• Authors:
    • Parandiyal, A.
    • Singh, S.
    • Arjun, P.
    • Singh, K.
    • Ashok, K.
    • Shakir, A.
    • Prasad, S.
    • Singh, R.
  • Source: Indian Journal of Soil Conservation
  • Volume: 33
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: Bunding and field levelling are the most preferred activities in the community-driven watershed projects in the semiarid region. In a two-year study carried out during June 1999 to June 2001 on a farmer's field in a ravinous watershed located in south-eastern Rajasthan, India, the effect of bunding and levelling on in situ moisture conservation and corresponding increase in grain and stover yields of chickpea, mustard, sorghum and soyabean was compared. These land treatments considerably improved profile moisture and crop yields during normal as well as deficit monsoon year. Results indicated that conservation measures can potentially stabilize crop production under dryland cropping systems. The land treatments and choice of crops were significant factors influencing economic productivity of land uses. In response to bunding alone and bunding with levelling, crop production increased by 46 and 112%, respectively, over control. Mustard cultivation recovered 76% of the bunding cost and 64% of the bunding+levelling cost in the first year only after imposing land treatments. It is concluded that in semiarid regions, appropriate conservation measures coupled with suitable land use planning result in convincing tangible benefits on short-terms basis, apart from their protective and long-term intangible benefits.
  • Authors:
    • Klepker, D.
    • Yamada, M.
    • Hitsuda, K.
  • Source: Agronomy Journal
  • Volume: 97
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: Sulfur deficiency symptoms are more often observed in crops at early stages of growth since S can be easily leached from the surface soil. The objectives of this study were to evaluate some of the popular rotation crops grown in Brazil for tolerance to low external S levels and to determine the critical tissue concentration for S deficiency during early stages of growth. Germinated seedlings of soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.], rice ( Oryza sativa L.), maize ( Zea mays L.), field bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.), wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), cotton ( Gossypium spp.), sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L.), and sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.) were transferred to water culture with 0.0 to 32.0 mg S L -1 and were grown for 29 d. The minimum S concentration required in nutrient solutions was 2.0 mg L -1 for sunflower; 1.0 mg L -1 for cotton, sorghum, wheat, and soybean; and 0.5 mg L -1 or less for field bean, rice, and maize. All crops achieved optimum growth at 2.0 mg S L -1. Critical shoot S concentration at early stages of growth was 0.8 g kg -1 in maize and soybean; 1.1 to 1.3 g kg -1 in cotton, sorghum, and rice; and 1.4 to 1.6 g kg -1 in wheat, sunflower, and field bean. Our results demonstrate that the tolerance to low external S (
  • Authors:
    • Shimi, P.
    • Kazemi, H.
  • Source: Iranian Journal of Weed Science
  • Volume: 1
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: An isolate of F. moniliforme [Gibberella moniliformis], a pathogen of winter wild oat (A. ludoviciana [A. sterilis var. ludoviciana]), was obtained from Tehran Province, Iran, in 1994. A host range test performed on wheat, barley, maize, rye, millet, crested wheatgrass, faba bean, red bean, green bean, sunflower, soyabean, oilseed rape, cotton, safflower, cucumber, water melon, berseem clover, and sainfoin, resulted in no symptom induction by the pathogen. However, winter wild oat, crested wheatgrass, johnsongrass and tomato showed susceptibility to the pathogen with 78, 24, 19 and 17% mortality, respectively. The results indicate that this pathogen could be considered as a potential biological agent for the control of winter wild oat.
  • Authors:
    • Cooke, F. T.,Jr.
    • Robinson, J. R. C.
    • Martin, S. W.
    • Parvin, D.
  • Source: Crop Management
  • Issue: April
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: This study compared conventional, reduced tillage and no-till systems for cotton, maize, soyabean and sorghum in the Mississippi Delta. Most of the necessary parameters (e.g. yields, costs, equipment, field operations) were obtained from published budgets. The conventional systems typically involved subsoiling, discing, field cultivation, hipping and in-season cultivation. The reduced tillage systems substituted herbicides for heavy pre-plant soil preparation and in-season cultivation, while no-till systems substituted herbicides for all tillage operations. A whole-farm, mixed integer programming model was developed to determine the most profitable crop/tillage combinations at different acreage sizes, assess the actual economies of size (in dollars per acre) in row crop farming, determine the number of acres required to maximize economic viability, determine the best acreage size to minimize or optimize full-time labour, and evaluate profitability trade-offs, including farm programme eligibility, under different tillage systems.
  • Authors:
    • Abou-Alaiw, W.
    • Al-Abed, D.
    • Zhang, S. L.
    • Parani, M.
    • Chennareddy, S.
    • Sairam, R.
    • Goldman, S.
  • Source: In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant
  • Volume: 41
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: The development of robust plant regeneration technology in cereals, dicots and ornamentals that is in turn coupled to a high-frequency DNA transfer technology is reported. Transgenic cereals that include maize, Tripsacum, sorghum, Festuca and Lolium, in addition to dicots that include soybean, cotton and various ornamentals such as petunia, begonia, and geranium have been produced following either somatic embryogenesis or direct organogenesis independent of genotype. Coupled with these regeneration protocols, we have also identified several interesting genes and promoters for incorporation into various crops and ornamentals. In addition, the phenomenon of direct in vitro flowering from cotyledonary nodes in soybean is described. In in vitro flowering, the formation of a plant body is suppressed and the cells of the cotyledonary node produce complete flowers from which fertile seed is recovered. This in vitro flowering technology serves as a complementary tool to chloroplast transformation for developing a new transgenic pollen containment strategy for crop species. Recently, the center has undertaken to screen the expression response of the 24 000 Arabidopsis genes to nitric oxide. This signaling molecule upregulated 342 genes and downregulated 80 genes. The object here was to identify a population of promoters that can be manipulated by using a signaling molecule. In addition, in keeping with the mission of enhancing greenhouse profitability for North West Ohio growers, we cloned a number of genes responsive for disease resistance from ornamentals that play an important role in disease management and abiotic stress. We have constructed a plant transformation vector with CBF3 gene under the rd29A promoter for engineering cold and freezing tolerance in petunia. Leaf discs of Petunia * hybrida v26 were used for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, and 44 hygromycin-resistant T0 plants were obtained. The presence of CBF3 gene was confirmed in all the transgenic plants by PCR and Southern analyses.
  • Authors:
    • Salmond, G.
    • Swan, L.
  • Source: Australian Cottongrower
  • Volume: 26
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: In a field in Australia, the influence of growing different rotation crops on the level of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. vasinfectum (Fov) in the soil was monitored over three years in a summer field crop rotation experiment. In the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons of the trial, the same crop was grown on the same plot. The maize plots were a forced fallow during 2002-03. In 2003-04, the entire trial was oversown with cotton cv. Nu Emerald RR. Mung bean plots were replanted with Sicot 14B six weeks later. In glasshouse pot trials, soil naturally infested with Fov was used to examine different rotation options over five crop cycles with cotton oversown across all treatments in the final cycle. In the field, significantly more cotton plants survived until maturity following a bare fallow rotation compared to cotton plants grown following either maize, cotton or sorghum crops. The greatest percentage of cotton plant death and severity of disease in cotton occurred where soyabean or mung bean crops had previously been grown. In the glasshouse, rotation cycles that included a fallow treatment either one or two crops before growing cotton generally resulted in less severe Fusarium wilt (lower MDI) compared to cycles where a fallow treatment was not included occurred early in the cycle. Crops with larger root systems (sunflower, broccoli, lucerne, maize, sorghum) had more disease (higher MDI) in the following cotton compared to crops with smaller root systems (fallow, chickpea, field pea, millet, pigeon pea), after these crops had been grown for four continuous cycles, reflecting the role of residue and organic matter in pathogen survival and disease incidence. Fov has been isolated from mature plants growing in these pot trials including sunflower (5%); maize (4%); sorghum (3%) (roots only); mung bean (24%); field pea (20%); vetch (20%); pigeon pea (12%); chickpea (4%); and lucerne (4%) (stems and roots). Further research into rotation options and the roles of crop residue, organic matter and green manuring of crops in relation to pathogen survival are discussed.
  • Authors:
    • Rosenberg, N. J.
    • Brown, R. A.
    • Thomson, A. M.
    • Izaurralde, R. C.
    • Benson, V.
  • Source: Climatic Change
  • Volume: 69
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: Here we simulate dryland agriculture in the United States in order to assess potential future agricultural production under a set of general circulation model (GCM)-based climate change scenarios. The total national production of three major grain crops - corn, soybeans, and winter wheat - and two forage crops - alfalfa and clover hay - is calculated for the actual present day core production area (CPA) of each of these crops. In general, higher global mean temperature (GMT) reduces production and higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([CO 2]) increases production. Depending on the climatic change scenarios employed overall national production of the crops studied changes by up to plus or minus 25% from present-day levels. Impacts are more significant regionally, with crop production varying by greater than 50% from baseline levels. Analysis of currently possible production areas (CPPAs) for each crop indicates that the regions most likely to be affected by climate change are those on the margins of the areas in which they are currently grown. Crop yield variability was found to be primarily influenced by local weather and geographic features rather than by large-scale changes in climate patterns and atmospheric composition. Future US agronomic potential will be significantly affected by the changes in climate projected here. The nature of the crop response will depend primarily on to what extent precipitation patterns change and also on the degree of warming experienced.
  • Authors:
    • Scott, A. W.,Jr.
    • Westphal, A.
  • Source: Crop Science
  • Volume: 45
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: Rotylenchulus reniformis Linford & Oliveira is increasing in incidence in cotton-growing areas throughout the southern USA east of New Mexico. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars resistant to R. reniformis are currently unavailable. Management depends on a crop sequence with nonhosts of the nematode. In South Texas, the sequence of cotton with grain sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] or corn ( Zea mays L.) has become a standard practice. To improve farm efficiency, the implementation of rotation crops that are economically superior to grain sorghum is desirable. Eighteen cultivars of soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] were tested in nonfumigated and in fumigated sandy loam soil infested with R. reniformis to evaluate nematode resistance of soybean under field conditions. Shank application of 1,3-dichloropropene at a 38-cm depth reduced R. reniformis population densities at the 15- to 60-cm depth compared with preseason counts. The effect of each soybean cultivar on the growth and yield of a subsequent cotton crop was compared with the impact of grain sorghum and fallow. High-yielding cultivars of soybean (HY574, Padre, DP7375RR, and NK83-30) with reniform nematode-suppressing potential were identified among cultivars within maturity groups 5, 6, 7, and 8. In contrast, cotton yields following the susceptible cultivars Santa Rosa-R, Vernal, and DP6880RR were on average 25% lower than those following grain sorghum. The enrichment of cotton sequences with reniform nematode-resistant soybean cultivars is viable when the proper cultivars are chosen, whereas the use of reniform nematode-susceptible soybean cultivars is discouraged. The effective use of R. reniformis-resistant soybean cultivars to manage R. reniformis in cotton will depend on a number of additional economic parameters not studied in these experiments.
  • Authors:
    • Chattopadhyay, N.
    • Das, H. P.
  • Source: Advances in Indian entomology: productivity and health (a silver jubilee supplement)
  • Volume: 1
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: Every year crops (such as rice, cotton, pigeon pea, sorghum, soyabean, groundnut, sugarcane and vegetables) are being damaged by pests and diseases. Due to lack of proper operational forecasting system for the incidences of pests and diseases, it becomes difficult to adopt efficient plant protection measures at the right time. It has been established with fair degree of accuracy that climate/weather plays major role in the incidences of pests and diseases. Thus, there is a tremendous scope of utilizing meteorological parameters for the advance information of the occurrences of the pests and diseases and ultimately scheduling of prophylactive measures can be taken scientifically and judiciously. Quite a number of studies in this regards have been made in the Agricultural Meteorology Division, India Meteorological Department (Pune, Maharashtra, India). In the present paper, a comprehensive review of the work done in this division on the impact of weather on pests and diseases of crops is presented. This information will probably help the agricultural community of the country to save the crops from the infestation of pest and disease incidences.
  • Authors:
    • Kelley, F. S.
    • Shaw, D. R.
    • Flint, S. G.
    • Holloway, J. C.
  • Source: Weed Technology
  • Volume: 19
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: Field studies were conducted in Mississippi, USA, from 1998 to 2000, to compare weed population shifts in soyabean and cotton using a total glyphosate system, preemergence (PRE) herbicides followed by glyphosate, and a conventional herbicide programme. In the first year of the soyabean study, populations of hemp sesbania ( Sesbania exaltata) were highest for treatments of PRE herbicides followed by either glyphosate or the conventional herbicide programme because of better control from the total glyphosate system. Barnyardgrass ( Echinochloa crus-galli) populations in the first year of the study for the untreated plots were 0 plants/m 2 but increased in the third year to 61 plants/m 2. Flumetsulam + metolachlor followed by glyphosate at the lower rates and the untreated control were the only treatments in which there was an increase in barnyardgrass over the 3-year study. Broadleaf signalgrass ( Urochloa platyphylla) populations increased in the third year with 0.1 kg ai flumetsulam + 2.1 kg ai metolachlor/ha followed by 0.84 kg ae glyphosate/ha, primarily because of reduced competition from lower populations of other weeds such as hemp sesbania. Pitted morningglory ( Ipomoea lacunosa) populations for all treatments decreased in the third year because of good control of this species and the high level of interference from other weed species in the first 2 years. Johnsongrass ( Sorghum halepense) populations decreased in the third year with 0.4 kg ai flumetsulam + 1.1 kg ai metolachlor/ha followed by 0.84 kg glyphosate/ha. Johnsongrass populations decreased with timely glyphosate sequential applications, with 5 plants/m 2 in 1998 and 0 plants/m 2 in 2000. Yields increased from the first year to the second year, corresponding to reduced weed pressure, and yields varied from 710 to 1420 kg/ha. Because of weed pressure, soyabean yields were not different in any of the treatments, including the untreated, although treatments changed the species present. In the cotton study, weed populations over 3 years decreased, with the most significant reductions from the treatments of fluometuron + prometryn + metolachlor followed by either pyrithiobac or glyphosate. Weeds that showed the most significant decline were barnyardgrass and hemp sesbania, whereas johnsongrass increased, with 27 plants/m 2 in treatments of 0.6 kg ai fluometuron + 0.3 kg ai prometryn + 0.7 kg ai metolachlor/ha followed by 0.84 kg glyphosate/ha. Lint cotton yields varied from 0 to 128 kg/ha. Because of the weed pressure, cotton yields were not different in any of the treatments, although treatments changed the species present. This research has shown that weed species can decrease over time with the continued use of any of these herbicide programmes.