• Authors:
    • Alok, T.
    • Sarawgi, S.
    • Shrikant, C.
    • Singh, M.
    • Vijendra, J.
  • Source: Journal of Soils and Crops
  • Volume: 21
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Field experiment was conducted on different intercropping under irrigated condition during rabi season of 2009-10 at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur to evaluate the yield, economics and to undertake weed studies of intercropping in rabi cereal, legume, oilseeds and spices in rice based cropping system in inceptisols. Maximum wheat equivalent yield, (65.55 q ha -1) of rabi crops was recorded in onion+coriander system over all the other intercropping treatment. Wheat+fenugreek intercropping was next in order which has also recorded significantly higher WEY (36.58 q ha -1) overwheat followed by rice, the existing cropping system (30.61 q ha -1), castor+lentil (32.78 q ha -1) and wheat+lentil (28.18 q ha -1). The highest net returns (Rs.65,292 ha -1) from rabi crops were recorded with onion+coriander because of higher value of the produce. The highest B:C ratio of rabi intercrops was recorded in onion+coriander (1.98) followed by mustard+lentil (1.90) and wheat (1.89). On the other hand, the highest weed population (172.33 and 147.00 m -2) and dry matter production (7.8 and 194 g m -2) was observed in mustard+lentil at 30 and 60 DAS. The lowest weed dry production was found in onion+coriander (1.8 g m -2) at 30 DAS, and under wheat+fenugreek (82.07 g m -2) at 60 DAS. On an average, the available N, P, K and organic carbon content were increased by 6.1, 3.6, 11.8, and 4.2%, respectively over initial values in soil after the harvest of the rabi crop.
  • Authors:
    • Hallikainen, A.
    • Kostiainen, E.
    • Turtiainen, T.
  • Source: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
  • Volume: 102
  • Issue: 5
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: A survey was carried out on the activity concentrations of 210Pb and 210Po in cereal grains produced in Finland. The cereal species were wheat ( Triticum aestivum), rye ( Secale cereale), oats ( Avena sativa) and barley ( Hordeum vulgare), which account for 90% of the Finnish consumption of cereal products. The survey consisted of 18 flour and 13 unprocessed cereal samples and one hulled grain sample from 22 flour mills. According to the results, the mean 210Pb/ 210Po concentrations in wheat grains, wheat flour, rye flour, oat grains and barley grains were 0.29, 0.12, 0.29, 0.36 and 0.36 Bq kg -1, respectively. Combined with the consumption rates of the products, we assess that the mean effective doses from 210Pb and 210Po in cereal products for the adult male and female population are 22 and 17 Sv per year, respectively.
  • Authors:
    • Belgacem, A.
    • Maughan, N.
    • Visser, M.
    • Neffati, M.
  • Source: Journal of Arid Environments
  • Volume: 75
  • Issue: 11
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: All dryland countries struggle with manmade dryland degradation and climate change will reinforce this trend. In arid Tunisia (100-200 mm annual rainfall), depleted cereal fallows are a prominent feature of the desertified landscape. Based on long-term agro-ecological work with promising native steppe grasses, this work explores the societal barriers to restoring cereal fallows with these species. Interviews were conducted with 23 stakeholders (researchers, local decision makers of development agencies and land users) and 40 statements were drawn from these interviews as well as from written sources. These were sorted by 27 stakeholders (some of whom were interviewed before) following a distinct Q-sorting technique inspired by Q-methodology. Principal Components Analysis of these Q-sorts revealed three major types of barriers. (1) A widespread knowledge barrier was obvious since opinion on several agro-ecological statements was often opposite to the scientific evidence. (2) Strong convictions about the sacred nature of barley cropping and olive growing pointed to a cultural barrier to sowing steppe grasses on cereal fallows; (3) Finally, especially non-scientific agropastoralists expressed a lack of trust in any state-backed project aimed at combating desertification. Without the living proof of economic benefits of reseeding, no spontaneous uptake of reseeding can be expected.
  • Authors:
    • Wellings, C.
  • Source: Euphytica
  • Volume: 179
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis, has been an important disease of wheat, barley, rye, triticale and certain graminaceous hosts for centuries. The significance of the disease on cultivated cereals has waxed and waned according to the vagaries of climate, inoculum levels and susceptible varieties. A progressive understanding of pathogen biology has revealed levels of specialisation between and within host groups, and these had varying impacts on the hosts concerned. The most economically important form is P. striiformis f. sp. tritici ( Pst), the causal pathogen of stripe (yellow) rust of wheat, which is the major focus of this paper. The recent discovery of the perfect stage of Pst on Berberis spp. will encourage further work to uncover the potential importance of the sexual stage in pathogen biology in regions where Berberis spp. occur. A review of the evolution of pathotypes within Pst over the past 50 years reveals recurrent pandemics emanating from a combination of specific virulence in the pathogen population, wide scale cultivation of genetically similar varieties, and agronomic practices that led to high yield potential. When these factors operate in concert, regional stripe rust epidemics have proven to be dramatic, extensive and serious in terms of the magnitude of losses and the economic hardships endured. A review of these epidemics suggests that little progress has been made in containing the worst effects of epidemics. The current status of stripe rust was gauged from a survey of 25 pathologists and breeders directly associated with the disease. It was evident that Pst remains a significant threat in the majority of wheat growing regions of the world with potential to inflict regular regional crop losses ranging from 0.1 to 5%, with rare events giving losses of 5-25%. Regions with current vulnerability include the USA (particularly Pacific North West), East Asia (China north-west and south-west), South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal), Oceania (Australia, New Zealand), East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya), the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen) and Western Europe (east England). The resources deployed to contain the worst effects of Pst will need to find a balance between training a new generation of breeders and pathologists in host-pathogen genetics, and an investment in infrastructure in IARCs and NARs.
  • Authors:
    • Oberforster, M.
    • Hammerl, S.
    • Zechner, E.
  • Source: Tagungsband der 61. Jahrestagung der Vereinigung der Pflanzenzuchter und Saatgutkaufleute Osterreichs, 23-25 November 2010, Raumberg-Gumpenstein, Osterreich. Ertrag vs. Qualitat bei Getreide, Ol und Eiweisspflanzen. Wheat stress
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Since 1903 cereal breeding takes place at Edelhof near Zwettl, Lower Austria. The main focus lies on the breeding of top-quality wheat for Europe, high-yielding wheat with medium quality, two-rowed winter barley, spring barley with a high percentage of plump seeds, early maturing quality oats, open-pollinating rye and varieties for organic farming. With the directive 2009/28/EG and the installation of a bio-ethanol plant in Austria, breeders interest in selecting cereals for ethanol production awaked. This means in particular field selection, investments in quality analyses and targeted projects, and furthermore the implementation of a new breeding programme (parallel to bread cereal breeding). From crossing to variety release several years pass by. Meanwhile, cereal breeders had to realize that from the bio-ethanol market there is no special interest in varieties specific for this purpose.
  • Authors:
    • Gamar, Y.
    • Abdalla, H.
  • Source: International Journal of AgriScience
  • Volume: 1
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is the most important cereal crop in Sudan in terms of consumption and total acreage under production. However recent climatic changes, have affected productivity. Cultivation has been constrained by the detrimental effect of drought which has often caused food shortages resulting in famine. Almost 90% of the total sorghum cropped area is rain-fed, and 60% of that is in drought prone soil conditions. A series of experiments were conducted to develop elite early maturing and combinable open pollinated varieties with good grain quality. Seven superior pure lines from an adapted drought tolerant land race commercial Arf'a' Gadamak (CAG,) were selected and tested under irrigation for three seasons at Gezira Research Station (GRS). Based on high yield potential and early maturity, AG-17 line was selected and advanced together with AG-8, AG-15, Wad Ahmed and CAG as checks for multi-location testing under intermediate and high rainfall areas (400-900/mm). Eight specific rain-fed environments were chosen as sites for standard variety trials, over three seasons (2006 to 2009). Results revealed that lines AG-17 flowered 12 days earlier by 50%, than Wad Ahmed. This early maturity coupled with very high yield potential, highlights drought tolerance making it an adaptable and stable crop across a wide range of rainfall environments. Like the released sorghum variety AG-8, the AG-17 line has exceptionally high protein content, 23% and 33% more than the checks, CAG and Wad Ahmed, respectively. This line also possesses the best grain quality, white, large and preferred by the market in addition to other attractive, physical grain characteristics. It was also evident that this line has high bread (kisra) making qualities.
  • Authors:
    • Munindra, B.
    • Ajanta, N.
  • Source: Journal of the Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics
  • Volume: 65
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: It is an attempt to draw a clear picture of development disparities among the districts of Assam in agriculture with the help of composite index. Eighty-three indicators are considered here which are directly related to the agriculture. On the basis of these indicators Nagaon, Borpeta, Dhubri and Kamrup are developed districts but Karbi Anglong, Hailakandi, Dhemaji and N.C. Hills are low developed districts. The developed districts cover 18.31 percent areas and 30.47 percent population of the state whereas low developed area covers 25.35 percent areas and 7.94 percent population of the state. The entire agriculture sector is divided into seven sub sectors namely Production of miscellaneous crops, Production of pulse, cereals and oil seeds, Fertilizer used, and Percentage of livestock population, Rice production, Fish production and Infrastructure facilities. In each sector developed and low developed districts have been identified. In crop production Kokrajar, Dhubri and Sonitpur are high-developed, Jorhat, N.C. Hills and Nagaon are low developed. In production of pulse, cereal and oilseeds Goalpara, Sonitpur, Bongaigaon and Karbi Anglong are developed districts and Nagaon, Tinsukia, Karimganj, Jorhat and Morigaon are low developed districts. In case of livestock population Jorhat is the developed district and Dhemaji, Hailakandi and N.C. Hills are low developed district. In fish production Nagaon, Borpeta, Cachar and Karimganj are developed districts and Karbi Anglong and N.C. Hills are low developed districts. In case of rice production Golaghat, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh and Cachar are high developed and Bongaigaon, Borpeta, Nalbari, Dhemaji and Lakhimpur are low developed. In case of infrastructure facilities e.g. irrigation, use of electricity in agriculture etc. are availed by the districts Nagaon, Nalbari, Borpeta and Kamrup are high developed and Hailakandi, Dhemaji, N.C. Hills are low developed. From the study it also reveals that the districts, which are low developed in overall agriculture sector they are also low developed in using infrastructure facilities essential for agriculture except Karbi Anglong. For bringing the uniform development in the state, model districts and potential target for low developed districts have been identified.
  • Authors:
    • Tanigawa, T.
    • Yamamoto, T.
    • Al-Busaidi, A.
    • Rahman, H.
  • Source: Irrigation and Drainage
  • Volume: 60
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Water stress is the primary environmental factor that limits cereal production in Mediterranean environments, where barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the main crops. This investigation aimed at evaluating the effects of zeolite on barley growth under subsurface drip irrigation, subjected to water and heat stress. A sand dune soil was amended with Ca-type zeolite and irrigated every 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th day. The results showed that zeolite application significantly increased water-holding capacity of the soil and improved plant growth. Using subsurface irrigation with zeolite amendment helped to reduce water evaporation, kept more water in lower horizons, encouraged salt leaching, and the plants used water more efficiently. Plant growth parameters showed significant differences among treatments and were negatively affected by heat and water stress conditions. High temperatures caused accelerated evapotranspiration, water stress in plants and faster depletion of water from the root zone, causing substantial water loss and inducing water deficit conditions in plants. Using subsurface irrigation poses a better option for the reduction of evaporation and achieving higher water use efficiency. Application of zeolite together with subsurface irrigation may provide favorable conditions for crop production in water-scarce areas under warm environments.
  • Authors:
    • Alvaro-Fuentes, J.
    • Paustian, K.
  • Source: Plant and Soil
  • Volume: 338
  • Issue: 1/2
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Climate change is projected to significantly impact vegetation and soils of managed ecosystems. In this study we used the ecosystem Century model together with climatic outputs from different atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCM) to study the effects of climate change and management on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in semiarid Mediterranean conditions and to identify which management practices have the greatest potential to increase SOC in these areas. Five climate scenarios and seven management scenarios were modeled from 2010 to 2100. Differences in SOC sequestration were greater among management systems than among climate change scenarios. Management scenarios under continuous cropping yielded greater C inputs and SOC gain than scenarios under cereal-fallow rotation. The shift from rainfed conditions to irrigation also resulted in an increase of C inputs but a decrease in the SOC sequestered during the 2010-2100 period. The effects of precipitation and temperature change on SOC dynamics were different depending on the management system applied. Consequently, the relative response to climate and management depended on the net result of the influences on C inputs and decomposition. Under climate change, the adoption of certain management practices in semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystems could be critical in maximizing SOC sequestration and thus reducing CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere.
  • Authors:
    • Tadesse, D.
    • Sisay, F.
    • Mitiku, H.
    • Solomon, H.
    • Araya, A.
  • Source: Momona Ethiopian Journal of Science
  • Volume: 3
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: An experiment was carried out in 2010 at Mekelle, in northern Ethiopia, to measure the evapotranspiration, to estimate barley crop coefficient ( kc), and to evaluate the water productivity taking into account the major crops grown under the present pond irrigation system. Four locally made lysimeters were installed in the middle of barley field to measure barley evapotranspiration. The single crop coefficient approach was used to estimate barley crop coefficient. The average seasonal evapotranspiration of barley was 375 mm which is similar to many other cereal crops in the region. The single crop coefficient values for early, vegetative, mid and late crop stages were 0.6-0.8, 0.6-1.0; 1.0-1.05 and 0.3-0.4 respectively. The result showed that these crop coefficient values obtained in this experiment were similar to the crop coefficient values obtained in the past except for kc initial. Therefore, the assumption that local barley crop coefficient values differ from that of the documented values was incorrect. Furthermore, the major reason for mismanagement of irrigation water in barley fields was not due to use of wrong crop coefficient values but could be due to inadequate irrigation technical skill and knowledge of the farmer. The average economic water productivity (EWP) of barley for the very wet, wet, normal, dry and very dry seasons scenario were 0.99, 0.7, 0.65, 0.57, and 0.44 USD m -3, respectively, whereas the corresponding crop water productivity (CWP) values for grain were 1.53, 1.08, 1.0, 0.88 and 0.68 kg m -3, respectively. The EWP and CWP of barley were compared with onion and tomato under pond water irrigation at the five climatic scenarios. The crop water productivity for tomato and onion were 85-87% and 76-78% higher than that of barley, respectively. The corresponding economic water productivity for tomato and onion were 87-89% and 81-82% higher than that of barley, respectively. We concluded that growing tomato and onion would bring more income or yield per m 3 of pond water supplied than growing barley. The implication is that as supply and demand determines the price of products, farmers and extension workers need to balance the crop area coverage per irrigation scheme so that undesirable price falls and rises could be avoided. Evaluation of crops based on their water productivity would improve the productivity of irrigation schemes and ultimately improve food security in the arid and semi-arid areas where water scarcity is critical problem and irrigation is a necessity for crop production.