• Authors:
    • Valadyani, A.
    • Ajali, J.
    • Taghavi, D.
    • Fatahi, I.
  • Source: Journal of New Agricultural Science
  • Volume: 3
  • Issue: 7
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: The main goal of management of agricultural ecosystems is to maximize the energy flow and human's artificial inputs. This investigation was conducted to evaluate the economic efficiency and crop energy of dry farming of barley ( Hordeum vulgare) in Azarbayejan-e-Sharqi province, Iran. Information and data were obtained from barley farmers and Jihad-e-Agriculture organization of the province. In this study, routine scientific methods were used to change input and output data to their equal quantities and then energy efficiency (ratio of produced energy to consumed energy) was calculated. The rate of inputs applied in these fields was 5923.79 kcal/ha and the rate of produced energy was computed 7644.16 kcal/ha. The rate of energy efficiency (the ratio of output/input) was 1.22 for the crop. Results revealed that most used energy in barley cultivation belonged to fertilizers and machinery energy, so consumption of the energy can be reduced and the energy efficiency can be increased for correct management.
  • Authors:
    • Kashevarov, N. I.
  • Source: Kormoproizvodstvo
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: An overview of growing conditions of annual and perennial fodder crops and forage conservation in different zones of Siberia during 1986-2005 is given. Recommended planting systems for main annual and perennial crops and grass mixtures as well as their characteristics are summarised in 5 tables. New stable and highly productive multispecies cropping systems were developed, with a focus on Siberian cultivars. Achievements of Siberian research institutes in silage conservation and in selection of new rape, maize, barley, oat, field bean and clover cultivars are presented.
  • Authors:
    • Kruzhkov, N. K.
  • Source: Kormoproizvodstvo
  • Issue: 10
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: In trials in Orel province, Russia, in 1986-89, catch crops of spring rape were sown immediately after harvesting of winter wheat and barley crops in the following rotations: (1) vetch + oat mixture - winter wheat - barley - oats; (2) peas - winter wheat - maize - barley; (3) clover - winter wheat - potatoes - barley - oats undersown with clover; and (4) fallow - winter wheat - potatoes - buckwheat - barley. The rape was harvested for fodder or ploughed in as a green manure prior to the subsequent crop being sown. Green matter yields of 16-23.4 t/ha were obtained from the rape depending on sowing date and weather conditions. Results showed that after rape was harvested for fodder, yields of subsequent crops were reduced, significantly so in some cases (by 12% for the vetch + oats mixture, by 9.5% for potatoes and by 8.1% for silage maize). However, if the rape was ploughed in as a green manure, the yield of subsequent crops increased; for example, by 8.8% in barley, 9.7% in maize and 10.5% in peas. In terms of fodder units produced per ha, in all cases rape as a catch crop increased values by 7.4-18.9% when harvested for fodder and by 3.8-6.5% when ploughed in.
  • Authors:
    • Dosdall, L. M.
    • Moyer, J. R.
    • Clayton, G. W.
    • Harker, K. N.
    • Blackshaw, R. E.
    • O'Donovan, J. T.
    • Maurice, D. C.
    • Turkington, T. K.
  • Source: Crop Protection
  • Volume: 26
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: In western Canada, the move to integrated weed management (IWM) with reduced dependence on herbicides is being driven by low crop prices, weed resistance to herbicides, and environmental concerns. A rational step when implementing IWM is to determine if herbicide application is required in the first place. Crop yield loss models have been developed to assist with this decision. However, the weed economic threshold will be influenced considerably by management practices. Field studies showed that enhancing crop competitiveness through planting competitive varieties at relatively high seeding rates and through strategic fertilizer placement including sub-surface banded or point-injected nitrogen can reduce the impact of weeds on crop yield and the amount of weed seed entering the soil seed bank. Enhancing crop competitiveness also improved herbicide performance, especially when herbicides were applied at reduced doses. The inclusion of an early-cut silage crop in a rotation dramatically reduced wild oat ( Avena fatua L.) populations in barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) while growing sweet clover ( Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam) as a green manure in rotation with cereal and oilseed crops showed tremendous potential to suppress weeds. Other studies demonstrated that weed management should not be considered in isolation since it can influence the severity of alternative pests, for example, damage due to Delia spp. in canola ( Brassica napus L.). Further studies are required to examine the cumulative long-term effects of integrating the various weed management practices on all components of the crop ecosystem including weeds, diseases and insects.
  • Authors:
    • Holm, F. A.
    • Sapsford, K. L.
    • Cathcart, J.
    • Hall, L. M.
    • Clayton, G. W.
    • Harker, K. N.
    • O'Donovan, J. T.
    • Hacault, K.
  • Source: Weed Science
  • Volume: 55
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: There is no published information on the impact of volunteer barley on wheat yield loss or on the economics of controlling barley with a herbicide. With the registration of imazamox-resistant wheat, it is now possible to control volunteer barley in wheat. Thus, the likelihood of growing wheat in rotation with barley may increase. Field experiments were conducted in 2003 and 2004 at Beaverlodge, Lacombe, and Edmonton, AB, Canada, and Saskatoon, SK, Canada, to determine the impact of volunteer barley on yield of imazamox-resistant spring wheat seeded at relatively low (100 kg ha(-1)) and high (175 kg ha(-1)) rates. Barley was seeded at different densities to simulate volunteer barley infestations. Regression analysis indicated that wheat-plant density influenced the effects of volunteer barley interference on wheat yield loss, economic threshold values, and volunteer barley fecundity among locations and years. Econornic thresholds varied from as few volunteer barley plants as 3 m(-2) at Beaverlodge in 2003 and 2004 to 48 m(-2) at Lacombe in 2003. In most cases, wheat yield loss and volunteer barley fecundity were lower and economic thresholds were higher when wheat was seeded at the higher rate. For example, averaged over both years at Beaverlodge initial slope values (percentage of wheat yield loss at low barley density) were 4.5 and 1.7%, and economic threshold values of volunteer barley plants were 3 m(-2) and 8 m(-2) at low and high wheat seeding rates, respectively. Results indicate that volunteer barley can be highly competitive in wheat, but yield losses and wheat seed contamination due to volunteer barley can be alleviated by seeding wheat at a relatively high rate.
  • Authors:
    • Emel'yanov, A. M.
  • Source: Kormoproizvodstvo
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Increasing fodder crop productivity is a research priority due to the cattle raising type of agriculture practised in Buryatia. Productivity of oats in different crop rotation schemes in the dry steppe zone during 2001-05 is tabulated. The highest oat grain-haylage yield (11.3 t/ha) was achieved in the following scheme: naked fallow - wheat + oats - oat for grain-haylage. Usage of multispecies cropping system for increasing hay cutting yield is described. Melilotus, oil radish and spring rape are highly recommended for cultivation in single and mixed forage sowing. Fodder crops productivity and additional yield depending on sowing time and fertilization in 5-years period are summarised in 2 tables. Optimum sowing time for using June-August precipitation is the last ten-day period of June. Nutritional quality of oat and barley hay according to degree of their ripeness is discussed.
  • Authors:
    • listed as anonymous
  • Source: Egyptian Journal of Plant Breeding
  • Volume: 11
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: These proceedings contain 30 papers on the various aspects of plant breeding including heterosis, combining ability and inheritance studies, characterization of cultivars, performance evaluation and genetic improvement of field crops (including wheat, cotton, soyabean, maize, rice, barley, rape, sorghum and faba bean) and horticultural crops (e.g. mango, tomato, pepper and grape).
  • Authors:
    • Merrill, S. D.
    • Krupinsky, J. M.
    • Tanaka, D. L.
    • Anderson, R. L.
  • Source: Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
  • Volume: 61
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: Soil coverage by residue protects soil and land resources from erosion, conserves soil water, and maintains soil quality. No-till and chemical weed control are management practices that increase soil coverage by residue. On the other hand, crop diversification in dryland agriculture in the northern Great Plains promotes the use of crops that produce significantly less soil coverage by residue than small cereal grains. Within a 10 x 10 crop sequence project under no-till in south-central North Dakota [409 mm (16.1 in) mean annual precipitation], all two-year crop sequence combinations of ten crops (barley, canola, crambe, dry bean, dry pea, flax, safflower, soybean, spring wheat, and sunflower) were evaluated at two adjacent sites. Soil coverage by residue was measured by transect and photographic techniques following spring wheat seeding. Soil coverage ranged from 98 to 89 percent following crop sequences that included spring wheat and barley. Soil coverage values were intermediate for spring wheat-alternative crop sequences, 97 to 62 percent. Crop sequences not including spring wheat with alternative crops for two years had values ranging from 86 to 35 percent. Soil coverage values after two consecutive years of sunflower or dry pea (two years of data) and two years of dry bean or safflower (single year of data) were in a lower range, 48 to 35 percent. Soil erosion hazards were evaluated with equations based on residue effects alone that were taken from the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) water erosion and Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) wind erosion models: calculated soil loss ratio values (SLR = 1 with no residue protection) for 35 percent coverage following a sunflower-sunflower sequence were 0.29 for water erosion and 0.21 for wind erosion. Even with use of no-till, especially on more fragile soils, producers should consider planting a higher residue-producing crop (e.g., wheat, flax) the year before seeding lower residue-producing crops in order to assure adequate protection of soil and land resources.
  • Authors:
    • Paulitz, T. C.
  • Source: European Journal of Plant Pathology
  • Volume: 115
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: Direct-seeding or no-till is defined as planting directly into residue of the previous crop without tillage that mixes or stirs soil prior to planting. No-till reduces soil erosion, improves soil structure and organic matter, and reduces fuel inputs. No-till is widely used in cereal production in Australia, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil, but has not been widely adopted in Europe and the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. One of the limitations is that root diseases may increase with a reduction in tillage. This paper discusses the importance and management of take-all, Fusarium dryland foot rot, Rhizoctonia bare patch and root rot, and Pythium root rot in dryland cereal production systems, and how they are influenced by changes in tillage practices. To address this challenge, specifically with Rhizoctonia and Pythium, our research group has (1) developed classical and molecular techniques to detect and quantify Rhizoctonia and Pythium spp. from the soil to assess disease risk; (2) studied the disease dynamics of root disease during the transition from conventional to no-till; (3) developed greenhouse methods to screen germplasm for tolerance or resistance to Pythium and Rhizoctonia, and (4) using GPS and geostatistics, has examined the spatial distribution of R. solani and R. oryzae at a field scale up to 36 ha, across a number of crop rotations and years. By a combination of ecological, epidemiological, field, and laboratory studies, we hope to provide growers with a set of disease management tools to permit the economical and sustainable production of dryland cereals without degradation of the soil resource.
  • Authors:
    • Girija,A.
    • Khan,I. A.
    • Ramakrishna,Y. S.
    • Chary,G. R.
    • Vittal,K. P. R.
    • Sankar,G. R. M.
  • Source: Indian Journal of Dryland Agricultural Research and Development
  • Volume: 21
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: Sustainability indices of agricultural practices so far are developed independent of climatic effects. Especially under dry farming, the effect of rainfall is so overwhelming on the crop performance that this factor cannot be ignored while assessing for sustainability. In view of this, any sustainability index should be made independent of rainfall effect. Hence, a statistical measure of sustainability index 'eta', which is a function of estimate of error 'sigma' derived from a regression of yield through rainfall was developed. The 'eta' is a ratio between difference of mean and standard error (detrended for rainfall) to the maximum recorded yield during the period. Thus the limits of 'eta' are -1 to +1. The proposed procedure was utilized to arrive at sustainable practices from the data of All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture (India) field experiments conducted at both research station and on-farm from varying agroclimatic regions. The practices exceeding a sustainability yield index of 0.67 were considered as suitable for recommendation. The study indicated that barley, pearl millet, mustard, green gram, moth bean and cowpea had a moderate sustainability in arid conditions. Pearl millet at Akola (Maharashtra), pigeonpea and soybean at Indore (Madhya Pradesh) under wet semiarid conditions, and maize and horse gram at Arjia under dry semiarid conditions attained a moderate sustainability. Black gram, lentil and chickpea at Rewa (Madhya Pradesh), and lentil at Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) also had moderate sustainability under dry subhumid conditions. A classification of superior genotypes of crops based on yield and sustainability and their variation under different climatic situations was made for cereals, pulses, oilseeds and vegetable and other crops. A grouping has also been made based on the variation of yield. Sustainability under different soils and climates and superior genotypes are identified. Some of the highly sustainable genotypes were Vandana of rice at Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh), RR-347-167 of rice at Ranchi, HUR-1095 of rice at Varanasi, BAU-2K-15 of linseed at Ranchi (Bihar), local variety of linseed at Rewa, AT-81 variety of sesame at Rajkot (Gujarat), HG-563 variety of cluster bean at Hisar (Haryana), S-1635 variety of mulberry at Bijapur (Karnataka) and SH-5 of sunn hemp at Hisar.