Changes in soil physical and chemical properties were evaluated in several on-farm studies located in rainfed, hardsetting red Al®sols (Ferric Luvisols) and in irrigated, self-mulching Vertisols (Chromic Vertisols) of eastern Australia. The objective of the studies was to evaluate changes in soil physical and chemical properties with time under commercial farming situations where changes had be...

Over the past 20 years, the use of center-pivot irrigation has increased tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) yields in Brazil from 42 Mg ha-1 to more than 80 Mg ha-1. In the absence of field trials to support fertilizer recommendations, substantial amounts of phosphorus (P) have been applied to crops. Additional P dosing has been based on an equilibrated nutrient P budget adjusted for low-P fertil...

Soil and crop management practices can influence CO2 emission from crop and grasslands and therefore on global warming. We examined the effects of two irrigation systems (irrigated vs. non-irrigated) and six management practices [no-till malt barley (Hordeum vulgaris L.) with 67 or 134 kg N ha (NTBFN), notill malt-barley with 0 kg N ha (NTBON), conventional-till malt barley with 67 or 134 kg N ...

The potential effects of future climate change were investigated, corresponding to a doubling of atmospheric CO2 from 350 to 700 ppm, on agricultural production of four different cropping systems at two Italian locations, Modena and Foggia. Climate change scenarios, derived from two general circulation models (GCMs), were used as weather input to a soil-plant growth simulator, CropSyst. This mo...

A two year (2010-2012) study was conducted to assess the effects of different agronomic management practices on the emissions of CO2 from a field of non-irrigated wheat planted on China's Loess Plateau. Management practices included four tillage methods i.e. T1: (chisel plow tillage), T2: (zero-tillage), T3: (rotary tillage) and T4: (mold board plow tillage), 2 mulch levels i.e., M0 (no corn re...

Wilhelm, W.W., Hinze, M.R. and Gardner, C.O., 1991. Maize hybrid response to tillage under irrigated and dryland conditions. Field Crops Res., 26: 57-66. The popularity of reduced-tillage cropping systems has emphasized the need to determine if maize (Zea mays L.) developed under conventional tillage systems (moldboard plow, disk, and harrow) is readily adaptable to conservation production syst...

Table 1. 2007 Estimated Return over Variable Costs for Cotton and Peanuts. Non-Irrigated Non-Irrigated Irrigated Irrigated Cotton Peanuts Cotton Peanuts Harvest Price 1/ $0.60 $0.21 $0.60 $0.21 Yield 750 300

The agriculture in low rainfall areas of eastern Rajasthan, India is characterized by high risks from drought, degraded natural resources and pervasive poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition. In this region, water is the main limiting factor for upgrading rainfed agriculture. For such areas integrated watershed management is recognized as a potential approach for agriculture growth and rehab...

Improved and up-to-date land use/land cover (LULC) datasets are needed for intensively cropped regions such as the U.S. Central Great Plains, in order to support a variety of science and policy applications focused on understanding the role and response of the agricultural sector to environmental change issues. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) holds considerable promise...

Seasonal and inter-annual climate variability have become important issues for farmers, and climate change has been shown to increase them. Simultaneously farmers and agricultural organizations are increasingly collecting observational data about in situ crop performance. Agriculture thus needs new tools to cope with changing environmental conditions and to take advantage of these data. Data mi...