Supplementary material to "A multi-model analysis of teleconnected crop yield variability in a range of cropping systems"

Long-term organic farming aims to reduce synthetic fertilizer and pesticide use in order to sustainably produce and improve soil quality. To do this, there is a need for more information about the soil microbial community, which plays a key role in a sustainable agriculture. In this paper, we assessed the long-term effects of two organic and one conventional cropping systems on the soil microbial community structure using high-throughput sequencing analysis, as well as the link between these communities and the changes in the soil properties and crop yield. The results showed that the crop yield was similar among the three cropping systems. The microbial community changed according to cropping system. Organic cultivation with manure compost and compost tea (Org_C) showed a change in the bacterial community associated with an improved soil carbon and nutrient content. A linear discriminant analysis effect size showed different bacteria and fungi as key microorganisms for each of the three different cropping systems, for conventional systems (Conv), different microorganisms such as Nesterenkonia, Galbibacter, Gramella, Limnobacter, Pseudoalteromonas, Pantoe, and Sporobolomyces were associated with pesticides, while for Org_C and organic cultivation with manure (Org_M), other types of microorganisms were associated with organic amendments with different functions, which, in some cases, reduce soil borne pathogens. However, further investigations such as functional approaches or network analyses are need to better understand the mechanisms behind this behavior.

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Assessment of the performance of drought indices for explaining crop yield variability at the national scale: Methodological framework and application to Mozambique

Agricultural Water Management ◽

10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106692 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 246 ◽

pp. 106692

Author(s):

Ronnie J. Araneda-Cabrera ◽

María Bermúdez ◽

Jerónimo Puertas

Keyword(s):

Crop Yield ◽

Yield Variability ◽

Drought Indices ◽

Methodological Framework ◽

National Scale

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The Pitfalls of Relating Weeds, Herbicide Use, and Crop Yield: Don't Fall Into the Trap! A Critical Review

Frontiers in Agronomy ◽

10.3389/fagro.2020.615470 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Nathalie Colbach ◽

Sandrine Petit ◽

Bruno Chauvel ◽

Violaine Deytieux ◽

Martin Lechenet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crop Yield ◽

Weed Management ◽

Crop Production ◽

Yield Loss ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Crop Productivity ◽

Arable Farming ◽

Herbicide Use ◽

The Impact

The growing recognition of the environmental and health issues associated to pesticide use requires to investigate how to manage weeds with less or no herbicides in arable farming while maintaining crop productivity. The questions of weed harmfulness, herbicide efficacy, the effects of herbicide use on crop yields, and the effect of reducing herbicides on crop production have been addressed over the years but results and interpretations often appear contradictory. In this paper, we critically analyze studies that have focused on the herbicide use, weeds and crop yield nexus. We identified many inconsistencies in the published results and demonstrate that these often stem from differences in the methodologies used and in the choice of the conceptual model that links the three items. Our main findings are: (1) although our review confirms that herbicide reduction increases weed infestation if not compensated by other cultural techniques, there are many shortcomings in the different methods used to assess the impact of weeds on crop production; (2) Reducing herbicide use rarely results in increased crop yield loss due to weeds if farmers compensate low herbicide use by other efficient cultural practices; (3) There is a need for comprehensive studies describing the effect of cropping systems on crop production that explicitly include weeds and disentangle the impact of herbicides from the effect of other practices on weeds and on crop production. We propose a framework that presents all the links and feed-backs that must be considered when analyzing the herbicide-weed-crop yield nexus. We then provide a number of methodological recommendations for future studies. We conclude that, since weeds are causing yield loss, reduced herbicide use and maintained crop productivity necessarily requires a redesign of cropping systems. These new systems should include both agronomic and biodiversity-based levers acting in concert to deliver sustainable weed management.

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Perennial Vine Control in Multiple Cropping Systems on a Clay Soil

Weed Technology ◽

10.1017/s0890037x0003181x ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 282-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

C. Dennis Elmore ◽

Larry G. Heatherly ◽

Richard A. Wesley

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Clay Soil ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Abundant Species ◽

Corn Yield ◽

Multiple Cropping ◽

Established Population

An area of a shrink-swell clay soil (Tunica clay, Vertic Haplaquept) with an established population of redvine, trumpetcreeper, honeyvine milkweed, redberry moonseed, and maypop passionflower was treated with dicamba once in the fall of 1983. The effect on perennial vines was determined for the following 4 yr in three rotational cropping systems involving winter wheat, soybean, corn, and sorghum, all with and without irrigation. Dicamba reduced the population of perennial vines 80% over 4 yr. Redvine and trumpetcreeper, the first and second most abundant species, were reduced by over 83 and 76%, respectively. Yield of soybean increased 17% in 1985 and 1987 while corn yield increased 9% in 1986 with dicamba use. In 1984 no effects on crop yield were measured. This inconsistent crop yield reponse after dicamba treatment, even though perennial vines were suppressed, must be considered in evaluating the economics of using dicamba for perennial vine control.

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Using Multispectral Imagery and Linear Spectral Unmixing Techniques for Estimating Crop Yield Variability

Transactions of the ASABE ◽

10.13031/2013.22658 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 6676-674 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

C. Yang ◽

J. H. Everitt ◽

J. M. Bradford

Keyword(s):

Crop Yield ◽

Spectral Unmixing ◽

Yield Variability ◽

Multispectral Imagery ◽

Linear Spectral Unmixing

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Substitution of Inorganic Nitrogen Fertilizer with Green Manure (GM) Increased Yield Stability by Improving C Input and Nitrogen Recovery Efficiency in Rice Based Cropping System

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy9100609 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 609 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Qaswar ◽

Jing ◽

Ahmed ◽

Shujun ◽

Dongchu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crop Yield ◽

Green Manure ◽

Inorganic Nitrogen ◽

Cropping System ◽

N Fertilization ◽

Yield Stability ◽

N Fertilizer ◽

Yield Variability ◽

Variability Index ◽

Double Rice

A long-term field experiment was carried out (since 2008) for evaluating the effects of different substitution rates of inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilizer by green manure (GM) on yield stability and N balance under double rice cropping system. Treatments included, (1) N0 (no N fertilizer and no green manure); (2) N100 (recommended rate of N fertilizer and no green manure); (3) N100-M (recommended rate of N fertilizer and green manure); (4) N80-M (80% of recommended N fertilizer and green manure); (5) N60-M (60% of recommended N fertilizer and green manure); and (6) M (green manure without N fertilization). Results showed that, among all treatments, annual crop yield under N80-M treatment was highest. Crop yield did not show significant differences between N100-M and N80-M treatments. Substitution of different N fertilizer rates by GM reduced the yield variability index. Compared to the N0 treatment, yield variability index of early rice under N100-M, N80-M, and N60-M treatments was decreased by 11%, 26%, and 36%, respectively. Compared to the N0 treatment, yield variability index of late rice was decreased by 12%, 38%, 49%, 47%, and 24% under the N100, N100-M, N80-M, N60-M, and M treatments, respectively. During period of 2009–2013 and 2014–2018, nitrogen recovery efficiency (NRE) was highest under N80-M treatment and N balance was highest under N100 treatment. NRE of all treatments with GM was increased over the time from 2009–2013 to 2014–2018. All treatments with GM showed increasing trend of SOC over the years. Substitution of N fertilizer by GM also increased C inputs and soil C:N ratio compared to the N100 and N0 treatments. Boosted regression model indicated that C input, N uptake and AN were most influencing factors of crop yield. Thus, we concluded that N fertilization rates should be reduced by 20% under GM rotation to attain high yield stability of double rice cropping system through increasing NRE and C inputs.

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