Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is being evaluated as a bioenergy crop for the northern Great Plains. Field measurements of CO2, CH4, and N2O flux are needed to estimate the net greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of this biofeedstock. The study objective was to determine effects of recommended Nitrogen (N) fertilization (67 kg ha 1 of N applied) and unfertilized switchgrass on growing season soil-a...

We examined intraseasonal changes in maize phenology and heat stress exposure over the 1979–2008 period, using Mozambique meteorological station data and maize growth requirements in a growing degree-day model. Identifying historical effects of warming on maize growth is particularly important in Mozambique because national food security is highly dependent on domestic food production, most of ...

Huang H., Han Y., Song J., Zhang Z., Xiao H. (2016): Impacts of climate change on water requirements of winter wheat over 59 years in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain. Soil & Water Res., 11: 11–19. Daily data from 40 meteorological stations in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain from 1955 to 2013 were analyzed using the Mann-Kendall test and partial correlation to determine the temporal trends of meteorological f...

The amount of land available for the coexistent growing of both organic and genetically modified herbicide-tolerant (GMHT) crops depends on the separation distance between the two types of crop. The form of the decline in the proportion of land available for growing one of these crop types due to increasing separation distance is linear on a suitable scale, but with a slope and intercept that a...

Multisensor capacitance probes (MCPs) have traditionally been used for soil moisture monitoring and irrigation scheduling. This paper presents a new application of these probes, namely the simultaneous monitoring of ponded water level, soil moisture, and temperature profile, conditions which are particularly important for rice crops in temperate growing regions and for rice grown with prolonged...

Rice (Oryza staiva L.) is one of the world's most important crops, providing a stable food for nearly half of the global population (FAO 2004). Almost 90% of the rice is growing and consumed in Asia. The striped stem borer (Chilo suppressalis Walker) is one of the most important rice pests in Asia. Rice stem borers cause damage to the crop at the larval stages. Larvae borer in to the plant stem...

Quinoa is recognized as a crop of great value in terms of tolerance to abiotic stresses and there is growing interest to introduce it in marginal agricultural production systems worldwide. Also, quinoa is one of the most nutritious food crops currently known and the nutritive properties of the crop are seen as a mean to fight malnutrition globally. Various quinoa cultivars have been screened fo...

Food security requires the development and deployment of crop varieties resilient to climate variation and change. The study of variations in the genome of wild plant populations can be used to guide crop improvement. Genome variation found in wild crop relatives may be directly relevant to the breeding of environmentally adapted and climate resilient crops. Analysis of the genomes of populatio...

Carleton (1) claims that “temperature during India’s main agricultural growing season has a strong positive effect on annual suicide rates.”Using state-scale panel data for 1967–2013, the author suggests that an increase in 1 °C temperature in a single day can cause 70 suicides. The evidence, she argues, is consistent with “an agriculture channel in which heat damages crops,” resulting in econo...