• 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:
    • Wang, R.
    • CHEN-Zhi
    • Sun, Y.
    • Zhao, Y.
  • Source: Journal of Northwest A & F University - Natural Science Edition
  • Volume: 39
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Objective: The paper uncovered the wheat and potato strip intercropping farmland's resistance effects to wind erosion in the agro-pastoral ectone in order to provide theoretical foundation and techonological direction. Method: Based on agro-pastoral mixed areas of Yinshan Mountain in Inner Mongolia, soil-erosion testing experiments were conducted on three stubble coverage farmland (wheat stubble coverage, coverage 65% and 76%, stubble height 20 cm and 30 cm; naked oats stubble coverage, coverage 90%, stubble height 30 cm) under 5 scheduled velocities (6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 m/s) by means of the movable wind tunnel and its suited velocity and sand sampling equipments. The author analyzed the change disciplinarian of the surfaces' aerodynamic roughness and wind erosion amount with the increasing distance of tested points (3, 3.75, 4.5, 5.25 and 6 m) from wind tunnel experiment section entrance (Simulating conservation tillage farmland's stubble widths). Result: The roughness of three kinds of surface showed early increasing and subsequent decreasing trend with the increasing distance of tested points from wind tunnel experiment section entrance under different velocities and the majority reached the max when the distance was 5.25 m; The wind erosion amount revealed rapid decreasing trend with the increasing distance of tested points from wind tunnel experiment section entrance under different velocities, the decreasing trend of wind erosion amount was gentle when the distance reached 5.25 m. Conclusion: Conservation tillage farmland's stubble height and vegetation coverage increase anti-wind erosion significantly. Anti-wind erosion effect of conservation tillage farmland tends to be more steady and significant when conservation tillage farmland effective width reaches 5.25 m.
  • Authors:
    • Sanjani, S.
    • Bannayan, M.
  • Source: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
  • Volume: 151
  • Issue: 12
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Climate variability and weather extremes are principal sources of fluctuations of annual productivity of many crops in arid and semi-arid environments. Temperature and precipitation are the major weather variables that determine the variability of crop yields. In this study, the relationship between weather descriptors and major irrigated crops yield were assessed for Khorasan province in northeast of Iran. Long term daily weather (1984-2007) and crop yield (wheat, barley, sugarbeet, cotton, potato, chickpea, alfalfa) data were analyzed with simple correlation analysis and also the iterative chi-square analysis identified relationships of low and high wheat yield years to maximum and minimum air temperatures within each region. Our results indicated that association between various crop yield and descriptors varied in different study location. As in Bojnourd located in the north of Khorasan yields of the crops studied did not correlate with temperature indicators, whereas in Birjand the relationship between temperature descriptors and crop yields were strong. Correlation between growing season precipitation and wheat, barley, chickpea and sugarbeet yields was positive while cotton yield decreased with increasing precipitation during the growing season. The results of chi-square analysis for wheat yield demonstrated that the critical time in which extreme temperature led to yield loss differed among regions. In Bojnourd, in late April to early May, and excess days (high or low yield years have more days meeting a cardinal value than normal years) with maximum temperature higher than 30 degrees C, wheat yield decreased while in Birjand, cooler maximum temperature (
  • Authors:
    • Pendergast, L.
    • Torabi, M.
    • Bhattarai, S.
    • Dhungel, J.
    • Chen, X.
    • Midmore, D.
  • Source: Journal of Plant Ecology
  • Volume: 4
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Aims Oxygation refers to irrigation of crops with aerated water, through air injection using the venturi principle or the supply of hydrogen peroxide in the root zone, both using subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system. Oxygation improves water use efficiency (WUE), producing more yield and, and therefore, optimizes the use of drip and SDI. But the efficiency of oxygation is quite possibly dependent on a number of factors. The primary objective of this study was, therefore, to quantify the effects of oxygation, emitter depths and soil type on crop root zone oxygen content, soil respiration, plant physiological response, biomass yield, quality and WUE of three crop species. Methods This study investigated the potential of oxygation to enhance soil respiration, plant growth, yield and water use efficiencies (WUE) of cotton and wheat in experiments in enclosed heavy-duty concrete troughs (tubs) and pineapple and cotton in field experiments. Experimental treatments in tubs for wheat included comparisons between two soil types (vertisol and ferrosol) and superimposed were two oxygation methods (Mazzei air injector and Seair Diffusion System) compared to a control, and for cotton, emitters at two depths using Mazzei air injectors were compared to a control. The field experiments compared Mazzei air injectors and a control for cotton in Emerald and pineapple in Yeppoon, both in central Queensland, Australia. Important findings In all experiments, soil oxygen content and soil respiration markedly increased in response to the oxygation treatments. The O-2 concentration in the crop root zone increased by 2.4-32.6%, for oxygation compared to control at the same depth. The soil respiration increased by 42-100%. The number of wheat ears, leaf dry weight and total dry matter were significantly greater in Mazzei and Seair oxygation compared to the control. Fresh biomass of wheat increased by 11 and 8%, and dry weight of wheat increased by 8 and 3% in Mazzei and Seair oxygation treatments compared to the control, respectively. Likewise, the irrigation water use efficiency increased with oxygation compared to the control in wheat. The yield, WUE and number of other physiological parameters in wheat were enhanced in vertisol compared to ferrosol. The seed cotton yield in the tub experiment increased with oxygation by 14%, and significant differences for fresh biomass, dry matter and yield were also noted between oxygation and the control in the field. Lint yield and WUE both increased by 7% using Mazzei in the cotton field trial during 2008-09. There were significant effects of oxygation on pineapple fresh biomass, and dry matter weight, industry yield and a number of quality parameters were significantly improved. The total fruit yield and marketable increased by 17 and 4% and marketable WUE increased by 3% using Mazzei. Our data suggest that the benefits of oxygation are notable not only for dicotyledonous cotton but also for monocotyledonous wheat and pineapple representing different rooting morphologies and CO2 fixation pathways.
  • Authors:
    • Lasram, A.
    • Akkari, T.
    • Dellagi, H.
  • Source: New Medit
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: This work deals with the regional characteristics of the supplied irrigation effect on the cereal yield in Tunisia. It underlines the value of the knowledge how scientifically brought to farmers. This study analyses the results of an inquiry carried on over seven consecutive years at the level of two categories for farmers practising irrigated wheat farming. The first category of farmers is taking advantage of a set of the technological support actions which related both to the vulgarization of different forms of technological innovations and the miscellaneous forms of support in kind, while the second category of farmers is granted no form of support. The specification of the different regions studied in Tunisia and the comparison of the two farmers categories studied is brought out by the Principal Components Analysis technique and the PLS regression. The mastering of the irrigation waters use, the rationalization of the fertilization as well as the soil exploitation in the north of the country are better valorised by the supported farmers.
  • Authors:
    • Nagler, P. L.
    • Hunsaker, D. J.
    • Neale, C. M. U.
    • Glenn, E. P.
  • Source: Hydrological Processes
  • Volume: 25
  • Issue: 26
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Crop coefficients were developed to determine crop water needs based on the evapotranspiration (ET) of a reference crop under a given set of meteorological conditions. Starting in the 1980s, crop coefficients developed through lysimeter studies or set by expert opinion began to be supplemented by remotely sensed vegetation indices (VI) that measured the actual status of the crop on a field-by-field basis. VIs measure the density of green foliage based on the reflectance of visible and near infrared (NIR) light from the canopy, and are highly correlated with plant physiological processes that depend on light absorption by a canopy such as ET and photosynthesis. Reflectance-based crop coefficients have now been developed for numerous individual crops, including corn, wheat, alfalfa, cotton, potato, sugar beet, vegetables, grapes and orchard crops. Other research has shown that VIs can be used to predict ET over fields of mixed crops, allowing them to be used to monitor ET over entire irrigation districts. VI-based crop coefficients can help reduce agricultural water use by matching irrigation rates to the actual water needs of a crop as it grows instead of to a modeled crop growing under optimal conditions. Recently, the concept has been applied to natural ecosystems at the local, regional and continental scales of measurement, using time-series satellite data from the MODIS sensors on the Terra satellite. VIs or other visible-NIR band algorithms are combined with meteorological data to predict ET in numerous biome types, from deserts, to arctic tundra, to tropical rainforests. These methods often closely match ET measured on the ground at the global FluxNet array of eddy covariance moisture and carbon flux towers. The primary advantage of VI methods for estimating ET is that transpiration is closely related to radiation absorbed by the plant canopy, which is closely related to VIs. The primary disadvantage is that they cannot capture stress effects or soil evaporation. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
  • Authors:
    • Navarrete, L.
    • Kozak, M.
    • Hernandez Plaza, E.
    • Gonzalez-Andujar, J. L.
  • Source: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
  • Volume: 140
  • Issue: 1-2
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: This study investigated whether the choice of a tillage system (no-tillage, minimum tillage or traditional tillage) affected weed diversity in a 23 years cereal-leguminous rotation system in Spain. Weed diversity was assessed using common diversity indices: species richness, Shannon's index and Pielouis evenness. Linear mixed-effects models were employed to compare the tillage systems. It was found that after 23 years no large differences between tillage systems have arisen related to weed diversity. Only minimum tillage appeared to support, on average, more species than the two other tillage systems. Richness, Shannon diversity index and evenness varied largely through the years in all tillage systems but this variation was not related to type of crop sown (cereal or leguminous). Our results highlight that conservation tillage practices did not represent any concern for weed diversity conservation in cereal-leguminous rotations in the conditions of central Spain.
  • Authors:
    • Grant, C.
    • Cai, D.
    • Wu, X.
    • Sun, Y.
    • Feng, Z.
    • Zhang, D.
    • Zhang, X.
    • Zhao, Q.
    • Meng, C.
    • Dai, K.
    • Yang, Y.
    • Wang, X.
    • Jia, S.
  • Source: Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems
  • Volume: 90
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: A field micro-plot experiment for winter wheat was conducted in an irrigated winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum)-summer maize ( Zea mays L.) rotation system in Mazhuang, Xinji of Hebei province in the North China Plain, using the 15N isotope method to determine the effects of N application (rates and timing), and irrigation frequency on urea- 15N fate, residual-N and N recovery efficiency (NRE) of wheat. The experiment was conducted under two irrigation treatments (I2 and I3, representing for two and three irrigations, respectively), at three N rates (150, 210, and 270, kg ha -1), divided between two 15N-labeled applications of basal- 15N (90 kg ha -1) and topdress- 15N (60, 120, and 180, kg N ha -1, respectively). The total N uptake by wheat (ranging from 186 to 238 kg ha -1) and the fertilizer-derived N (Ndff, about 34-55%) were measured. The Ndff from labeled basal- 15N and from labeled topdress- 15N were about 15-22% and 16-40%, respectively. The NRE (measured either as recovery in grain or as the total N recovery in the plant) was higher with I3 (39-41 or 47-49%) than with I2 (35-40 or 42-47%), showing maximum NRE in grain of about 40% both at N210 with I2 and at N150 with I3 treatment. The NRE by the first wheat crop (in grain or the total N recovery in plant) was higher with labeled topdress- 15N (39-48 or 45-56%) as compared to that with labeled basal- 15N (30-37 or 36-45%), while the unaccounted N losses were lower with labeled basal- 15N (14-22%) relative to labeled topdress- 15N (14-35%). Higher residual N in soils was found with labeled basal- 15N (41-51%), as compared to labeled topdress- 15N (18-35%). Residual N in the 0- to 150-cm soil depth ranged from 26 to 44% while the unaccounted N losses ranged from 14 to 30%. Recovery of residual N by the 2nd and 3rd crops in the rotation was 5-10% in the maize crop and a further 1.7-3.5% in the subsequent wheat crop. The accumulated N recovery and the unaccounted N losses in continuous wheat-maize-wheat rotations derived from labeled topdress- 15N were 54-64% and 16-37%, respectively while they were 47-53% and 16-28%, respectively from labeled basal- 15N. This study also suggested that an N rate of 210 kg ha -1 (with a ratio of basal-N to topdress-N of 1:1.3) with two irrigation applications could optimize wheat grain yields and NRE, under the water limited conditions in North China Plain.
  • Authors:
    • José-María, L.
    • Sans, F. X.
  • Source: Weed Research
  • Volume: 51
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Weed seedbanks are a reserve of weed diversity and can contribute to the prediction of future weed problems in arable fields. Managing seedbanks should therefore help in optimising biodiversity and controlling weed infestations. This study assessed the effects of management system (organic vs. conventional) and landscape complexity on seedbank size and species richness at the edges and centres of Mediterranean dryland cereal fields and examines the relationship between specific management practices and seedbanks. Field edges and organic fields had more species-rich, denser seedbanks than field centres and conventional fields, and landscape complexity had a limited effect on arable seedbanks. Accordingly, the promotion of low-intensity farming practices regardless of landscape complexity, especially at field edges, would be an effective measure for conservation purposes in Mediterranean agroecosystems. Nevertheless, the high seed density of organic seedbanks reveals the need for more effective seedbank management. The analysis of the effects of specific management practices highlights the importance of cleaning crop seeds properly to reduce seedbank size and using complex rotations, especially as this tends to conserve species richness while reducing seed abundance.
  • Authors:
    • Dalgliesh, N. P.
    • Nelson, R.
    • Khan,I. A.
    • Carberry, P. S.
    • Kabir, M. J.
    • Poulton, P. L.
  • Source: ACIAR Technical Reporst No.78, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, H. Rawson (ed), Canberra, ACT[Research Book Chapter]
  • Issue: 78
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Increased Rabi-season crop production in southern Bangladesh could help meet the country's growing food demand. This paper reports on an assessment of the economic viability of wheat and other Rabi-season crops based on farmer surveys of crop yields and economic performance. In addition, it considers the agroeconomic and socioeconomic factors that influence farmers' choice of Rabi-season crops. Current Rabi-season crops in southern Bangladesh include boro rice and vegetable production on lands with irrigation facilities. A range of other crops are grown, with and without irrigation, including chilli, potato, grasspea, chickpea, mungbean and soybean. Although farmers in some southern regions had grown wheat in the past, wheat is not a significant crop across the region. The recent increased interest in wheat in some villages corresponded to project activities of a development project, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and specifically to the availability of newly released varieties with higher yield potential and disease resistance. In those villages where project trials were conducted, irrespective of seasonal conditions, wheat-based rotations provided higher gross margins than the alternative crops of chilli and cowpea. Even in a relatively poor season, wheat offered a significantly higher gross margin and thus lower risk than the other crops. However, the crop establishment costs of wheat are high and wheat requires at least one irrigation when many farmers lack any irrigation facilities. Formal education, off-farm income and farming experience are the socioeconomic factors that displayed significant positive correlation to the surveyed farmers' decision to adopt wheat production. This study confirmed the economic viability of Rabi cropping in southern Bangladesh. While the crops currently grown in the Rabi season are profitable under most seasonal conditions, this study confirmed that wheat offers farmers a profitable and low-risk option.