scholarly journals Alley Cropping Increases Land Use Efficiency and Economic Profitability Across the Combination Cultivation Period

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huasen Xu ◽  
Huaxing Bi ◽  
Lubo Gao ◽  
Lei Yun
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Alley Cropping ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Land Use Efficiency ◽  
Term Experiment ◽  
Long Term Experiment ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Short Term Experiment

Alley cropping allows the famer to effectively use available resources and yield more benefits. Choosing suitable associated crop and mitigating the competition between trees and crops are crucial for designing the alley cropping systems. We conducted a long-term experiment, including apple (Malus pumila)/peanut (Arachis hypogaea), apple/millet (Setaria italica) and apple/maize (Zea mays) alley cropping systems with conventional intercropping distance, and corresponding monocultures (Exp.1), and a short-term experiment with improved intercropping distance in the same three combinations (Exp.2) in the Loess Plateau, China. The results showed crop yields in three alley cropping systems were lower than the corresponding monocultures. Apple yields were significantly constrained by millet and maize in the alley cropping systems, but not sensitive to the presence of peanut. Land equivalent ratios (LERs) ranged from 0.44 to 0.89 before the tree bore fruit. The LERs were greater than 1.0 after the tree bore fruit, and the apple trees made a decisive contribution to the land use advantage. Net present values of three alley cropping systems were on average 60.1% higher than the corresponding monocultures across the alley cropping period. The maximum annual present value in the first–fifth, sixth and seventh–ninth years after the alley cropping establishment was observed in the apple/maize, apple/millet and apple/peanut system, respectively. These results highlight that choosing the optimal alley cropping management and suitable associated crops at different years after establishment may allow farmers to increase the land use efficiency and economic profitability.

Trade-Off between Energy Wood and Grain Production in Temperate Alley-Cropping Systems: An Empirical and Simulation-Based Derivation of Land Equivalent Ratio

Agriculture ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana-Maria Seserman ◽  
Dirk Freese ◽  
Anita Swieter ◽  
Maren Langhof ◽  
Maik Veste
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Alley Cropping ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Energy Yield ◽  
Land Area ◽  
Land Equivalent Ratio ◽  
Equivalent Ratio ◽  
Land Use Efficiency ◽  
Gross Energy ◽  
Use Efficiency

The alley-cropping systems (ACSs), which integrate parallel tree strips at varying distances on an agricultural field can result, complementarity of resource use, in an increased land-use efficiency. Practitioners’ concerns have been directed towards the productivity of such systems given a reduced area covered by agricultural crops. The land equivalent ratio (LER) serves as a valuable productivity indicator of yield performance and land-use efficiency in ACSs, as it compares the yields achieved in monocultures to those from ACSs. Consequently, the objective of this combined experimental and simulation study was to assess the tree- and crop-yields and to derive the LER and gross energy yield for two temperate ACSs in Germany under different design scenarios, i.e., tree arrangements (lee- or wind-ward) and ratios of tree area to crop area. Both LER and gross energy yields resulted in a convex curve where the maximum values were achieved when either the tree or crop component was dominant (>75% of the land area) and minimum when these components shared similar proportions of land area. The implications of several design scenarios have been discussed in order to improve the decision-making, optimization, and adaptation of the design of ACSs with respect to site-specific characteristics.

scholarly journals Nitrogen use efficiency and fertiliser fate in a long-term experiment with winter cover crops

2016 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 14-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.L. Gabriel ◽  
M. Alonso-Ayuso ◽  
I. García-González ◽  
C. Hontoria ◽  
M. Quemada
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Use Efficiency ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Nitrogen Use ◽  
Term Experiment ◽  
Long Term Experiment ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Winter Cover ◽  
Winter Cover Crops

Some effects of primary cultivations on crop yields in a four-course rotation

1963 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Barker
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Root Crops ◽  
Term Experiment ◽  
Long Term Experiment ◽  
Consistent Method ◽  
Seedbed Preparation ◽  
Made In

A long-term experiment designed to study the effects on crop yields of different basic methods of cultivation used in the preparation of seedbeds is described and the results of the first completed cycle of 4 years are discussed. Four basic methods of cultivation were compared, namely, ploughing, rotary cultivating, cultivating and discing. Each one of these was done, early and late, for each crop in two four-course rotations which differed only in the cropping of 1 of the 4 years when potatoes were used in one case and a 1-year ley in the other. Each crop in the rotation (winter wheat, sugar beet, barley, ley or potatoes) was grown at two levels of fertilizer application and provision was made in the design of the experiment for two different weed control régimes. The soil was fairly easy to work, being of the Milton series of river gravels.As a result of the work described, the following conclusions have been drawn:1. Ploughing was the most consistent method of providing a satisfactory basis for the final seedbed preparation but in some circumstances other methods were equally good. On average, ploughing led to the highest yields and discing the lowest, with rotary cultivating second and cultivating third in order of merit.2. The yields of cereals grown after root crops were not dependent on the method of basic cultivation used.3. The effects of the cultivations on the yield of winter wheat after the ley appeared to be due to the extent to which the regrowth of rye-grass was controlled, the plough being most effective in this respect.

scholarly journals Long-term resource addition to a detrital food web yields a pattern of responses more complex than pervasive bottom-up control

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendra L. Lawrence ◽  
David H Wise
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Term Experiment ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Long Term Experiment ◽  
Short Term Experiment ◽  
Univariate Analyses

Background. Theory predicts strong bottom-up control in detritus-based food webs, yet field experiments with detritus-based terrestrial systems have uncovered contradictory evidence regarding the strength and pervasiveness of bottom-up control processes. Two factors likely leading to contradictory results are experiment duration, which influences exposure to temporal variation in abiotic factors such as rainfall and affects the likelihood of detecting approach to a new equilibrium; and openness of the experimental units to immigration and migration. To investigate the contribution of these two factors, we conducted a long-term experiment with open and fenced plots in the forest that was the site of an earlier, short-term experiment (3.5 months) with open plots (Chen & Wise 1999) that produced evidence of strong bottom-up control for 14 taxonomic groupings of primary consumers of litter and fungi (microbi-detritivores) and their predators. Methods. We added artificial high-quality detritus to ten 2 x 2-m forest-floor plots at bi-weekly intervals from April through September in three consecutive years (Supplemented treatment). Ten comparable Ambient plots were controls. Half of the Supplemented and Ambient plots were enclosed by metal fencing. Results. Arthropod community structure (based upon 18 response variables) diverged over time between Supplemented and Ambient treatments, with no effect of Fencing on the multivariate response pattern. Fencing possibly influenced only ca. 20% of the subsequent univariate analyses. Multi- and univariate analyses revealed bottom-up control by fall of Year 1 of some, but not all, microbi-detritivores and predators. During the following two years the pattern of responses became more complex than that observed by Chen & Wise (1999). Some taxa showed consistent bottom-up control whereas many did not. Variation across years could not be explained completely by differences in rainfall because some taxa exhibited negative, not positive, responses to detrital supplementation. Discussion. Our 3-yr experiment did not confirm the conclusion of strong, pervasive bottom-up control of microbi-detritivores and predators reported by Chen and Wise (1999). Our longer-term experiment revealed a more complex pattern of responses, a pattern much closer to the range of outcomes reported in the literature for many short-term experiments. Much of the variation in responses across studies likely reflects variation in factors such as rainfall and the quality of added detritus. Nevertheless, it is also possible that long-term resource enhancement can drive a community towards a new equilibrium state that differs from what would have been predicted from the initial short-term responses exhibited by primary and secondary consumers.

Effect of organic amendments and inorganic fertiliser application on nitrogen use efficiency and denitrification in controlled and field conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Albano ◽  
Ruben Sakrabani ◽  
Stephan Haefele
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Use Efficiency ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Organic Amendments ◽  
Nitrogen Use ◽  
Term Experiment ◽  
Nitrogen Inputs ◽  
Long Term Experiment ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Inorganic Fertilisers

<p>The amount of bioavailable nitrogen is directly linked to anthropogenic activity (Kuypers, Marchant, & Kartal, 2018), particularly with the intensive application of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. Although high nitrogen inputs are required to support the ever-increasing need for food production, nitrogen use efficiency is in many cases low, to the extent that even with extra nitrogen inputs over time, increases of food production are small and slow (Battye, Aneja, & Schlesinger, 2017).</p><p>It has been suggested that roughly 40% of reactive nitrogen is denitrified in the soil (Seitzinger, et al., 2006), and most of the reactive nitrogen that results from human activities is removed by denitrification, with consequent production of N<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O. However, even if most reactive N forms are removed by denitrification, this is an indicator that N use efficiency is not at optimum levels.</p><p>A study is being conducted in field and controlled conditions, that aims to understand denitrification and nitrogen use efficiency in a long-term experiment (running continuously since 2013) at Rothamsted Research. The experiment was designed to provide a clearer look at the effect of applications of organic amendments and/or inorganic fertilisers on nitrogen dynamics and crop yields in a conventional cereal-based cropping system.</p><p>Simultaneously, using yield data from the same trial, we aim to understand a) if the application of organic amendments leads to a reduction of the nitrogen threshold for optimum yields and, by using a modelling approach, b) if the eventual higher yields obtained with organic amendment application are due to the effect of the extra nutrients contained in the amendment or to some other effect caused by the amendments.</p><p>Soil and gas samples are being collected from a) different treatments of the field experiment (four different organic amendments: anaerobic digestate, compost, farmyard manure, straw and unamended control; and different nitrogen application rates; area of each plot: 54 m<sup>2</sup>) to assess nitrogen dynamics, and b) from soil columns (height 35 cm; width 25.5 cm)  placed in a controlled environment using soil collected from the same trial. Different measurements are being taken including leachate (measurements of mineralised nitrogen), microbiology and gas emissions (using a Picarro device that measures NH<sub>3</sub>, N<sub>2</sub>O, CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub>, O<sub>2</sub>, H<sub>2</sub>O). Simultaneously, underground sensors are being used to understand moisture and temperature evolution in the soil column, while electrochemical nitrate sensors are being used to understand nitrate dynamics before and after application of organic amendments and inorganic fertilisers.</p><p>With this, we aim at having a better understanding on denitrification processes and nitrogen use efficiency issues that may occur when using a joint regime of organic amendments and inorganic fertilisers. The main objectives of the project are the validation of the effect of organic amendments in the Fosters long-term experiment and the quantification of nitrogen gas emissions with the application of organic amendments and nitrogen fertilisers.</p>

Changes with time of crop yields in a long-term experiment

1988 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. V. Dyke
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Spring Barley ◽  
Wheat Variety ◽  
Term Experiment ◽  
Long Term Experiment

SummaryYields of the three ‘test’ crops, winter wheat, potatoes, spring barley in the Rothamsted Ley–Arable experiments 1949–69 increased by about 100%, 80%, 40% respectively, each in a period of 19 years. The wheat variety was changed once during the period and this change is enough to explain most of he increase of yield. For potatoes there was no change of variety; the estimated effects of changes in manuring, etc. explain less than one third of the observed increase. For barley two changes of variety explain about one third of the increase; most of the remainder may be explained by improved manuring of preceding crops, especially potatoes. After 1969 the cropping was drastically changed but a few recent yields from other experiments at Rothamsted indicate that the steady rates of increase may have continued at least up to 1980.

EFFECT OF HEAVY MUSCULAR WORK ON THE MORPHOLOGY AND HISTOCHEMISTRY OF THE RAT TESTIS

1963 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Härkönen ◽  
E. Kontinen ◽  
M. Kormano ◽  
M. Niemi
Keyword(s):  
Leydig Cells ◽  
Seminiferous Tubules ◽  
Interstitial Tissue ◽  
List Type ◽  
Muscular Work ◽  
Term Experiment ◽  
Long Term Experiment ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Short Term Experiment

ABSTRACT The effect of short- and long-term muscular work on the Leydig cells of the rat was studied. The rats were allowed to run in a rotating wire cylinder for various periods. The amount of stress was evaluated by the involution of the thymus, ulceration of the gastric mucosa, enlargement of adrenal glands and their lipid and catecholamine contents. After a short-term experiment, periods of 16 + 10 hours' running with rest for 10 hours in between, accessory genital organs were slightly involuted 4 to 8 days following the stress. The testes were histologically and histochemically intact. Similar results were obtained after a long-term experiment, comprising continuous daily running for 10 hours over a period of 12 days. In a progressive long-term experiment, viz. daily running until exhaustion for 14 days, temporary degeneration of the Leydig cells occurred: the percentage of interstitial tissue and the size of the nuclei of the Leydig cells diminished and the number of degenerating Leydig cells significantly increased. Oxidative enzyme activity was markedly suppressed. DPN-diaphorase and β-hydroxybutyric dehydrogenase activity were very markedly decreased. The involution of the accessory genital organs was more pronounced than in the two former experiments. All these phenomena reverted to normal within ten days. In every experiment the seminiferous tubules remained histologically normal.

scholarly journals A Case Study on User Evaluation of Scientific Publication Summarization by Japanese Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6287
Author(s):  
Shintaro Yamamoto ◽  
Ryota Suzuki ◽  
Tsukasa Fukusato ◽  
Hirokatsu Kataoka ◽  
Shigeo Morishima
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Publication ◽  
Automatic Summarization ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Term Experiment ◽  
Long Term Experiment ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Short Term Experiment

Summaries of scientific publications enable readers to gain an overview of a large number of studies, but users’ preferences have not yet been explored. In this paper, we conduct two user studies (i.e., short- and long-term studies) where Japanese university students read summaries of English research articles that were either manually written or automatically generated using text summarization and/or machine translation. In the short-term experiment, subjects compared and evaluated the two types of summaries of the same article. We analyze the characteristics in the generated summaries that readers regard as important, such as content richness and simplicity. The experimental results show that subjects are mainly judged based on four criteria, including content richness, simplicity, fluency, and format. In the long-term experiment, subjects read 50 summaries and answered whether they would like to read the original papers after reading the summaries. We discuss the characteristics in the summaries that readers tend to use to determine whether to read the papers, such as topic, methods, and results. The comments from subjects indicate that specific components of scientific publications, including research topics and methods, are important to judge whether to read or not. Our study provides insights to enhance the effectiveness of automatic summarization of scientific publications.

scholarly journals Seasonality on Transplanting Monocropped Lettuce and Intercropping With Staked Summer Squash

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 316
Author(s):  
Leonardo Diogo Ehle Dias ◽  
Jucimar Ferreira Neves ◽  
Leandro Batista Da Silva ◽  
Franciely Da Silva Ponce ◽  
Oscar Mitsuo Yamashita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Lactuca Sativa ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cucurbita Moschata ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Land Use Efficiency ◽  
Summer Squash ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Crop System

Lettuce and summer squash are two important vegetables cultivated in peri-urban areas the cities in Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Their intercropping can increase the efficiency of the use of the area and the seasonality of harvest. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and summer squash (Cucurbita moschata) in a conventional crop system and intercropped with different lettuce transplant period. These being the result of mono-cropping systems and intercropped lettuce with staked summer squash in six transplanting seasons of the lettuce and the monocropping of the trailing summer squash. The simultaneous transplantation of the two species provided the best performance of the lettuce. Summer squash production per plant did not differ between cropping systems; however, increased productivity was obtained with intercropping due to the higher density of plants. All the periods of inter-cropping establishment showed positive rates of land-use efficiency. For the summer squash production, intercropping systems provide better yield; however, the system hampers the development and production of lettuce.

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