of herbicides. Improved practices with 30% lower atrazine application rates than used in conventional systems produced reduced runoff volumes by 40% and atrazine loss by 62%. There were a 2-fold variation in atrazine and >10-fold variation in metribuzin loads in runoff water between reduced tillage systems differing in soil disturbance and surface residue cover from the previous rotation crops, despite the same herbicide application rates. The elevated risk of offsite losses from herbicides was illustrated by the high concentrations of diuron (14μgL(-1)) recorded in runoff that occurred >2.5months after herbicide application in a 1(st) ratoon crop. A cropping system employing less persistent non-selective herbicides and an inter-row soybean mulch resulted in no residual herbicide contamination in runoff water, but recorded 12.3% lower yield compared to Conventional practice. These findings reveal a trade-off between achieving good water quality with minimal herbicide contamination and

VIC-CropSyst-v2: A regional-scale modeling platform to simulate the nexus of climate, hydrology, cropping systems, and human decisions

Science.gov (United States)

Malek, Keyvan; Stöckle, Claudio; Chinnayakanahalli, Kiran; Nelson, Roger; Liu, Mingliang; Rajagopalan, Kirti; Barik, Muhammad; Adam, Jennifer C.

2017-08-01

Food supply is affected by a complex nexus of land, atmosphere, and human processes, including short- and long-term stressors (e.g., drought and climate change, respectively). A simulation platform that captures these complex elements can be used to inform policy and best management practices to promote sustainable agriculture. We have developed a tightly coupled framework using the macroscale variable infiltration capacity (VIC) hydrologic model and the CropSyst agricultural model. A mechanistic irrigation module was also developed for inclusion in this framework. Because VIC-CropSyst combines two widely used and mechanistic models (for crop phenology, growth, management, and macroscale hydrology), it can provide realistic and hydrologically consistent simulations of water availability, crop water requirements for irrigation, and agricultural productivity for both irrigated and dryland systems. This allows VIC-CropSyst to provide managers and decision makers with reliable information on regional water stresses and their impacts on food production. Additionally, VIC-CropSyst is being used in conjunction with socioeconomic models, river system models, and atmospheric models to simulate feedback processes between regional water availability, agricultural water management decisions, and land-atmosphere interactions. The performance of VIC-CropSyst was evaluated on both regional (over the US Pacific Northwest) and point scales. Point-scale evaluation involved using two flux tower sites located in agricultural fields in the US (Nebraska and Illinois). The agreement between recorded and simulated evapotranspiration (ET), applied irrigation water, soil moisture, leaf area index (LAI), and yield indicated that, although the model is intended to work on regional scales, it also captures field-scale processes in agricultural areas.

Sediment and PM10 flux from no-tillage cropping systems in the Pacific Northwest

Science.gov (United States)

Wind erosion is a concern in the Inland Pacific Northwest (PNW) United States where the emission of fine particulates from winter wheat – summer fallow (WW/SF) dryland cropping systems during high winds degrade air quality. Although no-tillage cropping systems are not yet economically viable, these ...

Crop Management Effects on the Energy and Carbon Balances of Maize Stover-Based Ethanol Production

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Prem Woli

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to identify the crop management options—the combinations of various cultivars, irrigation amounts, planting dates, and soils—that would maximize the energy sustainability and eco-friendliness of maize (Zea mays L. stover-based ethanol production systems in the Mississippi Delta. Stover yields simulated with CERES-Maize were used to compute net energy value (NEV and carbon credit balance (CCB, the indicators of sustainability and eco-friendliness of ethanol production, respectively, for various scenarios. As the results showed, deeper soils with higher water holding capacities had larger NEV and CCB values. Both NEV and CCB had sigmoid relationships with irrigation amount and planting date and could be maximized by planting the crop during the optimum planting window. Stover yield had positive effects on NEV and CCB, whereas travel distance had negative. The influence of stover yield was larger than that of travel distance, indicating that increasing feedstock yields should be emphasized over reducing travel distance. The NEV and CCB values indicated that stover-based ethanol production in the Mississippi Delta is sustainable and environmentally friendly. The study demonstrated that the energy sustainability and eco-friendliness of maize stover-based ethanol production could be increased with alternative crop management options.

Detecting crop population growth using chlorophyll fluorescence imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Heng; Qian, Xiangjie; Zhang, Lan; Xu, Sailong; Li, Haifeng; Xia, Xiaojian; Dai, Liankui; Xu, Liang; Yu, Jingquan; Liu, Xu

2017-12-10

For both field and greenhouse crops, it is challenging to evaluate their growth information on a large area over a long time. In this work, we developed a chlorophyll fluorescence imaging-based system for crop population growth information detection. Modular design was used to make the system provide high-intensity uniform illumination. This system can perform modulated chlorophyll fluorescence induction kinetics measurement and chlorophyll fluorescence parameter imaging over a large area of up to 45  cm×34  cm. The system can provide different lighting intensity by modulating the duty cycle of its control signal. Results of continuous monitoring of cucumbers in nitrogen deficiency show the system can reduce the judge error of crop physiological status and improve monitoring efficiency. Meanwhile, the system is promising in high throughput application scenarios.

The Crop Journal: A new scientific journal for the global crop science community

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Jianmin Wan

2013-10-01

Full Text Available As global population increases and demands for food supplies become greater, we face great challenges in providing more products and in larger quantities from less arable land. Crop science has gained increasing importance in meeting these challenges and results of scientific research must be communicated worldwide on a regular basis. In many countries, however, crop scientists have to publish the results of their investigations in national journals with heterogeneous contents and in their native languages. As a consequence, valuable work often remains unknown to scientists elsewhere. As a big country with a large number of crop scientists, China has a wide range of climatic and ecological environments, diverse plant species and cropping systems, and different regional needs for food supplies, which justify the recent decision by the Crop Science Society of China and the Institute of Crop Science within the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, to launch a new communication channel, The Crop Journal. The goal of The Crop Journal is to meet an urgent need for a major Asia-based journal that covers the diverse fields of crop science. Our aim is to create a vital and thought-provoking journal that will highlight state-of-the-art original work and reviews by high-profile crop scientists and investigative groups throughout the world — a journal that will respond to the needs of specialists in strategic crop research. We will work with scientific and publishing colleagues worldwide, using The Plant Journal and Crop Science as models, to establish The Crop Journal as a broadly based high quality journal and a premier forum for issues in crop science. The Crop Journal will cover a wide range of topics, including crop genetics, breeding, agronomy, crop physiology, germplasm resources, grain chemistry, grain storage and processing, crop management practices, crop biotechnology, and biomathematics. The journal also encourages the submission of review

Water and nitrogen in crop and pasture systems in southern Australia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Angus, J.F.; Peoples, M.B.; Herwaarden, A.F. van

1998-01-01

Recent research on water and N for dryland crops in southern Australia has addressed the need for more efficient and sustainable production. Water-use efficiency is well below the potential and N-use efficiency well below optimum on farms. Excess water and N cause on-site and off-site environmental damage. The most effective means of illustrating these inefficiencies to growers is to present simple benchmarks of water and N-use efficiencies with which farmers can assess and improve the performance of their own crops. The practices shown by our recent research that best support the goals of more efficient and sustainable production are those that maximize extraction of soil water and mineral N, and increase biological N 2 fixation. Wheat growing after a brassica break-crop extract more water and mineral N from the soil than when grown as a continuous cereal, apparently because of a 'biofumigation' effect that reduces the numbers of soil-borne pathogens of wheat and produces a stronger root system. In the case of phased pasture-crop systems, annual pastures do not fully extract subsoil water or mineral N. However, when the grasses are removed from annual pastures with a selective herbicide, the remaining pure clover rapidly decomposes after maturity, leaving a large amount of mineral N for the following crop. Perennial pastures containing lucerne produce more forage and fix more N 2 than do annual pastures, but they dry the soil profile. After removal of the lucerne, the soil may be so dry that mineralization is slow, with the risk of water deficit for the subsequent crop. (author)

A Simulation Software for the Analysis of Cropping Systems in Livestock Farms

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Tommaso Maggiore

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Simulation models can support quantitative and integrated analyses of agricultural systems. In this paper we describe VA.TE., a computer program developed to support the preparation and evaluation of nitrogen fertilising plans for livestock farms in the Lombardy region (northern Italy. The program integrates the cropping systems simulation model CropSyst with several regional agricultural databases, and provides the users with a simple framework for applying the model and interpreting results. VA.TE. makes good use of available data, integrating into a single relational database existing information about soils, climate, farms, animal breeds, crops and crop managements, and providing estimates of missing input variables. A simulation engine manages the entire simulation process: choice of farms to be simulated, model parameterisation, creation of model inputs, simulation of scenarios and analysis of model outputs. The program permits to apply at farm scale a model originally designed for the lower scale of homogeneous land parcel. It manages alternative simulation scenarios for each farm, helping to identify solutions to combine low nitrate losses and satisfactory crop yields. Example simulation results for three farms located on different soils and having varying levels of nitrogen surplus show that the integrated system (model + database can manage various simulations automatically, and that strategies to improve N management can be refined by analysing the simulated amounts and temporal patterns of nitrogen leaching.We conclude by discussing the issues regarding the integration of existing regional databases with simulation models.

A Simulation Software for the Analysis of Cropping Systems in Livestock Farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Bechini

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Simulation models can support quantitative and integrated analyses of agricultural systems. In this paper we describe VA.TE., a computer program developed to support the preparation and evaluation of nitrogen fertilising plans for livestock farms in the Lombardy region (northern Italy. The program integrates the cropping systems simulation model CropSyst with several regional agricultural databases, and provides the users with a simple framework for applying the model and interpreting results. VA.TE. makes good use of available data, integrating into a single relational database existing information about soils, climate, farms, animal breeds, crops and crop managements, and providing estimates of missing input variables. A simulation engine manages the entire simulation process: choice of farms to be simulated, model parameterisation, creation of model inputs, simulation of scenarios and analysis of model outputs. The program permits to apply at farm scale a model originally designed for the lower scale of homogeneous land parcel. It manages alternative simulation scenarios for each farm, helping to identify solutions to combine low nitrate losses and satisfactory crop yields. Example simulation results for three farms located on different soils and having varying levels of nitrogen surplus show that the integrated system (model + database can manage various simulations automatically, and that strategies to improve N management can be refined by analysing the simulated amounts and temporal patterns of nitrogen leaching.We conclude by discussing the issues regarding the integration of existing regional databases with simulation models.

Economic evaluation of cereal cropping systems under semiarid conditions: minimum input, organic and conventional

OpenAIRE

Pardo,Gabriel; Aibar,Joaquín; Cavero,José; Zaragoza,Carlos

2009-01-01

Cropping systems like organic farming, selling products at a higher price and promoting environmental sustainability by reducing fertilizer and pesticides, can be more profitable than conventional systems. An economic evaluation of three cropping systems in a seven year period experiment was performed, using a common rotation (fallow-barley-vetch-durum wheat) in a semi-arid rainfed field of Spain. The minimum input system included mouldboard ploughing, cultivator preparation, sowing and harve...

Satellite Based Cropland Carbon Monitoring System

Science.gov (United States)

Bandaru, V.; Jones, C. D.; Sedano, F.; Sahajpal, R.; Jin, H.; Skakun, S.; Pnvr, K.; Kommareddy, A.; Reddy, A.; Hurtt, G. C.; Izaurralde, R. C.

2017-12-01

Agricultural croplands act as both sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2); absorbing CO2 through photosynthesis, releasing CO2 through autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration, and sequestering CO2 in vegetation and soils. Part of the carbon captured in vegetation can be transported and utilized elsewhere through the activities of food, fiber, and energy production. As well, a portion of carbon in soils can be exported somewhere else by wind, water, and tillage erosion. Thus, it is important to quantify how land use and land management practices affect the net carbon balance of croplands. To monitor the impacts of various agricultural activities on carbon balance and to develop management strategies to make croplands to behave as net carbon sinks, it is of paramount importance to develop consistent and high resolution cropland carbon flux estimates. Croplands are typically characterized by fine scale heterogeneity; therefore, for accurate carbon flux estimates, it is necessary to account for the contribution of each crop type and their spatial distribution. As part of NASA CMS funded project, a satellite based Cropland Carbon Monitoring System (CCMS) was developed to estimate spatially resolved crop specific carbon fluxes over large regions. This modeling framework uses remote sensing version of Environmental Policy Integrated Climate Model and satellite derived crop parameters (e.g. leaf area index (LAI)) to determine vertical and lateral carbon fluxes. The crop type LAI product was developed based on the inversion of PRO-SAIL radiative transfer model and downscaled MODIS reflectance. The crop emergence and harvesting dates were estimated based on MODIS NDVI and crop growing degree days. To evaluate the performance of CCMS framework, it was implemented over croplands of Nebraska, and estimated carbon fluxes for major crops (i.e. corn, soybean, winter wheat, grain sorghum, alfalfa) grown in 2015. Key findings of the CCMS framework will be presented

Spatial variability of soil carbon and nitrogen in two hybrid poplar-hay crop systems in southern Quebec, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Winans, K. S.

2013-12-01

Canadian agricultural operations contribute approximately 8% of national GHG emissions each year, mainly from fertilizers, enteric fermentation, and manure management (Environment Canada, 2010). With improved management of cropland and forests, it is possible to mitigate GHG emissions through carbon (C) sequestration while enhancing soil and crop productivity. Tree-based intercropped (TBI) systems, consisting of a fast-growing woody species such as poplar (Populus spp.) planted in widely-spaced rows with crops cultivated between tree rows, were one of the technologies prioritized for investigation by the Agreement for the Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Program (AAGGP), because fast growing trees can be a sink for atmospheric carbon-dioxide (CO2) as well as a long-term source of farm income (Montagnini and Nair, 2004). However, there are relatively few estimates of the C sequestration in the trees or due to tree inputs (e.g., fine root turnover, litterfall that gets incorporated into SOC), and hybrid poplars grow exponentially in the first 8-10 years after planting. With the current study, our objectives were (1) to evaluate spatial variation in soil C and nitrogen (N) storage, CO2 and nitrogen oxide (N20), and tree and crop productivity for two hybrid poplar-hay intercrop systems at year 9, comparing TBI vs. non-TBI systems, and (2) to evaluate TBI systems in the current context of C trading markets, which value C sequestration in trees, unharvested crop components, and soils of TBI systems. The study results will provide meaningful measures that indicate changes due to TBI systems in the short-term and in the long-term, in terms of GHG mitigation, enhanced soil and crop productivity, as well as the expected economic returns in TBI systems.

Identification of technology options for reducing nitrogen pollution in cropping systems of Pujiang.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Bin; Wang, Guang-Huo; Van, Den Berg Marrit; Roetter, Reimund

2005-10-01

This work analyses the potential role of nitrogen pollution technology of crop systems of Pujiang, County in Eastern China's Zhejiang Province, rice and vegetables are important cropping systems. We used a case study approach involving comparison of farmer practices and improved technologies. This approach allows assessing the impact of technology on pollution, is forward looking, and can yield information on the potential of on-the-shelf technology and provide opportunities for technology development. The approach particularly suits newly developed rice technologies with large potential of reducing nitrogen pollution and for future rice and vegetables technologies. The results showed that substantial reductions in nitrogen pollution are feasible for both types of crops.

Indicators of soil quality in the implantation of no-till system with winter crops

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Antonio Nogueira

Full Text Available We assessed the effect of different winter crops on indicators of soil quality related to C and N cycling and C fractions in a Rhodic Kandiudult under no-till system at implantation, during two growing seasons, in Londrina PR Brazil. The experimental design was randomized blocks with split-plot in time arrangement, with four replications. The parcels were the winter crops: multicropping of cover crops with black oat (Avena strigosa, hairy vetch (Vicia villosa and fodder radish (Raphanus sativus; sunflower (Heliantus annuus intercropped with Urochloa ruziziensis; corn (Zea mays intercropped with Urochloa; and corn; fodder radish; or wheat (Triticum aestivum as sole crops. The subplots were the years: 2008 and 2009. Determinations consisted of total organic C, labile and resistant C, total N, microbial biomass C and N, the C/N ratio of soil organic matter, and the microbial quotient (qMic, besides microbiological and biochemical attributes, assessed only in 2009. The attributes significantly changed with the winter crops, especially the multicropping of cover crops and fodder radish, as well as effect of years. Despite stimulating the microbiological/biochemical activity, fodder radish cropping decreased the soil C in the second year, likewise the wheat cropping. The multicropping of cover crops in winter is an option for management in the establishment of no-till system, which contributes to increase the concentrations of C and stimulate the soil microbiological/biochemical activity.

Research and development of LANDSAT-based crop inventory techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Horvath, R.; Cicone, R. C.; Malila, W. A. (Principal Investigator)

1982-01-01

A wide spectrum of technology pertaining to the inventory of crops using LANDSAT without in situ training data is addressed. Methods considered include Bayesian based through-the-season methods, estimation technology based on analytical profile fitting methods, and expert-based computer aided methods. Although the research was conducted using U.S. data, the adaptation of the technology to the Southern Hemisphere, especially Argentina was considered.

Tillage System and Cover Crop Effects on Soil Quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abdollahi, Lotfollah; Munkholm, Lars Juhl

2014-01-01

), and moldboard plowing (MP) with and without a cover crop were evaluated in a long-term experiment on a sandy loam soil in Denmark. Chemical, physical, and biological soil properties were measured in the spring of 2012. The field measurements included mean weight diameter (MWD) after the drop-shatter test......, penetration resistance, and visual evaluation of soil structure (VESS). In the laboratory, aggregate strength, water-stable aggregates (WSA), and clay dispersibility were measured. The analyzed chemical and biological properties included soil organic C (SOC), total N, microbial biomass C, labile P and K......Optimal use of management systems including tillage and winter cover crops is recommended to improve soil quality and sustain agricultural production. The effects on soil properties of three tillage systems (as main plot) including direct drilling (D), harrowing to a depth of 8 to 10 cm (H...

Effect of weather data aggregation on regional crop simulation for different crops, production conditions, and response variables

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhao, Gang; Hoffmann, Holger; Bussel, Van L.G.J.; Enders, Andreas; Specka, Xenia; Sosa, Carmen; Yeluripati, Jagadeesh; Tao, Fulu; Constantin, Julie; Raynal, Helene; Teixeira, Edmar; Grosz, Balázs; Doro, Luca; Zhao, Zhigan; Nendel, Claas; Kiese, Ralf; Eckersten, Henrik; Haas, Edwin; Vanuytrecht, Eline; Wang, Enli; Kuhnert, Matthias; Trombi, Giacomo; Moriondo, Marco; Bindi, Marco; Lewan, Elisabet; Bach, Michaela; Kersebaum, Kurt Christian; Rötter, Reimund; Roggero, Pier Paolo; Wallach, Daniel; Cammarano, Davide; Asseng, Senthold; Krauss, Gunther; Siebert, Stefan

2015-01-01

We assessed the weather data aggregation effect (DAE) on the simulation of cropping systems for different crops, response variables, and production conditions. Using 13 processbased crop models and the ensemble mean, we simulated 30 yr continuous cropping systems for 2 crops (winter wheat and

Controlled Drainage As Measure to Reduce Nitrate Leaching in a Wheat Cropping System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Børgesen, Christen Duus; Hvid, Søren Kolind; Thomsen, Ingrid Kaag

2013-01-01

for the growing crop, and nutrient exports are reduced. CD has been shown to diminish leaching losses of soluble nutrients. So far CD has only been tested for spring sown crops but widespread implementation on drained clayey soils would rely on its adaption to winter cereal production systems. A new project on CD...... applied at four winter cropped fields in Denmark investigates how effects of anaerobic conditions created by CD will affect chemical/biological processes in the submerged soil, root growth, crop production, and nutrient losses. Nitrification is expected to be retarded by wet soils during winter...

Dynamics of banana-based farming systems in Bukoba district, Tanzania: changes in land use, cropping and cattle keeping

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baijukya, F.P.; Ridder, de N.; Masuki, K.F.; Giller, K.E.

2005-01-01

The spatial and temporal changes of land use, cropping patterns and cattle keeping were assessed for the period 1961–1999 in Kyamtwara division, Bukoba district, Tanzania. The assessment was based on interpreting aerial photographs, surveys and a review of historical statistical data. The area of

VIC–CropSyst-v2: A regional-scale modeling platform to simulate the nexus of climate, hydrology, cropping systems, and human decisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Malek

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Food supply is affected by a complex nexus of land, atmosphere, and human processes, including short- and long-term stressors (e.g., drought and climate change, respectively. A simulation platform that captures these complex elements can be used to inform policy and best management practices to promote sustainable agriculture. We have developed a tightly coupled framework using the macroscale variable infiltration capacity (VIC hydrologic model and the CropSyst agricultural model. A mechanistic irrigation module was also developed for inclusion in this framework. Because VIC–CropSyst combines two widely used and mechanistic models (for crop phenology, growth, management, and macroscale hydrology, it can provide realistic and hydrologically consistent simulations of water availability, crop water requirements for irrigation, and agricultural productivity for both irrigated and dryland systems. This allows VIC–CropSyst to provide managers and decision makers with reliable information on regional water stresses and their impacts on food production. Additionally, VIC–CropSyst is being used in conjunction with socioeconomic models, river system models, and atmospheric models to simulate feedback processes between regional water availability, agricultural water management decisions, and land–atmosphere interactions. The performance of VIC–CropSyst was evaluated on both regional (over the US Pacific Northwest and point scales. Point-scale evaluation involved using two flux tower sites located in agricultural fields in the US (Nebraska and Illinois. The agreement between recorded and simulated evapotranspiration (ET, applied irrigation water, soil moisture, leaf area index (LAI, and yield indicated that, although the model is intended to work on regional scales, it also captures field-scale processes in agricultural areas.

Embodied crop calories in animal products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pradhan, Prajal; Lüdeke, Matthias K B; Reusser, Dominik E; Kropp, Jürgen P

2013-01-01

Increases in animal products consumption and the associated environmental consequences have been a matter of scientific debate for decades. Consequences of such increases include rises in greenhouse gas emissions, growth of consumptive water use, and perturbation of global nutrients cycles. These consequences vary spatially depending on livestock types, their densities and their production system. In this letter, we investigate the spatial distribution of embodied crop calories in animal products. On a global scale, about 40% of the global crop calories are used as livestock feed (we refer to this ratio as crop balance for livestock) and about 4 kcal of crop products are used to generate 1 kcal of animal products (embodied crop calories of around 4). However, these values vary greatly around the world. In some regions, more than 100% of the crops produced is required to feed livestock requiring national or international trade to meet the deficit in livestock feed. Embodied crop calories vary between less than 1 for 20% of the livestock raising areas worldwide and greater than 10 for another 20% of the regions. Low values of embodied crop calories are related to production systems for ruminants based on fodder and forage, while large values are usually associated with production systems for non-ruminants fed on crop products. Additionally, we project the future feed demand considering three scenarios: (a) population growth, (b) population growth and changes in human dietary patterns and (c) changes in population, dietary patterns and feed conversion efficiency. When considering dietary changes, we project the global feed demand to be almost doubled (1.8–2.3 times) by 2050 compared to 2000, which would force us to produce almost equal or even more crops to raise our livestock than to directly nourish ourselves in the future. Feed demand is expected to increase over proportionally in Africa, South-Eastern Asia and Southern Asia, putting additional stress on

No till system of maize and crop-livestock integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edmar Eduardo Bassan Mendes

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to evaluate the implementation of the Integrated Crop-Livestock (ICL in beef cattle farms where the corn was planted directly on the pasture, under no-till system, in the first year. The Crop-Livestock Integration (CLI models evaluated consisted of Brachiaria decumbens pastures intercropped with corn in the no tillage system. However, the evaluated CLI system differed from the usual system because it did not use the conventional tillage in the first year, while the conventional soil preparation and sowing of grass is used by most of the Brazilian farms. The results show that in the first year the period of time spent planting and side-dressing nitrogen   on corn was longer compared to the following years, mainly due to the lack of uniformity of the ground surface, once no conventional tillage was used to prepare the soil and these operations were performed with own implements for direct planting. Therefore, many seeds were placed either very deep or not buried, thus compromising the crop and becoming necessary to replant the corn with a manual planter. From the second year on, even though the conditions were not ideal, the ground surface became more accessible for the sowing and cultivation of corn, after the tillage of the first year. The time spent in most operations performed was longer than usual, especially planting and side-dressing nitrogen on the corn so that the discs did not chop off plants due to the irregularities of the ground surface. Productivity dropped due to the problems already discussed that contributed to a lower income. It is therefore concluded that, under these experimental conditions, the conventional tillage is imperative when implementing the CLI system, even considering the soil management improvements observed from the first to the second year.

Structure of the knowledge base for an expert labeling system

Science.gov (United States)

Rajaram, N. S.

1981-01-01

One of the principal objectives of the NASA AgRISTARS program is the inventory of global crop resources using remotely sensed data gathered by Land Satellites (LANDSAT). A central problem in any such crop inventory procedure is the interpretation of LANDSAT images and identification of parts of each image which are covered by a particular crop of interest. This task of labeling is largely a manual one done by trained human analysts and consequently presents obstacles to the development of totally automated crop inventory systems. However, development in knowledge engineering as well as widespread availability of inexpensive hardware and software for artificial intelligence work offers possibilities for developing expert systems for labeling of crops. Such a knowledge based approach to labeling is presented.

Impacts of Cropping Systems on Aggregates Associated Organic Carbon and Nitrogen in a Semiarid Highland Agroecosystem.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiashu Chu

Full Text Available The effect of cropping system on the distribution of organic carbon (OC and nitrogen (N in soil aggregates has not been well addressed, which is important for understanding the sequestration of OC and N in agricultural soils. We analyzed the distribution of OC and N associated with soil aggregates in three unfertilized cropping systems in a 27-year field experiment: continuously cropped alfalfa, continuously cropped wheat and a legume-grain rotation. The objectives were to understand the effect of cropping system on the distribution of OC and N in aggregates and to examine the relationships between the changes in OC and N stocks in total soils and in aggregates. The cropping systems increased the stocks of OC and N in total soils (0-40 cm at mean rates of 15.6 g OC m-2 yr-1 and 1.2 g N m-2 yr-1 relative to a fallow control. The continuous cropping of alfalfa produced the largest increases at the 0-20 cm depth. The OC and N stocks in total soils were significantly correlated with the changes in the >0.053 mm aggregates. 27-year of cropping increased OC stocks in the >0.053 mm size class of aggregates and N stocks in the >0.25 mm size class but decreased OC stocks in the 0.25 mm aggregate size class accounted for more than 97% of the total increases in the continuous wheat and the legume-grain rotation systems. These results suggested that long-term cropping has the potential to sequester OC and N in soils and that the increases in soil OC and N stocks were mainly due to increases associated with aggregates >0.053 mm.

Estimation of runoff mitigation by morphologically different cover crop root systems

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yang; Loiskandl, Willibald; Kaul, Hans-Peter; Himmelbauer, Margarita; Wei, Wei; Chen, Liding; Bodner, Gernot

2016-07-01

Hydrology is a major driver of biogeochemical processes underlying the distinct productivity of different biomes, including agricultural plantations. Understanding factors governing water fluxes in soil is therefore a key target for hydrological management. Our aim was to investigate changes in soil hydraulic conductivity driven by morphologically different root systems of cover crops and their impact on surface runoff. Root systems of twelve cover crop species were characterized and the corresponding hydraulic conductivity was measured by tension infiltrometry. Relations of root traits to Gardner's hydraulic conductivity function were determined and the impact on surface runoff was estimated using HYDRUS 2D. The species differed in both rooting density and root axes thickness, with legumes distinguished by coarser axes. Soil hydraulic conductivity was changed particularly in the plant row where roots are concentrated. Specific root length and median root radius were the best predictors for hydraulic conductivity changes. For an intensive rainfall simulation scenario up to 17% less rainfall was lost by surface runoff in case of the coarsely rooted legumes Melilotus officinalis and Lathyrus sativus, and the densely rooted Linum usitatissimum. Cover crops with coarse root axes and high rooting density enhance soil hydraulic conductivity and effectively reduce surface runoff. An appropriate functional root description can contribute to targeted cover crop selection for efficient runoff mitigation.

Emissions of nitrous oxide from arable organic and conventional cropping systems on two soil types

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chirinda, N.; Carter, Mette Sustmann; Albert, Kristian Rost

2010-01-01

Conventional cropping systems rely on targeted short-term fertility management, whereas organic systems depend, in part, on long-term increase in soil fertility as determined by crop rotation and management. Such differences influence soil nitrogen (N) cycling and availability through the year...

Trough and pot crop systems with leaching recirculation and defoliation levels for mini tomatoes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lais Perin

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The use of raw rice husk as substrate allows the use of crop systems that promote the recirculation of leachate in long crop cycles. Mini tomatoes present relatively low demand for photoassimilates. Thus, partial defoliation of the sympodium could benefit the crop without damage to the production or quality of the fruits. The objective of this work was to evaluate the plant growth, fruit yield and fruit quality of Cherry Hybrid Wanda and Grape Hybrid Dolcetto mini tomatoes cultivated in two recirculation crop systems (pots and troughs, using raw rice husk as substrate, under three defoliation conditions (without defoliation, removal of one and two leaves of the sympodium. The Cherry cultivar showed higher plant growth, fruit yield and mean fruit size. The Grape cultivar produced fruits with higher sugar concentration. For the Grape cultivar, the removal of one sympodium leaf did not affect the plant responses. However, for the Cherry cultivar, it was necessary to maintain the complete sympodium. The trough cultivation system improved plant growth and yield, whereas the pot system increased fruit sugar concentration.

Environmental and Social Management System Implementation Handbook : Crop Production

OpenAIRE

International Finance Corporation

2014-01-01

This Handbook is intended to be a practical guide to help companies in the crop production industry develop and implement an environmental and social management system, which should help to improve overall operations. If a company has existing management systems for quality or health and safety, this Handbook will help to expand them to include environmental and social performance. Sectio...

Forward chaining method on diagnosis of diseases and pests corn crop

Science.gov (United States)

Nurlaeli, Subiyanto

2017-03-01

Integrated pest management should be done to control the explosion of plants pest and diseases due to climate change is uncertain. This paper is a present implementation of the forward chaining method in the diagnosis diseases and pests of corn crop to help farmers/agricultural facilitators in getting knowledge about disease and pest corn crop. Forward chaining method as inference engine is used to get a disease/pest that attacks the corn crop based on symptoms. The forward chaining method works based on the fact that there is to get a conclusion. Fact in this system derived from the symptoms of the selected user is matched with the premise on every rule in the knowledge base. A rule that matches the facts to be executed to be the conclusion in the form of diagnosis. This validation using 36 data test, 32 data showed the same diagnostic results between systems with an expert. So, the percentage accuracy of results of diagnosis using data test of 88%. Finally, it can be concluded that the diagnosis system of diseases and pests corn crop can be used to help farmers/agricultural facilitators to diagnose diseases and pests corn crop.

Smart investments in sustainable food production: revisiting mixed crop-livestock systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrero, M; Thornton, P K; Notenbaert, A M; Wood, S; Msangi, S; Freeman, H A; Bossio, D; Dixon, J; Peters, M; van de Steeg, J; Lynam, J; Parthasarathy Rao, P; Macmillan, S; Gerard, B; McDermott, J; Seré, C; Rosegrant, M

2010-02-12

Farmers in mixed crop-livestock systems produce about half of the world's food. In small holdings around the world, livestock are reared mostly on grass, browse, and nonfood biomass from maize, millet, rice, and sorghum crops and in their turn supply manure and traction for future crops. Animals act as insurance against hard times and supply farmers with a source of regular income from sales of milk, eggs, and other products. Thus, faced with population growth and climate change, small-holder farmers should be the first target for policies to intensify production by carefully managed inputs of fertilizer, water, and feed to minimize waste and environmental impact, supported by improved access to markets, new varieties, and technologies.

Vegetation index-based crop coefficients to estimate evapotranspiration by remote sensing in agricultural and natural ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Glenn, E.P.; Neale, C. M. U.; Hunsaker, D.J.; Nagler, P.L.

2011-01-01

Crop coefficients were developed to determine crop water needs based on the evapotranspiration (ET) of a reference crop under a given set of meteorological conditions. Starting in the 1980s, crop coefficients developed through lysimeter studies or set by expert opinion began to be supplemented by remotely sensed vegetation indices (VI) that measured the actual status of the crop on a field-by-field basis. VIs measure the density of green foliage based on the reflectance of visible and near infrared (NIR) light from the canopy, and are highly correlated with plant physiological processes that depend on light absorption by a canopy such as ET and photosynthesis. Reflectance-based crop coefficients have now been developed for numerous individual crops, including corn, wheat, alfalfa, cotton, potato, sugar beet, vegetables, grapes and orchard crops. Other research has shown that VIs can be used to predict ET over fields of mixed crops, allowing them to be used to monitor ET over entire irrigation districts. VI-based crop coefficients can help reduce agricultural water use by matching irrigation rates to the actual water needs of a crop as it grows instead of to a modeled crop growing under optimal conditions. Recently, the concept has been applied to natural ecosystems at the local, regional and continental scales of measurement, using time-series satellite data from the MODIS sensors on the Terra satellite. VIs or other visible-NIR band algorithms are combined with meteorological data to predict ET in numerous biome types, from deserts, to arctic tundra, to tropical rainforests. These methods often closely match ET measured on the ground at the global FluxNet array of eddy covariance moisture and carbon flux towers. The primary advantage of VI methods for estimating ET is that transpiration is closely related to radiation absorbed by the plant canopy, which is closely related to VIs. The primary disadvantage is that they cannot capture stress effects or soil

Nuclear techniques in the development of fertilizer practices for multiple cropping systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-12-01

This document summarizes the results of a coordinated research programme. Eight Member States of the FAO and IAEA carried out a series of field studies aimed at identifying optimum practices for the use of fertilizers in multiple cropping systems and for maximizing the contribution of atmospheric nitrogen biologically fixed by the legume component of such systems to the non-fixing cereal component or to the succeeding crop. Isotope techniques allowed the researchers to accurately determine the uptake of specific nutrients and to compare selected treatments

Dynamics of Phenol Degrading-Iron ReducingBacteria{1mm in Intensive Rice Cropping System

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2001-01-01

Field and greenhouse experiments were conducted to investigate theeffects of cropping season, nitrogen fertilizer input and aeratedfallow on the dynamics of phenol degrading-iron reducingbacteria (PD-IRB) in tropical irrigated rice ({ Oryza sativa L.)systems. The PD-IRB population density was monitored at different stagesof rice growth in two cropping seasons (dry and early wet) in acontinuous annual triple rice cropping system under irrigated condition.In this system, the high nitrogen input (195 and 135 kg N ha-1 indry and wet seasons, respectively) plots and control plots receiving noN fertilizer were compared to investigate the effect of nitrogen rate onpopulation size. The phenol degrading-iron reducing bacteria (PD-IRB)were abundant in soils under cropping systems of tropical irrigatedrice. However, density of the bacterial populations varied with ricegrowth stages. Cropping seasons, rhizosphere, and aerated fallow couldaffect the dynamics of PD-IRB. In the field trial, viable counts ofPD-IRB in the topsoil layer (15 cm) ranged between 102 and 108cells per gram of dry soil. A steep increase in viable counts during thesecond half of the cropping season suggested that the population densityof PD-IRB increased at advanced crop-growth stages. Population growth ofPD-IRB was accelerated during the dry season compared to the wet season.In the greenhouse experiment, the adjacent aerated fallow revealed 1-2orders of magnitude higher in most probable number (MPN) of PD-IRB thanthe wet fallow treated plots. As a prominent group of Fe reducingbacteria, PD-IRB predominated in the rhizosphere of rice, since maximumMPN of PD-IRB (2.62108 g-1 soil) was found in rhizospheresoil. Mineral N fertilizer rates showed no significant effect on PD-IRBpopulation density.

The FSE system for crop simulation, version 2.1

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kraalingen, van D.W.G.

1995-01-01

A FORTRAN 77 programming environment for continuous simulation of agro-ecological processes, such as crop growth and calculation of water balances is presented. This system, called FSE (FORTRAN Simulation Environment), consists of a main program, weather data and utilities for performing specific

Identification of technology options for reducing nitrogen pollution in cropping systems of Pujiang*

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Bin; Wang, Guang-huo; Van den berg, Marrit; Roetter, Reimund

2005-01-01

This work analyses the potential role of nitrogen pollution technology of crop systems of Pujiang, County in Eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, rice and vegetables are important cropping systems. We used a case study approach involving comparison of farmer practices and improved technologies. This approach allows assessing the impact of technology on pollution, is forward looking, and can yield information on the potential of on-the-shelf technology and provide opportunities for technology development. The approach particularly suits newly developed rice technologies with large potential of reducing nitrogen pollution and for future rice and vegetables technologies. The results showed that substantial reductions in nitrogen pollution are feasible for both types of crops. PMID:16187411

Humans as Sensors: Assessing the Information Value of Qualitative Farmer's Crop Condition Surveys for Crop Yield Monitoring and Forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Beguería, S.

2017-12-01

While large efforts are devoted to developing crop status monitoring and yield forecasting systems trough the use of Earth observation data (mostly remotely sensed satellite imagery) and observational and modeled weather data, here we focus on the information value of qualitative data on crop status from direct observations made by humans. This kind of data has a high value as it reflects the expert opinion of individuals directly involved in the development of the crop. However, they have issues that prevent their direct use in crop monitoring and yield forecasting systems, such as their non-spatially explicit nature, or most importantly their qualitative nature. Indeed, while the human brain is good at categorizing the status of physical systems in terms of qualitative scales (`very good', `good', `fair', etcetera), it has difficulties in quantifying it in physical units. This has prevented the incorporation of this kind of data into systems that make extensive use of numerical information. Here we show an example of using qualitative crop condition data to estimate yields of the most important crops in the US early in the season. We use USDA weekly crop condition reports, which are based on a sample of thousands of reporters including mostly farmers and people in direct contact with them. These reporters provide subjective evaluations of crop conditions, in a scale including five levels ranging from `very poor' to `excellent'. The USDA report indicates, for each state, the proportion of reporters fort each condition level. We show how is it possible to model the underlying non-observed quantitative variable that reflects the crop status on each state, and how this model is consistent across states and years. Furthermore, we show how this information can be used to monitor the status of the crops and to produce yield forecasts early in the season. Finally, we discuss approaches for blending this information source with other, more classical earth data sources

Rice crop risk map in Babahoyo canton (Ecuador)

Science.gov (United States)

Valverde Arias, Omar; Tarquis, Ana; Garrido, Alberto

2016-04-01

It is widely known that extreme climatic phenomena occur with more intensity and frequency. This fact has put more pressure over farming, making agricultural and livestock production riskier. In order to reduce hazards and economic loses that could jeopardize farmer's incomes and even its business continuity, it is very important to implement agriculture risk management plans by governments and institutions. One of the main strategies is transfer risk by agriculture insurance. Agriculture insurance based in indexes has a significant growth in the last decade. And consist in a comparison between measured index values with a defined threshold that triggers damage losses. However, based index insurance could not be based on an isolated measurement. It is necessary to be integrated in a complete monitoring system that uses many sources of information and tools. For example, index influence areas, crop production risk maps, crop yields, claim statistics, and so on. Crop production risk is related with yield variation of crops and livestock, due to weather, pests, diseases, and other factors that affect both the quantity and quality of commodities produced. This is the risk which farmers invest more time managing, and it is completely under their control. The aim of this study is generate a crop risk map of rice that can provide risk manager important information about the status of crop facing production risks. Then, based on this information, it will be possible to make best decisions to deal with production risk. The rice crop risk map was generated qualifying a 1:25000 scale soil and climatic map of Babahoyo canton, which is located in coast region of Ecuador, where rice is one of the main crops. The methodology to obtain crop risk map starts by establishing rice crop requirements and indentifying the risks associated with this crop. A second step is to evaluate soil and climatic conditions of the study area related to optimal crop requirements. Based on it, we can

Future Food Production System Development Pulling From Space Biology Crop Growth Testing in Veggie

Science.gov (United States)

Massa, Gioia; Romeyn, Matt; Fritsche, Ralph

2017-01-01

Preliminary crop testing using Veggie indicates the environmental conditions provided by the ISS are generally suitable for food crop production. When plant samples were returned to Earth for analysis, their levels of nutrients were comparable to Earth-grown ground controls. Veggie-grown produce food safety microbiology analysis indicated that space-grown crops are safe to consume. Produce sanitizing wipes were used on-orbit to further reduce risk of foodborne illness. Validation growth tests indicated abiotic challenges of insufficient or excess fluid delivery, potentially reduced air flow leading to excess water, elevated CO2 leading to physiological responses, and microorganisms that became opportunistic pathogens. As NASA works to develop future space food production, several areas of research to define these systems pull from the Veggie technology validation tests. Research into effective, reusable water delivery and water recovery methods for future food production systems arises from abiotic challenges observed. Additionally, impacts of elevated CO2 and refinement of fertilizer and light recipes for crops needs to be assessed. Biotic pulls include methods or technologies to effectively sanitize produce with few consumables and low inputs; work to understand the phytomicrobiome and potentially use it to protect crops or enhance growth; selection of crops with high harvest index and desirable flavors for supplemental nutrition; crops that provide psychosocial benefits, and custom space crop development. Planning for future food production in a deep space gateway or a deep space transit vehicle requires methods of handling and storing seeds, and ensuring space seeds are free of contaminants and long-lived. Space food production systems may require mechanization and autonomous operation, with preliminary testing initiated to identify operations and capabilities that are candidates for automation. Food production design is also pulling from Veggie logistics

The Lower Sevier River Basin Crop Monitor and Forecast Decision Support System: Exploiting Landsat Imagery to Provide Continuous Information to Farmers and Water Managers

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Rua, A. F.; Walker, W. R.; McKee, M.

2013-12-01

The last century has seen a large number of innovations in agriculture such as better policies for water control and management, upgraded water conveyance, irrigation, distribution, and monitoring systems, and better weather forecasting products. In spite of this, irrigation management and irrigation water deliveries by farmers/water managers is still based on factors like water share amounts, tradition, and past experience on irrigation. These factors are not necessarily related to the actual crop water use; they are followed because of the absence of related information provided in a timely manner at an affordable cost. Thus, it is necessary to develop means to deliver continuous and personalized information about crop water requirements to water users/managers at the field and irrigation system levels so managers at these levels can better quantify the required versus available water for irrigation during the irrigation season. This study presents a new decision support system (DSS) platform that addresses the absence of information on actual crop water requirements and crop performance by providing continuous updated farm-based crop water use along with other farm performance indicators such as crop yield and farm management to irrigators and water managers. This DSS exploits the periodicity of the Landsat Satellite Mission (8 to 16 days, depending on the period of interest) to provide remote monitoring at the individual field and irrigation system levels. The Landsat satellite images are converted into information about crop water use, yield performance and field management through application of state-of-the-art semi-physical and statistical algorithms that provide this information at a pixel basis that are ultimately aggregated to field and irrigation system levels. A version of the DSS has been implemented for the agricultural lands in the Lower Sevier River, Utah, and has been operational since the beginning of the 2013 irrigation season. The main goal of

The beginnings of crop phosphoproteomics: exploring early warning systems of stress.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christof eRampitsch

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This review examines why a knowledge of plant protein phosphorylation events is important in devising strategies to protect crops from both biotic and abiotic stresses, and why proteomics should be included when studying stress pathways. Most of the achievements in elucidating phospho-signalling pathways in biotic and abiotic stress are reported from model systems: while these are discussed, this review attempts mainly to focus on work done with crops, with examples of achievements reported from rice, maize, wheat, grape, Brassica, tomato and soy bean after cold acclimation, hormonal and oxidative H2O2 treatment, salt stress, mechanical wounding or pathogen challenge. The challenges that remain to transfer this information into a format that can be used to protect crops against biotic and abiotic stresses are enormous. The tremendous increase in the speed and ease of DNA sequencing is poised to reveal the whole genomes of many crop species in the near future, which will facilitate phosphoproteomics and phosphogenomics research.

Impact of management strategies on the global warming potential at the cropping system level.

Science.gov (United States)

Goglio, Pietro; Grant, Brian B; Smith, Ward N; Desjardins, Raymond L; Worth, Devon E; Zentner, Robert; Malhi, Sukhdev S

2014-08-15

Estimating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural systems is important in order to assess the impact of agriculture on climate change. In this study experimental data supplemented with results from a biophysical model (DNDC) were combined with life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the impact of management strategies on global warming potential of long-term cropping systems at two locations (Breton and Ellerslie) in Alberta, Canada. The aim was to estimate the difference in global warming potential (GWP) of cropping systems due to N fertilizer reduction and residue removal. Reducing the nitrogen fertilizer rate from 75 to 50 kg N ha(-1) decreased on average the emissions of N2O by 39%, NO by 59% and ammonia volatilisation by 57%. No clear trend for soil CO2 emissions was determined among cropping systems. When evaluated on a per hectare basis, cropping systems with residue removal required 6% more energy and had a little change in GWP. Conversely, when evaluated on the basis of gigajoules of harvestable biomass, residue removal resulted in 28% less energy requirement and 33% lower GWP. Reducing nitrogen fertilizer rate resulted in 18% less GWP on average for both functional units at Breton and 39% less GWP at Ellerslie. Nitrous oxide emissions contributed on average 67% to the overall GWP per ha. This study demonstrated that small changes in N fertilizer have a minimal impact on the productivity of the cropping systems but can still have a substantial environmental impact. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Identification of technology options for reducing nitrogen pollution in cropping systems of Pujiang*

OpenAIRE

Fang, Bin; Wang, Guang-huo; Van den berg, Marrit; Roetter, Reimund

2005-01-01

This work analyses the potential role of nitrogen pollution technology of crop systems of Pujiang, County in Eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, rice and vegetables are important cropping systems. We used a case study approach involving comparison of farmer practices and improved technologies. This approach allows assessing the impact of technology on pollution, is forward looking, and can yield information on the potential of on-the-shelf technology and provide opportunities for technology de...

Crop residues as raw materials for biorefinery systems - A LCA case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cherubini, Francesco; Ulgiati, Sergio

2010-01-01

have higher eutrophication potential than fossil reference systems. Based on these results, a residues-based biorefinery concept is able to solve two problems at the same time, namely find a use for the abundant lignocellulosic residues and ensure a mitigation effect for most of the environmental concerns related to the utilization of non-renewable energy resources. Therefore, when agricultural residues are used as feedstocks, best management practices and harvest rates need to be carefully established. In fact, rotation, tillage, fertilization management, soil properties and climate can play an important role in the determination of the amount of crop residue that can be removed minimizing soil carbon losses.

Cover Crops and Fertilization Alter Nitrogen Loss in Organic and Conventional Conservation Agriculture Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Shelton, Rebecca E.; Jacobsen, Krista L.; McCulley, Rebecca L.

2018-01-01

Agroecosystem nitrogen (N) loss produces greenhouse gases, induces eutrophication, and is costly for farmers; therefore, conservation agricultural management practices aimed at reducing N loss are increasingly adopted. However, the ecosystem consequences of these practices have not been well-studied. We quantified N loss via leaching, NH3 volatilization, N2O emissions, and N retention in plant and soil pools of corn conservation agroecosystems in Kentucky, USA. Three systems were evaluated: (1) an unfertilized, organic system with cover crops hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum), or a mix of the two (bi-culture); (2) an organic system with a hairy vetch cover crop employing three fertilization schemes (0 N, organic N, or a fertilizer N-credit approach); and (3) a conventional system with a winter wheat cover crop and three fertilization schemes (0 N, urea N, or organic N). In the unfertilized organic system, cover crop species affected NO3-N leaching (vetch > bi-culture > wheat) and N2O-N emissions and yield during corn growth (vetch, bi-culture > wheat). Fertilization increased soil inorganic N, gaseous N loss, N leaching, and yield in the organic vetch and conventional wheat systems. Fertilizer scheme affected the magnitude of growing season N2O-N loss in the organic vetch system (organic N > fertilizer N-credit) and the timing of loss (organic N delayed N2O-N loss vs. urea) and NO3-N leaching (urea >> organic N) in the conventional wheat system, but had no effect on yield. Cover crop selection and N fertilization techniques can reduce N leaching and greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing yield, thereby enhancing N conservation in both organic and conventional conservation agriculture systems. PMID:29403512

Cover Crops and Fertilization Alter Nitrogen Loss in Organic and Conventional Conservation Agriculture Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca E. Shelton

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Agroecosystem nitrogen (N loss produces greenhouse gases, induces eutrophication, and is costly for farmers; therefore, conservation agricultural management practices aimed at reducing N loss are increasingly adopted. However, the ecosystem consequences of these practices have not been well-studied. We quantified N loss via leaching, NH3 volatilization, N2O emissions, and N retention in plant and soil pools of corn conservation agroecosystems in Kentucky, USA. Three systems were evaluated: (1 an unfertilized, organic system with cover crops hairy vetch (Vicia villosa, winter wheat (Triticum aestivum, or a mix of the two (bi-culture; (2 an organic system with a hairy vetch cover crop employing three fertilization schemes (0 N, organic N, or a fertilizer N-credit approach; and (3 a conventional system with a winter wheat cover crop and three fertilization schemes (0 N, urea N, or organic N. In the unfertilized organic system, cover crop species affected NO3-N leaching (vetch > bi-culture > wheat and N2O-N emissions and yield during corn growth (vetch, bi-culture > wheat. Fertilization increased soil inorganic N, gaseous N loss, N leaching, and yield in the organic vetch and conventional wheat systems. Fertilizer scheme affected the magnitude of growing season N2O-N loss in the organic vetch system (organic N > fertilizer N-credit and the timing of loss (organic N delayed N2O-N loss vs. urea and NO3-N leaching (urea >> organic N in the conventional wheat system, but had no effect on yield. Cover crop selection and N fertilization techniques can reduce N leaching and greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing yield, thereby enhancing N conservation in both organic and conventional conservation agriculture systems.

Economics-based optimal control of greenhouse tomato crop production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tap, F.

2000-01-01

The design and testing of an optimal control algorithm, based on scientific models of greenhouse and tomato crop and an economic criterion (goal function), to control greenhouse climate, is described. An important characteristic of this control is that it aims at maximising an economic

[Continuous remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil by co-cropping system enhanced with chelator].

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Ze-Bin; Guo, Xiao-Fang; Wu, Qi-Tang; Long, Xin-Xian

2014-11-01

In order to elucidate the continuous effectiveness of co-cropping system coupling with chelator enhancement in remediating heavy metal contaminated soils and its environmental risk towards underground water, soil lysimeter (0.9 m x 0.9 m x 0.9 m) experiments were conducted using a paddy soil affected by Pb and Zn mining in Lechang district of Guangdong Province, 7 successive crops were conducted for about 2.5 years. The treatments included mono-crop of Sedum alfredii Hance (Zn and Cd hyperaccumulator), mono-crop of corn (Zea mays, cv. Yunshi-5, a low-accumulating cultivar), co-crop of S. alfredii and corn, and co-crop + MC (Mixture of Chelators, comprised of citric acid, monosodium glutamate waste liquid, EDTA and KCI with molar ratio of 10: 1:2:3 at the concentration of 5 mmol x kg(-1) soil). The changes of heavy metal concentrations in plants, soil and underground water were monitored. Results showed that the co-cropping system was suitable only in spring-summer seasons and significantly increased Zn and Cd phytoextraction. In autumn-winter seasons, the growth of S. alfredii and its phytoextraction of Zn and Cd were reduced by co-cropping and MC application. In total, the mono-crops of S. alfredii recorded a highest phytoextraction of Zn and Cd. However, the greatest reduction of soil Zn, Cd and Pb was observed with the co-crop + MC treatment, the reduction rates were 28%, 50%, and 22%, respectively, relative to the initial soil metal content. The reduction of this treatment was mainly attributed to the downwards leaching of metals to the subsoil caused by MC application. The continuous monitoring of leachates during 2. 5 year's experiment also revealed that the addition of MC increased heavy metal concentrations in the leaching water, but they did not significantly exceed the III grade limits of the underground water standard of China.

Designing a new cropping system for high productivity and sustainable water usage under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Qingfeng; Wang, Hongfei; Yan, Peng; Pan, Junxiao; Lu, Dianjun; Cui, Zhenling; Zhang, Fusuo; Chen, Xinping

2017-02-01

The food supply is being increasingly challenged by climate change and water scarcity. However, incremental changes in traditional cropping systems have achieved only limited success in meeting these multiple challenges. In this study, we applied a systematic approach, using model simulation and data from two groups of field studies conducted in the North China Plain, to develop a new cropping system that improves yield and uses water in a sustainable manner. Due to significant warming, we identified a double-maize (M-M; Zea mays L.) cropping system that replaced the traditional winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) -summer maize system. The M-M system improved yield by 14-31% compared with the conventionally managed wheat-maize system, and achieved similar yield compared with the incrementally adapted wheat-maize system with the optimized cultivars, planting dates, planting density and water management. More importantly, water usage was lower in the M-M system than in the wheat-maize system, and the rate of water usage was sustainable (net groundwater usage was ≤150 mm yr-1). Our study indicated that systematic assessment of adaptation and cropping system scale have great potential to address the multiple food supply challenges under changing climatic conditions.

Crop adapted spray application (CASA) - precise and safe plant protection in fruit growing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Doruchowski, G.; Balsari, P.; Marucco, P.; Zande, van de J.C.; Wenneker, M.

2012-01-01

The Crop Adapted Spray Application (CASA) system for orchards integrates disease detection based on reflectance imaging, crop identification with ultrasonic sensors, wind measurement and DGPS navigation. Through the automatic adjustment of spray application parameters according to the crop

Development and Deployment of Systems-Based Approaches for the Management of Soilborne Plant Pathogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Chellemi, D O; Gamliel, A; Katan, J; Subbarao, K V

2016-03-01

Biological suppression of soilborne diseases with minimal use of outside interventive actions has been difficult to achieve in high input conventional crop production systems due to the inherent risk of pest resurgence. This review examines previous approaches to the management of soilborne disease as precursors to the evolution of a systems-based approach, in which plant disease suppression through natural biological feedback mechanisms in soil is incorporated into the design and operation of cropping systems. Two case studies are provided as examples in which a systems-based approach is being developed and deployed in the production of high value crops: lettuce/strawberry production in the coastal valleys of central California (United States) and sweet basil and other herb crop production in Israel. Considerations for developing and deploying system-based approaches are discussed and operational frameworks and metrics to guide their development are presented with the goal of offering a credible alternative to conventional approaches to soilborne disease management.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Global Warming Potential of Traditional and Diversified Tropical Rice Rotation Systems including Impacts of Upland Crop Management Practices i.e. Mulching and Inter-crop Cultivation

Science.gov (United States)

Janz, Baldur; Weller, Sebastian; Kraus, David; Wassmann, Reiner; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Kiese, Ralf

2016-04-01

Paddy rice cultivation is increasingly challenged by irrigation water scarcity, while at the same time changes in demand (e.g. changes in diets or increasing demand for biofuels) will feed back on agricultural practices. These factors are changing traditional cropping patterns from flooded double-rice systems to the introduction of well-aerated upland crop systems in the dry season. Emissions of methane (CH4) are expected to decrease, while emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) will increase and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks will most likely be volatilized in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). We measured greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines to provide a comparative assessment of the global warming potentials (GWP) as well as yield scaled GWPs of different crop rotations and to evaluate mitigation potentials or risks of new management practices i.e. mulching and inter-crop cultivation. New management practices of mulching and intercrop cultivation will also have the potential to change SOC dynamics, thus can play the key role in contributing to the GWP of upland cropping systems. To present, more than three years of continuous measurement data of CH4 and N2O emissions in double-rice cropping (R-R) and paddy rice rotations diversified with either maize (R-M) or aerobic rice (R-A) in upland cultivation have been collected. Introduction of upland crops in the dry season reduced irrigation water use and CH4 emissions by 66-81% and 95-99%, respectively. Moreover, for practices including upland crops, CH4 emissions in the subsequent wet season with paddy rice were reduced by 54-60%. Although annual N2O emissions increased twice- to threefold in the diversified systems, the strong reduction of CH4 led to a significantly lower (pbalance but also with regard to soil fertility. New upland crop management practices where first implemented during land-preparation for dry season (July) 2015 where i) 6t/ha rice straw

Analysis of energy consumption in lowland rice-based cropping system of Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chan Chee Wan

2005-07-01

Full Text Available Sufficient energy is needed in the right form and at the right time for adequate crop production. One way to optimize energy consumption in agriculture is to determine the efficiency of methods and techniques used. With the current increase in world population, energy consumption needs effective planning. That is, the input elements need to be identified in order to prescribe the most efficient methods for controlling them. This study was undertaken in order to determine the direct and indirect energy consumption of field operations in a lowland rice production system of Malaysia. Field time, fuel and other energy requirements were measured for the tillage, planting, fertilizing, spraying and harvesting operations performed. Energy analysis carried out revealed the highest average operational energy consumption was for tillage (1747.33 MJ ha-1 which accounted for about 48.6% of the total operational energy consumption (3595.87 MJ ha-1, followed by harvesting (1171.44 MJ ha-1, 32.6% and planting (562.91 MJ ha-1, 15.7%. Fertilizing and pesticide spraying did not make any significant contributions to the operational energy consumption. Based on energy sources, fuel was the main consumer of direct energy with 2717.82 MJha-1 (22.2%, and fertilizer recording the highest indirect energy consumption of 7721.03 MJha-1 (63.2%. Human labour, pesticides, seeds and indirect energy for machinery use had marginal importance, contributing only 0.2%, 0.6%, 6.8% and 6.9%, respectively to the total energy consumption (12225.97 MJha-1. Average grain yield was 6470.8 kg ha-1, representing energy output of 108321.75 MJha-1, that is, 96095.78 MJ net energy gain or 8.86 MJ output per MJ input. Energy input per kilogram grain yield was 1.89 MJkg-1. The results of the study indicate energy gain in the lowland rice production system of Malaysia.

The effect of cropping sequence on the crop yield and nutrient availability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sisworo, W.H.; Rasjid, H.

1988-01-01

A two seasons field experiment was conducted to study the carry over effect of previous crop on the succeeding crop yield and plan nutrient (N and P) availability. The experiment consisted of eight treatments were arranged in a randomized block design with six resplications. Cropping sequence was studied that was soybean followed by corn and a continuous corn system. The effect of added P to the previous crops on the succeeding crops yield was also observed. Labelled fertilizer were used in the experiment to measure dinitrogen fixation of two soybean varieties and the amount of available nutrient in the soil by using isotopic dilution technique. The result obtained showed that corn yield was significantly influenced by cropping sequence, but available nutrient was not. Corn grown after soybean produced about 22 percent more grain than those of the continuous corn system. The phosphorus applied to the first season crops increased significantly the succeeding corn yield. The highest amount of accumulation in soybean was 81 kg N/h, around 40 percent of the amount was obtained through fixation. (authors). 19 refs.; 8 tabs

An Ensemble-Based Training Data Refinement for Automatic Crop Discrimination Using WorldView-2 Imagery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chellasamy, Menaka; Ferre, Ty Paul; Greve, Mogens Humlekrog

2015-01-01

This paper presents a new approach for refining and selecting training data for satellite imagery-based crop discrimination. The goal of this approach is to automate the pixel-based “multievidence crop classification approach,” proposed by the authors in their previous research. The present study...

Soil nitrous oxide and methane fluxes in integrated crop-livestock systems in subtropics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dieckow, Jeferson; Pergher, Maico; Moraes, Anibal de; Piva, Jonatas Thiago; Bayer, Cimélio; Sakadevan, Karuppan

2015-01-01

Integrated crop-livestock (ICL) system is an agricultural practice in which crop-pasture rotation is carried out in the same field over time. In Brasil, ICL associated with no-tillage farming is increasingly gaining importance as a soil use strategy that improves food production (grain, milk and beef) and economic returns to farmers. Integrated crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF) is a recent modification of ICL in Brazil, with the inclusion of trees cultivation aiming at additional wood production and offering thermal comfort to livestock (Porfírio-da-Silva & Moraes, 2010). However, despite the increasing importance of ICL, little information is available on how this system may affect soil-atmosphere exchange of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and methane (CH 4 )

Assessing climate change effects on European crop yields using the Crop Growth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Supit, I.; Diepen, van C.A.; Wit, de A.J.W.; Wolf, J.; Kabat, P.; Baruth, B.; Ludwig, F.

2012-01-01

Climate change impacts on potential and rainfed crop yields on the European continent were studied using output of three General Circulation Models and the Crop Growth Monitoring System in combination with a weather generator. Climate change impacts differ per crop type and per CO2 emission

Climate change adaptability of cropping and farming systems for Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Justes, Eric; Rossing, Walter; Vermue, Anthony

systems to CC through a gradient of adaptation strategies. Methods: The adaptation strategies are evaluated at cropping and farming systems as well as regional levels for nine “Adaptation Pilots” along a North-South climate gradient in the EU. Three categories of strategies are evaluated: i) Resistance...... and foster learning in participatory co-design workshops. Results and expectations: The expected results of the Climate-CAFE on-going project will produce an overview of potential CC adaptation measures for selected sites across the EU, along with mutual learning experiences for improved understanding......Introduction: Prospective studies showed that the European agriculture will be impacted by climate change (CC) with different effects depending on the geographic region. The ERA-Net+ project Climate-CAFE (call of FACCE-JPI) aims to improve the “adaptive capacity” of arable and forage based farming...

Response of sunflower to different planting dates in cotton based cropping system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yousaf, M.; Shakoor, A.; Rana, M.A.

2007-01-01

A field study on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L) was conducted for three. years (1991-1993) on different planting dates. Two hybrids (Hysun-33 and PI-6480) were sown on five different dates with 15 days interval from January 15 to March 15 at Cotton Research Station, Multan. Significant higher seed yield of 1880 and 2097 kg ha-1 was obtained when the crop was planted on February 1 and 15 than other treatments. The yield significantly decreased when sunflower was planted on January 15 (1264 kg ha-l), March 1 (1382 kg ha-l) and March 15 (927 kg hall. Maturity period was longest (128 days) of early sown (January 15) and shortest of late sown (March 15) sunflower hybrids. Therefore, it can be concluded that sunflower planted on February 1 to 15 gave higher seed yield as well as allowed enough time for land preparation and thereby, planting of cotton crop in the same field during its regular planting time. (author)

Soil Quality Indicators as Affected by a Long Term Barley-Maize and Maize Cropping Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Manachini

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Most soil studies aim a better characterization of the system through indicators. In the present study nematofauna and soil structure were chosen as indicators to be assess soil health as related to agricultural practices. The field research was carried out on the two fodder cropping systems continuous maize (CM, Zea mays L. and a 3-year rotation of silage-maize – silage-barley (Hordeum vulgare L. with Italian ryegrass (R3 and grain-maize maintained in these conditions for 18 years. Each crop system was submitted to two management options: 1 the high input level (H, done as a conventional tillage, 2 the low input level (L, where the tillage was replaced by harrowing and the manure was reduced by 30%. The effects of the two different cropping systems was assessed on soil nematofauna and soil physic parameters (structure or aggregate stability. Comparison was made of general composition, trophic structure and biodiversity of the nematofauna collected in both systems. Differences in nematode genera composition and distribution between the two systems were also recorded. The monoculture, compared to the three year rotation, had a negative influence on the nematofauna composition and its ecological succession. The Structural Stability Index (SSI values indicate that both the cropping systems had a negative effect on the aggregate stability. The results indicate that nematofauna can be used to assess the effects of cropping systems on soil ecosystem, and therefore be considered a good indicator of soil health to integrate information from different chemical or physical indicators.

Soil Quality Indicators as Affected by a Long Term Barley-Maize and Maize Cropping Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Corsini

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Most soil studies aim a better characterization of the system through indicators. In the present study nematofauna and soil structure were chosen as indicators to be assess soil health as related to agricultural practices. The field research was carried out on the two fodder cropping systems continuous maize (CM, Zea mays L. and a 3-year rotation of silage-maize – silage-barley (Hordeum vulgare L. with Italian ryegrass (R3 and grain-maize maintained in these conditions for 18 years. Each crop system was submitted to two management options: 1 the high input level (H, done as a conventional tillage, 2 the low input level (L, where the tillage was replaced by harrowing and the manure was reduced by 30%. The effects of the two different cropping systems was assessed on soil nematofauna and soil physic parameters (structure or aggregate stability. Comparison was made of general composition, trophic structure and biodiversity of the nematofauna collected in both systems. Differences in nematode genera composition and distribution between the two systems were also recorded. The monoculture, compared to the three year rotation, had a negative influence on the nematofauna composition and its ecological succession. The Structural Stability Index (SSI values indicate that both the cropping systems had a negative effect on the aggregate stability. The results indicate that nematofauna can be used to assess the effects of cropping systems on soil ecosystem, and therefore be considered a good indicator of soil health to integrate information from different chemical or physical indicators.

Seasonal Soil Nitrogen Mineralization within an Integrated Crop and Livestock System in Western North Dakota, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Landblom, Douglas; Senturklu, Songul; Cihacek, Larry; Pfenning, Lauren; Brevik, Eric C.

2015-04-01

Protecting natural resources while maintaining or maximizing crop yield potential is of utmost importance for sustainable crop and livestock production systems. Since soil organic matter and its decomposition by soil organisms is at the very foundation of healthy productive soils, systems research at the North Dakota State University Dickinson Research Extension Center is evaluating seasonal soil nitrogen fertility within an integrated crop and livestock production system. The 5-year diverse crop rotation is: sunflower (SF) - hard red spring wheat (HRSW) - fall seeded winter triticale-hairy vetch (THV; spring harvested for hay)/spring seeded 7-species cover crop (CC) - Corn (C) (85-90 day var.) - field pea-barley intercrop (PBY). The HRSW and SF are harvested as cash crops and the PBY, C, and CC are harvested by grazing cattle. In the system, yearling beef steers graze the PBY and C before feedlot entry and after weaning, gestating beef cows graze the CC. Since rotation establishment, four crop years have been harvested from the crop rotation. All crops have been seeded using a JD 1590 no-till drill except C and SF. Corn and SF were planted using a JD 7000 no-till planter. The HRSW, PBY, and CC were seeded at a soil depth of 3.8 cm and a row width of 19.1 cm. Seed placement for the C and SF crops was at a soil depth of 5.1 cm and the row spacing was 0.762 m. The plant population goal/ha for C, SF, and wheat was 7,689, 50,587, and 7,244 p/ha, respectively. During the 3rd cropping year, soil bulk density was measured and during the 4th cropping year, seasonal nitrogen fertility was monitored throughout the growing season from June to October. Seasonal nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N), total season mineral nitrogen (NO3-N + NH4-N), cropping system NO3-N, and bulk density were measured in 3 replicated non-fertilized field plot areas within each 10.6 ha triple replicated crop fields. Within each plot area, 6 - 20.3 cm x 0.61 m aluminum irrigation

Role of biological nitrogen fixation in legume based cropping systems; a case study of West Africa farming systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanginga, N.

2001-01-01

Nitrogen (N) has been gradually depleted from West African soils and now poses serious threats to food production. Many ways of increasing N supply (e.g. judicious use of inorganic fertilizers and nitrogen-fixing plants) have been tried in West African farming systems. Herbaceous and woody legumes commonly contribute 40-70 kg N ha -l season. This represents about 30% of the total N applied as residues. Nevertheless and despite repeated demonstrations of the usefulness of green manures in enhancing soil fertility, their practices and adoption are still limited. Promiscuous soya beans are being used to develop sustainable cropping systems in the moist savannah. Reliable estimates of N 2 fixed by soya beans and their residual N benefits to subsequent cereal crops in the savannah zone of southern Guinea have only infrequently been made. The actual amounts measured varied between 38 and 126 kg N ha -l assuming that only seeds of soya beans are removed from the plots, the net N accrual of soil nitrogen ranges between minus 8 kg N ha -l and plus 47 kg N ha -l depending on the soyabean cultivar. Residual soyabean N values of 10-24 kg N ha -l (14-36% of the total N in maize) were obtained in a soyabean-maize rotation. Although cereal yields following legume cultivation have been attributed to greater N accumulation, our data show that the relative increase in maize N was smaller than the relative increase in dry-matter yield. Hence, the increased yields of maize following soy beans are not entirely due to the carry-over of N from soyabean residues (as well as to conservation of soil N) but to other rotational effects as well. It is thus clear that the N benefit of grain legumes to non-legumes is small compared to the level of N fertilizer use in more intensive cereal production systems but is nevertheless significant in the context of the low amounts of input in subsistence farming. (author)

Crop yield response to climate change varies with cropping intensity.

Science.gov (United States)

Challinor, Andrew J; Parkes, Ben; Ramirez-Villegas, Julian

2015-04-01

Projections of the response of crop yield to climate change at different spatial scales are known to vary. However, understanding of the causes of systematic differences across scale is limited. Here, we hypothesize that heterogeneous cropping intensity is one source of scale dependency. Analysis of observed global data and regional crop modelling demonstrate that areas of high vs. low cropping intensity can have systematically different yields, in both observations and simulations. Analysis of global crop data suggests that heterogeneity in cropping intensity is a likely source of scale dependency for a number of crops across the globe. Further crop modelling and a meta-analysis of projected tropical maize yields are used to assess the implications for climate change assessments. The results show that scale dependency is a potential source of systematic bias. We conclude that spatially comprehensive assessments of climate impacts based on yield alone, without accounting for cropping intensity, are prone to systematic overestimation of climate impacts. The findings therefore suggest a need for greater attention to crop suitability and land use change when assessing the impacts of climate change. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Soil physical properties and grape yield influenced by cover crops and management systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaqueline Dalla Rosa

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The use of cover crops in vineyards is a conservation practice with the purpose of reducing soil erosion and improving the soil physical quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate cover crop species and management systems on soil physical properties and grape yield. The experiment was carried out in Bento Gonçalves, RS, Southern Brazil, on a Haplic Cambisol, in a vineyard established in 1989, using White and Rose Niagara grape (Vitis labrusca L. in a horizontal, overhead trellis system. The treatments were established in 2002, consisting of three cover crops: spontaneous species (SS, black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb (BO, and a mixture of white clover (Trifolium repens L., red clover (Trifolium pratense L. and annual rye-grass (Lolium multiflorum L. (MC. Two management systems were applied: desiccation with herbicide (D and mechanical mowing (M. Soil under a native forest (NF area was collected as a reference. The experimental design consisted of completely randomized blocks, with three replications. The soil physical properties in the vine rows were not influenced by cover crops and were similar to the native forest, with good quality of the soil structure. In the inter-rows, however, there was a reduction in biopores, macroporosity, total porosity and an increase in soil density, related to the compaction of the surface soil layer. The M system increased soil aggregate stability compared to the D system. The treatments affected grapevine yield only in years with excess or irregular rainfall.

The Energy Effectiveness Of Crops In Crop Rotation Under Different Soil Tillage Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Strašil Zdeněk

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The paper identifies and compares the energy balance of winter wheat, spring barley and white mustard – all grown in crop rotation under different tillage conditions. The field trial included the conventional tillage (CT method, minimum tillage (MT and a system with no tillage (NT. The energy inputs included both the direct and indirect energy component. Energy outputs are evaluated as gross calorific value (gross heating value of phytomass dry matter of the primary product and the total harvested production. The energy effectiveness (energy output: energy input was selected for evaluation. The greatest energy effectiveness for the primary product was established as 6.35 for barley, 6.04 for wheat and 3.68 for mustard; in the case of total production, it was 9.82 for barley, 10.08 for wheat and 9.72 for mustard. When comparing the different tillage conditions, the greatest energy effectiveness was calculated for the evaluated crops under the MT operation and represented the primary product of wheat at 6.49, barley at 6.69 and mustard at 3.92. The smallest energy effectiveness for the primary product was found in wheat 5.77 and barley 6.10 under the CT option; it was 3.55 for mustard under the option of NT. Throughout the entire cropping pattern, the greatest energy effectiveness was established under the minimum tillage option – 5.70 for the primary product and 10.47 for the total production. On the other hand, the smallest values were calculated under CT – 5.22 for the primary product and 9.71 for total production.

Environmental health impacts of feeding crops to farmed fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Fry, Jillian P; Love, David C; MacDonald, Graham K; West, Paul C; Engstrom, Peder M; Nachman, Keeve E; Lawrence, Robert S

2016-05-01

Half of the seafood consumed globally now comes from aquaculture, or farmed seafood. Aquaculture therefore plays an increasingly important role in the global food system, the environment, and human health. Traditionally, aquaculture feed has contained high levels of wild fish, which is unsustainable for ocean ecosystems as demand grows. The aquaculture industry is shifting to crop-based feed ingredients, such as soy, to replace wild fish as a feed source and allow for continued industry growth. This shift fundamentally links seafood production to terrestrial agriculture, and multidisciplinary research is needed to understand the ecological and environmental health implications. We provide basic estimates of the agricultural resource use associated with producing the top five crops used in commercial aquaculture feed. Aquaculture's environmental footprint may now include nutrient and pesticide runoff from industrial crop production, and depending on where and how feed crops are produced, could be indirectly linked to associated negative health outcomes. We summarize key environmental health research on health effects associated with exposure to air, water, and soil contaminated by industrial crop production. Our review also finds that changes in the nutritional content of farmed seafood products due to altered feed composition could impact human nutrition. Based on our literature reviews and estimates of resource use, we present a conceptual framework describing the potential links between increasing use of crop-based ingredients in aquaculture and human health. Additional data and geographic sourcing information for crop-based ingredients are needed to fully assess the environmental health implications of this trend. This is especially critical in the context of a food system that is using both aquatic and terrestrial resources at unsustainable rates. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Envirotyping for deciphering environmental impacts on crop plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yunbi

2016-04-01

Global climate change imposes increasing impacts on our environments and crop production. To decipher environmental impacts on crop plants, the concept "envirotyping" is proposed, as a third "typing" technology, complementing with genotyping and phenotyping. Environmental factors can be collected through multiple environmental trials, geographic and soil information systems, measurement of soil and canopy properties, and evaluation of companion organisms. Envirotyping contributes to crop modeling and phenotype prediction through its functional components, including genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI), genes responsive to environmental signals, biotic and abiotic stresses, and integrative phenotyping. Envirotyping, driven by information and support systems, has a wide range of applications, including environmental characterization, GEI analysis, phenotype prediction, near-iso-environment construction, agronomic genomics, precision agriculture and breeding, and development of a four-dimensional profile of crop science involving genotype (G), phenotype (P), envirotype (E) and time (T) (developmental stage). In the future, envirotyping needs to zoom into specific experimental plots and individual plants, along with the development of high-throughput and precision envirotyping platforms, to integrate genotypic, phenotypic and envirotypic information for establishing a high-efficient precision breeding and sustainable crop production system based on deciphered environmental impacts.

A Comparative Nitrogen Balance and Productivity Analysis of Legume and Non-legume Supported Cropping Systems: The Potential Role of Biological Nitrogen Fixation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iannetta, Pietro P M; Young, Mark; Bachinger, Johann

2016-01-01

studies have systematically evaluated the effect of optimizing the balance between legumes and non N-fixing crops to optimize production. In addition, the shortage, or even absence in some regions, of measurements of BNF in crops and forages severely limits the ability to design and evaluate new legume......–based agroecosystems. To provide an indication of the magnitude of BNF in European agriculture, a soil-surface N-balance approach was applied to historical data from 8 experimental cropping systems that compared legume and non-legume crop types (e.g., grains, forages and intercrops) across pedoclimatic regions...... the crop sequence, the contribution of BNF to the N-balance increased to reach a maximum when the legume fraction was around 0.5 (legume crops were present in half the years). BNF was lower when the legume fraction increased to 0.6–0.8, not because of any feature of the legume, but because the cropping...

[Soil quality assessment under different cropping system and straw management in farmland of arid oasis region].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Peng Peng; Pu, Xiao Zhen; Zhang, Wang Feng

2018-03-01

To reveal the regulatory mechanism of agricultural management practices on soil quality, an experiment was carried out to study the different cropping system and straw management on soil organic carbon and fractions and soil enzyme activity in farmland of arid oasis region, which would provide a scientific basic for enhancing agricultural resources utilization and sustainable development. In crop planting planning area, we took the mainly crop (cotton, wheat, maize) as research objects and designed long-term continues cropping and crop rotation experiments. The results showed that the soil organic carbon (SOC), soil microbial biomass C, labile C, water-soluble organic C, and hot-water-soluble organic C content were increased by 3.6%-9.9%, 41.8%-98.9%, 3.3%-17.0%, 11.1%-32.4%, 4.6%-27.5% by crop rotation compared to continues cropping, and 12%-35.9%, 22.4%-49.7%, 30.7%-51.0%, 10.6%-31.9%, 41.0%-96.4% by straw incorporated compared to straw removed, respectively. The soil catalase, dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, invertase glucose, cellulase glucose activity were increased by 6.4%-10.9%, 6.6%-18.8%, 5.9%-15.3%, 10.0%-27.4%, 28.1%-37.5% by crop rotation compared to continues cropping, and 31.4%-47.5%, 19.9%-46.6%, 13.8%-20.7%, 19.8%-55.6%, 54.1%-70.9% by straw incorporated compared to straw removed, respectively. There were significant positive linear correlations among SOC, labile SOC fractions and soil enzyme. Therefore, we concluded that labile SOC fractions and soil enzyme were effective index for evaluating the change of SOC and soil quality. Based on factor analysis, in arid region, developing agricultural production using cropland management measures, such as straw-incorporated and combined short-term continues cotton and crop rotation, could enhance SOC and labile SOC fractions contents and soil enzyme activity, which could improve soil quality and be conducive to agricultural sustainable development.

Combining Multi-Agent Systems and Wireless Sensor Networks for Monitoring Crop Irrigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriel Villarrubia

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Monitoring mechanisms that ensure efficient crop growth are essential on many farms, especially in certain areas of the planet where water is scarce. Most farmers must assume the high cost of the required equipment in order to be able to streamline natural resources on their farms. Considering that many farmers cannot afford to install this equipment, it is necessary to look for more effective solutions that would be cheaper to implement. The objective of this study is to build virtual organizations of agents that can communicate between each other while monitoring crops. A low cost sensor architecture allows farmers to monitor and optimize the growth of their crops by streamlining the amount of resources the crops need at every moment. Since the hardware has limited processing and communication capabilities, our approach uses the PANGEA architecture to overcome this limitation. Specifically, we will design a system that is capable of collecting heterogeneous information from its environment, using sensors for temperature, solar radiation, humidity, pH, moisture and wind. A major outcome of our approach is that our solution is able to merge heterogeneous data from sensors and produce a response adapted to the context. In order to validate the proposed system, we present a case study in which farmers are provided with a tool that allows us to monitor the condition of crops on a TV screen using a low cost device.

Hydroponic Crop Production using Recycled Nutrients from Inedible Crop Residues

Science.gov (United States)

Garland, Jay L.; Mackowiak, Cheryl L.; Sager, John C.

1993-01-01

The coupling of plant growth and waste recycling systems is an important step toward the development of bioregenerative life support systems. This research examined the effectiveness of two alternative methods for recycling nutrients from the inedible fraction (residue) of candidate crops in a bioregenerative system as follows: (1) extraction in water, or leaching, and (2) combustion at 550 C, with subsequent reconstitution of the ash in acid. The effectiveness of the different methods was evaluated by (1) comparing the percent recovery of nutrients, and (2) measuring short- and long-term plant growth in hydroponic solutions, based on recycled nutrients.

Relationship between stoichiometry and ecosystem services in organic crop production systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fan, Fan

contribute to and mitigate global ES loss. Organic farming has been suggested as one possible solution to alleviate the loss of ES in agro-ecosystems due to its environmental benefits compared with conventional farming. However, only a few studies have accounted for the economic value of ES in different...... organic crop production systems and little is known about how anthropogenic activities affect the supply of ES in such organic crop production systems. Ecological stoichiometry, which is the study of the fluxes of chemical elements and the ratio between them, has been considered as a new approach....... The organic farming systems with a high soil C:N stoichiometric ratio had a potential to produce more food, sequester more carbon from the atmosphere, store more water in the soil, attract more aphid predators, and regulate more nitrogen compared with the organic farming systems with a low soil C...

Effect of chemical and mechanical weed control on cassava yield, soil quality and erosion under cassava cropping system

Science.gov (United States)

Islami, Titiek; Wisnubroto, Erwin; Utomo, Wani

2016-04-01

Three years field experiments were conducted to study the effect of chemical and mechanical weed control on soil quality and erosion under cassava cropping system. The experiment were conducted at University Brawijaya field experimental station, Jatikerto, Malang, Indonesia. The experiments were carried out from 2011 - 2014. The treatments consist of three cropping system (cassava mono culture; cassava + maize intercropping and cassava + peanut intercropping), and two weed control method (chemical and mechanical methods). The experimental result showed that the yield of cassava first year and second year did not influenced by weed control method and cropping system. However, the third year yield of cassava was influence by weed control method and cropping system. The cassava yield planted in cassava + maize intercropping system with chemical weed control methods was only 24 t/ha, which lower compared to other treatments, even with that of the same cropping system used mechanical weed control. The highest cassava yield in third year was obtained by cassava + peanuts cropping system with mechanical weed control method. After three years experiment, the soil of cassava monoculture system with chemical weed control method possessed the lowest soil organic matter, and soil aggregate stability. During three years of cropping soil erosion in chemical weed control method, especially on cassava monoculture, was higher compared to mechanical weed control method. The soil loss from chemical control method were 40 t/ha, 44 t/ha and 54 t/ha for the first, second and third year crop. The soil loss from mechanical weed control method for the same years was: 36 t/ha, 36 t/ha and 38 t/ha. Key words: herbicide, intercropping, soil organic matter, aggregate stability.

Agronomic & entomological results from 7 years of dryland cropping systems research at Briggsdale, Colorado

Science.gov (United States)

Dryland crop production in the semi-arid Great Plains is limited by both the quantity and timing of precipitation. Sustainable dryland cropping systems maximize precipitation use efficiency by managing precipitation capture, storage, and use. Pest management approaches are also critical for efficie...

Assessment of an Operational System for Crop Type Map Production Using High Temporal and Spatial Resolution Satellite Optical Imagery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jordi Inglada

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Crop area extent estimates and crop type maps provide crucial information for agricultural monitoring and management. Remote sensing imagery in general and, more specifically, high temporal and high spatial resolution data as the ones which will be available with upcoming systems, such as Sentinel-2, constitute a major asset for this kind of application. The goal of this paper is to assess to what extent state-of-the-art supervised classification methods can be applied to high resolution multi-temporal optical imagery to produce accurate crop type maps at the global scale. Five concurrent strategies for automatic crop type map production have been selected and benchmarked using SPOT4 (Take5 and Landsat 8 data over 12 test sites spread all over the globe (four in Europe, four in Africa, two in America and two in Asia. This variety of tests sites allows one to draw conclusions applicable to a wide variety of landscapes and crop systems. The results show that a random forest classifier operating on linearly temporally gap-filled images can achieve overall accuracies above 80% for most sites. Only two sites showed low performances: Madagascar due to the presence of fields smaller than the pixel size and Burkina Faso due to a mix of trees and crops in the fields. The approach is based on supervised machine learning techniques, which need in situ data collection for the training step, but the map production is fully automatic.

GHG AND AEROSOL EMISSION FROM FIRE PIXEL DURING CROP RESIDUE BURNING UNDER RICE AND WHEAT CROPPING SYSTEMS IN NORTH-WEST INDIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Acharya

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Emission of smoke and aerosol from open field burning of crop residue is a long-standing subject matter of atmospheric pollution. In this study, we proposed a new approach of estimating fuel load in the fire pixels and corresponding emissions of selected GHGs and aerosols i.e. CO2, CO, NO2, SO2, and total particulate matter (TPM due to burning of crop residue under rice and wheat cropping systems in Punjab in north-west India from 2002 to 2012. In contrasts to the conventional method that uses RPR ratio to estimate the biomass, fuel load in the fire pixels was estimated as a function of enhanced vegetation index (EVI. MODIS fire products were used to detect the fire pixels during harvesting seasons of rice and wheat. Based on the field measurements, fuel load in the fire pixels were modelled as a function of average EVI using second order polynomial regression. Average EVI for rice and wheat crops that were extracted through Fourier transformation were computed from MODIS time series 16 day EVI composites. About 23 % of net shown area (NSA during rice and 11 % during wheat harvesting seasons are affected by field burning. The computed average fuel loads are 11.32 t/ha (±17.4 during rice and 10.89 t/ha (±8.7 during wheat harvesting seasons. Calculated average total emissions of CO2, CO, NO2, SO2 and TPM were 8108.41, 657.85, 8.10, 4.10, and 133.21 Gg during rice straw burning and 6896.85, 625.09, 1.42, 1.77, and 57.55 Gg during wheat burning. Comparison of estimated values shows better agreement with the previous concurrent estimations. The method, however, shows its efficiency parallel to the conventional method of estimation of fuel load and related pollutant emissions.

Cover Crop (Rye) and No-Till System in Wisconsin

OpenAIRE

Alföldi, Thomas

2014-01-01

Erin Silva, University of Wisconsin, describes an organic no-till production technique using rye as cover crop to suppress weeds in the following production season. Using a roller-crimper, the overwintering rye is terminated at the time of cash crop planting, leaving a thick mat of plant residue on the soil surface. Soybeans are sown directly into the cover crop residue, allowing the cash crop to emerge through the terminated cover crop while suppressing weeds throughout the season. W...

Grand challenges for crop science

Science.gov (United States)

Crop science is a highly integrative science using the disciplines of conventional plant breeding, transgenic crop improvement, plant physiology, and cropping system sciences to develop improved varieties of agronomic, turf, and forage crops to produce feed, food, fuel, and fiber for our world's gro...

Nuclear techniques in the development of management practices for multiple cropping systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-11-01

The need for a new coordinated research programme was considered, aimed at the development of adequate fertilizer and water management practices for multiple cropping systems while taking into account soil properties and prevailing weather conditions. Ten papers were presented, followed by a summary of recommendations and a list of participants. Eight of the papers have been entered individually into the INIS data base. The remaining two papers, one on the role of legumes in intercropping systems (presented by Rajat De from New Delhi) and the other on the need for agroforestry and special considerations regarding field research (by P.A. Huxley from Nairobi) assess prevailing conditions but do not discuss isotope application

Energizing marginal soils: A perennial cropping system for Sida hermaphrodita

Science.gov (United States)

Nabel, Moritz; Poorter, Hendrik; Temperton, Vicky; Schrey, Silvia D.; Koller, Robert; Schurr, Ulrich; Jablonowski, Nicolai D.

2017-04-01

As a way to avoid land use conflicts, the use of marginal soils for the production of plant biomass can be a sustainable alternative to conventional biomass production (e.g. maize). However, new cropping strategies have to be found that meet the challenge of crop production under marginal soil conditions. We aim for increased soil fertility by the use of the perennial crop Sida hermaphrodita in combination with organic fertilization and legume intercropping to produce substantial biomass yield. We present results of a three-year outdoor mesocosm experiment testing the perennial energy crop Sida hermaphrodita grown on a marginal model substrate (sand) with four kinds of fertilization (Digestate broadcast, Digestate Depot, mineral NPK and unfertilized control) in combination with legume intercropping. After three years, organic fertilization (via biogas digestate) compared to mineral fertilization (NPK), reduced the nitrate concentration in leachate and increased the soil carbon content. Biomass yields of Sida were 25% higher when fertilized organically, compared to mineral fertilizer. In general, digestate broadcast application reduced root growth and the wettability of the sandy substrate. However, when digestate was applied locally as depot to the rhizosphere, root growth increased and the wettability of the sandy substrate was preserved. Depot fertilization increased biomass yield by 10% compared to digestate broadcast fertilization. We intercropped Sida with various legumes (Trifolium repens, Trifolium pratense, Melilotus spp. and Medicago sativa) to enable biological nitrogen fixation and make the cropping system independent from synthetically produced fertilizers. We could show that Medicago sativa grown on marginal substrate fixed large amounts of N, especially when fertilized organically, whereas mineral fertilization suppressed biological nitrogen fixation. We conclude that the perennial energy crop Sida in combination with organic fertilization has great

The cost of silage harvest and transport systems for herbaceous crops

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turhollow, A.; Downing, M. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Butler, J. [Butler (James), Tifton, GA (United States)

1996-12-31

Some of the highest yielding herbaceous biomass crops are thick- stemmed species. Their relatively high moisture content necessitates they be handled and stored as silage rather than hay bales or modules. This paper presents estimated costs of harvesting and transporting herbaceous crops as silage. Costs are based on an engineering- economic approach. Equipment costs are estimated by combining per hour costs with the hours required to complete the operation. Harvest includes severing, chopping, and blowing stalks into a wagon or truck.

Root system-based limits to agricultural productivity and efficiency: the farming systems context

Science.gov (United States)

Thorup-Kristensen, Kristian; Kirkegaard, John

2016-01-01

Background There has been renewed global interest in both genetic and management strategies to improve root system function in order to improve agricultural productivity and minimize environmental damage. Improving root system capture of water and nutrients is an obvious strategy, yet few studies consider the important interactions between the genetic improvements proposed, and crop management at a system scale that will influence likely success. Scope To exemplify these interactions, the contrasting cereal-based farming systems of Denmark and Australia were used, where the improved uptake of water and nitrogen from deeper soil layers has been proposed to improve productivity and environmental outcomes in both systems. The analysis showed that water and nitrogen availability, especially in deeper layers (>1 m), was significantly affected by the preceding crops and management, and likely to interact strongly with deeper rooting as a specific trait of interest. Conclusions In the semi-arid Australian environment, grain yield impacts from storage and uptake of water from depth (>1 m) could be influenced to a stronger degree by preceding crop choice (0·42 t ha–1), pre-crop fallow management (0·65 t ha–1) and sowing date (0·63 t ha–1) than by current genetic differences in rooting depth (0·36 t ha–1). Matching of deep-rooted genotypes to management provided the greatest improvements related to deep water capture. In the wetter environment of Denmark, reduced leaching of N was the focus. Here the amount of N moving below the root zone was also influenced by previous crop choice or cover crop management (effects up to 85 kg N ha–1) and wheat crop sowing date (up to 45 kg ha–1), effects which over-ride the effects of differences in rooting depth among genotypes. These examples highlight the need to understand the farming system context and important G × E × M interactions in studies on proposed genetic improvements to root systems for improved

Indicators of soil quality in the implantation of no-till system with winter crops.

OpenAIRE

NOGUEIRA, M. A.; TELLES, T. S.; FAGOTTI, D. dos S. L.; BRITO, O. R.; PRETE, C. E. C.; GUIMARÃES, M. de F.

2014-01-01

We assessed the effect of different winter crops on indicators of soil quality related to C and N cycling and C fractions in a Rhodic Kandiudult under no-till system at implantation, during two growing seasons, in Londrina PR Brazil. The experimental design was randomized blocks with split-plot in time arrangement, with four replications. The parcels were the winter crops: multicropping of cover crops with black oat (Avena strigosa), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) and fodder radish (Raphanus sat...

Development and implementation of a GEOGLAM Crop Monitor web interface

Science.gov (United States)

Oliva, P.; Sanchez, A.; Humber, M. L.; Becker-Reshef, I.; Justice, C. J.; McGaughey, K.; Barker, B.

2016-12-01

Beginning in September 2013, the GEOGLAM Crop Monitor activity has provided earth observation (EO) data to a network of partners and collected crop assessments on a subnational basis through a web interface known as the Crop Assessment Tool. Based on the collection of monthly crop assessments, a monthly crop condition bulletin is published in the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) Market Monitor report. This workflow has been successfully applied to food security applications through the Early Warning Crop Monitor activity. However, a lack of timely and accurate information on crop conditions and prospects at the national scale is a critical issue in the majority of southern and eastern African countries and some South American countries. Such information is necessary for informed and prompt decision making in the face of emergencies, food insecurity and planning requirements for agricultural markets. This project addresses these needs through the development of relevant, user-friendly remote sensing monitor systems, collaborative internet technology, and collaboration with national and regional agricultural monitoring networks. By building on current projects and relationships established through the various GEOGLAM Crop Monitor activities, this project aims to ultimately provide EO-informed crop condition maps and charts designed for economics and policy oriented audiences, thereby providing quick and easy to understand products on crop conditions as the season progresses. Integrating these data and assessments vertically throughout the system provides a basis for regional sharing and collaboration in food security applications.

Direct nitrous oxide emissions in Mediterranean climate cropping systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cayuela, Maria L.; Aguilera, Eduardo; Sanz-Cobena, Alberto; Adams, Dean C.; Abalos Rodriguez, Diego; Barton, Louise; Ryals, Rebecca; Silver, Whendee L.; Alfaro, Marta A.; Pappa, Valentini A.; Bouwman, Lex; Lassaletta, Luis

2017-01-01

Many recent reviews and meta-analyses of N₂O emissions do not include data from Mediterranean studies. In this paper we present a meta-analysis of the N₂O emissions from Mediterranean cropping systems, and propose a more robust and reliable regional emission factor (EF) for

Distribution of natural and artificial radionuclides in chernozem soil/crop system from stationary experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarap, Nataša B; Rajačić, Milica M; Đalović, Ivica G; Šeremešić, Srđan I; Đorđević, Aleksandar R; Janković, Marija M; Daković, Marko Z

2016-09-01

The present paper focuses on the determination of radiological characteristics of cultivated chernozem soil and crops from long-term field experiments, taking into account the importance of distribution and transfer of radionuclides in the soil-plant system, especially in agricultural cropland. The investigation was performed on the experimental fields where maize, winter wheat, and rapeseed were cultivated. Analysis of radioactivity included determination of the gross alpha and beta activity as a screening method, as well as the activities of the following radionuclides: natural ((210)Pb, (235)U, (238)U, (226)Ra, (232)Th, (40)K, (7)Be) and artificial ((90)Sr and (137)Cs). The activities of natural and artificial ((137)Cs) radionuclides were determined by gamma spectrometry, while the artificial radionuclide (90)Sr was determined by a radiochemical analytical method. Based on the obtained results for the specific activity of (40)K, (137)Cs, and (90)Sr, accumulation factors for these radionuclides were calculated in order to estimate transfer of radionuclides from soil to crops. The results of performed analyses showed that there is no increase of radioactivity that could endanger the food production through the grown crops.

Effect of intercropping period management on runoff and erosion in a maize cropping system.

Science.gov (United States)

Laloy, Eric; Bielders, C L

2010-01-01

The management of winter cover crops is likely to influence their performance in reducing runoff and erosion during the intercropping period that precedes spring crops but also during the subsequent spring crop. This study investigated the impact of two dates of destruction and burial of a rye (Secale cereale L.) and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) cover crop on runoff and erosion, focusing on a continuous silage maize (Zea mays L.) cropping system. Thirty erosion plots with various intercrop management options were monitored for 3 yr at two sites. During the intercropping period, cover crops reduced runoff and erosion by more than 94% compared with untilled, post-maize harvest plots. Rough tillage after maize harvest proved equally effective as a late sown cover crop. There was no effect of cover crop destruction and burial dates on runoff and erosion during the intercropping period, probably because rough tillage for cover crop burial compensates for the lack of soil cover. During two of the monitored maize seasons, it was observed that plots that had been covered during the previous intercropping period lost 40 to 90% less soil compared with maize plots that had been left bare during the intercropping period. The burial of an aboveground cover crop biomass in excess of 1.5 t ha(-1) was a necessary, yet not always sufficient, condition to induce a residual effect. Because of the possible beneficial residual effect of cover crop burial on erosion reduction, the sowing of a cover crop should be preferred over rough tillage after maize harvest.

GEOGLAM Crop Monitor Assessment Tool: Developing Monthly Crop Condition Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

McGaughey, K.; Becker Reshef, I.; Barker, B.; Humber, M. L.; Nordling, J.; Justice, C. O.; Deshayes, M.

2014-12-01

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) developed the Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative (GEOGLAM) to improve existing agricultural information through a network of international partnerships, data sharing, and operational research. This presentation will discuss the Crop Monitor component of GEOGLAM, which provides the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) with an international, multi-source, and transparent consensus assessment of crop growing conditions, status, and agro-climatic conditions likely to impact global production. This activity covers the four primary crop types (wheat, maize, rice, and soybean) within the main agricultural producing regions of the AMIS countries. These assessments have been produced operationally since September 2013 and are published in the AMIS Market Monitor Bulletin. The Crop Monitor reports provide cartographic and textual summaries of crop conditions as of the 28th of each month, according to crop type. This presentation will focus on the building of international networks, data collection, and data dissemination.

UAV-based multi-angular measurements for improved crop parameter retrieval

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roosjen, Peter P.J.

2017-01-01

Optical remote sensing enables the estimation of crop parameters based on reflected light through empirical-statistical methods or inversion of radiative transfer models. Natural surfaces, however, reflect light anisotropically, which means that the intensity of reflected light depends on the

Effects of cropping systems on soil biology

Science.gov (United States)

The need for fertilizer use to enhance soil nutrient pools to achieve good crop yield is essential to modern agriculture. Specific management practices, including cover cropping, that increase the activities of soil microorganisms to fix N and mobilize P and micronutrients may reduce annual inputs ...

Using a decision support system to optimize production of agricultural crop residue Biofeedstock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoskinson, Reed L.; Rope, Ronald C.; Fink, Raymond K.

2007-01-01

For several years the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been developing a Decision Support System for Agriculture (DSS4Ag) which determines the economically optimum recipe of various fertilizers to apply at each site in a field to produce a crop, based on the existing soil fertility at each site, as well as historic production information and current prices of fertilizers and the forecast market price of the crop at harvest. In support of the growing interest in agricultural crop residues as a bioenergy feedstock, we have extended the capability of the DSS4Ag to develop a variable-rate fertilizer recipe for the simultaneous economically optimum production of both grain and straw. In this paper we report the results of 2 yr of field research testing and enhancing the DSS4Ag's ability to economically optimize the fertilization for the simultaneous production of both grain and its straw, where the straw is an agricultural crop residue that can be used as a biofeedstock. For both years, the DSS4Ag reduced the cost and amount of fertilizers used and increased grower profit, while reducing the biomass produced. The DSS4Ag results show that when a biorefinery infrastructure is in place and growers have a strong market for their straw it is not economically advantageous to increase fertilization in order to try to produce more straw. This suggests that other solutions, such as single-pass selective harvest, must be implemented to meet national goals for the amount of biomass that will be available for collection and use for bioenergy. (author)

Exploration of agro-ecological options for improving maize-based farming systems in Costa Chica, Guerrero, Mexico

OpenAIRE

Flores Sanchez, D.

2013-01-01

Keywords: farm diagnosis, farming systems, soil degradation, intercropping, maize, roselle, legumes, nutrient management, vermicompost, crop residues, decomposition, explorations. In the Costa Chica, a region of Southwest Mexico, farming systems are organized in smallholder units. The dominant cropping systems are based on maize (Zea mays L.), either as monocrop or intercropped with roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.). Continuous cropping, and unbalanced fertilizer management systems with an...

A quality assessment of the MARS crop yield forecasting system for the European Union

Science.gov (United States)