The growth characteristics and yield potential of rice (Oryza sativa) under non‐flooded irrigation in arid region

The objectives of this field experiment were to study the growth characteristics and yield potential of rice plants under non‐flooded irrigation in arid area. Non‐flooded treatments included drip irrigation with plastic mulching treatments (DIs), furrow irrigation with plastic mulching treatment (FIM) and furrow irrigation with non‐mulching treatment (FIN). Conventional flooded cultivation (F) was check treatment (CK). The four drip irrigation treatments differed in the amount of water applied before and after panicle initiation. Root length density, leaf dry weight, shoot dry weight and root activity were generally higher in the non‐flood‐irrigated treatments (especially the drip‐irrigated treatments) than in the flood‐irrigated treatment at mid‐tillering. However, the growth and development of rice plants were limited after jointing in the non‐flooded irrigation treatments. Increasing the root/shoot ratio and root length density in the 20–40 cm depth and decreasing specific root length at 0–20 cm soil layer were important mechanisms for helping the rice plants to adapt to the non‐flooded environmental stresses. Finally, the grain yield in the non‐flooded irrigation treatments was lower than that in the F treatment. These low yields were mainly attributed to the low root length density at 0–20 cm depth and root activity. Generally speaking, the restricted degrees in the DIs were smaller than that in the FIM and FIN treatments. Among the DIs, both the highest grain yield (8223–8900 kg ha^?1) and the highest water use efficiency (WUE) (0.63) were observed when the soil water content was kept at ?30 kPa before panicle initiation and at ?15 kPa after panicle initiation (referred to as the DI2 treatment). The yield in the DI2 treatment was not significantly different than that in the flood‐irrigated treatment. However, WUE was 2.5 times higher in the DI2 treatment than in the F treatment. These results suggest that drip irrigation technology can be considered as a better water‐saving cultivation of rice plants in arid region.     

Aspects in oat breeding: nutrition quality,nakedness and disease resistance,challenges and perspectives

Traditionally, the oat crop (Avena sativa) has been neglected in a number of respects, cultivated in cropping areas not optimal for wheat, barley or maize. In recent years the interest in oats has increased, particularly because of its dietary benefits and therapeutic potential for human health. The uniqueness and advantages of naked oats over other popular cereals, due to its potentially valuable nutritional composition, have been well studied and reported, opening new market “niches” for oats. Despite the well‐documented benefits, the status of the oat crop is still fragile, due to many reasons. The area cultivated for the oat crop is much less compared with other cereals, and therefore commercial efforts in oat breeding are less. Oat groat yield is lower than other cereals such as wheat and the nutritious uniqueness has not been reflected in agreeable market prices. The same price still exists for both naked and conventional/covered oats in the world grain market. The absence of visible market competitiveness, and some of the oat biological drawbacks, including low grain yield, keeps the oat crop as a lower profitability minor crop. This review is intended to analyse and summarise main achievements and challenges in oat genetics, agronomy and phytopathology to find possible ways of oat improvement and future perspectives for oat breeding.     

Life cycle assessment of biofuels from Jatropha curcas in West Africa: a field study

In recent years, liquid biofuels for transport have benefited from significant political support due to their potential role in curbing climate change and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. They may also participate to rural development by providing new markets for agricultural production. However, the growth of energy crops has raised concerns due to their high consumption of conventional fuels, fertilizers and pesticides, their impacts on ecosystems and their competition for arable land with food crops. Low-input species such as Jatropha curcas , a perennial, inedible crop well adapted to semiarid regions, has received much interest as a new alternative for biofuel production, minimizing adverse effects on the environment and food supply. Here, we used life-cycle assessment to quantify the benefits of J. curcas biofuel production in West Africa in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil energy use, compared with fossil diesel fuel and other biofuels. Biodiesel from J. curcas has a much higher performance than current biofuels, relative to oil-derived diesel fuels. Under West Africa conditions, J. curcas biodiesel allows a 72% saving in greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional diesel fuel, and its energy yield (the ratio of biodiesel energy output to fossil energy input) is 4.7. J. curcas production studied is eco-compatible for the impacts under consideration and fits into the context of sustainable development.     

长期施肥下三类典型农田土壤小麦磷肥利用效率的差异

对我国北方长期施肥下三类典型农田土壤（塿土、潮土和褐潮土）的小麦产量、小麦磷肥农学利用效率、小麦磷肥利用率进行了研究.结果表明：长期施用磷肥处理（氮磷化肥配合施用、氮磷钾化肥配合施用、氮磷钾化肥和秸秆配合施用、氮磷钾化肥和有机肥配合施用）的小麦产量为2914～6219 kg·hm^-2,较不施磷肥处理（不施肥对照、单施化肥氮、氮钾化肥配合施用）提高了2～4倍,各施磷肥处理之间无显著差异.试验起始年施用氮磷钾化肥处理的塿土、潮土和褐潮土上的小麦磷肥农学利用效率分别为17.0、20.3和13.3 kg·kg^-1,小麦磷肥利用率分别为15.3%、31.2%和23.8%;施肥15年后,小麦磷肥农学利用效率每年分别增加3.9、2.5和2.8 kg·kg^-1,小麦磷肥利用率每年分别增加1.3%、0.9%和1.0%.同一类型土壤不同施磷处理间的磷肥农学利用效率和利用率差异不显著.在我国北方地区,长期施用磷肥可以显著提高小麦产量和磷肥利用效率;氮磷钾化肥和有机肥配施处理下,塿土平均每年增长的小麦磷肥农学利用效率和磷肥利用率较潮土和褐潮土高.     

Assessing seed priming,sowing date,and mulch film to improve the germination and survival of direct‐sown Miscanthus sinensis in the United Kingdom

Direct sowing of Miscanthus seed could lower crop establishment costs, and increase the rate of grower uptake and biomass supply for the emerging bio‐economy. A replicated field trial was conducted at two contrasting UK sites: Aberystwyth (ABR) in mid‐Wales and Blankney (BLK) in Lincolnshire. These sites encompass the west–east meteorological gradient in the United Kingdom where the growing season at ABR is cooler and wetter while BLK is warmer and drier. Primed and unprimed Miscanthus sinensis seeds were sown directly onto the soil surface with and without a clear biodegradable mulch film, at nine dates interspersed from May to October. Average daily mean soil surface temperatures measured over the first 2 months after sowing under the mulch film were higher than control plots (2.7°C ABR and 4.2°C BLK). At both sites, the film covering also affected soil volumetric moisture relative to uncovered control plots (?3% ABR and 8% BLK), demonstrating the negative impact of mulch film when sowing on dry soil. Over nine sowings, seed germination at ABR under film varied between ?28% and +18% of germination under control conditions. Seedlings from the first three sowings at both sites under film had sufficient physiological maturity to survive the first winter period. At BLK, mulch film significantly increased tiller count and height in both the first and second years after sowing. At ABR, where temperatures were lower, film covering significantly increased tiller height but not count. Water priming had no significant effect on seed viability or germination in the field tests. Base temperatures for germination of primed and unprimed seeds on a thermal gradient plate were 7.0°C and 5.7°C, respectively, with a ± 1.7°C confidence interval. Based on our results for M. sinensis in the United Kingdom, we recommend the sowing of unprimed seed in May under film and only when the soil is moist.     

Contingent Conclusions: Year of Initiation Influences Ecological Field Experiments,but Temporal Replication is Rare

Interannual variation in experimental field conditions produce variability in the results of experiments monitored over multiple years, termed here “year effects.” When experimental treatments are replicated in separate years, interannual variation may influence treatment effects and produce significant treatment by initiation‐year interactions. Understanding the frequency and strength of these effects requires initiating identical experiments across years. We conducted a review of literature covering more than 500 experimental articles published in 7 journals between 1966 and 2008. Only 5% of the 276 general ecological field studies initiated experiments in multiple years. This rarity was even more evident in the journal Restoration Ecology, in which none of the 173 surveyed experimental studies initiated experiments in multiple years. In contrast, 48% of the 58 field experiments published in an agronomy journal were replicated across years. We found only 17 studies that tested treatment by initiation‐year interactions. Despite their rarity, 76% of these studies found significant interactions between treatment and initiation year. We conclude that the results of many ecological field experiments are likely to be contingent on the year in which they are implemented. We discuss the importance of treatment by initiation‐year interactions in ecology and restoration, factors that have hindered the inclusion of temporal replication in the past, and some suggestions for the appropriate design and analysis of temporally replicated experiments. We argue for more deliberate investigation of temporal contingency in ecological experimentation, especially in the field of restoration ecology, which may be particularly sensitive to treatment by initiation‐year interactions.     

烟草主要数量性状的遗传效应分析

利用红花大金元×青梗,红花大金元×中烟14号P1、P2、F1、F2、B1、B2 6个世代资料对7个农艺性状和4个品质性状进行了基因效应分析。结果表明,性状均不符合简单的加性－显性遗传模型,多数性状加性效应显著而显性效应不显著,在3种互作效应中,所有性状至少有一种显著。互作效应普遍存在,是烟草性状杂种优势表现的主要原因之一。 Abstract:Two tobacco F1 hybrids,F2s,backcrosses B1s and B2s and their parents P1 and P2 were used to estimate the gene effects for 7 agronomic and 4 quality characters.The additive-dominance genetic model was not fit for all characters.The additive effects and the epistatic effects of most characters were significant,but the dominant effect not.The epistatic effects could not be ignored in tobacco breeding.They were one of main causes of heterosis for most characters.     

长期施肥黄绵土有效磷含量演变及其与磷素平衡和作物产量的关系

土壤有效磷(Olsen-P)含量的变化过程及其与土壤磷素平衡和作物产量的关系是科学推荐施磷的基础.本文通过设置于黄土高原黄绵土区持续34年(1981—2015)的长期定位试验,研究了长期不同施肥处理对作物磷素携出量、土壤磷素平衡、土壤Olsen-P含量的影响及其演变过程,同时对土壤Olsen-P含量与磷素平衡和作物籽粒产量的相关关系进行了分析.试验采用裂区设计,主处理为施用有机肥(M)和不施用有机肥,副处理为不施化肥(CK)、单施氮肥(N)、氮磷肥配合施用(NP)和氮磷钾肥配合施用(NPK).结果表明: 不同施肥处理和作物类型对磷素携出量和磷素平衡都有显著影响.CK、N、NP、NPK、M、MN、MNP 和MNPK处理小麦的磷素携出量多年平均值为8.63、10.64、16.22、16.21、16.25、17.83、20.39、20.27 kg·hm^-2,而油菜为4.40、8.38、15.08、15.71、10.52、11.23、17.96、17.66 kg·hm^-2,小麦的携出量略高于油菜.土壤磷素盈亏量与磷素投入量呈显著正相关,土壤磷素盈余为零,种植小麦的最小土壤磷素投入量为10.47 kg·hm^-2,而油菜为6.97 kg·hm^-2.土壤磷素盈亏量显著影响土壤有效磷的变化过程.长期不施磷的CK和N处理,土壤有效磷含量随试验年限延长而逐渐降低,年均分别降低0.16和0.15 mg·kg^-1,而NP、NPK、M、MN、MNP和MNPK处理土壤有效磷含量随试验年限的延续而逐渐增加,年均增幅在0.02～0.33 mg·kg^-1.土壤磷素累积盈亏量与土壤有效磷含量间存在显著的正相关关系,不施用有机肥和施有机肥处理可分别用线性模型y=0.012x+9.33和y=0.009x+11.72显著拟合.不施有机肥处理小麦籽粒产量与土壤有效磷含量呈显著正相关,而施有机肥处理两者间的相关性不明显,两者的小麦籽粒产量和土壤有效磷含量可以用线性分段模型拟合.小麦土壤有效磷农学阈值为14.99 kg·hm^-2,油菜籽粒产量虽随土壤速效磷含量增加呈增加的趋势,但相关性不显著,表明在黄土高原黄绵土区,当土壤有效磷含量高于14.99 mg·kg^-1时,种植小麦应减少磷肥施用量或不施磷肥.     

Aeropalynological and phenological study in two different Mediterranean olive areas: Cordoba (Spain) and Perugia (Italy)

ABSTRACT

An aerobiological and phenological investigation on the olive tree was carried out during three years in two areas: Cordoba (Spain) and Perugia (Italy). In these countries, this species is economically important and those areas were chosen because of the long series of aeropalynological data (1982–1998) available, obtained by means of identical volumetric pollen traps. The aim of this study was to use phenological observations to prove the real contribution to the pollen curves in different cultivated areas. Results show that in Cordoba province (302.152 ha) the pollen curve is characterised by different peaks because of the pollination of different cultivated crops. In some cases, these crops are located far from the pollen trap (50 km) but pollen is transported thanks to favourable winds during the flowering period. In Perugia (750 ha) the pollen curve is characterised by only one peak; it is very concentrated because of the proximity of the investigated crops. The objective of this research was to obtain information on this species in order to elaborate statistical models aimed at forecasting the potential fruit production based on the amount of pollen released into the atmosphere.