To study the effect of sowing dates on the grain yield and grain quality of three different winter wheat cultivars, an experiment was conducted at ARDS Turda during 2017-2018. By delaying the sowing ...date, the winter wheat grain yield decreases, while the grain protein content increases. The biggest loss of grain yield by delaying sowing date was noted to Andrada on sowing date III (6 of Dec. 2017), production decreasing with 1316 kg/ha-1 in comparison with optimal for this variety. Arieşan had the highest grain protein content (16.42 %) and Codru had the highest grain yield in all three experimental sowing dates.
Relevance.
Onion is one of the most important vegetable crops of the borscht group, in the NonChernozem zone it is cultivated mainly through sowing, but modern technologies of cultivation of new
...varieties and hybrids of intensive type, drip irrigation, new types of mineral and organic fertilizers and
plant growth regulators allow to obtain a high yield of onions (50 – 70 t/ha) in an annual crop in conditions of fertile alluvial soils and dramatically increase the profitability of production. Onions grown from
seeds, as a rule, respond poorly to the use of large doses of mineral tuks due to the increased concentration of soil solution and a decrease in the density of standing plants.
Material and methods.
Research in 2014-2020 were carried out on the experimental field of the
Department of Agriculture and Agrochemistry of VNIIO – a branch of the Federal State Budgetary
Scientific Institution of the Federal Scientific Research Center on the alluvial meadow soil of the central part of the Moskvoretskaya floodplain (Ramenskiy district, MO). The experiments were carried out
in 3 replicates, with a systematic distribution of replicates. As the main mineral fertilizer, nitroammophoska was used, containing 16% of ae. nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. As organic fertilizers, we used biocompost of cattle, horse and chicken manure from TONEKS LLC, a domestic manufacturer of agrochemically and agronomically valuable bioorganic products of the BIUD family.
Results.
These studies made it possible to find out that biocompost from cattle manure, horse and
chicken manure in balanced doses with mineral fertilizers for nitrogen, as well as growth regulators
Zircon and Argolan, can significantly increase the yield of annual onions to 58.8-66.4 t/ha while
increasing the standard of bulbs without reducing the biochemical quality indicators. The most effective were chicken manure (16% increase), Argolan (21% increase) and Zircon (10-21% increase in the
yield of different hybrids).
The improvement of crop yield has been possible through the indirect manipulation of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that control heritable variability of the traits and physiological mechanisms that ...determine biomass production and its partitioning. This article surveys how QTL-based approaches contribute to a better understanding of the genetic basis of crop performance under environmentally constrained conditions and critically analyzes how this knowledge can assist breeders accelerate the release of cultivars better able to cope with abiotic constraints. Crop performance is the end result of the action of thousands of genes and their interactions with environmental conditions and cultural practices. During the past century, conventional breeding has been very successful in constantly raising the yield potential of crops (Campos et al., 2004Go; Borlaug and Dowswell, 2005Go; Duvick, 2005Go). This was mainly achieved with little or no knowledge of the factors governing the genetic variability exploited by breeders for crop improvement (Blum, 1988Go; Borlaug, 2007Go). However, this approach may now be insufficient, because the pressure to provide improvements at a rapid pace will mount if global climate change increases the frequency and severity of abiotic constraints. Heat stress, drought, water-logging, and salinity will probably become more prevalent in certain areas, while there will be an increased demand for agricultural products and reduced availability of agricultural land and natural resources such as water and fertilizers. Consequently, the genetic dissection of the quantitative traits controlling the adaptive response of crops to abiotic stress is a prerequisite to allow cost-effective applications of genomics-based approaches to breeding programs aimed at improving the sustainability and stability of yield under adverse conditions.
This work aims to study the effect of foliar spraying of three anti-transpirants i.e., A1: tryptophan (Tri), A2: potassium silicate (KS), A3: chitosan (Chi) as well as A0: control (Tap water) under ...three irrigation regimes, I1: 2400, I2: 3600, and I3: 4800 m3ha−1 on the quality and production of faba bean crop and its nutrient contents. The study was carried out during two successive winter seasons of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. Drought stress affected the average performance of all studied traits as it reduced seed yield and traits, as a result of the decrease in chlorophyll related to photosynthesis, protein, carbohydrates, total phenols, amino acids, macronutrients (N, P, and K), micronutrient contents (Fe, Mn, and Zn) and their absorption. The single foliar spraying of faba bean with tryptophan 75 ppm, potassium silicate at 100 ppm, or chitosan at 750 ppm significantly increased all studied traits and reduced the drought stress compared to control under different irrigation systems. We recommended using a foliar spray of chitosan (750 ppm) on faba bean plants under an irrigation level of 4800 m3 led to an improvement in the physiological properties of the plant, i.e., plant height, the number of branches/plants, and the number of plants, pods plant−1, the number of seed pods−1, the weight of 100 seeds and seed yield ha−1 increased with relative increase about 42.29, 89.47, 28.85, 75.91, 24.43, and 306.48% compared to control. The quality properties also improved, as the total chlorophyll, protein, carbohydrates, total phenols, and amino acids were higher than the control with a relative increase of 63.83, 29.58, 27.72, 37.54, and 64.19%. Additionally, an increase in the contents and uptake of macronutrients (N, P, and K), and micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn) and their absorption. The increase was estimated with 29.41, 75.00, 16.56, 431.17, 630.48, 72.68%, 22.37, 35.69, 42.33, 397.63, 452.58, and 485.94% about the control. This was followed by potassium silicate (100 ppm), then tryptophan (75 ppm) compared to the control, which recorded the minimum values in plant traits.
•Soapberry fruit characteristics differed significantly in the different canopy areas.•Spatio-temporal effects of microclimate had great influence on fruit characteristics.•Regression equations could ...be better used to predict fruit and oil yield.•Regression equations showed suitable microclimate conditions for fruit development.
Canopy microclimate strongly influences fruit growth and development, but little is known regarding the specific responses between different microenvironment of canopy and fruit yield-quality characteristics. In order to reveal the effect of canopy microclimate on Sapindus mukorossi fruit yield and quality, the spatio-temporal distributions of microclimate factors and fruit yield-quality characteristics were investigated. Based on the correlation between fruit yield-quality characteristics and microclimate factors, optimal regression models were established to obtain the suitable canopy microclimate conditions for fruit growth and development and to predict fruit yield and quality. In this study, the spatio-temporal distribution of microclimate factors in canopy was significantly different due to the influence of external environment and canopy structure. There were also significant differences in spatial distribution of fruit yield. Fruit characteristics were closely related to canopy microclimate, which improved from bottom to top and from the inner to periphery. They had positive correlations with light intensity and temperature, but negative correlations with relative humidity. Fruit yield and quality had higher correlation coefficients with canopy microclimate from July and October, which indicated that this period was important for fruit growth and development. And the optimal regression equations were more suitable for the evaluation of fresh fruit yield, dried fruit yield and oil yield as the mean R2 values were 0.741, 0.737 and 0.701, respectively. Additionally, the calculation results of optimal regression equations showed the suitable microclimate conditions: light intensity is higher than 71 × 103 Lux, temperature is between 26–31 °C, relative humidity range is 63–76%.
Edible fruits, such as that of the tomato plant and other vegetable crops, are markedly diverse in shape and size. SUN, one of the major genes controlling the elongated fruit shape of tomato, was ...positionally cloned and found to encode a member of the IQ67 domain-containing family. We show that the locus arose as a result of an unusual 24.7-kilobase gene duplication event mediated by the long terminal repeat retrotransposon RIDER: This event resulted in a new genomic context that increased SUN expression relative to that of the ancestral copy, culminating in an elongated fruit shape. Our discovery demonstrates that retrotransposons may be a major driving force in genome evolution and gene duplication, resulting in phenotypic change in plants.
Analyses of six crops grown in southern Sweden for biogas production (hemp, sugar beet, maize, triticale, grass/clover ley, winter wheat) showed varying performance regarding methane yield per ...hectare and energy input and costs in the production and supply of crops as biogas feedstock. The highest biomass and biogas yield was observed for sugar beet. Crops with lower risk of negative environmental impact in cultivation, such as ley and hemp, produced less than half the methane energy yield per hectare. Triticale, also having less risk of negative environmental impact, gave an energy yield similar to that of winter wheat grain and maize.
Replacing most of the mineral fertiliser with biogas digestate did not, with the exception for hemp, influence crop yields per hectare, but energy input in cultivation decreased by on average 34% for the six crops tested. For hemp and sugar beet the biogas feedstock costs for the freshly harvested crop per GJ methane were close to that of the economic reference crop, winter wheat grain. For maize, beet tops and first and second year ley, the feedstock costs were lower, and for triticale much lower. When ensiled crops were used for biogas the feedstock costs increased and only those of triticale silage remained slightly lower than the cost of dried wheat grain. However, all feedstock costs were so high that profitable biogas production based solely on ensiled crops would be difficult to achieve at present Swedish biogas sales prices.
•Six crops have been compared for production of biogas.•Crop cultivation related costs, energy inputs and yields are presented.•Methane yield per ha twice as high for sugar beet as for ley and hemp.•Energy input 1/3 lower when digestate replaces mineral fertilizer in cultivation.•Crop production costs range from 9 (fresh triticale) to 22 (hemp silage) €/GJ CH4.
Cilembu sweet potato is one of Indonesia's leading agricultural commodities. The high carbohydrate content in sweet potatoes has the potential to change into sugar (glucose, sucrose, and fructose) ...during storage. The level of sweetness is one of the characteristics that determines the quality of sweet potatoes. The sweetness level of sweet potatoes is influenced by various factors, including genetics, environment, and their interactions. Apart from that, the role of invertase-producing bacteria in breaking down carbohydrates into sugars is very important. Information regarding the number of invertase-producing bacteria in Cilembu sweet potatoes and their activity during storage is still limited. This research aimed to determine the number and activity of invertase-producing bacteria in Cilembu sweet potatoes and estimate the relationship between activity and total invertase-producing bacteria during storage of Cilembu sweet potatoes. The results showed significant differences between the number and activity of invertase-producing bacteria at each storage time. There is a relationship between sugar levels and invertase-producing bacteria. Sucrose levels had a negative and significant correlation with fructose levels (-0.56) and invertase-producing bacteria (-0.58). Glucose levels were significantly and positively correlated with fructose levels (0.91) and invertase-producing bacteria (0.88). Fructose levels also significantly and positively correlated with invertase-producing bacteria (0.95). This information can be used as a reference in determining the quality of sweet potatoes directly and indirectly.
Expectations are high for energy crops. Government policies in the United States and Europe are increasingly supporting biofuel and heat and power from cellulose, and biomass is touted as a partial ...solution to energy security and greenhouse gas mitigation. Here, we review the literature for yields of 5 major potential energy crops: Miscanthus spp., Panicum virgatum (switchgrass), Populus spp. (poplar), Salix spp. (willow), and Eucalyptus spp. Very high yields have been achieved for each of these types of energy crops, up to 40 t ha−1 y−1 in small, intensively managed trials. But yields are significantly lower in semi-commercial scale trials, due to biomass losses with drying, harvesting inefficiency under real world conditions, and edge effects in small plots. To avoid competition with food, energy crops should be grown on non-agricultural land, which also lowers yields. While there is potential for yield improvement for each of these crops through further research and breeding programs, for several reasons the rate of yield increase is likely to be slower than historically has been achieved for cereals; these include relatively low investment, long breeding periods, low yield response of perennial grasses to fertilizer, and inapplicability of manipulating the harvest index. Miscanthus × giganteus faces particular challenges as it is a sterile hybrid. Moderate and realistic expectations for the current and future performance of energy crops are vital to understanding the likely cost and the potential of large-scale production.
•This review covers Miscanthus, switchgrass, poplar, willow, and Eucalyptus.•High yields of energy crops are typically from small experimental plots.•Field scale yields are lower due to real world harvesting losses and edge effects.•The potential for yield improvement of energy crops is relatively limited.•Expectations must be realistic for successful policies and commercial production.
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