Minimizing Lentil Harvest Loss through Improved Agronomic Practices in Sustainable Agro-Systems

Lentils are one of the most common legume crops used to diversify the cereal-oilseed cropping system in semi-arid environments. Lentils are a major source of protein and fiber for human consumption worldwide. However, the morphological characteristics of lentil plants—such as a short stem and low pod positioning—and complicated combine harvesting methods often result in yield loss. This also increases the susceptibility of a lentil crop to disease and render it less competitive against weeds. As a result, producers have resorted to using pesticides in order to mitigate the effects of weeds and disease. As a consequence, there have been undesirable negative environmental impacts on sustainable agroecosystems. Although land rolling, stubble management, and pesticide usage are common agronomic practices used to increase lentil yield and mitigate the issues associated with its morphology, their comprehensive effects on lentil growth and harvest loss are still not fully understood. In this study, we examined the impact of stubble management, the timing of land rolling, and the application of common fungicides and herbicides on lentil growth and yield. We found that stubble management and the timing of rolling modified lentil morphological structures, and thus impacted lentil yield and seed loss. These results were influenced by environmental factors, such as precipitation during the growing season. Although the results did not show significant interaction between fungicide application and lentil growth and yield, herbicide applications, stubble management, and the timing of rolling, along with common pesticide application strategies tested in our study, showed effects that were dependent on environmental conditions. Based on our results, we concluded that stubble management and the timing of rolling, combined with pesticide applications, can affect lentil seed loss and yield by modifying plant morphology. This was largely influenced by environmental conditions such as precipitation.

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Morphological Variations of Robusta Coffee As a Response to Different Altitude in Lampung

Pelita Perkebunan (a Coffee and Cocoa Research Journal) ◽

10.22302/iccri.jur.pelitaperkebunan.v35i2.378 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 103-118

Author(s):

Erwin Prastowo ◽

Rina Arimarsetiowati

Keyword(s):

Environmental Conditions ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Fruit Weight ◽

Leaf Length ◽

Qualitative Variable ◽

Morphological Variations ◽

Agronomic Practices ◽

Robusta Coffee ◽

Length Width ◽

Key Issues

The coffee growth is considered to depend, partly, on the environmental condition at which they develop to accomplish both vegetative and generative stages. An exploratory survey in Lampung aimed at investigating the morphological characteristics of 13 Robusta coffee accessions growing on different altitudes.Local superior coffee clones were selected from eight farms, and subjected to identifications. Three key issues were concerned for both quantitatively, i.e. plant components of leaves, branches, and fruits, and qualitatively such as leaves and fruit characteristics, i.e. colour and shape. The analysis shows a similarity of about 60% of total qualitative variable identified among different accessions. The remaining characters are suggested to be more varying such as flush colour, leaf surface, ripe fruit colour, and stipule shape. Furthermore, a quantitative analysis showed a higher level of similarity for fruit characters, i.e. fruit length, -width, and -thickness, and to a slightly lower level for leaf characteristics, i.e. leaf length and -width, and number of productive branches. It was revealed that some variables, i.e. fruit weight; leaf and seed; and canopy characteristics, explaining the morphological variation of coffee throughout the accessions. Furthermore, cluster analysis may indicated a possible similarity of coffee morphologies either from area with different or the same environmental conditions. A high heterogeneity related to environmental conditions, genotypic variations, plant nutritional status, and agronomic practices, which unable to confirm in the present study, may limit the specific conclusions.

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Toward an Investigation of Diversity and Cultivation of Rye (Secale cereale ssp. cereale L.) in Germany: Methodological Insights and First Results from Early Modern Plant Material

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11122451 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 2451

Author(s):

Sofia Filatova ◽

Benjamin Claassen ◽

Guillermo Torres ◽

Ben Krause-Kyora ◽

Eva Holtgrewe Stukenbrock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Secale Cereale ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Nuclear Genome ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Local Environment ◽

Weed Ecology ◽

Plant Remains ◽

Arable Weed ◽

Cultivation Practices ◽

The Impact

Rye (Secale cereale ssp. cereale L.) is a secondary domesticate, considered to have originated as a weed in wheat fields and to have developed traits of domestication by evolving similar physiological and morphological characteristics to those of wheat. Although it migrated into Europe as a weed possessing domestication traits, it became one of the most significant crops grown in large parts of Europe from the medieval period onward. Within the modern borders of Germany, rye was grown using at least two divergent cultivation practices: eternal rye monoculture and three-field rotation. The straw of rye was used to produce Wellerhölzer, which are construction components in traditional half-timbered houses that have enabled a desiccated preservation of the plant remains. In order to assess the impact of cultivation practices, local environmental conditions and genetic variation on the genetic diversification of rye, we seek to integrate well-established archaeobotanical methods with aDNA sequencing of desiccated plant remains obtained from Wellerhölzer from Germany. In the current contribution, we present a proof of concept, based on the analysis of plant remains from a Wellerholz from the Old Town Hall of Göttingen. We use arable weed ecology to reconstruct cultivation practices and local environmental conditions and present a phylogenetic analysis based on targeted loci of the chloroplast and nuclear genome. Our results emphasise that the study of desiccated remains of plants from Wellerhölzer offer a unique opportunity for an integration of archaeobotanical reconstructions of cultivation practices and local environment and the sequencing of aDNA.

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Aggressiveness of Fusarium Species and Impact of Root Infection on Growth and Yield of Soybeans

Phytopathology ◽

10.1094/phyto-08-12-0207-r ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 103 (8) ◽

pp. 822-832 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

María M. Díaz Arias ◽

Leonor F. Leandro ◽

Gary P. Munkvold

Keyword(s):

Image Analysis ◽

Root Rot ◽

Fusarium Species ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

Growth Stages ◽

Linear Relationships ◽

Soybean Roots ◽

The Impact

Fusarium spp. are commonly isolated from soybean roots but the pathogenic activity of most species is poorly documented. Aggressiveness and yield impact of nine species of Fusarium were determined on soybean in greenhouse (50 isolates) and field microplot (19 isolates) experiments. Root rot severity and shoot and root dry weights were compared at growth stages V3 or R1. Root systems were scanned and digital image analysis was conducted; yield was measured in microplots. Disease severity and root morphology impacts varied among and within species. Fusarium graminearum was highly aggressive (root rot severity >90%), followed by F. proliferatum and F. virguliforme. Significant variation in damping-off (20 to 75%) and root rot severity (<20 to >60%) was observed among F. oxysporum isolates. In artificially-infested microplots, root rot severity was low (<25%) and mean yield was not significantly reduced. However, there were significant linear relationships between yield and root symptoms for some isolates. Root morphological characteristics were more consistent indicators of yield loss than root rot severity. This study provides the first characterization of aggressiveness and yield impact of Fusarium root rot species on soybean at different plant stages and introduces root image analysis to assess the impact of root pathogens on soybean.

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Potassium-Induced Drought Tolerance of Potato by Improving Morpho-Physiological and Biochemical Attributes

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11122573 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 2573

Author(s):

Ali Asad Bahar ◽

Hafiz Nazar Faried ◽

Kashif Razzaq ◽

Sami Ullah ◽

Gulzar Akhtar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drought Tolerance ◽

Potato Crop ◽

Block Design ◽

Potato Cultivars ◽

Potassium Sulfate ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

Human Consumption ◽

Remarkable Change ◽

The Impact ◽

Physiological And Biochemical

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the third and fourth most important tuberous crop in terms of human consumption and production, respectively. However, its growth and development are affected by drought, which is an emerging threat to agriculture especially in arid and semiarid areas. Potassium (K) is a well-known macronutrient that improves the performance of crops under drought. Therefore, the present study was enacted with the aim of evaluating the impact of K fertilizer on potato crop growth, productivity, and drought tolerance under full root irrigation (FRI) and partial root irrigation (PRI) conditions. Two potato cultivars (Lady Rosetta and Hermes) were grown under normal field conditions followed by FRI and PRI applications. Potassium sulfate was applied in three doses (T0 = 50 kg·ha−1, T1 = 75 kg·ha−1, and T2 = 100 kg·ha−1). The experiment was laid out under randomized complete block design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement. The main plot was allocated to irrigation, along with a subplot to potassium and a sub-subplot to potato cultivars. The results indicated that K application significantly improved the plant growth and yield by exhibiting better performance in morpho-physiological and biochemical attributes under FRI and PRI conditions; however, a more remarkable change was noticed under PRI compared with FRI. K application alleviated drought stress regardless of cultivars. This study suggests that K application at the rate of 100 kg·ha−1 is an effective approach for inducing drought tolerance in potato crops.

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Reappraising the Impact of Environmental Stresses on the Useful Life of Electronic Devices

Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Informatics ◽

10.20965/jaciii.2016.p0640 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 640-651

Author(s):

Khaled A. Abuhasel ◽

◽

Abdullah M. Iliyasu ◽

Ibrahim N. Alquaydheb ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Conditions ◽

Electronic Device ◽

Electronic Devices ◽

Environmental Stresses ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Climatic Data ◽

Arid Environments ◽

Capital Cities ◽

The Usa ◽

The Impact

The notion of lifespan of an electronic device (or system) is formulated in terms of a reinterpretation of the concept of electronic systems reliability (ESR) so that the impact of ‘physical’ geographic environmental stresses, notably: psychrometry and aridity, which are known to vary from one location to another could be effectively accounted for. The proposed formulation is based on a conscientious analysis of climatic data and its relationship with the longevity of electronic devices. To validate our proposal, we employed a veridical approach, wherein we compared the failure rate of a widely used electronic biomedical electrocardiogram (ECG) device based on standard environmental ‘conditions’ and reference values and then computed the lifespan of the same device based on our proposed configuration using the average climatic conditions prevalent in five countries that are geographically spread across the length of the Earth. Our proposed approach estimates a lifespan of only 2 years when the device is used in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as opposed to an average lifespan of 40 years when the same device is deployed for use under average environmental conditions prevalent in (the capital cities of) China, Japan, the USA, and Britain. Results from both aridity-based and psychrometry-based interpretations of ESR suggest that the ECG device has a lower lifespan when used in harsher arid environments which also infers a greater influence of physical geographic proximity on the smooth, reliable, and prolonged operation of electronic devices.

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Effect of cropping system and peat amendment on strawberry growth and yield

Agricultural and Food Science ◽

10.2137/145960608784182290 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 88 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

M. VESTBERG ◽

S. KUKKONEN ◽

H. KURU

Keyword(s):

Yield Components ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

Limiting Factor ◽

Calcium Magnesium ◽

Phosphorus And Potassium ◽

Marketable Fruit ◽

The Impact

Comparative studies have usually shown higher yields in conventional cropping systems (CCS) than in organic cropping systems (OCS). By utilizing a long-term field experiment on silt soil with 18 years of cropping history (19821999), including three OCSs and one CCS, we studied if this is true also for strawberry. The strawberry experiment was conducted in 20002002. The experiment had one CCS (A) and three OCSs (B,C,D). The impact of pre-planting peat amendment was also studied. The degree of overwintering, fruit yields, yield components and some soil nutrients were determined. Total and marketable fruit yields were estimated using a peduncle analysis based on weights of fruits of different orders in the peduncle, numbers of healthy and injured fruits in the peduncle and the number of peduncles per plant. The shoot growth, total and marketable fruit yields, as well as all yield components estimated were significantly higher in the OCS rotation D than in the CCS rotation A. The peat amendment, but not the cropping system, decreased the percentage of strawberry plants suffering from or killed by winter damage. However, peat amendment did not affect yield. The cropping system had no impact on soil pH, or the amount of extractable calcium, magnesium and nitrate. Extractable phosphorus and potassium were higher and soil organic carbon (Corg) slightly higher in the OCS than in the CCS. The peat amendment increased Corg by 2%. The amounts of extractable nutrients in soil were not a limiting factor for strawberry growth and yield as they were of sufficient levels both in CCS and OCS. It remains unclear whether the higher yield in the OCS was due to a long-term cropping history or to a short-term effect of composted manure, or to a combination of these two. The importance of soil organic management in strawberry production is emphasized.;

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INFLUENCE OF GREENHOUSE SHADING AND DIFFERENT NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON ALLEVIATING HEAT STRESS, IMPROVING PLANT NUTRIENTS STATUS, FLOWERING GROWTH AND YIELD OF TOMATO

IRAQI JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES ◽

10.36103/ijas.v51i4.1079 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 51 (4) ◽

pp. 1001-1014

Author(s):

Sulaiman & Sadiq

Keyword(s):

Heat Stress ◽

Management Practices ◽

Nutrient Management ◽

Block Design ◽

Nutrient Status ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

Reproductive Growth ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Nutrition Programs ◽

The Impact

The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse during 2017 and 2018 growing seasons to evaluate the impact of the shading and various nutrition programs on mitigating heat stress, reducing the use of chemical minerals, improving the reproductive growth and yield of tomato plant. Split-plot within Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications was conducted in this study. Shading factor was allocated in the main plots and the nutrition programs distributed randomly in the subplots. Results indicate that shading resulted in the decrease of daytime temperature by 5.7˚C as an average for both seasons; thus a significant increasing was found in leaf contents of macro nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium), and micro nutrients (Iron, Zinc and Boron), except the Iron content in 2018 growing season. Furthermore, shading improved significantly the reproductive growth and tomato yield. Among the plant nutrition programs, the integrated nutrient management (INM) including the application of organic substances, bio inoculum of AMF and 50% of the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers; lead to the enhancement of nutrients content, reproductive characteristics and plant yield. Generally, combination of both shading and INM showed positive effects on plants nutrient status and persisting balance on tomato flowering growth and fruits yield.

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Correcting Misperceptions About Genetically Modified Food on Social Media: Examining the Impact of Experts, Social Media Heuristics, and the Gateway Belief Model

Science Communication ◽

10.1177/1075547020981375 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 107554702098137

Author(s):

Leticia Bode ◽

Emily K. Vraga ◽

Melissa Tully

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Food Safety ◽

Genetically Modified ◽

Human Consumption ◽

Genetically Modified Food ◽

The Public ◽

Scientific Consensus ◽

Gm Food ◽

Belief Model ◽

The Impact

We experimentally test whether expert organizations on social media can correct misperceptions of the scientific consensus on the safety of genetically modified (GM) food for human consumption, as well as what role social media cues, in the form of “likes,” play in that process. We find expert organizations highlighting scientific consensus on GM food safety reduces consensus misperceptions among the public, leading to lower GM misperceptions and boosting related consumption behaviors in line with the gateway belief model. Expert organizations’ credibility may increase as a result of correction, but popularity cues do not seem to affect misperceptions or credibility.

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Morphological Variations of Wild Populations of Brycon dentex (Characidae, Teleostei) in the Guayas Hydrographic Basin (Ecuador). The Impact of Fishing Policies and Environmental Conditions

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11071901 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 1901

Author(s):

Ana Gonzalez-Martinez ◽

Carmen De-Pablos-Heredero ◽

Martin González ◽

Jorge Rodriguez ◽

Cecilio Barba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Discriminant Analysis ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Anthropogenic Activity ◽

Freshwater Species ◽

Fishing Pressure ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Morphometric Variation ◽

Morphological Variations ◽

Body Development ◽

The Impact

The Guayas, located in Ecuador, is the largest basin in the Pacific Ocean and has an inventory of 123 native freshwater species. Most of these are endemic species that are threatened or at-risk due to anthropogenic activity and the modification, fragmentation, and destruction of habitats. The aim of this study was to determine the morphometric variation in three wild populations of Brycon dentex in the Guayas basin rivers and their connections to fishing management and environmental conditions. A total of 200 mature fish were captured, and 26 morphometric parameters were measured. The fishing policies (Hypothesis 1) and environmental conditions (Hypothesis 2) were considered fixed factors and were validated by t-tests. The morphological variation among the three populations (Hypothesis 3) was validated through a discriminant analysis. Fishing policies and resource management were found to generate morphological differences associated with body development. In addition, the environmental conditions were found to influence the size and structure of Brycon dentex populations. The analyzed populations were discriminated by the generated morphometric models, which differentiated Cluster 1 (Quevedo and Mocache rivers) with high fishing pressure from Cluster 2 (Pintado river) with medium–low fishing pressure. Morphometric differentiation by discriminant analysis is a direct and economic methodology that can be applied as an indicator of diversity maintenance.

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