Samples of grain from 40 New Zealand wheat and barley crops harvested in 2000 were assayed for Fusarium infection. Grain from all crops was infected, and Fusarium incidence ranged from 3 to 52% of grains infected, with a mean of 14%. Incidence of Fusarium was higher in spring wheat than in autumn wheat or spring barley. The highest level of infection (52% grains infected) was found in Otane whe...

Continuous cultivation of rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS) in Indo-Gangetic Plains India is showing declining factor productivity coupled with many environmental problems. Diversifying the RWCS one friendly options for sustaining food production. Four crop rotations involving maize and sorghum summer, wheat/potato/mustard winter followed by short duration mung bean late spring were studied to ...

The nitrogen (N) nutrition index (NNI) is a reliable indicator of crop N status and there is an urgent need to develop efficient technologies for non-destructive estimation of NNI to support the practical applications of precision N management strategies. The objectives of this study were to: (i) validate a newly established critical N dilution curve for spring maize in Northeast China; (ii) de...

Microbial production and consumption of greenhouse gases (GHG) is influenced by temperature and nutrients, especially during the first few weeks after agricultural fertilization. The effect of fertilization on GHG fluxes should occur during and shortly after application, yet data indicating how application timing affects both GHG fluxes and crop yields during a growing season are lacking. We de...

Kovačević V., D. Šimić, Z. Zdunić, and Z. Lončarić (2013):Genotype and liming impacts on boron and molybdenum status in maize. Genetika, Vol 45, No. 2, 419-426. Liming experiment with hydrated lime (73% CaO + 2-3% MgO + 21% water) in the amounts 0, 5 and 20 t ha was conducted in spring 2006. Six domestic maize hybrids (B1 = Os298P, B2 = Tvrtko303, B3 = Os444, B4 = Os499, B5 = Os552 and B6 = Os5...

Low temperature is the primary factor to affect maize sowing in early spring. It is, therefore, vital for maize breeding programs to improve tolerance to low temperatures at seed germination stage. However, little is known about maize QTL involved in low-temperature germination ability. 243 lines of the intermated B73×Mo17 (IBM) Syn4 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population was used for QTL ana...

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 ...