Sustainability of the Soil Resource in Intensive Production with Organic Contributions

Organic agriculture is considered an alternative to sustainably preserve soil fertility. For 10 years, ongoing management with organic contributions was carried out in calcareous soil to support or increase fertility by applying 4 t ha−1 of solid poultry manure to produce organic Nopal Verdura (Opuntia Ficus-Indica). In addition, during the 2018 cycle, corn was established as an alternative to diversify agricultural production; the crop was monitored by measuring agronomic variables and the normalized differential vegetation index to evaluate the development of different doses of organic inputs with poultry manure, foliar applications with biofertilizers, or in the irrigation system. The soil physical and chemical analysis was carried out from 2015 to 2020 to monitor nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and organic matter before planting and after harvest. The results indicated an increase in nitrogen (>50%), calcium (>130%), and magnesium (>20%), while there was a decrease in phosphorus (50%), potassium (60%), and organic matter (18%). The agronomic management caused an increment of EC in the horizon Ap until 12.93 dS m−1 at the end of each cycle due to the high ambient temperatures recorded and the inadequate irrigation water quality. We did not find significant differences (p > 0.05) in agronomic variables of corn with diverse contributions to organic. However, we obtained a maximum corn yield of 3.9 t ha−1 and nopal production of 143 t ha−1, despite problems of salinity in the horizons Ap during the agricultural cycle. Overall, processed poultry manure is a sustainable source of macroelements for the production of organic crops in calcisols; however, it is necessary to focus on and counteract potassium depletion and the increase in EC through appropriate agronomic management, with organic contributions, both solid and liquid, to increase or sustain production.

Management of Soil Constraints to Improve Crop Performance in Water-Limited Environments

One current challenge for agricultural production in water-limited environments is to develop agronomic management practices that can overcome soil constraints and provide an economic return to the grower in both the short and long-term [...]

Managing Density Stress to Close the Maize Yield Gap

Continued yield increases of maize (Zea mays L.) will require higher planting populations, and enhancement of other agronomic inputs could alleviate density-induced stress. Row spacing, plant population, P-S-Zn fertility, K-B fertility, N fertility, and foliar protection were evaluated for their individual and cumulative impacts on the productivity of maize in a maize-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation. An incomplete factorial design with these agronomic factors in both 0.76 and 0.51 m row widths was implemented for 13 trials in Illinois, United States, from 2014 to 2018. The agronomic treatments were compared to two controls: enhanced and standard, comprising all the factors applied at the enhanced or standard level, respectively. The 0.51 m enhanced management control yielded 3.3 Mg ha–1 (1.8–4.6 Mg ha–1 across the environments) more grain (25%) than the 0.76 m standard management control, demonstrating the apparent yield gap between traditional farm practices and attainable yield through enhanced agronomic management. Narrow rows and the combination of P-S-Zn and K-B fertility were the factors that provided the most significant yield increases over the standard control. Increasing plant population from 79,000 to 109,000 plants ha–1 reduced the yield gap when all other inputs were applied at the enhanced level. However, increasing plant population alone did not increase yield when no other factors were enhanced. Some agronomic factors, such as narrow rows and availability of plant nutrition, become more critical with increasing plant population when density-induced stress is more significant. Changes in yield were dependent upon changes in kernel number. Kernel weight was the heaviest when all the management factors were applied at the enhanced level while only planting 79,000 plants ha–1. Conversely, kernel weight was the lightest when increasing population to 109,000 plants ha–1 while all other factors were applied at the standard level. The yield contribution of each factor was generally greater when applied in combination with all other enhanced factors than when added individually to the standard input system. Additionally, the full value of high-input agronomic management was only realized when matched with greater plant density.

Preferences in ‘Jalapeño’ Pepper Attributes: A Choice Study in Mexico

Background: According to Mexican growers of ‘Jalapeño’ peppers, its commercialization is the primary limitation. Thus, consumer knowledge is critical to develop added-value strategies. The objective of this study was to identify ‘Jalapeño’ quality attributes to determine consumer preferences and willingness to pay, based on socioeconomic characteristics. Methods: A nationwide face-to-face survey was carried out using the discrete choice experiment method. The survey included 1200 consumers stratified by gender, age and region. Results: Heterogeneity analysis using the probabilistic segmentation model revealed three types of consumers: A price-sensitive segment, non-demanding consumers without specific preferences and selective consumers with a preference shifted toward specific ‘Jalapeño’ characteristics. Thus, detail-oriented producers must compete through price strategies, based on the marketplace (markets on wheels, grocery stores, or supermarkets) and through some quality attributes preferred by selective consumers. Therefore, results suggest that farmers should grow the correct varieties with appropriate agronomic management to cope consumer preferences. Conclusions: This paper contributes to the growing body of the ‘Jalapeño’ literature by explicitly investigating consumer preferences and willingness to pay for them.

Ecophysiology and nutrition of cabezona pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merril) in Chontalpa, Tabasco, Mexico

Objective: To improve the nutrition of the pineapple (Ananas comosus) cultivation using fertilizers. Design/Methodology/Approach: The Sistema Integrado para Recomendar Dosis de Fertilizantes (SIRDF) established the fertilization doses for pineapple in the Cutanic Acrisol (Endoclayic, Hyperdystric, Ferric) (ACct(ncehdfr)) —N(230kg)-P(183kg)-K(300kg)— and Cutanic Acrisol (Endoclayic, Ferric) (ACct(ncefr)) —N(253kg)-P(138kg)-K(360kg)— soil sub-units. The SIRDF doses were compared with the control dose (producer): N(85kg), P(85kg), and K(85kg). Results: The fruits harvested from the ACct(ncehdfr) soil to which the SIRDF dose was applied were larger (cm, without the crown), heavier (kg, with and without the crown), and also had higher °Brix values compared with control. This was not the case for the crown, which was heavier when the producer dose was applied. Meanwhile, the produce harvested from the ACct(ncefr) soil to which the SIRDF dose was applied included taller plants (cm), larger fruits (cm, with crown), larger crowns (cm), wider fruits (cm, circumference), heavier fruits (kg, with and without crown), and higher °Brix values; on the contrary, the crowns were heavier (kg) in control. Study Limitations/Implications: Yield and fruit quality observations are affected by the quality of the Cabezona pineapple vegetable materials, agronomic management, and the attack of citrus mealybugs. Findings/Conclusions: The fruits produced using the SIRDF doses had lower °Brix than the Cayena Lisa and MD pineapples. A 56-58 t ha-1 volume of fruit can be produced. This study proves that the doses established by the SIRDF had positive results for the improvement of the Cabezona pineapple production in Tabasco, Mexico.

Revisiting strategies to incorporate gender-responsiveness into maize breeding in southern Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa there is increasing focus on identifying women’s trait preferences within crop breeding to enable gender-responsive product development. In the case of maize, breeding programs are ready to incorporate specific traits to increase gender-responsiveness but lack guidance on what these specific traits might be. We propose an inductive approach to determine a pathway towards increasing gender-responsiveness within maize breeding. A survey of 306 farmers was conducted to determine gender differences in maize varieties used together with key agronomic practices. Variety was a significant predictor of the gender of the plot manager and of the household head in contrast to previous surveys conducted in researcher-led on-farm trials. On-farm trials are conducted using pre-defined agronomic management practices and preferences identified at harvest are likely to centre around yield. This study highlighted significant differences in several agronomic practices used by female plot managers and female household heads. Although further studies are required to understand preferences associated with varietal choice, our results suggest that current researcher-led on-farm trials may not identify gender-specific trait preferences driving varietal choice. Furthermore, a trait-specific approach is not the only avenue towards increasing gender-responsiveness in maize breeding in southern Africa. The scope for increasing gender-intentionality in maize breeding could be expanded to incorporate selection environments more relevant to agronomic management practices used by female plot managers and households at advanced stages of the breeding pipeline. This approach could provide an immediate entry point to increase gender-intentional maize breeding in southern Africa.

Can We Harness “Enviromics” to Accelerate Crop Improvement by Integrating Breeding and Agronomy?

The diverse consequences of genotype-by-environment (GxE) interactions determine trait phenotypes across levels of biological organization for crops, challenging our ambition to predict trait phenotypes from genomic information alone. GxE interactions have many implications for optimizing both genetic gain through plant breeding and crop productivity through on-farm agronomic management. Advances in genomics technologies have provided many suitable predictors for the genotype dimension of GxE interactions. Emerging advances in high-throughput proximal and remote sensor technologies have stimulated the development of “enviromics” as a community of practice, which has the potential to provide suitable predictors for the environment dimension of GxE interactions. Recently, several bespoke examples have emerged demonstrating the nascent potential for enhancing the prediction of yield and other complex trait phenotypes of crop plants through including effects of GxE interactions within prediction models. These encouraging results motivate the development of new prediction methods to accelerate crop improvement. If we can automate methods to identify and harness suitable sets of coordinated genotypic and environmental predictors, this will open new opportunities to upscale and operationalize prediction of the consequences of GxE interactions. This would provide a foundation for accelerating crop improvement through integrating the contributions of both breeding and agronomy. Here we draw on our experience from improvement of maize productivity for the range of water-driven environments across the US corn-belt. We provide perspectives from the maize case study to prioritize promising opportunities to further develop and automate “enviromics” methodologies to accelerate crop improvement through integrated breeding and agronomic approaches for a wider range of crops and environmental targets.

Implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture to Boost Sugarcane Productivity in Indonesia

<p>Sugar is one of Indonesia’s strategic commodities, but its production fluctuates over time and is still unable to comply with the national sugar demand. This condition may even get worst with climate change. Although climate-smart agriculture is a promising thing, it is basically a genuine concept for many farmers in Indonesia, including sugarcane growers. The paper briefly reviews and argues agronomic practices as a climate-smart agriculture approach adapted by sugarcane growers in Indonesia to increase its production under the changing climate. Some agronomic practices can be adopted by the Indonesian sugarcane growers as climate-smart agriculture, i.e., efficient irrigation, improved drainage of sugarcane plantations, the use of suitable sugarcane cultivars, green cane harvesting-trash blanketing, the amendment of soil organic matter, crop diversification, precision agriculture, and integrated pest management. From the Indonesian government’s side, research should be propped as there is limited information about the effectiveness of each aforementioned agronomic intervention to alleviating the adverse effect of climate change and to improving sugarcane growth. Practically, to ensure the success of climate-smart agriculture implementation in the Indonesian sugar industry, multistakeholders, i.e., sugarcane growers, researchers, civil society, and policymakers, should be involved, and the government needs to link these stakeholders.</p><p>Keywords: Sugarcane, productivity, climate-smart agriculture, agronomic management, precision agriculture</p><p> </p><p><strong>Abstrak</strong></p><p><strong>Implementasi Pertanian Cerdas Iklim untuk Meningkatkan Produktivitas Tebu di Indonesia</strong></p><p>Gula merupakan salah satu komoditas strategis Indonesia, namun produksinya mengalami fluktuasi dan belum dapat memenuhi kebutuhan gula nasional. Kondisi ini diperburuk oleh perubahan iklim. Pertanian cerdas iklim memberikan peluang besar bagi tanaman tebu untuk dapat beradaptasi dan memitigasi dampak perubahan iklim. Meskipun pertanian cerdas iklim menjanjikan, namun merupakan hal baru bagi banyak petani di Indonesia, termasuk petani tebu. Tulisan ini menelaah dan mengemukakan praktek agronomi sebagai pendekatan pertanian cerdas iklim yang dapat diterapkan petani tebu di Indonesia dengan tujuan meningkatkan produksi tebu di bawah kondisi perubahan iklim. Terdapat beberapa praktik agronomis sebagai bagian dari pertanian cerdas iklim yang dapat diadopsi petani tebu di Indonesia, seperti efisiensi irigasi, perbaikan sistem drainase, pemilihan kultivar tebu yang sesuai, pemanfaatan residu serasah tebu, peningkatan bahan organik tanah, diversifikasi tanaman, pertanian presisi, dan pengelolaan hama terpadu. Dari perspektif pemerintah Indonesia, penelitian harus didukung karena terbatasnya informasi efektivitas masing-masing intervensi agronomi tersebut untuk mengurangi dampak buruk perubahan iklim dan untuk meningkatkan pertumbuhan tebu. Secara praktis, untuk memastikan keberhasilan penerapan pertanian cerdas iklim pada industri gula Indonesia, multi-stakeholder yang terdiri atas petani tebu, peneliti, masyarakat sipil, dan pembuat kebijakan harus saling terlibat dan pemerintah perlu menghubungkan para pemangku kepentingan ini.</p><p>Kata kunci: Tebu, produktivitas, pertanian cerdas iklim, manajemen agronomis, pertanian presisi</p>