Spatial variation of soil respiration (Rs) in cropland ecosystems must be assessed to evaluate the global terrestrial carbon budget. This study aims to explore the spatial characteristics and controlling factors of Rs in a cropland under winter wheat and summer maize rotation in the North China Plain. We collected Rs data from 23 sample plots in the cropland. At the late jointing stage, the dai...

Limited precipitation restricts crop yield in the North China Plain, where high level of production depends largely on irrigation. Establishing the optimal irrigation scheduling according to the crop water requirement (CWR) and precipitation is the key factor to achieve rational water use. Precipitation data collected for about 40 years were employed to analyze the long-term trend, and weather ...

The East Asian monsoon (EAM) and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) determine climate variability over much of East Asia, affecting vulnerable grain markets and food security in China. In this study, we investigated the variability of climate and of agricultural production in China in association with the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and ENSO. Data from China showed that a strong EASM ...

Water tables are dropping by approximately one meter annually throughout the North China Plain mainly due to water withdrawals for irrigating winter wheat year after year. In order to examine whether the drawdown can be reduced we calculate the net water use for an 11 year field experiment from 2003 to 2013 where six irrigated crops (winter wheat, summer maize, cotton, peanuts, sweet potato, ry...

in order to study crop rotation, chemical control and their interactions on weeds density of wheat fields, an experiment was conducted in a split plot arrangement in randomized complete block design with three replications in gorgan agricultural research station for five years. in this study, 10 rotational crops: canola, fababean, barley, white pea, soybean, cotton, maize, sorghum, millet and w...

The yield of rainfed crops is commonly limited by the availability of soil water during the summer growing season. Channels produced by cover crop roots in fall/winter when soils are relatively moist may facilitate the penetration of compacted soils by subsequent crop roots in summer when soils are relatively dry and hard. Our objective was to determine the effects of fall cover crops on maize ...

Clarification of influencing factors (cultivar planted, cultivation management, climatic conditions) affecting yields of summer maize (Zea mays L.) would provide valuable information for increasing yields further under variable climatic conditions. Here, we report actual maize yields in the Huanghuaihai region over the past 50 years (1957-2007), simulated yields of major varieties in different ...

Maize (Zea mays) was a primary food crop for aboriginal societies of the arid American Southwest. Water used for maize production in these arid zones could have come from precipitation and runoff during the summer monsoon, from perennial streams and springs, or from stored soil water fed by snowmelt. The oxygen stable isotope ratio (dO) of summer and winter precipitation on the Colorado Plateau...

A summer-planted crop of alyceelover significantly (P < 0.05) increased the soil abundance of Meloidogyne arenaria race 2 juveniles by 3.7-fold when measured in the following spring. Maize, sorghum, and soybean had no significant effects on residual nematode numbers over the same period. Summer plantings of aeschynomene, cotton, hairy indigo, tespedeza, millet, peanut, and sorghum-sudangrass we...

Climate change will affect agricultural production. Combining a climate model and a crop growth model furnishes a good approach for analyzing this effect quantitatively. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of climate change on summer maize phenology in northwest Shandong province under the A1B climate scenario using a regional climate model and the CERES-Maize growth model. The r...