Field Crops Research最新文献

{"title":"Combined impact of reduced N fertilizer and green manure on wheat yield, nitrogen use efficiency and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions reduction in Jharkhand, eastern India","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109591","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109591","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>Increasing global demand for wheat necessitates heightened the nitrogen (N) input. However, this amplifies nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions, impairing global climate change.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>To address this dual challenge of meeting crop demands while curbing N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, a two-years (2022–2023) field study was carried out in Central University of Jharkhand, Brambe, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. The study aimed to examine the impact of varying fertilizer during the wheat growing seasons on N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, global warming potential (GWP) and nitrogen use efficiency <strong>(</strong>NUE)<strong>.</strong></div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Seven experimental treatments were set up in a randomized block design i.e., WF0, Control (no fertilizer), WF1 (<em>N at recommended dose (RD), 150kgha</em><sup><em>−1</em></sup><em>)</em>, WF2 (30 % reduce N at RD, 105kgha<sup>−1</sup>), WF3 (<em>Diammonium phosphate at RD)</em>, WF4 (<em>Ammonium sulphate</em> at RD), WF5 (<em>Sesbania aculeata green manure, 5 t ha</em><sup><em>−1</em></sup> <em>+</em> 50 % reduce N, 75kgha<sup>−1</sup>) and WF6 (<em>Crotalaria juncea green manure, 5 t ha</em><sup><em>−1</em></sup> + 50 % reduce N, 75kgha<sup>−1</sup>). The static chamber technique was used for collecting N<sub>2</sub>O gas samples and concentration were analyzed through gas chromatography methods. Additionally, soil mineral nitrogen, enzyme activity, NUE and yield related parameters were analyzed.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The results showed that the cumulative emissions of N<sub>2</sub>O in WF3 increased significantly (p < 0.05) by 7.24 %, while those in WF5 and WF6 decreased by 39.90 % and 26.09 % respectively, compared to WF1. WF5 treatment significantly decreased GWP and greenhouse gas intensity of N<sub>2</sub>O by 40 % and 59.71 % respectively, compared to WF1. In contrast, WF5 treatment significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited the nitrate reductase activity (NRA) and urease activity (UA). Along with reduced N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, treatment WF5 also increased the NUE and wheat yield, by 61.98 % and 13.71 %, respectively, over the WF1 treatment. The correlation analysis found positive correlations between soil nitrate, ammonia, water filled pore spaces, NRA and UA, while NUE showed negative correlations with N<sub>2</sub>O emissions.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Therefore, fertilization regimes, such as application of green manure i.e., <em>Sesbania aculeata</em> with 50 % reduction in fertilizer rate (75 kg N ha<sup>–1</sup>) compared to the normal rate (150 kg N ha<sup>–1</sup>), could be recommended as fertilization strategies to mitigate N<sub>2</sub>O emissions and ensuring global food security.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>The study outcomes provide indispensable insights for optimizing climate resilient agricultural strategies at regional and global scale. The data acquired from thes","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142314341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Navigating the trade-offs in crop production and soil quality through alternative cropping","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109597","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109597","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>Although alternative cropping systems are crucial for enhancing food security and soil quality, continuous maize monoculture remains leading to high environmental consequences and lower sustainability.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This study aims to assess crop production, economic benefits, and soil quality under 6 years of alternative cropping in comparison to continuous maize.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A randomized complete block design with three replicates was employed to evaluate the effects of alternative cropping on net income, nutrient equivalent yield, and soil quality. Nutrient equivalent yield was calculated by quantifying the nutritional content of harvested crops. Soil quality was assessed through a combination of physical, chemical, and biological indicators.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Our findings indicate that sorghum-maize-peanut and mung bean-maize-sunflower rotations significantly increased net income by 165.06 % and 37.86 % than continuous maize, respectively. However, these systems did not significantly alter soil quality. Reduced cropping intensity (fallow, maize-fallow, and soybean-maize-fallow) effectively improved soil quality by 14.1–37.8 %. This improvement was attributed to the enhancement of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen, as well as the alleviation of microbial metabolic constraints related to carbon and nitrogen. Despite these benefits, reduced cropping intensity also resulted in a decrease in nutrient-equivalent yields and net income.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The sorghum-maize-peanut rotation achieves a balance between maintaining comparable nutrient-equivalent yields and soil quality, while demonstrating a higher net income compared to continuous maize.</div></div><div><h3>Implications</h3><div>This study highlights the economic and environmental benefits of diversified cropping and the importance of reduced cropping intensity for soil quality enhancement. These findings are significant for guiding agricultural practices that balance food production with soil conservation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142310427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A comparison of nitrogen fertiliser decision making systems to profitably close grain yield gaps in semi-arid environments","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109576","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109576","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>Nitrogen (N) deficiency is the single biggest cause of the yield gap in Australian wheat production. Nitrogen fertiliser is a costly input and prediction of crop seasonal demand for N in Australia’s variable climate is difficult, so farmers are conservative with investment in N fertiliser, leading to under-fertilisation and over reliance on soil organic N.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>We evaluated the ability of different N decision-making systems to close yield gaps, reduce mining of soil organic N and minimise accumulation of soil nitrate.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A 5-year (2018–2022) field experiment was conducted in a rainfed Mediterranean environment at Curyo, Victoria in Australia with different N decision-making systems, namely N bank (NB) targets (100, 125 and 150 kg N ha⁻¹), Yield Prophet® (YP) at different yield probabilities (25, 50, 75 and 100 %), annual Australian national average N rate (NA45, 45 kg N ha⁻¹), replacement of N in exported grain (R) and a nil control, as treatments in a randomised complete block design with four replicates.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>After five years, YP25, YP50, YP75 and NB125 applied on average 49, 30, 4 and 18 kg ha⁻¹ more N per year than NA45, respectively, and achieved or exceeded economic yield (EY), i.e. 80 % of water-limited potential yield (PY_w), as opposed to 72 % of PY_w achieved in NA45. These systems also had a higher 5-year mean gross margin (AUD 469–550 ha⁻¹) compared to the NA45 (AUD 401 ha⁻¹). Positive 5-year partial N balance (total N input minus total N exported in grain over 5 years) was observed only in the YP25, YP50, NB150 and NB125 treatments (4–93 kg N ha⁻¹). However, apart from NB125 these treatments had consistently higher soil mineral N levels to 1-m depth compared to NA45 and &lt;2 marginal return:cost ratio. Also nitrate content at 0.7–1.0 m depth in the YP25 and NB150 treatments were consistently higher (<em>p</em> &lt;0.05) than that in NA45.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Low soil nitrate level, achievement of EY and higher gross margin in the NB125 compared to NA45 makes it the N management system best suited for this environment. Additionally, the positive partial N balance (4 kg N ha⁻¹) observed in the system suggests that it is less likely to mine soil organic N compared to NA45 (-39 kg ha⁻¹).</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>Adoption by growers of the best performing systems should reduce grain yield gaps and reduce mining of soil organic N with no increased risk of environmental N loss.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429024003290/pdfft?md5=1a8fd023d9116c6f3f72acefdb8731b7&pid=1-s2.0-S0378429024003290-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142310426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimal design for on-farm strip trials—systematic or randomised?","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109594","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109594","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context or problem</h3><div>Randomised designs are often preferred over systematic designs by agronomists and biometricians. For on-farm trials, however, the choice may depend on the objective of the experiment. If the purpose is to create a prescription map of a continuous input for each plot in a grid covering a large strip trial, a systematic design may be a better choice, although it often attracts less discussion and attention.</div></div><div><h3>Objective or research question</h3><div>This study aims to evaluate the performance of systematic designs with geographically weighted regression (GWR) models in addressing spatial variation and estimating continuous treatment effects in large strip trials through numeric simulations.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A hierarchical model with spatially correlated random parameters is utilised to generate simulated data for various scenarios of large strip on-farm trials. The study employs GWR models to analyse the simulated data for two assumptions: a linear response and a quadratic response of yield to the treatment effects.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>With the assumption of a quadratic response, a systematic design is superior to a randomised design in terms of achieving lower mean squared errors (MSEs) with GWR. With the assumption of a linear response, the difference of MSE between a systematic design and a randomised design is not significant, regardless of the presence of spatial variation.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The findings highlight the superiority of systematic designs in producing smooth spatial maps of optimal input levels for quadratic response models in large strip trials, even when impacted by significant spatial variation. Additionally, we recommend selecting fixed bandwidths in GWR analysis based on the plot configurations used in experimental designs. For a large strip trial, to produce estimates of spatially-varying treatment effects across strips, a systemic design should be used as it allows us to obtain better estimates than those obtained from a randomised design in post-experiment statistical modelling.</div></div><div><h3>Implications or significance</h3><div>The findings offer practical recommendations for designing large strip trials. By drawing attention to the experiment’s main inferential purpose, this research contributes valuable insights for improving the efficacy and planning of large strip trials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429024003472/pdfft?md5=9ec0c1cf9efa354407f0b12bf78010dc&pid=1-s2.0-S0378429024003472-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142310425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agronomic adaptations to heat stress: Sowing summer crops earlier","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109592","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109592","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Context&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Summer crops are exposed to heat and drought stresses at critical stages during and after flowering, and their intensity and frequency are likely to increase with climate change. Agronomic stress avoidance offers the opportunity to temporally separate critical crop stages from heat and drought events. However, it might require sowing cold-sensitive summer crops earlier into colder than recommended soil temperatures. There is a need to understand how cold is too cold to sow summer crops early in late winter as well as what are the yield benefits and risks.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Objective&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Here, we quantify the likely benefits and trade-offs of sowing sorghum, a summer cereal, earlier to adapt to the increased frequency and intensity of heat and water stresses during flowering and grain filling.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Methods&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Two years of multi-environment (&lt;em&gt;n&lt;/em&gt;=32) genotype by management trials were conducted across the main sorghum growing regions of Australia. Environments (E) consisted of the combination of years, sites, three times of sowing (early, spring, and summer), and the use of supplementary irrigation. At each E a factorial combination of four plant populations (M) and eight commercial sorghum hybrids (G) were sown with three replications. Crop growth and yield components were measured, and the APSIM model was used to simulate all trials and treatments to quantify risks and derive insights into functional relationships between simulated and measured environmental covariates, and measured crop traits.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Results&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;The tested hybrids showed small differences in cold tolerance during crop establishment. Across the tested environments, the G×M combinations produced up to 60 % variation in treatment yields across environment yields, which varied between &lt;0.5 to about 10 t ha&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;; this translated into a ∼5.5-fold variation in water use efficiency. Significant G×E and M×E interactions were observed for grain yield components. No G×M or G×E×M interactions were observed on yield or yield components. Early sowing was associated with a reduced risk of heat stress and water use transfer from vegetative to reproductive stages. Early sowing in late winter or early spring resulted in no significant yield gain or loss when all sites and years were included in the analysis. However, early sowing yielded between 1 and 2 t ha&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt; more when the hottest sites and years were considered separately. This resulted from both the avoidance of heat stresses and milder or no terminal drought stresses.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Conclusions&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Early sowing of sorghum can reduce the likelihood of heat stresses around flowering as well as the likelihood of terminal drought stresses. Advantages include reduced yield losses in the hottest years and a transfer of water use to grain filling stages, resulting in increased grain yield and improved grain quality parameters.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;d","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429024003459/pdfft?md5=84db86bb0c1347a703ed64733a51ebec&pid=1-s2.0-S0378429024003459-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142310428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Black biodegradable mulching increases grain yield and net return while decreasing carbon footprint in rain-fed conditions of the Loess Plateau","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109590","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109590","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mulching with polyethylene film is a common technique in rain-fed regions used to address insufficient precipitation and heat, and thus promote crop growth, but it can lead to soil pollution from plastic residues. Biodegradable film mulch (BDM) is assumed to be a viable solution to address this concern. To evaluate the effects of polyethylene and biodegradable film mulching on socio-economic and environmental benefits, a two-year study was conducted on wheat. This experiment explored the influence of mulching practices differing in color and degradation: Black polyethylene mulching (Black PE), Black biodegradable mulching (Black BDM), Clear polyethylene mulching (Clear PE), Clear biodegradable mulching (Clear BDM) and No mulching (NM) on grain yield, economic benefits, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and carbon footprint (CF). In comparison with NM, all four film mulching treatments improved soil hydrothermal conditions. The Clear PE, Clear BDM, Black PE, and Black BDM increased average annual wheat yield by 40 %, 47 %, 47 %, and 60 %, respectively, compared to NM. Clear PE, Black BDM, and Black PE enhanced net returns (17–124 %) compared to NM. However, Clear PE and Clear BDM increased CO₂ emissions (43 % and 52 %) and net global warming potential (GWP) (49 % and 17 %) despite reducing yield-scaled GWP_direct and CF compared to NM, likely due to higher wheat grain yields. In contrast, under Black BDM, GWP_direct and yield-scaled GWP_direct decreased significantly compared to NM (by 31 % and 58 %, respectively). When accounting for GHG emissions using soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration rates and life cycle assessment, the annual CF of Clear BDM, Black PE, and Black BDM was significantly lower by 21.9 %, 30.4 %, and 67.9 %, respectively, compared to NM. Black BDM exhibited the lowest net GWP (1682.3–1727.3 kg CO₂-eq ha⁻¹) and CF (261.4–336.0 kg CO₂-eq t⁻¹), primarily attributed to increased SOC. In conclusion, the black biodegradable mulching might be a promising solution to enhance wheat grain yield and net returns while mitigate net GWP and CF, providing valuable technical guidance to promote a clean and sustainable agricultural production in rain-fed conditions, and possible support for future research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142275702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The potential of strip cropping to suppress potato late blight","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109595","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109595","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><p>Crop diversification through intercropping is known to suppress disease severity and incidence. Strip cropping is an adaptation of intercropping in which strips are made wide enough e.g. 3 m or wider to allow management with tractor-pulled equipment. There is, however, little evidence of the efficacy of disease suppression in strip cropping. Furthermore, it is unclear how and to which extent the choice of companion crop species affects the suppression of diseases.</p></div><div><h3>Objective and Methods</h3><p>Here we determine how potato late blight, caused by <em>Phytophthora infestans</em>, is affected by strip cropping potatoes with three different companion crops: grass, maize or faba bean. Potato late blight severity and tuber yield were determined in field experiments in the Netherlands during three years that differed in both weather conditions and timing of the onset of the epidemic.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Strip cropping with grass or maize lowered disease severity compared with potatoes grown in monoculture. Across the three years, the average severity over the observation period was significantly lower in the strip-crop with grass (0.040) or in the strip-crop with maize (0.053) than in the potato monoculture (0.105). Strip-cropping with faba bean did not significantly reduce the average severity. In 2021 and 2022, strip cropping with grass resulted in the highest potato yields (per m² potato area) (25.9 and 38.9 t ha⁻¹ potato area in 2021 and 2022, respectively), which was 31–33 % higher than the monoculture (19.8 and 29.2 t ha⁻¹). Despite the observed reduction in disease in potato strip-cropped with maize, it resulted in similar yield per unit area of potato as the monoculture, presumably due to competition for light with the taller maize plants.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Together these results show that strip cropping, when integrated with other control measures, can be used to reduce late blight severity. A short non-competitive companion crop species, grass, was effective in simultaneously reducing late blight and enhancing tuber yield.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429024003484/pdfft?md5=818fc01c7ae685f01b1c2a1603f011ec&pid=1-s2.0-S0378429024003484-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142271490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The yield and nitrogen use efficiency of winter wheat in the North China Plain could be improved through enhanced tiller formation and biomass transport","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109570","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109570","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context or problem</h3><p>Optimizing farmers' production managements is a powerful approach to synergize crop yields, resource utilization, and environmental protection.</p></div><div><h3>Objective or research question</h3><p>How agronomic managements in the North China Plain (NCP) determines wheat yield and nitrogen use efficiency (PFP_N) by influencing physiological performance remains largely unknown.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>From 2016–2020, three different managements were implemented at four sites, focusing on the differences in physiological performance of wheat populations, and exploring the links between yield, nitrogen use efficiency, and physiological performance.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The yield (8.0 t·ha⁻¹) and PFP_N (27.5 kg·kg⁻¹) under Farmer level (FL) decreased by 13.0 % and 57.0 %, respectively compared with High-yield and high-efficiency level (HHL). Meanwhile, compared with HHL, the tillering survival rate (TSR), tillering capability (TC), biomass post-anthesis (BPA) and biomass remobilization (BR) under FL were significantly reduced (<em>p</em>&lt;0.05). Further analysis revealed that the above indicators (TSR, TC, BPA and BR) had substantial impact on both yield and PFP_N, which indicated that optimizing the tiller formation and biomass transport could benefit yield and PFP_N of winter wheat.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>HHL optimized wheat population physiological performance by reducing resource inputs such as water and fertilizer, achieved a win-win situation between yield and nitrogen use efficiency.</p></div><div><h3>Implications or significance</h3><p>The promotion of optimized management (HHL) has the potential to reduce resource input and facilitate the sustainable and environmentally-friendly development of winter wheat in the NCP.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142271489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digital evolution and twin miracle of sugarcane breeding","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109588","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109588","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><p>Sugarcane, as an important economic crop, faces challenges such as long breeding cycles, low genetic improvement efficiency, and complex breeding operations.</p></div><div><h3>Method</h3><p>In order to address these challenges and improve the economic benefits of sugarcane breeding, this paper proposes an innovative smart sugarcane breeding system driven by artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and digital twin technologies.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The system integrates these technologies within a Human-Cyber-Physical System framework to offer a more efficient, secure, and smart strategy for sugarcane breeding. Firstly, AI processes extensive genetic and phenotypic data to enable precise prediction and optimization of sugarcane traits, resulting in shortened breeding cycles and enhanced efficiency and accuracy in selecting elite sugarcane varieties. Secondly, blockchain technology ensures the security and traceability of breeding data, enhancing the reliability and integrity of the breeding process. Thirdly, digital twin technology enables the real-time circulation of lifelike representations of real-world data among breeding-related workers. The system architecture consists of three layers: a physical layer for data collection, a cyber layer responsible for data analysis, storage and circulation managed by AI, blockchain and digital twin, and a human layer comprised of breeders and stakeholders. This multi-layered approach allows for sophisticated interaction and collaboration between the physical and digital realms, enhancing decision-making and breeding outcomes.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Taken together, the system utilizes AI, blockchain, and digital twin technologies to support sugarcane breeding, offering a promising solution to overcome the limitations of traditional methods and establish a more sustainable and profitable sugarcane breeding system.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378429024003411/pdfft?md5=69a9b4f65d23598b6328ce0f8629e1d6&pid=1-s2.0-S0378429024003411-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142239377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diversified spatial configuration of rapeseed-vetch intercropping benefits soil quality, radiation utilization, and forage production in the Yangtze River Basin","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109587","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109587","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Contexts</h3><p>Intercropping facilitates agricultural sustainability and intensification by increasing crop diversity at the spatial scale. However, the spatial configuration of intercropped crops, which is essential for enhancing crop-soil interactions and ecological services to achieve increased productivity and efficiency, remains understudied.</p></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><p>We aimed to evaluate the effect of spatial configuration of hairy vetch/rapeseed intercropping on forage yield, economic benefits, and soil quality, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Three different spatial configurations of intercropping including 2:1, 1:1, and 0.5:1 ratios of hairy vetch (with variable planting density and position) and rapeseed (with fixed density and position) were designed and investigated through a two-year field experiment, compared with rapeseed (SR, 0:1) and hairy vetch sole cropping (SH, 1:0). The evaluation criteria included forage yield, crude protein yield, soil characteristics, nutrient accumulation, radiation use efficiency (RUE), land equivalent ratio (LER), and economic benefits.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Intercropping rapeseed with hairy vetch showed significant competitiveness compared to rapeseed and hairy vetch sole cropping. Among the five systems evaluated, the 2:1 spatial configuration achieved the maximum biomass yield (18.4 Mg ha⁻¹), net profit value (29,598.9 CNY ha⁻¹), and LER (1.48) at the final flowering stage, followed by the 0.5:1 and 1:1 spatial configuration. Moreover, intercropping rapeseed with hairy vetch significantly increased soil available phosphorus (AP) and potassium (AK) content, as well as soil enzyme activity. However, it led to a significant decrease in soil pH compared to rapeseed sole cropping. Principal component analysis indicated a negative correlation between soil pH and AP, AK contents, while a positive correlation was observed between soil AP, AK contents and the accumulation of P and K in all intercropping configurations. Additionally, structure equation modeling analysis revealed that intercropping systems enhanced forage productivity by improving RUE and the total accumulation of N, P, K.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>In conclusion, rapeseed-hairy vetch intercropping, particularly the 2:1 spatial configuration could be considered a high-yield and high-quality winter forage intercropping system that alleviates forage shortages and promotes the development of herbivorous animal husbandry.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>Optimizing the intercropping spatial configuration represents a promising strategy for developing ecologically sound and high-quality forage cropping systems, which holds great significance for the sustainable development of agriculture in the Yangtze River Basin and beyond.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":12143,"journal":{"name":"Field Crops Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142239376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}