This study presents a methodology for risk analysis and assessment of drought disaster to agricultural production in the maize-growing area of Songliao Plain of China based on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) from the viewpoints of climatology, geography, disaster science, and environmental science and so on. Crop yield–climate analysis and regression analysis were employed to analyze and...

Managing production environments in ways that promote weed community diversity may enhance both crop production and the development of a more sustainable agriculture. This study analyzed data of productivity of maize (corn) and soybean in plots in the Main Cropping System Experiment (MCSE) at the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research (KBS-LTER) in Michigan, USA, from 19...

A fungal strain, Aspergillus terreus strain GA2, isolated from an agricultural field cultivating sweet sorghum, produced feruloyl esterase using maize bran. In order to obtain maximum yields of feruloyl esterase, the solid state fermentation (SSF) conditions for enzyme production were standardized. Effective feruloyl esterase production was observed with maize bran as substrate followed by whea...

BACKGROUND We aimed to determine the effect of feeding transgenic maize to sows during gestation and lactation on maternal and offspring immunity and to assess the fate of transgenic material. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS On the day of insemination, sows were assigned to one of two treatments (n = 12/treatment); 1) non-Bt control maize diet or 2) Bt-MON810 maize diet, which were fed for ~14...

29 Maize was genetically engineered for the biosynthesis of the high value carotenoid 30 astaxanthin in the kernel endosperm. Introduction of a -carotene hydroxylase and a 31 carotene ketolase into a white maize genetic background extended the carotenoid pathway to 32 astaxanthin. Simultaneously, phytoene synthase, the controlling enzyme of carotenogenesis, 33 was over-expressed for enhanced ...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small defense proteins present in various organisms. Major groups of AMPs include beta-barrelin, hevein, knottin, lipid transfer protein (LTP), thionin, defensin, snakin, and cyclotide. Most plant AMPs involve host plant resistance to pathogens such as fungi, viruses, and bacteria, whereas a few plant AMPs from the cyclotide family carry insecticidal functions....

________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of inoculating Lactisil Maize, a dual-purpose inoculant, on the fermentation characteristics and nutritive value of high-moisture maize silage and the performance of lactating cows receiving the silage in their diets. Whole-crop maize was harvested...

Studies were conducted to develop an appropriate household/small scale enterprise level technique for the production of bambara-nut-fortified fermented maize dough or meal by comparing different treatments, processing methods and fortification levels. The effect of fortification of maize based traditional foods with legume protein, bambara-nut at 0%. 10% and 20% replacement levels, on the rate ...

Maize kernels are susceptible to infection by the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus flavus. Infection results in reduction of grain quality and contamination of kernels with the highly carcinogenic mycotoxin, aflatoxin. To understanding host response to infection by the fungus, transcription of approximately 9000 maize genes were monitored during the host-pathogen interaction with a custom des...