Rotylenchulus reniformis is the most damaging nematode pathogen of cotton in Alabama. It is easily introduced into cotton fields via contaminated equipment and, when present, is difficult and costly to control. A trial to monitor the natural migration of R. reniformis from an initial point of origin was established in 2007 and studied over two growing seasons in both irrigated and non-irrigated...

We developed an irrigation mapping methodology that relies on remotely sensed inputs from MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument, globally extensive ancillary sources of gridded climate and agricultural data and on an advanced image classification algorithm. In the first step, we used climate-based indices of surface moisture status and a map of cultivated lands to pro...

Agricultural biotechnology (agbiotech) has intersected with a wider debate about ‘sustainable agriculture’, especially in Europe. Agbiotech was initially promoted as an alternative which would avoid or remedy past problems of intensive agriculture, but such claims were soon challenged. Agbiotech has extended the dominant agri-industrial paradigm, while critics have counterposed alternatives cor...

The effects of plant species (castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) versus sunflower (Helianthus annus L.)) and irrigation regime (freshwater versus secondary treated municipal wastewater) on soil properties and on seed and biodiesel yield were studied in a three year pot trial. Plant species were irrigated at rates according to their water requirements with either freshwater or wastewater effluent...

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is a botanically indeterminate plant where flowering, fruit initiation, and pod maturity occurs over an extended time period during the growing season. As a result, the maturity and size of individual peanut pods vary considerably at harvest. Immature kernels that meet commercial edible size specifications negatively affect quality during processing due to their increa...

The effects of irrigation with treated urban wastewater (WW) on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) diversity and soil microbial activities were assayed on a long-term basis in a semiarid orange-tree orchard. After 43 years, the soil irrigated with fresh water (FW) had higher AMF diversity than soils irrigated with WW. Microbial activities were significantly higher in the soils irrigated wit...

There are pressing concerns about the interplay between agricultural productivity, water demand, and water availability in semi-arid to arid regions of the world. Currently, irrigated agriculture is the dominant water user in these regions and is estimated to consume approximately 80% of the world’s diverted freshwater resources. We develop an improved irrigated land-use mapping algorithm that ...

Daily irrigated, 80% pan replacement, and nonirrigated field plots of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) were inoculated with a mixture of Steinernema carpocapsae (All strain) and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (HP-88 strain) in 1988. In 1989, daily irrigated and nonirrigated plots were inoculated with HP-88 alone. The turf and associated soil contained populations of Tylenchorhynchus dubius,...

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner), causes economic damage to corn, Zea mays L., throughout the Corn Belt. Because this insect has become the primary target of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) transgenic corn, current efforts addressing the management of O. nubilalis resistance to Bt corn require information on adult European corn borer dispersal and factors affecting its ...